In 1996, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a report entitled "Environmental Health Threats to Children," which acknowledged that children are at particular risk from pollution because their systems are still developing, their organs and tissues are immature and more vulnerable, and their immune systems are weaker. The EPA report established the National Agenda to Protect Children's Health from Environmental Threats (Children's Health Agenda), which outlines the EPA's role in protecting the health of children.
The Antarctic Treaty's first article declares that Antarctica is to be used for peaceful purposes only and that no activities of a military nature nor the testing of any weapons are to be conducted on the continent. The treaty provides that scientific freedom and cooperation is to be continued on Antarctica. The treaty also provides for the exchange of information regarding plans for scientific programs in Antarctica in order to permit maximum economy and efficiency of operations, the exchange of scientific personnel between expeditions and stations, and the exchange of scientific observations and results from research and experimentation on Antarctica.
The London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, known simply as the London Convention, was a product of a groundbreaking United Nations conference held on the human environment in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972. The London Convention, also formed in 1972, governs the deliberate dumping of materials into the ocean from vessels, aircraft, and platforms. The London Convention was created in part from a growing recognition that "the capacity of the sea to assimilate wastes and render them harmless, and its ability to regenerate natural resources, is not unlimited."
Because it was difficult to determine both the source and the extent of the problem, Congress passed the Medical Waste Tracking Act (MWTA) in 1988, which established a two-year demonstration program administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that required the detailed tracking of infectious medical waste from its creation to its ultimate disposal. The program was modeled after the regulatory scheme for handling other hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which requires "cradle-to-grave" regulation and tracking of hazardous waste.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to set air quality standards for certain types of pollutants, referred to as "criteria pollutants," one of which is particulate matter. The EPA considers particulate matter pollution to be its most serious air quality problem.
