WASHINGTON IN BRIEF

President Bush proposed to NATO yesterday that the United Statesnot fill the position of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic when thecurrent commander, Gen. William F. Kernan, leaves his post inOctober.

Kernan, who is retiring, holds the NATO post as part of hisassignment as commander of U.S. Joint Forces Command.

The Pentagon announced last week that Kernan will be replaced asJoint Forces Commander by Vice Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, who is thesenior military adviser to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

In a letter to NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson, Bushformally requested the alliance's approval to release Kernan asSupreme Allied Commander Atlantic in October. The holder of that postis responsible for NATO operations in the North Atlantic, while theSupreme Allied Commander Europe -- currently Air Force Gen. JosephRalston -- holds the more widely recognized job of commanding forcesin Europe.

Bush also proposed that once Kernan departs, NATO keep the SupremeAllied Commander Atlantic post unfilled until the alliance completesa review of its overall command structure. The deputy Supreme AlliedCommander Atlantic will oversee for day-to-day operations in theinterim.

The government is using outdated science in assessing the healthrisks of more than 3 million tons of sewage sludge used as fertilizereach year, a panel of scientists said.

When the Environmental Protection Agency set standards in 1993 onthe use of "biosolids" for treating soil, it used an unreliable 1988survey to identify hazardous chemicals in sewage sludge fromwastewater treatment plants, said the National Research Councilpanel.

The panel's 270-page report, which had been requested by EPA,found no documented scientific evidence of the EPA's standardsfailing to protect public health. But it said the agency needs to domore scientific work so it can "reduce persistent uncertainty" aboutthe risks to people from exposure to chemicals and disease-causingpathogens in sludge used as fertilizer.

Declines in the amount of mail being sent continue to plague thepost office, which lost $281 million in the last three months. Theloss was smaller than anticipated, the Postal Service said, becauseof cost-cutting. The Immigration and Naturalization Servicelaunched the Internet site that the nation's universities will use toregister foreign students -- the first step in the government's planto track the movements of all those with temporary visas, INSofficials said. The goal is to make sure foreign students are takingtheir approved courses at the schools they said they would attend.

Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman, New York's senior Republican in Congressand former chairman of the House International Relations Committee,said he will retire after 30 years in office. Gilman, 79, hasrepresented a district just north of New York City since 1972, butredistricting prompted by the 2000 Census placed him in a newdistrict with fellow GOP Rep. Sue W. Kelly.

-- Compile from reports by the Associated Press and Reuters