VZCZCXRO2406
RR RUEHCN RUEHVC
DE RUEHGH #0589 2530736
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 100736Z SEP 07
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6252
INFO RUEAEPA/EPA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 6715
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 1403
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0881
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SHANGHAI 000589 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR OES-I- ANN COVINGTON 
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL - MCASKILL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV PREL PHUM CH
SUBJECT: CHEMICAL SAFETY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS WORKSHOP IN 
NANJING 
 
 
¶1.  Summary:    Over 100 Jiangsu Province Environmental 
Protection Bureau (EPB) officials, representing both the 
provincial and local EPBs, attended a Chemical Safety and 
Emergency Preparedness Workshop in Nanjing on August 21-22.  At 
the workshop, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 
trainers provided technical training on chemical safety and risk 
management planning, and emergency prevention, preparedness and 
response.  The workshop was sponsored by the U.S. EPA, ConGen 
Shanghai, Jiangsu Environmental Bureau and four major U.S. 
chemical manufacturers who were eager to spend their Corporate 
Social Responsibility (CSR) budget on increasing the capacity of 
the municipal EPB officials.  The success of the workshop 
demonstrated that there can be successful cooperation between 
the U.S. and Chinese governments as well as the private sector 
on such technical issues. End Summary. 
 
¶2.  In cooperation with the U.S. EPA, ConGen Shanghai and the 
Jiangsu Environmental Bureau hosted an August 21-22, Chemical 
Safety and Emergency Preparedness Workshop in Nanjing.  The 
training was financially supported by four major U.S. chemical 
manufacturers interested in using their sizeable CSR budgets to 
increase the capacity of the local EPBs. 
 
¶3.  Over 100 EPB officials, both local and provincial attended 
the two-day workshop.  The first day of the workshop focused on 
chemical safety and risk management planning.  US EPA trainer 
Mary Wesling, outlined the laws and regulations in place in the 
United States and the experiences US EPA has had with 
enforcement.  She also demonstrated available software and 
international programs.  The second day focused on emergency 
prevention, preparedness and response.  Harry Allen, the second 
US EPA trainer, provided numerous case studies for the audience. 
 Both days of the workshop closed with extensive 
question-and-answer sessions that illuminated how eager EPB 
officials were for information.  The workshop also included a 
presentation on the present state of chemical safety and 
emergency preparedness in Jiangsu by Nanjing University 
Professor Li Aimin. 
 
------------------------ 
Working in Concert 
------------------------ 
 
¶4.  The workshop was sponsored by four major U.S based chemical 
manufacturers, Dow Chemical, Dow Corning, Rohm and Haas, and 
Arch Chemicals.  The companies were interested in providing 
financial support for the training for two major reasons: 1) 
concern about lack of capacity within the local EPBs and the 
impact it has on equal enforcement; and 2) available Corporate 
Social Responsibility (CSR) budgets. 
 
¶5.  In early 2007 Congenoffs were approached by representatives 
of several U.S.-based chemical manufacturers who were looking 
for ways to engage with the local EPBs in Jiangsu Province, 
where many of them have their manufacturing facilities.  They 
were concerned that the EPBs lacked the capacity to handle a 
major chemical spill and that the uneven enforcement of existing 
regulations made a major accident a real possibility. 
 
¶6.  Many multinational corporations have large CSR budgets for 
China, but the tenuous existence of many NGOs, and the resulting 
lack of capacity, has left many companies looking for creative 
ways to spend their CSR budgets.  The representative of one 
sponsor said that he was interested in the training, but more 
than that, desperate for a responsible outlet for his CSR budget. 
 
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Comment 
------------ 
 
¶7.  The success of the workshop demonstrated to all involved 
that there are possibilities for cooperation between the U.S. 
and Chinese officials, as well as industry representatives.  The 
sponsoring companies all felt that the workshop was a worthwhile 
endeavor and their CSR money well-spent, while the EPB officials 
were enthusiastic about the safeguarding techniques they had 
learned and were eager to implement these techniques. 
 
JARRETT