欧盟流域水环境监测与评价及对我国的启示

为提升我国水环境监测与管理能力,介绍了欧盟水框架指令关于水环境监测的规定,举例介绍了捷克、波兰和意大利等欧盟成员国的水环境监测与评价方法,并对我国在该领域的工作提出了一些想法。     

Review of present European environmental policies and legislation involving cultural heritage

Cultural heritage is being addressed by a number of charters and conventions and it is clear that its consideration within decision-making processes is progressively becoming a real challenge, both for developers and public authorities. Against this background, this paper reviews the environmental assessment framework developed by the European Community, as this should increasingly influence decision making about cultural heritage in an urban setting. The legislative framework for access to environmental information is also reviewed because of its relevance to the decision-making process.The Directives on Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment both require a consideration of cultural heritage in decision making. This requirement can go some way to addressing the paradox in the European Community's position whereby the community wishes to conserve and enhance its own cultural identity whilst, at the same time, cultural heritage is usually defined at a local level. The present paper suggests that, given their flexibility, the two European Community directives on environmental assessment constitute a promising opportunity to address this seeming paradox, but that there is a significant gap between legal obligations and the methodological tools to meet them.     

Analysis of environmental impact assessment (EIA) system in Turkey

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) System, which embodies the ??prevention principle?? of the environmental law, is an important tool for environmental protection. This tool has a private importance for Turkey since it is a developing country, and it entered the Turkish law in 1983 with the Environmental Law. Besides, the EIA Regulation, which shows the application principles, became effective in 1993. Because Turkey is a candidate for European Union (EU), the EIA Regulation has been changed due to the EU compliance procedure, and its latest version became valid in 2008. This study aims to emphasize The EIA system in Turkey to supervise the efficiency of this procedure and point the success level. In the introduction part, general EIA concept, its importance, and some notations are mentioned. Following that, the legislation, which builds the EIA system, has been analyzed starting from the 1982 Turkish Constitution. Then, the legislation rules are explained due to the basic steps of the EIA procedure. In order to shed light upon the application, the EIA final decisions given until today, the results, and their distributions to the industries are assessed. In the final part of the study, a SWOT analysis is made to mention the weaknesses, strengths, opportunities, and threats of the EIA system in Turkey.     

Selection of suitable alternatives to reduce the environmental impact of road traffic noise using a fuzzy multi-criteria decision model

Road traffic noise is one of the most significant environmental impacts generated by transport systems. To this regard, the recent implementation of the European Environmental Noise Directive by Public Administrations of the European Union member countries has led to various noise action plans (NAPs) for reducing the noise exposure of EU inhabitants. Every country or administration is responsible for applying criteria based on their own experience or expert knowledge, but there is no regulated process for the prioritization of technical measures within these plans. This paper proposes a multi-criteria decision methodology for the selection of suitable alternatives against traffic noise in each of the road stretches included in the NAPs. The methodology first defines the main criteria and alternatives to be considered. Secondly, it determines the relative weights for the criteria and sub-criteria using the fuzzy extended analytical hierarchy process as applied to the results from an expert panel, thereby allowing expert knowledge to be captured in an automated way. A final step comprises the use of discrete multi-criteria analysis methods such as weighted sum, ELECTRE and TOPSIS, to rank the alternatives by suitability. To illustrate an application of the proposed methodology, this paper describes its implementation in a complex real case study: the selection of optimal technical solutions against traffic noise in the top priority road stretch included in the revision of the NAP of the regional road network in the province of Almeria (Spain).     

The inherent tensions arising from attempting to carry out strategic environmental assessments on all policies,plans and programmes

This paper evaluates the tensions that result from routinely applying SEA to all policies, plans and programmes within Scotland. The European Union SEA Directive, effective in many EU member states from 2004, introduced a requirement for environmental assessment of certain plans and programmes. Scotland, a devolved nation within the EU member state of the United Kingdom, aimed to be a ‘world leader in SEA’ by legislating for SEA to be undertaken of all public sector plans, programmes and strategies, with the word ‘strategies’ being equated with ‘policies’. This paper presents detailed data regarding Scottish SEA activity between 2004 and 2007, including responses to consultations on SEA reports. This empirical research found that, reflecting a general difficulty in determining where and when SEA should be applied, engagement with the SEA process was not as widespread as intended (including the pre-screening and screening stages). Eight tensions evident from Scotland's application of SEA are identified, and their broader relevance is examined.     

Theory and practice of EIA implementation: A comparative study of three developing countries

This article offers a conceptual framework for analyzing institutional processes and performance outcome of EIA implementation for developing countries. Eight classes of participants in the EIA process are identified: (1) responsible agency; (2) action proponent; (3) preparer; (4) review agency; (5) rule-setting agency; (6) concerned agencies; (7) general public; and (8) licensing agency. Five types of performance outcome are suggested that may follow the introduction of EIA into a national planning system. These include EIA as (1) a fully internalized element of the planning process, (2) a support for a position of advocacy for the environment, (3) a process of adjustment among conflicting goals, (4) a process to remedy prior environmental damage, and (5) a perfunctory endorsement of public or private actions. Using these categories, the EIA system of the Philippines, Korea, and Brazil are analyzed. Three aspects of EIA implementation are compared: national development planning and environmental goals; institutional structure; and performance evaluation. Based on this analysis, the author concludes that while EIA in developing countries is being hampered in its early stages by institutional factors, there are some specific policies that, if adopted by national governments and international aid agencies, would enhance the integration of EIA into the planning and decision-making process and make EIA a more effective tool for environmental protection in the developing world.     

Overcoming implementation barriers: A method for designing Strategic Environmental Assessment guidelines

The effective application of SEA is still limited and needs to be steered through the dissemination of enhanced guidance documents. In this respect, administrative bodies in charge of SEA management have issued guidelines and manuals in order to address the major difficulties that hinder SEA implementation in the day-to-day practice. In this study, we propose a method that assists responsible agencies and professionals in the design of SEA guidance documents. The method uses a comparative approach which builds on the key elements of those documents. We have applied our method to the scrutiny of principles and contents of a selection of SEA guidelines released in the European Union. Results indicate that SEA guidelines should cover a minimum number of relevant issues, including early integration of SEA in the planning and programming processes, development of a fair and inclusive consultation, the construction of credible alternatives, and monitoring strategies. In addition, we found that good SEA guidance documents should build on empirical advice drawn from storytelling referred to a selection of case studies. Our work is intended to support European government agencies as well as practitioners in the design and update of SEA guidelines in a variety of cases, as the general principles that we outline can be systematically applied to any program and plan subject to SEA.     

Is gender inequality an essential driver in explaining environmental degradation? Some empirical answers from the CO2 emissions in European Union countries

The effect of gender inequality on environmental degradation was examined for panel data of fourteen countries from the European Union (EU) from 1991 to 2016. The Quantile via Moments (QvM) and Fixed effects models were used to perform the empirical investigation. The results from the QvM and the Fixed effects models support that the gender gap pay and energy consumption increase the CO₂ emissions in the EU. However, the economic growth, globalisation and urbanisation deepening do not increase the environmental problem. This empirical investigation will contribute to the literature, policymakers, and governments. It will help develop more initiatives to reduces gender inequality at the same time it mitigates the environmental degradation in the EU countries. Finally, the empirical finds of this investigation will open a new topic of investigation in the literature about the relationship between environmental degradation and gender inequality.     

Environmental Impact Assessment in the Visegrad Group countries

The Environmental Impact Assessment Directive (EIA Directive) has created a reference framework for the implementation of the system of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) into the legal systems of the Member States of the European Union, including the countries belonging to the Visegrad Group (V4): Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. The Directive was the basis for the introduction of compulsory stages of the EIA process in the V4. The stages were then adapted to national requirements, including thresholds of the qualifying criteria of projects at the screening and scoping stages. The EIA system in the analysed countries has been growing, changing and being modified together with the political and economic changes of the last 30 years. Although all Visegrad Group countries are members of the EU and should harmonize the provisions of the EIA Directive and its amendments, there still exist singularities in each country's national EIA legislation, in terms of complementarities among the V4 countries, access to information resources, protection of natural resources, mitigation of socio-environmental impacts, or transboundary impact assessment. The article compares and evaluates the EIA systems in the four countries, specifies similarities and differences in the implementation of administrative proceedings and points out opportunities to strengthen the system. It presents selected results of a study conducted in 2013 within the framework of the international project “Assessment of the quality of the environment in the V4 Countries” (AQE V4). This paper indicates examples of good practice in the EIA systems and the obtained results are compared regarding the amendments to the current European Union EIA Directive.     

提高中长期环境质量报告书编制水平的几点思考

针对中长期环境质量报告书编制中存在的系统性弱、可比性差、震撼力弱等问题,提出了运用系统论方法、改进思维方式、开展实用性研究等解决的途径与方法.