Message from the Outgoing Chair

Outgoing Chair
William L. Thomas
Pillsbury Winthrop LLP

This issue of the Newsletter explores recent developments in the Asia Pacific. Although the decision to produce an issue devoted to this region was made long ago, the timing of its release could not be more propitious. It is the first to be released during the term of the Committee’s incoming chair, Richard “Tad” Ferris, of Beveridge & Diamond in Washington, D.C. Tad served the Committee ably as vice-chair during 2002 and played the lead role in compiling the materials in this issue, drawing upon his considerable experience in Asia. Thank you, Tad, for your work on this project, for your other contributions over the past year, and for your willingness to take on a fresh set of challenges in 2002-2003. I look forward to working with you on several of them in my new capacity as Committee vice-chair. Tad provides a more in-depth summary of the issues presented in this Newsletter, below, in his Message as Incoming Chair.

In addition to Tad Ferris, each of the other Committee vice-chairs served well in 2002 and deserve our thanks. Ignacia Moreno, Programs vice-chair, was actively involved in developing many of the events we enjoyed in 2002 (or have to look forward to in 2003). Melissa Butler edited and produced three solid issues of the Committee’s Newsletter and Aimee Christensen overhauled and updated our Committee’s Web-based platform, including a much-improved array of links to resources. Anne Rowley headed up the Committee’s public service efforts with respect to the successful 2001 and 2002 International Environmental Law Moot Court competitions, while Meg Caldwell edited another fine report to The Year in Review. Other officers, particularly Ursula Schliessner, made valuable contributions to this Newsletter. They have my deepest gratitude for their hard work and support. Through their assistance, and that of their predecessors in 1999-2001, we can now enjoy a robust array of tools, resources, and programming to enhance our practice in this area.

 

Message from the Incoming Chair

Richard J. (“Tad”) Ferris
Beveridge & Diamond, P.C.

As Bill Thomas noted, this issue of the Newsletter features a number of timely articles by practitioners and legal scholars in Asia or whose practices focus on Asia. To meet new environmental challenges, Asian countries and territories are developing more comprehensive and sophisticated environmental regulatory regimes, including measures addressing clean production, historical contamination, and product stewardship.

Increasingly, our readers are involved in matters that concern environmental issues in the Asia-Pacific region. These efforts remain challenging, however, as the region presents us with a multitude of languages, cultures, and other information-access obstacles. That being said, it is the Committee’s hope that this issue will provide current and prospective members with a means for further understanding environmental developments in this dynamic region. With this goal in mind, we have also included in this issue information on further references and Web sites of selected Asian country environmental agencies.

By way of introduction, we have the honor of presenting pieces by John Boyd, who formerly served as senior counsel and principal sector specialist (Sustainable Development) at the Asian Development Bank and Hiroko Muraki-Gottlieb, an attorney with Robinson and Cole whose practice focuses on U.S. and Japanese environmental law. John writes on capacity building for environmental law in the Asia-Pacific and Hiroko provides an overview of recycling law developments in Japan. Reflecting the growth of product stewardship and waste reduction laws outside of Japan, Sang Don Lee, dean and professor of law at Chung-Ang University College of Law in Seoul, Korea, writes on waste minimization and recycling law initiatives in the Republic of Korea.

We also have articles by Yoko Masuzawa, associate professor in the Department of Environmental Policy and Management, Tottori University of Environmental Studies and former Legal Officer with Japan’s Ministry of Environment, and Lye Lin Heng, deputy director of the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) and a member of the law faculty at the National University of Singapore. Yoko provides a timely article on Japan’s new soil contamination legislation and Lin Heng presents an in-depth summary of Singapore’s environmental regulatory regime. Additionally, we have an article by Joyce Wan and Lisa Hopkinson of the Hong Kong citizen’s group, Civic Exchange, critically assessing Hong Kong’s legislation relating to conservation.

I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce readers to the incoming vice- chairs. We have Sandra Ikuta, who is the Membership vice-chair. Melissa Butler continues as our Newsletter vice-chair and liaison to Trends. Hiroko Muraki Gottlieb is our Programs vice-chair and Barbara Finamore is our Public Service vice-chair. Mateo Davis joins us as the Technology vice-chair and Margaret (“Meg”) Caldwell continues as our vice-chair for The Year in Review and The Environmental Lawyer. Additionally, we are joined by four at-large vice-chairs, including Bill Thomas, Ellen Proctor, Vail Thorne, and Aimée Christensen.

I share Bill Thomas’s gratitude for the hard work and achievements of the previous Committee leaders, and also thank Bill for his unceasing commitment to the success of the Committee’s activities. I am honored to serve as the new chair and look forward to meeting and hearing from our current and prospective members. Toward that end, please feel free to contact me at rferris@bdlaw.com.