[JURIST] Leading Thursday's environmental law news, Maine has became the first state in the US to require manufacturers to pay the cost of recycling computer monitors and televisions [press release] under a program [backgrounder] that began Wednesday pursuant to Maine's amended E-Waste Law [text]. The state has approved 5 consolidation centers that will sort through the materials and bill manufacturers directly for the recycling cost, with payments being split for material produced by currently defunct companies. Maine has also banned the landfilling or incineration of computer and television monitors effective July 20, 2006. AP has more.

In other environmental law news…

• The Chinese city of Shanghai [municipal website] will ban vehicles that do not meet Euro I emissions standards [text] from its inner city during the day. The Shanghai traffic authority will issue certificates for vehicles that meet the standards from January 20 to February 14, 2006, and restict access to the area to vehicles with the certificate beginning February 15, 2006. The Shanghai Daily has more.
• US District Judge Paul Magnuson of the US District Court of Minnesota [official website] has fined ConAgra Foods Inc. [corporate website] $138,513 and ordered the company to provide $110,000 in community service for violating the Clean Water Act [text]. The company failed to record and report the water temperature of discharges from its flour mill in Hastings Minnesota, in violation of its operating permit. AP has more.