Mr. Wasserman said he expected an engineering study to be completed sometime this summer on the idea.
But it puts off any decision on whether to raise those standards now, saying the administration would wait for a study to be completed.
A United Nations survey taken four years ago revealed 200,000 opium and heroin addicts in a population of about 35 million; a new study, to be completed in the summer, is expected to show even more.
Mr. Cox said that he expected the study to be completed no earlier than next June and that he wanted to see the results before making a final decision.
The study, to be completed within a year, would include information on the theater's expansion options, and create a package of technical specifications, early design concepts, costs and the recommendation of a design-and-construction team.
If that study, to be completed in 2009, indicates a danger to adults, the toxic designation will allow the government to take additional action swiftly, according to government officials who, following official practice, spoke on the condition they not be identified.
Instead of having a private developer dominate the research on potential sites, as Massachusetts has, Rhode Island embarked on a three-year scientific study, to be completed in August, of all waters within 30 miles of its coast.
Screening experiments were completed in the laboratory to evaluate several gas tracers for a PITT study to be completed in the vadose zone at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, NM.
The final output of the research study, to be completed by the end of 2001, will be a Framework for Sustainable Energy Sector Investment Analysis and Decision Support.
The study, to be completed in May, will consider such questions as how long benefits might last and who would be eligible for them.
