ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT

Farmers Get Extra Year to Use Fumigant: Growers can continue applying methyl bromide until Jan. 1, 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency said. The fumigant is to be banned under the Clean Air Act, along with other substances that deplete the stratosphere’s ozone layer, which blocks harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun. Methyl bromide is widely used to protect produce from insects. Environmental groups criticized the extension, saying that methyl bromide should be eliminated as quickly as possible.