A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

can be dumped in any landfill , but hazardous waste must be disposed of under a 

more costly process in specially regulated dumps . The court ruling will become 

effective within the next week or two . Some EPA officials had advocated delayin

g implementation of the decision , but EPA administrator Carol M. Browner opted 

for immediate action . `` We stand ready to fully comply with the court 's decis

ion , and to help states and municipalities to implement it , '' Browner said ye

sterday in a news release . The EPA announcement applies to approximately 140 mu

nicipal incinerators across the country that produce energy in the incineration 

process . EPA is currently drafting rules for operators of those facilities to t

est whether their ash is hazardous . Which operators should test and how frequen

tly they should test have not yet been determined . The EPA is willing to help o

perators come into compliance with the resource conservation law , the agency an

nounced yesterday . An implementation strategy and a Federal Register notice abo

ut the subject will be issued shortly , the announcement said . EPA is `` willin

g to engage in discussions with all interested parties about alternative managem

ent schemes . . . for ash , '' the announcement added . The ruling could require

 operators to ship hazardous waste over long distances . For example , municipal

 waste facility operators in New Hampshire have determined that their closest op

tions for disposing of hazardous waste are in New York or Alabama , according to

 an EPA official . The Supreme Court case involved a Chicago incinerator that bu

rns garbage , producing over 100,000 tons of ash annually and otherwise producin

g energy for use in the city . The Environmental Defense Fund ( EDF ) sued the c

ity , saying that it violated the resource conservation law by disposing of the 

ash in landfills that were not allowed to receive hazardous waste . `` We 're pl

eased that the EPA is enforcing the decision , '' said EDF attorney Karen Florin

i . But the agency should do more to regulate the ash from incinerators that is 

not necessarily deemed hazardous , she added . The ruling will probably lead to 

increased recycling in some areas , according to some environmentalists , since 

some cities will make special efforts to remove metals , batteries or other pote

ntially hazardous materials from their waste .

 CAPE TOWN , South Africa Setting the tone for his presidency Tuesday , Nelson M

andela tried to give hope to South Africa 's poor and reassurance to its rich . 

The 45-minute speech to the initial joint session of country 's first democratic

ally elected Parliament laid out the broad goals of the multi-party , Government

 of National Unity that he leads . Those goals follow closely the ideas of the p

latform of the African National Congress , or ANC , known as the Reconstruction 

and Development Program . The program is aimed at providing the impoverished maj

ority black population of South Africa with the same opportunities afforded the 

country 's small minority of whites during the four decades of apartheid . It fo

cuses on building additional housing , on expanded electrification , and on prov

iding water , health services and compulsory , free education . He committed the

 government to spending about $ 750 million on that program in the coming fiscal

 year , a figure set to rise to over $ 3 billion in the last year of the five-ye

ar life of this government for a total of over $ 11 billion . To get it off the 

ground , Mandela borrowed the first 100-days time frame from Frankin Roosevelt '

s New Deal package of legislation during America 's Great Depression . He said t

hat within the next three months he would personally supervise programs to guara

ntee free health care to children under the age of 6 and pregnant mothers and im

plement nutrition in primary schools . He also said that plans are under way to 

electrify 350,000 homes during the current fiscal year , a start on his campaign

 promise to bring electricity to 2.5 million homes in the next five years . Curr

ently , two-thirds of South Africa 's 40 million people live without electricity

 . The speech continued the theme of reconciliation he has used since his releas

e from prison four years ago and emphasized since he got 62 percent of the vote 

last month . This time , he did not reach just over racial , cultural and politi

cal divides , but also over economic ones as he sought to reassure the business 

community , middle-class taxpayers and overseas investors . He promised to achie

ve his reconstruction goals while also lowering the country 's budget deficit . 

And , though he did not say `` no new taxes , '' he did say , `` We are agreed t

hat a permanently higher general level of taxation is to be avoided . '' Soundin

g far from the revolutionary who spent 27 years in prison on treason charges , M

andela talked of a stable monetary policy , of keeping inflation down , encourag

ing domestic savings to fund investment , and opening trade negotiations with a 

variety of partners . As with such state of the union speeches by U.S. president

s , Mandela 's talk contained something for just about everyone , with the detai

ls to follow next month when the budget is unveiled . Finance Minister Derek Key

es , the blunt finance minister who retained the portfolio he held in the previo

us National Party Cabinet , told a news briefing that the budget will be able to

 meet Mandela 's promises . `` We have a carefully planned five-year program , '

' Keyes said . `` We are not talking about new revenues , but about re-directing

 the current level of spending , '' he said , pointing out that the $ 750 millio

n figure represents 3 percent of the total budget , about the amount that could 

be saved via yearly attrition of the bloated public service core whose jobs are 

guaranteed in the new constitution . ( Begin optional trim ) Mandela 's theme of

 reconciliation included an amnesty plan for those involved in political violenc

e . `` The government will not delay unduly with regard to attending to the vexe

d and unresolved issue of an amnesty for criminal activities carried out in furt

herance of political objectives , '' he said of the plan to end the hunt for tho

se responsible for the brutalities of apartheid . `` We will attend to this matt

er in a balanced and dignified way , '' he said . `` The nation must come to ter

ms with its past in a spirit of openness and forgiveness and proceed to build th

e future on the basis of repairing and healing . '' ( End optional trim ) He spo

ke of other policies , mentioning alternatives to incarceration for youthful off

enders , backing women 's rights , and assuring the police and armed forces of t

he government 's faith in them . But the biggest applause came when Mandela call

ed for a change in attitude among South Africans . `` We must end racism in the 

workplace as part of our common offensive against racism in general , '' he said

 , and then listed the terms that have been a daily reality for the country 's n

on-white majority . `` No more should words like kaffirs , hottentost , coolies 

, boy , girl and baas be part of our vocabulary . '' ( Optional Add End ) The sp

eech came after a ceremonial opening of the session , including a 21-gun salute 

and a flyover by air force jets . Thousands of Cape Town residents lined the cit

y 's streets , hoping to catch a glimpse of their new president as he made his w

ay to the Parliament buildings .

 WASHINGTON President Clinton goes to Capitol Hill Wednesday to ask nervous Demo

crats not to bend to interest group pressure in their home districts or make spe

cific pledges that would gut the administration health care bill . Worried that 

small business and other lobbies will use the 12-day Memorial Day break , starti

ng Friday , to extract promises from members to oppose requirements that employe

rs pay for their employees ' insurance and other key features of the Clinton pla

n , the president will , according to a spokesman , `` remind everyone why we 'r

e in this battle together and why we have to stay the course together . '' He wi

ll meet first with Democratic congressional leaders and committee chairmen , the

n address a caucus of all House Democrats . `` We want him to ask the members to

 keep their powder dry , so they don't get locked into positions that would make

 it even more difficult to pass a bill , '' said Rep. Mike Synar , D-Okla. , a m

ember of the House leadership 's health care team . As Clinton attempted to keep

 Democrats in line , Senate Minority Leader Robert J. Dole , R-Kan. , prepared t

o seek Republican support for new stripped-down health legislation drafted by mi

nority staff members that could be a starting point for negotiations with Democr

ats . The partial plan , which has gone through 30 revisions by Sheila P. Burke 

, Dole 's chief of staff , rejects most of the key elements of the Clinton plan 

, including the requirement that employers pay for much of the cost of their emp

loyees ' health insurance and that consumers buy insurance through mandatory sta

te-run purchasing alliances . Burke said it is still an open question whether Do

le will advocate a requirement that all Americans who lack health insurance buy 

their own as they are required to do with auto insurance . According to a draft 

of the plan Dole will use in his discussions Wednesday , he seeks to require all

 health plans to offer a minimum package of benefits , something not now require

d . The draft document suggests the benefits package should be worth 75 percent 

of the value of the standard package offered to federal employees . Dole also wi

ll try to get Republicans to agree to prohibit insurers from denying coverage to

 people when they change jobs and on tough limits to medical malpractice suits .

 He will suggest providing subsidies to low-income people to buy insurance only 

when new federal money becomes available , but would impose a `` fail-safe '' me

chanism to make sure future Medicare and Medicaid spending does not go above pro

jections . Both the Republican and Democratic sessions come at a critical point 

in the legislative work on the ambitious health plan Clinton promised in his 199

2 campaign and launched last September . The White House had hoped various versi

ons of the Clinton bill would emerge by the Memorial Day break from at least som

e of the five committees three in the House and two in the Senate with major jur

isdiction . One Senate committee and two House subcommittees have begun work on 

the measure , but no full committee has finished work on a proposal . Administra

tion and Capitol Hill officials now have set July 1 as the `` final '' target da

te for getting bills out of committee , so the legislation can be considered on 

the floor of both bodies before the Aug. 15 summer vacation . When Congress retu

rns in September , it will have barely a month before adjournment and the closin

g phase of midterm election campaigns to get final agreement on a measure . One 

reason for the slow pace has been the effective lobbying and advertising campaig

ns by groups representing health insurance , small business and others who objec

t to major features of the Clinton plan . `` No question , '' said Synar , `` a 

major reason we want the president up here is that we expect to see a tremendous

 amount of special-interest activity , focused on the members , while we 're at 

home . We want the president to prepare people for that and to tell them that he

 is ready to address whatever concerns they hear when they 're home . '' At the 

last congressional break , over the Easter holidays , platoons of administration

 officials joined Democratic lawmakers in forums trying to sell constituents on 

the Clinton plan . The White House has prepared a 53-page handbook of suggested 

events members can stage during the coming recess as forums for voicing argument

s for the Clinton plan . But this time , the effort is essentially defensive to 

avoid further erosion of support .

 WASHINGTON In the mid-1980s , John Henderson Jr. had his Texas thrifts buy two 

airplanes for more than $ 1 million each so he could fly between his offices and

 his ranch . The thrifts also bought a $ 30,000 Mercedes and a $ 75,000 BMW for 

his use and a van for his maid , according to court testimony . This April , a T

yler , Texas , jury said Henderson was guilty of gross negligence and breach of 

his duties as the president and chairman of both Southland and Home savings and 

loan associations , and that he should pay the U.S. Treasury $ 7 million in dama

ges . The 1988 failure of the two S&Ls cost taxpayers more than $ 100 million . 

But Henderson got a reprieve . He doesn't have to pay the $ 7 million because th

e state deadline for gross-negligence claims expired even before federal regulat

ors took over the thrift . The courts rejected the government 's argument that t

he statute of limitations should be waived because when the board of directors i

s handpicked by the thrift 's chairman as in the case of Southland and Home it i

s unlikely to sue him . Federal bank and thrift regulators say $ 1.6 billion in 

claims already brought against directors , officers , lawyers , accountants and 

other professionals who served failed banks and S&Ls in Texas and Virginia are a

t risk because of recent court rulings on the deadline for bringing lawsuits . A

nd they fear billions of dollars more in claims could be in jeopardy if other st

ates set time limits on such cases . Both the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. an

d the Resolution Trust Corp. have asked Congress to pass legislation to cure wha

t they see as flaws in state laws . The legislation would allow the government t

o base claims on activities as far back as five years prior to the takeover of a

n institution , which would revive some claims that had expired under state laws

 . But Rep. Jack Brooks , D-Texas , powerful head of the House Judiciary Committ

ee , is opposed to the measure . The legislative change , contained in an amendm

ent to the Interstate Banking Bill that passed both houses in April , is headed 

to a conference committee . Brooks and other members of the Judiciary Committee 

are among the conferees . FDIC congressional liaison Alice Goodman said Brooks '

 aides on the Judiciary Committee told her that they knew his position on the am

endment and that she should not bother to brief them on the issue . `` They indi

cated he probably would not be supporting this , '' Goodman said . `` Offhand , 

I 'd say it 's a very dangerous amendment , and ( the conferees ) ought to take 

a very hard look at it , '' Brooks said . `` It 's a retroactive law . It might 

be unconstitutional . '' Brooks , who in the past owned substantial stock in Tex

as S&Ls that later failed , is currently a director and shareholder of three Tex

as banks . In response to inquiries to his office , Brooks said he may decide to

 recuse himself from the conference because of his bank directorships . Many of 

the most egregious examples of negligence at savings and loans were seen in Texa

s , according to the National Commission on Financial Institution Reform , a pan

el of experts appointed by Congress to study the thrift debacle . It said `` 40 

percent of all taxpayer losses came from Texas S&Ls . '' If the Texas court deci

sions regarding statutes of limitation stand , government lawyers will have to f

ocus their efforts in other states to recover taxpayer losses , according to the

 regulators . `` In other jurisdictions , directors could be ( successfully ) su

ed for the same things , while directors in Virginia and Texas would walk away ,

 '' said John V. Thomas , head of the FDIC 's professional-liability section . `

` It seems unreasonable and unfair . '' `` We might as well shut down the profes

sional-liability section if other states adopt the Texas or Virginia rules , '' 

said Jack D. Smith , the FDIC 's deputy general counsel . Untold millions of dol

lars from cases not yet brought are in jeopardy . Among the potential claims tha

t could be affected are those that may arise from the investigation of Madison G

uaranty Savings and Loan in Arkansas . Special Counsel Robert Fiske is examining

 Madison 's activities for civil claims as well as criminal violations . Fiske i

s investigating President Clinton 's and Hillary Rodham Clinton 's ties to the S

&L . Neither was a director of the bank , but Hillary Clinton was an attorney fo

r the thrift . Sen. Howard M. Metzenbaum , D-Ohio , proposed the amendment that 

would give federal regulators more time to file cases , regardless of state stat

utes . `` For us to sit by and do nothing while the courts are wiping out millio

ns of dollars in decisions would be an absurdity , '' Metzenbaum said . On the o

ther side of the argument are those who say it is unfair to paint all S&L direct

ors with the same brush . `` You reach a point where the equities say that some 

guilty people are going to slip through the net , '' said J. Jonathan Schraub , 

a lawyer for some directors of failed Trustbank Savings FSB of Virginia . `` Ove

rall , this industry wasn't populated by fools and crooks. .. . There were a lot

 of innocent , honest people in that business . '' The issue comes at a crucial 

time for such recoveries , according to federal officials . The six-month period

 ended March 31 was the most productive in the four and a half years of the RTC 

's professional-liability section , with $ 405 million in claims recovered , acc

ording to an agency report . But courts in Virginia and Texas have dismissed 12 

cases with claims of $ 93 million because of recent appeals-court decisions in t

he two states . `` I think the amendment is unfair , and it 's especially unfair

 to use this case as an example , '' said Thomas H. Walston , an attorney for He

nderson . `` Mr. Henderson had given his entire life to Home Savings . '' Hender

son , who helped found the S&L in 1955 and was a majority shareholder , lost muc

h of his wealth when the thrift failed in 1988 , Walston said . Henderson denied

 at trial that the planes and cars purchased by the S&Ls were for his use alone 

and said they were necessary to do business a contention the jury rejected .

 WASHINGTON The Justice Department Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to throw out 

a federal appeals-court ruling that prosecutors committed fraud by witholding ev

idence that favored alleged Nazi death-camp guard John Demjanjuk . If the petiti

on is successful , it could clear the way for the United States to deport the re

tired Cleveland auto worker . When the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found t

hat fraud had occurred , it voided an earlier extradition authorization . In its

 filing Tuesday , the Justice Department said prosecutors involved in the effort

 to deport Demjanjuk acted in good faith and that the failure to produce certain

 documents did not rise to the level of `` egregious and deliberate misconduct ,

 such as bribery of a judge or fabrication of evidence '' that typically is foun

d to be a fraud upon a court . `` The standard adopted by the court of appeals i

n this case is inconsistent with standards articulated by the overwhelming major

ity of the courts of appeals , '' said the brief signed by Solicitor General Dre

w S . Days III . The government is seeking to vindicate prosecutors ' actions as

 well as to remove a cloud over the validity of an earlier court judgment that D

emjanjuk should be stripped of his U.S. citizenship and deported . Demjanjuk , w

ho was extradited in 1986 , was convicted and sentenced to death for torturing a

nd murdering Jews at the Treblinka concentration camp in Poland during World War

 II . He was allegedly the notorious `` Ivan the Terrible . '' But last year the

 Israeli Supreme Court overturned the conviction , saying there was insufficient

 proof that he was Ivan , and Demjanjuk was allowed to return home in September 

. In the meantime , the 6th circuit court had appointed a trial judge to investi

gate the Justice Department 's handling of the deportation . The appeals court u

ltimately concluded last year that prosecutors had defrauded the court by withho

lding information that Demjanjuk could have used to contest the extradition . Th

e Justice Department contends that Demjanjuk still should be deported because of

 his activities at camps other than Treblinka . The 6th circuit 's finding of fr

aud `` will hinder the government 's efforts to remove ( Demjanjuk ) from the Un

ited States , '' Days told the justices .

 NEW YORK In perhaps the biggest shift in advertising history , IBM stunned and 

angered much of Madison Avenue Tuesday by firing more than 40 ad agencies around

 the world and shifting more than $ 400 million in annual advertising to one age

ncy , Ogilvy & Mather . The dramatic announcement reflects efforts under Chairma

n Louis V. Gerstner Jr. to radically overhaul and in many cases simplify IBM 's 

vast and cumbersome structure as well as put new life into its once powerful but

 increasingly blurred brand image . `` Ogilvy & Mather will help us deliver clea

r , consistent messages and in the most efficient way possible , '' said Abby F.

 Kohnstamm , the giant computer company 's vice president for corporate marketin

g . She had helped lead the secretive search for a new agency over the past seve

ral months and got to know Ogilvy when she was at American Express . Gerstner , 

a former American Express president , brought her over to IBM . But while there 

are big advantages to improving coordination , there are also dangers to shrinki

ng the roster of agencies , said Alan Gottesman , media analyst at brokerage fir

m PaineWebber & Co. . `` If you get it wrong , you get it wrong everywhere , '' 

he said . The fallout from the IBM announcement is widespread . In order to avoi

d conflicts with IBM , Ogilvy whose accounts also include American Express , Jag

uar and Duracell is dropping two other computer-related clients representing a t