In recent years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has expanded its programs to assist governments around the world in building their capacity to protect the environment. This effort serves policies embodied in a variety of treaties, appropriations, and other legislative and executive decisions. A small but important part of this work is the effort to help other countries develop an effective legal framework for environmental protection.

This Dialogue begins with a brief overview of EPA's international assistance efforts. Next, it highlights the major potential benefits flowing from international environmental assistance programs, and some of the challenges facing those programs. The Dialogue then illustrates the special challenges and opportunities of legal assistance by describing EPA's effort to provide environmental law assistance to Russia. The Dialogue concludes that environmental legal assistance has the potential to encourage broad reforms with benefits that extend beyond the environmental area.