The following is being distributed at the request of the Eastern Canadian Premiers Secretariat:

Governors and Premiers to Hold Acid Rain/Mercury Workshop

The Conference of New England Governors and Eastern Canadian Premiers (NEG/ECP) will hold an acid rain and mercury workshop in Portland, Maine on February 11-13, 1998. The workshop will be hosted by the Office of the Governor of Maine and the Maine Environmental Protection Department, and is sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC).

The first day of the workshop will focus on acid rain issues. Panelists and participants will examine developments in acid rain policy over the last decade, impacts on forests and lakes, fine particulates and health issues, and regional solutions. Panels will include New England and Eastern Canadian experts in these areas, as well as guests from outside the region.

The second day's program will be devoted to mercury issues. Multi-media monitoring programs, mercury inventories, and control strategies will be addressed. As with acid rain, a key part of the program will concern collaborative reduction strategies.

On February 13, representatives from New England environmental commissions and Eastern Canadian environmental ministries will draft two documents, a set of recommendations on acid rain strategies and a Mercury Action Plan. These two documents will be presented to the governors and premiers at their next meeting in Fredericton, New Brunswick in June 1998.

Contact: Laurie Alexander, Regional Coordinator, Eastern Canadian Premiers Secretariat, (902) 424-5905 or fax (902) 424-8976, e-mail lalexander@cmp.ca