§5452 Environmental Initiatives for Poland and Hungary

Summary

Give high priority to stopping pollution and restoring natural resources in Poland and Hungary so people’s health and the economy can improve. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is allowed to provide education, training, research, technical and financial help, monitoring, and coordination alone or with U.S. or foreign governments and groups to protect the environment there. In Poland, the EPA must work with Polish officials to set up an air-quality monitoring network in the Krakow area and to improve water quality and drinking water in Krakow. In Hungary, the EPA must help create and support a regional center in Budapest to link U.S., Eastern, and Western European government experts and public and private groups for joint environmental work. Administrator = the head of the EPA. The law lets Congress fund these EPA efforts with up to $10,000,000 for the three years starting October 1, 1989. The Energy Department must help Poland retrofit a coal-fired commercial power plant near Krakow with proven U.S. clean-coal technology, using U.S. companies, U.S. technology, and U.S.-made equipment, and may transfer ownership of bought property. The Energy Department must also help Poland build the ability to make or modify boilers, furnaces, smelters, and similar equipment for cleaner fossil-fuel use. Up to $30,000,000 is authorized for these Energy Department projects for the three years starting October 1, 1989, and no more than $10,000,000 of that may be used for the Krakow retrofit. The Energy Department must also give high priority to helping both countries use energy more efficiently (motors, lights, gears, appliances, and better building insulation and design). Congress urges working with Hungary on safe energy-efficiency projects, especially along the Danube.