What was going on when I was born?

The Environmental Protection Agency today rebuffed an appeal by three Eastern states for Federal action to curb acid rain and other air pollution from sources in the Middle West. The states, New York, Pennsylvania and Maine, filed petitionsin 1980 and 1981, saying pollutants from seven states in the Middle West were creating acidic precipitation, reducing visibility and interfering with their efforts to comply with Federal standards on clean air. E.P.A. Action Called 'Dishonest' Attorney General Robert Abrams of New York said the environmental agency's decision to deny ''acid rain relief'' to New York and other Northeastern states was ''legally distorted and scientifically dishonest.'' The petitions asked the environmental agency to invoke a provision of the Clean Air Act dealing with interstate pollution to require a reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions from power plants and other sources in Ohio, West Virginia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.

The Government index of leading indicators fell eight-tenths of 1 percent in July, the Commerce Department reported. It was the first time this index - intended to predict changes in economic direction - had declined two consecutive months since the beginning of 1982. The report was widely regarded as confirming a slowdown in the nation's economic growth. (Page A1.) A $14.1 billion trade deficit in July set a record as Americans bought a torrent of imported goods with the strong dollar. Exports also rose, but not nearly enough to narrow the gap. (D1.)

Hospital workers will not receive the 5 percent raise they won in their 47-day strike until Governor Cuomo gives assurances that he will provide additional state funds, if needed later, to pay for the higher labor costs, the chief negotiator for the hospitals said yesterday. As tens of thousands of celebrating union workers returned to their jobs unaware of the hospitals' new stance, the negotiator, William Abelow, asserted: ''The 5 percent wage increase and other provisions of the agreement will not be implemented until a complete contract is in place and a number of outstanding issues are resolved.'' Mr. Abelow, who is president of the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes, the bargaining group for the hospitals, said in a statement: '' The league has never sought and does not now seek additional funds from the state. The league seeks only assurances that the dollars that the state said would be available will in fact be available.''

ADOPTION is a concept that seems to bring out the best in people. At least that is the experience of park commissions and preservation and conservation societies, and they are applying the principle of adoption to everything from neighborhood parks to the restoration of Revolutionary War uniforms. In addition to Adopt-a-Park programs in New York, Memphis and Berkeley, Calif., the Los Angeles Conservancy is calling its program of watching historic houses Adopt- a-Building. In Baltimore the label Adopt-a-Lot applies to vacant city-owned property that neighborhood associations can take over for community gardens. In Tennessee it is possible to adopt parks, schools and even old bridges. Adoption, in this special sense, includes taking on the task of preservation and maintenance, but not the legal responsibilities and liabilities that adopting a person entails. Questions involving liability on both sides of these less formal ''adoptions''have yet to be answered. Robert MacKay, director of the Society for Preservation of Long Island Antiquities, commented: ''It's really just a new twist on volunteerism. Adoption programs strike the personal note and people respond to the challenge of significant responsibility.''

Walter F. Mondale has decided to make a major campaign issue out of President Reagan's comments that religious and political ideas are linked. Mr. Mondale made it clear today that he was planning a major statement on the subject soon. Although Mr. Mondale has been slow to respond to Mr. Reagan's statements last week in Dallas, where the Republican National Convention was being held, aides to the Democratic Presidential nominee say he is set to tackle the issue in a speech now under preparation. At that time, Mr. Reagan said that politics and religion were inseparable and that those who argued otherwise were ''intolerant of religion.'' Beyond this, aides say, Mr. Mondale is persuaded that, in responding to Mr. Reagan, he would be raising the stakes in the election by opening an unusual debate on issues relating to religion and politics such as organized school prayer, censorship and abortion.

Despite Atlanta's rapid growth in the last quarter-century, it lacks a locally based bank big enough to rival the leading money-center institutions. While Atlanta is unlikely to challenge New York or San Francisco anytime soon, it is showing new signs of strength. With this year's passage of legislation permitting bank mergers across state lines in Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina, bankers of the Southeast are scrambling to find merger partners. They want to build up their asset, deposit and capital bases as a defense against any hostile takeover attempts by money- center banks.

With each calamity of the municipal bond market, the investor's appetite for security has grown. And that, in turn, has meant that more bonds than ever are being sold with the backing of insurance companies. As a result, one of the most popular investments for individuals - tax-exempt bonds issued by state and local governments - is being reshaped by the growing use of insurance that guarantees payment of bond interest and principal. ''The investing public has become more sophisticated,'' said Robert A. Meyer, president of the Bond Investors Guarantee Insurance Company, founded earlier this year. The $2.25 billion default by the Washington Public Power Supply System exacerbated their concerns, he noted, ''but they have also noticed the problems of Continental Illinois and some of the airlines, and they remember reading a few years ago about the problems of major cities.''

Rabbi Meir Kahane and three busloads of armed supporters were blocked by the police today when they tried to enter Israel's largest Arab town as part of a campaign to drive Arab citizens from the country. The Brooklyn-born rabbi, who selected this community of 25,000 in the Galilee region to begin the campaign, was detained by the police at a roadblock two miles away and then released. The police did not explain their actions, but the state radio said tonight that Rabbi Kahane's visit could have led to violence that might have spread throughout the area, which is heavily populated by Arabs. 11 Officers Are Injured There was violence in this town, nevertheless, as Arab youths threw stones at soldiers and policemen, who fired tear gas and smoke pellets into the crowd. Eleven officers and some youths were injured.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1984 International Rabbi Meir Kahane was blocked from entering Israel's largest Arab town as he tried to launch a campaign to drive Arab citizens from the country. The Brooklyn-born rabbi and three busloads of armed supporters were barred by the police at a roadblock two miles outside Um el Fahm, a community of 25,000 in the Galilee region. The rabbi was detained and then released. (Page A1, Column 2.) Pierre Gemayel died of a heart attack, casting more uncertainty on Lebanon's deteriorating political situation. The death of the 78-year-old senior Christian political figure could set off a power struggle and perhaps undermine the position of his eldest son, President Amin Gemayel. (A10:3-6.) The elder Mr. Gemayel was a founding member and the perennial leader of the right-wing Phalangist Party, which is Lebanon's strongest Christian political group, with its own armed militia. (A10:3-6.)

Lech Walesa, the founder of the banned Solidarity union, assailed Poland's leaders today for what he called their failure to abide by the accords on free speech, free press and independent unions that were signed here nearly four years ago. In his apartment in this port city, beneath a large portrait of Pope John Paul II, Mr. Walesa read a prepared statement that said ''continuing to ignore the will of the nation brings on the threat of conflict.'' He accused Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, the Polish leader, of ''betraying the trust of the Polish people'' by declaring martial law in 1981 and by paying only lip service to the 21 points of the Gdansk agreement of Aug. 31, 1980, under which Solidarity became the only independent union in the Soviet bloc. Winner of Nobel Prize Mr. Walesa, the winner of the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, said he hoped to read the statement here to mark the Aug. 31 anniversary, ''if I am not surrounded by a sea of blue,'' an allusion to the riot police.

The Avco Corporation said today that it had agreed to buy back a huge block of its stock held by the Leucadia National Corporation, eliminating the threat of an unwanted takeover by Leucadia. Analysts said the agreement, under which Leucadia would make a profit of more than $22 million, was another instance of the increasingly popular ''greenmail'' strategy. In such cases, a company threatens a takeover, prompting the target to buy back its shares for a premium.

The International Business Machines Corporation cut prices on its most advanced line of mainframe computers and disk drives yesterday for the second time in a year, in a move analysts said would place greater pressure its competitors at the high end of the market. The cuts, on the 308X line of processors and the 3380 disk drives, a mass storage memory system, range from 10 to 16 percent. In a typical configuration, the smallest of the 308X line processors would now cost $810,000, down from $960,000. Some industry experts saw the cuts as a prelude to the introduction of the so-called Sierra series, I.B.M.'s expected line of new, high- end mainframes. The first of those models could be introduced as early as the beginning of next year.