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Promotin Efficient Environmental Administraion

Minister's Secretariat

 Work of the Minister's Secretariat
The Minister's Secretariat is making cffort to ensurc that the Environment Agency makes thc most effective use of the resources available to it, by coordinating the agency's activities such as personnel administration, Iegislation, budget, and also through public relations activities.

Environment Day and Environment Month
The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm for two weeks, from June 5, 1972. At this conference, the Declaration on the Human Environment was adopted, establishing universal targets for protecting and improving the environment for the current and future generations of human beings, and expressing a determination to realize this objective. To commemorate this conference, the United Nations designated June 5 as World Environment Day when a wide variety of environment-related events are organized in many countries around the world. In Japan too, the Environment Day is June 5, in accordance with the Basic Environment Law. June is designated as the Environment Month, with many events held throughout Japan to promote awareness and understanding of environmental conservation and active participation in thesc causes.

Constant Monltoring of Loeal Environmental Situations
An important aspect of the work conducted by the Minister's Secretariat is monitoring of local environmental situations throughout the country and the collection of information via a network of environmental ispection officers posted to Regional Administrative Inspection Bureaus, which are regional branches of the Management and Coordination Agency. These officers are responsible for staying in touch with detailed information on local environmental developments, such as emerging environmcntal problems, conservation activities by local groups or corporations, and the conservation policies of local governments to deal with the specffic issues in their areas.
The Minister's Secretariat has also enlisted around 1,500 environment monitors throughout Japan in an effort to reflect the voice of citizens regarding various environmental issues through requests and proposals from them.

Establishing an Environment-ally-sound Material Cycle
The practice of simply disposing of the waste is no longer adequate for dealing with our present waste problems. What is really needed is to construct a new society based on the desirable material cycle which can reduce the load on the environment at all stages of product life, from mining and harvesting of raw materials through to disposal.

Environmental Information and Communication Network (EIC Net)
Environmental Information Center, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Ministy of the Environment TeI : (0298) 50-2342
Environmental Information Cente TeI : (03) 3595-3992

The Environment Agency has set up the Environmental Information & Communication Network (EIC Net) using electronic communications technology in accordance with Article 27 ot the Basic Environment Law, with the aims of making information on the environment widely available and promoting information exchanges so as to promote environmental education and study and encourage private environmental conservation activities.
Preparations for setting up EIC Net began in 1994. Currently, the EIC Net features an Internet web site and a fax-back information service, which makes all the information and graphics on the web site available to anyone with a fax.
This system is operated by the Environmental Information Center under supervision of the National Institute for Environmental Studies ot the Environment Agency. The Center provides also its own information servioe in support of the environmental conservation activities by citizens and private organizations, the service including exchange of information on events and technique.

A Wealth of Information on Offer
On the EIC Net web site and online services, a variety of menus are presented oftering difterent types of environmental information, This details on the work of the Environment Agency and news on topical environmental ssues.
(WWW and fax-back information service menu)
Environment Agency administrative information
• An introduction to the Environment Agency
  • Environment Agency press releases
  • Environment Agency event schedule
  • Materials on environmental administration (plans, annual paper, budgets, study reports, etc.)
  • Environmental laws, oonventions and ordinances
  • Materials relating to councils (outline ot proceedings, reports), etc.
Environmental information
• Guide to environment-related events
  • Eco Life guide (basic explanations of environmental problems, Iifestyle information, etc.)
  • Environment information guide (guides on environmental information sources)
  • Information on environmental conservation activities (NGOs, Eco-Mark products, etc.)
  • Environmental research information (WWW only)
  • Environmental quiz (WWW only)

Access to EIC Net
Internet WWW
Requires personal computer, Internet service account, and appropriate software
URL: http://www.eic.or.jp/
Fax-back information serviee (Japanese only)
To use this service you need to join a commercial fax network service (F Net). Since fiscal 1998, a service was introduced to allow information from the EIC Net web site to be retrieved using ordinary tax machines.
• Dial 162 from the fax maohine, and check for a dial tone.
  • Then dial #284 0335953279, and then a number (O1 -999) and #, according to the information you are after. Dialing O1, will give you list of the information obtainable with the different numbers.
  • After completing this step, a recorded message will announce "Thank you for your service request. Please wait for the fax after hanging up the receiver."