论政府生态环境损害赔偿责任的承担

政府承担生态环境损害赔偿责任的理论基础是政府对环境质量负责,政府对环境质量负责的实质是政府作为公共环境的管理者和控制者对维护公共环境利益所负担的安全保障义务。根据政府的环境安全保障义务,政府承担生态环境损害赔偿责任应以过错推定为归责原则,责任构成的核心是政府负有其职责范围内特定的环境安全保障义务,因未尽环境安全保障义务间接引发生态环境损害。由于政府未尽环境安全保障义务的行为并非直接也并不必然导致生态环境损害,所以政府一般仅根据自身行为的可责性及其程度对生态环境损害承担补充性的赔偿责任,只有在特殊情况下才承担连带赔偿责任,在政府不负有特定环境安全保障义务的情况下政府不承担赔偿责任。     

美国环境与健康管理体制借鉴

美国为应对环境污染带来的公共健康灾难,建立了环保局与卫生部既分工又协作的体制,两个部门都关注环境污染对人类健康的危害。在职能上,环保局侧重于管制和"污染者",卫生部侧重于服务和"潜在受害者"。联邦层面,环保局与卫生部在管制方面和研究(信息共享)方面紧密合作。地方层面,环保局的主要职能是监督各州执行联邦标准,卫生部的主要职能是提供健康和医疗服务,并在具体工作中密切配合。借鉴美国的经验教训,明确建立"公众健康优先"的环境管理价值取向,针对环境与健康风险管理的特点推进生态环境统一监管机构改革,以法治思维和法治方法推进环境与健康治理体系建设;加强科学研究,加快建设环境与健康风险控制信息系统。     

美国的农药管理体制和管理方法

农药是美国现代化农业的主要支柱之一,每年的产量和施用量均居世界前列,对农业生产本身和环境构成很大的威胁,因此,美国对农药的管理是非常严格的。美国的监督管理体制和管理方法比较健全,而且有效。一、以联邦为主,联邦与州相百配合美国国会于1947年制定了第一部有关农药的法律——《联邦杀虫剂、杀菌剂和杀鼠刑法》。在公众积极推动以及《国家环境政策法》和《清洁空气法》的影响下,美国国会于1972年对《联邦杀虫剂、杀菌剂和杀及刑法》进行了重大的修定,并更名为《联邦环境农药控制法》,确立了以联邦政府管理为主,联邦政府与各…     

人类走向环境伦理

环境伦理是从道德的角度研究人与自然关系的问题,本文主要从环境伦理的产生、环境伦理要求人们走出“人类中心主义”、环境伦理的道德原则和规范三个方面来阐述。环境伦理的兴起与对人类的启示“伦理”一词代表的是人们的言论和行为要遵循的原则、规范,并与人的责任和义务相联系。传统的伦理是揭示人与人之间关系的一种规律性的认识,也就是反映人们之间的伦理关系,反映人们相互之间应该承担的责任和义务。千百年来,伦理的作用和功能主要表现在调节人际之间利益关系的层面上。所以,以往当人们谈到伦理的时候,它存在于人类之间,只起调…     

打赢“呼吸保卫战”——体制与雾霾

环境问题的复杂性,考验着政府的治理能力。2013年9月,国务院发布《大气污染防治行动计划》,提出”地方各级政府对本区域内的大气环境质量负总责“的原则,体现了加强政府环保责任的意志。     

打赢“呼吸保卫战”

正环境问题的复杂性,考验着政府的治理能力。2013年9月,国务院发布《大气污染防治行动计划》,提出"地方各级政府对本区域内的大气环境质量负总责"的原则,体现了加强政府环保责任的意志。随后,31个省(区、市)与环保部签署《大气污染防治目标》责任书,立下治霾军令状,一些大城市,纷纷出台地方政策:限煤、限电、限制私人汽车等。然而此举并未获得公众的一致赞扬,网民们质疑:这些     

应对环境风险的反身规制研究

面对当前日益严峻的环境风险和生态危机,环境领域的两大规制模式——命令控制规制模式和激励规制模式呈现规制失灵、治理不力的困境。从反身法理论来阐释,是由于这两种规制模式忽略了法律系统与其他社会子系统自身的独特运行逻辑,法律系统具有运行的封闭性与认知的开放性,有效的规制模式必须实现不同系统之间的结构耦合。反身规制是一种对自我规制的规制,其在承认法律自身规制局限性的基础上,培育其他子系统的反思结构,为提升当前环境治理绩效提供了一个新路径。实现对环境风险的反身规制,需要从信息披露、程序设计及商谈规范方面建构相应的法律制度。     

世界水资源保护管理体制的发展趋势

工业发达国家在采用了一系列水污染防治措施之后,都发现仅有污水治理技术还解决不了水污染问题,必须用法律、经济、政策和规划等多种手段加强水资源的管理工作。在管理体制上,很多国家在实行国家联邦级管理的基础上,逐渐建立起区域(行政区、流域或水系)级管理机构,使区域性和流域性管理成为控制水污染的一个重要环节。本文以美国水资源管理体制与河系水质规划;日本水资源管理体制与污水总量控制制度;英国以泰晤士河为代表的     

粤港区域大气环境管理创新机制研究

在总结美国、欧盟跨区域大气环境管理经验的基础上,通过文献调研以及对香港特区环保署、广东省环境监测中心等相关部门的走访,分析了粤港区域大气环境管理的现状与挑战。从粤港“一国两制”的区域特征出发,探讨、研究并制定了粤港跨区域大气环境管理的目标及需求分析。在尊重国情的基础上,适当借鉴欧美经验,对粤港区域大气环境管理机制进行创新。     

环境维权的困境及出路

环境维权不是与政府作对，首先是维护法律的尊严。环保NGO的环境维权之所以处境艰难．很大程度是由于官员的误解，未等真正开始维权便被扣上了“不安定分子”的大帽子．另一方面还因为地方官员与环境侵权者的微妙关系。在环境维权过程中．我们需要汇集个体的力量，充分发挥环保NGO的组织力量。环境维权也并不单是追求金钱赔偿．维护人的生存环境才是我们最终的目标。     

奥地利的环境保护

奥地利环境保护行政管理分联邦和州两级,联邦政府主管政策制定、法规起草、编制规划等,具体执法管理工作由州环保局负责.为了减少事务性工作,强化环境保护行政管理和执法,成立了联邦环保局,为制定联邦环保政策和环保执法提供专业支持,履行环境监督职能.完善的法规、活跃的环保社团、广泛的群众参与是奥地利环境保护处于世界领先地位的基础和保证.     

The Supreme Court,the commerce clause,and natural resources

The Supreme Court's interpretation of the commerce clause controls the balance of power between state and federal governments in the United States. An understanding of the relationship between the different government levels is essential for resource managers concerned with resource and environmental issues. This study examines selected Supreme Court decisions between 1976 and 1988 to answer three questions raised by the commerce clause: (1) Is the regulated item an article of commerce? (2) Do state laws burden interstate commerce? (3) Is federal commerce regulation limited? The balance of power among the justices and the commerce clause theories affecting the federal role in resource management are also examined. Since ratification of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has continuously increased federal power, but states have power to act independently as long as contradictory federal laws do not exist and state law does not impermissively affect commerce. If Congress regulates an individual's use of resources, their power is unquestioned. Future Court decisions will not significantly reduce the federal role in resource management even if the Court's membership changes. Even the supporters of states' rights on the Court realize increased federal power is a necessary part of the country's evolution. The purpose of the commerce clause is to create a national economic unit with free location principles. The Court supports this purpose today and will in the future.     

THE ENVIRONMENTAL DISPLAY MANAGER: A TOOL FOR WATER QUALITY DATA INTEGRATION1

ABSTRACT: The Environmental Display Manager, EDM, is a development system on an IBM 3090 mainframe at the U.S. EPA National Computer Center in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. EDM provides mapping, display, analysis support, and information management capabilities to workstations located across the United States, and connected to EPA through federal, state, academic, and private communications networks. Through interactive software, EDM can quickly support analyses, create maps and graphics, and generate reports that integrate millions of pieces of environmental data. The concept of EDM is to provide easy access to environmental information, to provide automated environmental analyses and reports, and then to provide data, graphics, images, text, and documents that can be used by numerous output devices, software packages, and computers. The mapping cumponent works with an electronic version of the 54,000 7.5 minute quad sheets of the U.S. Geological Survey. The software also works with a hydrographic data base of the surface waters of the United States. With the maps, a user can look at the rivers in any state, can zoom in on a small pond, and can overlay and identify particular features such as industrial waste dischargers and factories. The hydrography allows routing for modeling programs, identification of upstream and downstream components, and linkage of environmental features associated with surface waters. Alternatively, users can query data based on latitude/longitude, city name, EPA permit number, state agency and station code, river name or number, and river cataloging unit. The maps can be overlaid with roads and environmental sites such as: municipal and industrial dischargers, Superfund sites, public drinking water supplies, water quality monitoring stations, stream gages, and city locations. Retrievals from related systems can be performed for selected sites creating graphics showing water quality trends, discharge monitoring reports, and permit discharge limits.     

Balancing environmental and industry sustainability: A case study of the US gold mining industry

Mandatory insurance requirements and/or mitigation fees (royalties) for mining companies may help reduce environmental risk exposure for the federal government. Mining is examined since the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Toxic Release Inventory reveals that this sector produces more hazardous waste than any other industrial sector. Although uncommon, environmental expense can exceed hundreds of millions of dollars per development. Of particular concern is the potential for mines to become unfunded Superfund sites. Monte Carlo simulation of risk exposure is used to establish a plausible range of unfunded federal liabilities associated with cyanide-leach gold mining. A model is developed to assess these costs and their impact on both the federal budget and corporate profitability (i.e., industry sustainability), particularly if such costs are borne by offending firms.     

New federalism and state implementation of the Clean Water Act

An important goal of the Reagan administration has been to shift responsibility for many public programs from the US federal government to the states. This New Federalism seeks to restore a proper balance to the federal system and to ensure an effective working partnership between the states and the federal government. Such a partnership is especially important for many environmental laws because these laws often give states primary responsibility for the control and abatement of pollution.This research examines the extent to which the Reagan administration has succeeded in improving intergovernmental environmental relations in terms of state implementation of the Clean Water Act. Data from a 1985 survey of directors of state water quality control programs are compared with responses to a similar survey that the US General Accounting Office conducted in 1979. The latter survey found considerable dissatisfaction on the part of state directors with the quality of their relations with the US Environmental Protection Agency. Although some improvement can be noted between 1979 and 1985, the Reagan administration's efforts to improve intergovernmental relations appear to have been of limited consequence, to the possible detriment of effective implementation of the Clean Water Act.     

Environmental quality management in the united states in the 1980s and beyond: An appraisal

Summary This paper presents an overview of: (1) the institutional context of the environmental pollution sector of environmental quality management; (2) accomplishments and problems in some representative subsectors; and (3) prospects. The author describes levels of government within the US federal system and lists types of organizational structures, explains the division of responsibilities for managing environmental quality among legislative bodies/executive agencies, state and federal courts, and state public utility commission, and notes the significant role of nongovernmental environmental groups. In order to assess both the past performance and present status of environmental quality management in the United States, Bower cites some specific and generic problems in such subsectors as water quality, soil erosion, air quality, and hazardous wastes. He goes on to characterize recent approaches and their results using these observations as a basis for an appraisal of future prospects in the context of intermedia impacts and multiple modes of impact on various species. Remarks prepared for presentation at theColloque International, Les Politiques de l'Environnement Face à la Crise, Paris, 10–12 January, 1984. Blair T. Bower, a Registered Civil Engineer, is a Consultant in Residence at Resources For the Future in Washington, DC. He has worked extensively in the US and abroad on environmental quality management with such international organizations as the UN, WHO, OAS, and OECD. His current involvements include consultancies with the US National Oceans and Atmospheric Administration, Strategic Assessments Branch/Oceans Assessment Division; as Leader for Utilization of Coastal Water Problem Areas/Analyzing Biospheric Change Programme, International Federation of Institutes for Advances Study; and with the Office of Policy Analysis/US Environmental Protection Agency. An early supporter of integrated approaches to natural resource/environmental planning and management and to residuals disposal, Mr Bower is the author of many publications on a wide range of environmental topics and management options.     

A CRITIQUE OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT EFFORTS IN THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI ALLUVIAL PLAIN1

ABSTRACT: Integrated watershed management in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Plain (Delta) requires blending federal, state, and local authority. The federal government has preeminent authority over interstate navigable waters. Conversely, state and local governments have authority vital for comprehensive watershed management. In the Delta, integrating three broad legal and administrative regimes: (1) flood control, (2) agricultural watershed management, and (3) natural resources and environmental management, is vital for comprehensive intrastate watershed, and interstate river basin management. Federal Mississippi River flood control projects incorporated previous state and local efforts. Similarly, federal agricultural programs in the River's tributary headwaters adopted watershed management and were integrated into flood control efforts. These legal and administrative regimes implement national policy largely in cooperation with and through technical and financial assistance to local agencies such as levee commissions and soil and water conservation districts. This administrative infrastructure could address new national concerns such as nonpoint source pollution which require a watershed scale management approach. However, the natural resources and environmental management regime lacks a local administrative infrastructure. Many governmental and non governmental coordinating organizations have recently formed to address this shortcoming in the Delta. With federal and state leadership and support, these organizations could provide mechanisms to better integrate natural resources and environmental issues into the Delta's existing local administrative infrastructure.     

ISO 14001 in state regulatory offices: A survey of activities

Is ISO 14001 just for the private sector? The answer is definitely “No.” The survey in this article was conducted to better understand how ISO 14001/Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) was being addressed by state agencies around the country. The survey goals were to determine where the focus on ISO 14001/EMSs is within state government, what the level of interest is, and how far states have progressed toward some form of use or recognition of ISO 14001. During the months that this survey was conducted, the progress at the state and federal levels was remarkable. Many states are aggressively moving forward and encouraging the investigation of ISO 14001 implementation. There is a well coordinated effort between several states (the Multi-State Working Group) to gather data on ISO 14001 effectiveness in a consistent manner. The cooperation between EPA and the states is beginning to solidify, with federal dollars going to state-managed pilot programs, and EPA has stepped forward with a more organized effort led by the Office of Reinvention.     

Virtual Intergovernmental Linkage Through the Environmental Information Exchange Network

Over the past decade the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the states have partnered in developing a web-based information sharing initiative that provides state environmental agencies easy access to federal environmental monitoring data and to the environmental data of other states, and gives the EPA access to data from state sources. The Environmental Information Exchange Network (EIEN) has established basic data exchange nodes in each of the states. Using multiple regression analysis we investigate the factors that account for the number and development stage of the data exchanges in which the states participate as of 2009. Overall, we find that administrative factors, especially the EPA’s grant program, are more important than political or environmental conditions. Participation in the exchanges is important not only as a way to reduce costs for data reporting and communication, but also as a precursor to greater eventual interstate environmental collaboration. Though clear evidence of a transition to collaboration is not yet seen here, there are some indications it may emerge in time.