Policy And Practice The Future Tenure of Rural Public Lands in Slovakia

The adoption of democracy and the market economy ideology in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe is encouraging changes in rural public land policy. A system of state public land is being partly dismantled, to be replaced by private ownership.This paper exploresthe present dynamics of the rural public land reprivatization process in Slovakia. In Slovakia approximately 40% of rural public land are being reprivatized. Evidence indicates that the reprivatization of public land is having a detrimental effect on the management of State Forests, National Parks and game management.The integrated, centrally planned public land system of the communist era is being fragmented by reprivatization. This paper argues that this process is creating barriers to the achievement of the sustainable management of the natural resources of rural Slovakia. Recent Governmentof Slovakia laws and policies on sustainable development and environmental management, and adherence to international environmental conventions may provide opportunities for enlightened change in the reprivatization process. A public land system in a democratic free market economy can be an effective mechanism to secure the protection and the sustainable managementof forests, farmland, game, outstanding landscapes and wildlife. This is an opportune time to debate the future of rural public land in Central and Eastern Europe in order that enlightened policy making may be fostered.     

Social and Environmental Justice in South African Cities: Including ‘Invisible Stakeholders’ in Environmental Assessment Procedures

In South Africa an intensive reform process to democratize policy, legislation and related institutions in the country commenced after the first democratic elections in 1994. While environmental law reform includes active public participation and equity principles, it is proposed in this paper that ecological modernization dominates current environmental assessment practice. This paper presents a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) of a proposed landfill on the periphery of Durban, where large informal settlements and peri-urban areas exist as a relic of apartheid planning. The methodology of the SIA was explicitly designed within a framework of social justice to include poor and marginalized people, who remain excluded from environmental decision making despite the promise of democratic equality. The study claims to deepen democratic practice by demonstrating that alternative methodologies can be designed to include the interests of ‘invisible stakeholders’ in environmental assessments despite the dominance of ecological modernization in the implementation of environmental law and policy.     

生态文明下的环境法制

生态文明建设的进程受到诸多因素的制约,如生态环境意识、环境立法、行政执法和司法缺陷、法律政策等,同时生态文明建设中面临诸多的难题,如公众参与、生态补偿、环境责任及环境纠纷等,应通过完善立法、执法及司法建设,以及完善公众参与机制、生态补偿机制、环境公益诉讼制度等保障机制来解决这些问题。本文首先通过比较分析生态文明与环境法制的关系,结合我国生态法制建设困境,提出了完善生态文明建设的一系列的环境法治保障措施,即从立法、执法、司法角度,从而实现科学发展观,构建和谐社会,最终实现环境—社会—经济协调发展的任务。     

论环境犯罪的构成要件

文章从环境犯罪的概念入手,进一步阐释环境犯罪的构成要件。通过对四个构成要件逐个剖析,对进一步完善环境刑法提出了自己的看法。     

The limitations of environmental management systems in Australian agriculture

The efficacy of government-supported programs to encourage improved management of land and water systems associated with agricultural land in Australia has been mixed. The broad approach of Australian governments is reviewed briefly. Evidence is presented from case assessments of a program to promote adoption of environmental management systems (EMSs) to improve environmental outcomes from agricultural practices. EMSs are systems implemented to manage the environmental impacts and ameliorate environmental risk associated with business activity. Data are presented on reported EMS activity and experience of four selected groups of farmers in Victoria, south-eastern Australia, representing broad-acre cropping, beef and dairy farming. The pro-environmental behaviours of farmers were mediated through voluntary adoption of government and industry sponsored EMSs, often with financial incentives and other support. Findings from the study were that adoption of EMS practices with sufficient public benefits is unlikely to occur at sufficient scale for significant environmental impact. Farmers more readily adopted practices which were financially beneficial than those which had a positive environmental impact. Although the focus on voluntary market-based instrument (MBI) type programs is popular in western countries, enforcing regulation is an important, but usually politically unpopular, component of land use policy. The comparative advantage of EMSs differed for the industries studied, but overall there were insufficient market drivers for widespread EMS adoption in Australia. Environmental outcomes could be more effectively achieved by directly funding land management practices which have highest public net benefits. Having a clear and unambiguous management objective for a particular land management policy is more likely to achieve outcomes than having multiple objectives as occurs in a number of international programs currently.     

Design for environment: A new framework for strategic decisions

For most of its history of environmental protection, U.S. policy has concentrated on a pollution control strategy based on single medium emissions: air, water, or land. Efforts to mitigate environmental impacts to one medium often resulted in greater impacts to others. While much environmental improvement has occurred via this system over the last quarter-century, it is generally recognized that alternative strategies which address environmental impacts across all media in an integrated manner will be necessary for continued improvement. Increasingly, regulatory strategies that result in only passive compliance will be insufficient to meet these demands. This article demonstrates why new strategies which encourage proactive behavior are necessary. A new framework for making strategic decisions—design for environment—concerning the relation between our actions and environment is necessary to ensure a sustainable future.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Act 250 in Protecting Vermont Streams

Vermont's progressive land development and land use law (Act 250), now 30 years old, provides district and state control over major developments through the review of environmental and planning criteria. Although it is comprehensive in nature, the law is applied on a case-by-case basis, which can make the results inconsistent. Up to now, there have been no significant studies of the role of Act 250 in conserving water quality through stream buffers. This research uses four case-studies of stream buffer use along Vermont streams as a step toward understanding and improving the role of comprehensive land use regulation in protective buffers. Such a study, while directly applicable to Vermont, could be useful to other states that are interested in improving compliance with existing regulations or in adopting new land use legislation.     

农村生态环境污染治理的法律思考

农村生态环境保护是乡村振兴战略的重要一步,但当前农村生态环境污染现状严重,亟待解决.运用案例分析和文献研究法对农村生产、生活现状进行分析.发现我国农村生态环境法制方面存在基本法律缺乏、执法不规范、农民环保意识淡薄的问题.而完善农村环境保护立法、强化农村环境保护执法、提高农民环境保护意识这三条路径能够有效解决农村环境法制...     

Environmental protection in Hong Kong amidst transition: Is Hong Kong ready to manage its environment by law?

Within the context of political democratization, this article explores environmental protection in Hong Kong since the government lauched a ten-year program to “save the environment” in 1989. Examining environmental management by law from a social-choice perspective, it argues that the government has yet to reach an integrative policy orocess. Hence the preconditions for an integrative set of environmental legislation are absent. Institutionally, without a comprehensive green policy, the current arrangements lack a vision as an integrative force to promote effective coordination among various sectoral environmental coordination among various sectoral environmental programs. The dominant approach of policy and law enforcement through consultation has rendered impossible strict enforcement of environmental rules and regulations as local economic growth enjoys a priority over environmental protection. At a time of environmental awakening, the people of Hong Kong are not yet prepared awakening, the people of Hong Kong are not yet prepared to participate in environmental management in a strict legal manner. The overall observation is that Hong Kong has yet to see more mature political, legal, administrative, and social conditions for managing its environment within a legal framework.     

Assessment of Compliance Performance of Environmental Regulations of Industries in Tuzla (Istanbul,Turkey)

Although environmental management in Turkey is evolving, its performance needs to be assessed in terms of the extent to which polluters and dischargers are complying with their legal obligations. In spite of this necessity, however, not a single study evaluating the effectiveness of command-and-control strategy of environmental management has been conducted. It is for this reason that it was decided to conduct an analysis of the impact of environmental legislation on a major industrial area in Turkey. Accordingly, Turkish environmental legislation was analyzed, and all relevant obligations and responsibilities of industry are identified. Based upon this appraisal, a questionnaire was prepared and used to conduct interviews in Tuzla, Istanbul. From the results, it can be concluded that environmental compliance performance of industry is low. The total of 92 parameters has been questioned. Fifty-three parameters have been found as satisfactory compliance, whereas 26 parameters have been classified as partial compliance and 13 as unsatisfactory compliance. The most important reason for inadequate performance is the lack of an effective national and local environmental compliance management system. The other leading reasons are found to be low-level environmental consciousness of the people, absence of environmental management system at the sites, inadequacies in environmental subsidies, and insufficiencies in public environmental infrastructure. Four recommendations are made to increase the effectiveness of compliance management: establishing an effective environmental compliance management system, accelerating public investment for environmental infrastructure, developing financial subsidies and incentive schemes for environmental investments, and encouraging voluntary initiatives.     

The integration of regional environmental planning and physical planning in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands various fields of policy planning and decision making are related to the environment, of which physical land use planning and environmental planning are the most important. In the last 20 years the environmental effects of production, mobility and consumption in this densely populated country have increased. The location and land use of economic activities have therefore become a main concern for environmental policy which has as its aim the improvement and conservation of the quality of the natural and human environment. The prospects for a better co‐ordination and integration of the two policy ‘tracks’ have become a matter of political, scientific and public concern. In some regions the government has started experiments with more integrated environmental policy and management. This paper discusses some of the possibilities and limitations of this regionally oriented policy against the background of a more effective environmental policy, especially in two cases—a rural area in the province of Gelderland and the region of Schiphol Airport.     

Economic and financial aspects of mine closure

Today, mine reclamation is a key component to a successful mine plan. Most of the industrialized nations have recognized the need to make mining activities relatively environmentally friendly, if they want to continue to benefit from the economic gains from mineral resource development. Countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and South Africa are leaders in the field and have implemented relatively sophisticated legislation to ensure environmentally correct mine closure. These countries rely on a combination of strict control strategies and economic penalties to ensure compliance. Yet, from the firm's perspective, reclamation activities are counterproductive as they cut into profits. In order to attract economic development and earn much needed economic capital, most of the rest of the world, particularly the developing countries, lack effective mine closure legislation. The traditional command and control type of legislation that is sometimes used is either vague and therefore avoided, or not enforced appropriately, resulting in an undesirable level of environmental degradation. With the use of case studies from Brazil, this article shows that direct controls are effective in some instances and not in others. It proposes that economic and financial tools may be more effective than the traditional direct controls in getting firms to comply with environmental standards, particularly in developing countries where environmental compliance is more difficult to achieve. It explains the use of performance bonding as one type of economic incentive that has proven to be an effective environmental policy in mine planning and closure. The authors additionally push beyond the typical style of performance bonds to introduce a flexible bonding and insurance system that allows governments to maintain strict environmental standards but limits firms financial exposure during the mining process. Such a system learns from the successes of the industrialized countries that use performance bonding and is sensitive to the needs of developing nations to attract investment yet maintain environmental integrity.     

PROBLEM OF NONPOINT SOURCE AGRICULTURAL WATER POLLUTION: TOWARD A HYPOTHETICAL FEDERAL LEGISLATIVE SOLUTION1

ABSTRACT: A conceptual framework of politics is set forth in relation to the federal environmental legislative process. This framework for analysis is then related to a hypothetical public problem -ground water pollution from agricultural chemicals. The public problem from the perspective of political analysis is found to involve several different types of difficult issues with which the legislative process must deal if legislation is to be enacted.     

Golf Course Development in a Major Tourist Destination: Implications for Planning and Management

The planning and design of golf course developments is influenced by many factors. This paper focuses on the environmental ramifications of insufficient or lack of compliance with standard environmental and economic planning practices. Specifically, it looks at a tourist destination location that was under the influence of extensive land development and investment speculation. The Gold Coast in Australia was the focal point for large overseas investment due to changes in government legislation regarding foreign investment. Due to the economic climate in the second half of the 1980s many golf course resort developments were built, approved, or planned. Many of these circumvented normal business and environment planning processes. The result has been a dangerous concentration of golf facilities in environmentally sensitive areas and an oversupply of golf facilities. Both of these matters are discussed in terms of the general planning process and the potential economic and environmental impacts to the Gold Coast and similar destinations in other parts of the world.     

Reforming the National Framework for Environmental Policies in Saudi Arabia

The current framework for national environmental policies in Saudi Arabia suffers from overlapping authority, a slow decision-making process, gaps in legislation and implementation difficulties. The paper gives a brief assessment of the existing framework including: political culture; environmental decision making process; environmental institutions; and environmental awareness. This is followed by a proposal for reforming the current framework.The proposalcovers four main sectors: political culture and the public role; environmental decision making; environmental policies and laws; and institutional structure.     

Is environmental research and development on the right track? Australian examples

Summary The development products of environmental research lag behind in Australia. The conventional technology transfer model may not apply where environmental research, especially in the social sciences, is still seen as marginal to society. Pragmatic planning is needed for strategic security in times of trouble ahead. Cultural alignment with technological advance allows seduction by laboratories, white gladiatorial coats and expensive equipment imparting high credibility. A correctness for research futures disallows more radical pathways by the use of profit watchers, waste watch committees, technocrats and masculinist political views.A new protocol for environmental research and development calls for less complacency, scrutiny of political and military investment in nuclear futures, greater public policy analysis of issues such as pesticides in Australia's cotton industry, more attention to natural systems thresholds, radical review of social mores, more flexible management systems and closer links between strategic land use and environmental planning.She currently works for the New South Wales Department of Water Resources as a Senior Executive Officer. She has published widely on environmental policy analysis and water planning, and is a Director of Australia's National Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation.     

推进土壤污染防治立法奠定生态环境安全基石

面对我国日益严峻的土壤环境形势,加快推进土壤污染防治立法刻不容缓。加强土壤污染防治立法,是贯彻落实党中央、国务院重要决策部署的具体行动,是有效遏制土壤污染加重趋势的关键环节,是明确落实各方责任的客观要求,是提高公众土壤环境保护意识的现实需要。推进土壤污染防治立法,要坚持问题导向,突出重点环节,明确责任划分,处理好与其他法律的关系,加快建立以土壤污染防治法为统领、以国家政策标准为导向、以部门规章为基础、以科学技术为支撑的中国特色土壤污染防治体系,奠定生态环境安全基石,大力推进生态文明建设。     

The Problem of Common Land: Towards Stakeholder Governance

This paper examines the current governance of common land with the intention of updating a story last examined in detail in studies in the late 1980s. In addition, the paper draws on recent conceptualizations of stakeholders and governance. A brief history of common land shows that governance systems are highly localized and dependent on custom and practice. Such a dependence suggests the need for governance which is based on the incorporation of stakeholders using consensus building approaches. The paper suggests that local governance systems are crucial to the successful implementation of sustainable management practices but that this may be overlooked by land managers and policy makers. Consequently, comprehensive national legislation for common land is not a viable option but legislation can play a valuable role in particular circumstances. The need to give further consideration to the role of legislation and an appropriate policy framework for commons within the context of stakeholder governance is particularly important given the significance of common land for agriculture, nature conservation, landscape, heritage and recreation across England and Wales.     

《刑法修正案（十一）》背景下污染环境罪刑罚适正性研究

《刑法修正案（十一）》修订呈现出刑事立法对于预防与从严惩处犯罪理念的贯彻,在回应风险社会诉求的同时,立法价值观、犯罪观、刑罚观层面客观存在的二律背反现象,引发了学界对于刑罚介入边界的激烈争论。本文基于648份污染环境罪判决书,利用回归分析对污染环境罪包括有期徒刑、拘役、缓刑在内的多个判决结果与影响因素间的内在机理进行实证分析。研究表明,污染环境罪刑罚存在刑罚力度整体轻缓,金钱类环境责任序位混乱,将环境修复作为量刑情节考量指引效果较弱等问题。针对以上问题,一方面通过宽严相济纾解刑罚适用“轻刑化”之困,并重新区分以危险犯和实害犯为基准的刑罚结构;另一方面通过生态修复规范化建立积极的司法导向,并以此重构罚金刑体系。从而达到犯罪控制与生态恢复双重目的,为污染环境罪刑罚研究添砖加瓦,形成具有中国特色的环境犯罪刑罚治理体系。     

Policy And Practice Environmental Policies in Saudi Arabia

The experience of Saudi Arabia in environmental policies is relatively recent. However, the Government has established policy direction and administrative bodies to carry out its policy proposals. This endeavour to construct a framework for environmental policies has been hindered by several obstacles. The paper assesses government efforts in this field by reviewing environmental policy documents, the environmental administrative structure and the environmental decision-making process. A background of environmental policies and legislation is given in addition to categories of environmental agencies.