市场机制下完善大气污染防治法的若干思考

《中华人民共和国大气污染防治法》虽于１９９５年作了某些修改，但仍有一些应该改善的地方，如应建立大气污染物总量控制制度和推行大气污染物排放许可证制度，如排污收费应从浓度收费向浓度与总量结合收费转变，从单因子收费向多因子收费转变，从超欠量收费向等量收费转变，如建立征收环境税和生态环境补偿费，对有利于防止大气污染的行为优惠和补赔等经济激励机制。改善《中华人民共和国大气污染防治法》应积极借鉴国外的先进经验     

日本废弃物的管理制度与研究现状——Ⅱ日本废弃物的法律法规与管理体系

介绍了日本废弃物法律法规体系的构成以及基本法律的主要内容。     

我国农业环境监测的法律解析

简述了目前农业环境监测的法律地位和实际工作状况。指出了农业环境监测工作中需要解决的法律依据不足,环保与农业部门职能交叉、责权不清等问题。提出了对全国农业环境监测的立法思路,以及农业环境监测作为农业环境保护的重要组成部分,国家应尽早为农业环境监测立法的必要性与重要性。     

Environmental politics in post-World War II America

America has always had to confront environmental problems, but it wasn't until after World War II that most Americans began to develop the kind of consciousness about environmental issues that has played such a role in domestic politics over the past quarter century. After the surge of post war growth, we began to recognize the limits of our ability to exploit our environment for private gain, thus creating environmental awareness and ultimately a political movement. In 1970, President Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency, and appointed William Ruckelshaus as Director. Ruckelshaus was succeeded by Russell Train and Douglas Coste, and all three men began to make serious headway in the effort to clean up the nation's environment. In 1980, however, President Ronald Reagan, taking an anti-Federal government involvement in the private sector stance, began to seriously cut the budget of the EPA. He appointed Ann Gorsuch, who cut the budget as she believed the President wished, but her poor relationship with the Congress eventually forced her to resign. President Reagan requested that Bill Ruckelshaus return, and EPA has been blessed with good leadership ever since. During the Bush years, EPA director William Reilly even managed to pass sweeping acid rain control legislation. When Bill Clinton was elected President in 1992, he did not possess a strong environmental record, however his running mate, Al Gore, most certainly did. EPA administrator Carole Browner, in fact, was a former Gore staffer and the White House environmental office is led by former Gore people. Clinton and Gore have attempted to bring a degree of flexibility to environmental regulation, and have also involved themselves personally in resolving environmental disputes. For instance, they and Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbit worked to fashion a long-term plan for the Florida Everglades that helped warring groups and interests come to consensus. With the 1994 Republican victory in the Congressional elections, it appeared that the environment may once again be in danger, as the Contract with America pledged to reduce or eliminate environmental controls. Popular opinion, however, caused the Congress to change their views and even directed them to pass environmental legislation that has won the support of both the business and environmental protection sectors. These developments have displayed that Americans care deeply about the environment and provide the basis for a genuine bipartisan consensus on environmental issues which will increasingly emphasize thoughtful and effective technological solutions in the future. Although the benefits of this legislation have been drastic, we are now dealing with problems requiring more subtle and sophisticated answers than we needed in the past. Because of this, political leaders will look to the classrooms and laboratories to produce the answers to the environmental problems of the future, and in turn will be willing to support educators and researchers with resources and political clout. Neither the politicians nor the business community can solve these problems without a close working relationship with the world of environmental and biotechnology. Building that collaborative relationship is one of the most important challenges we face as we approach the 21st century. It is also, particularly for those of us who have been laboring in the environmental vineyard for years, one of the most exciting.     

Achieving sustainable biomaterials by maximising waste recovery

The waste hierarchy of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle, recover’ can be followed to improve the sustainability of a product, yet it is not applied in any meaningful way in the biomaterials industry which focuses more on sustainable sourcing of inputs. This paper presents the results of industry interviews and a focus group with experts to understand how waste recovery of biomaterials could become more widespread. Interview findings were used to develop three scenarios: (1) do nothing; (2) develop legislation; and (3) develop certification standards. These scenarios formed the basis for discussions at an expert focus group. Experts considered that action was required, rejecting the first scenario. No preference was apparent for scenarios (2) and (3). Experts agreed that there should be collaboration on collection logistics, promotion of demand through choice editing, product ‘purity’ could be championed though certification and there should be significant investment and research into recovery technologies. These considerations were incorporated into the development of a model for policy makers and industry to help increase biomaterial waste recovery.     

Putting a circular economy into practice in China

Promoting a circular economy has been identified as China’s basic national policy, according to the recently enacted 11th five-year plan for China’s economic and social development. Because of the importance of the development strategy used for this purpose, an implementation framework is proposed in this paper. First, a program is suggested for practically implementing a circular economy in China to serve as a demonstration, beginning at the level of enterprises, then industrial parks, then expanding to cities and regions, thus enabling accumulation of experience to facilitate reasonable decision-making at each successive step. Legislation is also urgent. Certain issues involving legislation, for example the rules the law requires, maneuverability, public involvement, and referencing of developed countries’ experiences, must be effectively addressed. Finally, a scientific and effective assessment system should be developed to obtain accurate information and improve guidance. Assessment indices should include an economic development index, a green development index, and a human development index.     

Policy,legislative and institutional assessments for integrated river basin management in Turkey

The rapidly growing population, increased urbanization, and intensive industrial and agricultural activities cause degradation and pollution of natural resources, soil erosion, and changes in hydrologic regimes in all over the world. To overcome these situations, it is necessary to develop an effective and holistic management methodology, called Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM). It is an internationally accepted administrative tool.IRBM is also one of the implementation requirements of the European Commission Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC) for European Union (EU) member states and candidate countries. Turkey, as an EU candidate country, already has started and continues to work toward adaptation of the WFD. Since the early 2000s, river basin studies have been undertaken to help integrate the WFD into Turkish legislation. Although Turkey has a strong legislative background, there are many challenges in this transition period because of several big river basins, the lack of environmental infrastructure, and the cost of carrying out the WFD.This paper analyses the political, legislative, and institutional advances of the implementation of IRBM in Turkey. Before the assessments of the new Turkish legislation developments and new basin institutions, the general principles of IRBM are explained. Finally, some recommendations for improving the effectiveness of the new basin organizations and water legislation are presented.     

Status quo of e-waste management in mainland China

In China, the use and obsolescence of both electronic and electrical equipment have increased rapidly in recent years. China has also begun to take measures to cope with this problem since it began experiencing a rapid process of industrialization and urbanization in the 1990s. In this paper, the profile of the electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) problem in China is depicted from such aspects as domestic e-waste and imported e-waste, along with their recycling systems, policies, and regulations. Based on statistics of the consumption of major household appliances and personal computers, a forecast is made of the numbers of obsolete major household appliances and personal computers. The results show that currently the number of electrical and electronic products in use in China is tremendous. An investigation on household appliances and personal computers in Beijing was made to assess the use and obsolescence of these products. Also, the legal issues relating to e-waste in China are summarized, and these will be the juristic foundation for the solution of e-waste problems.     

A review of conservation legislation in Nepal: Past progress and future needs

Nepal is considered a leader among developing nations with regard to conservation legislation and programs; it was among the first Asian nations to develop national conservation legislation, sign CITES, and develop a national conservation strategy. We review the history of modern conservation law in Nepal from the Rana period (early 1950s) to the present. The early legislation focused mainly on strict preservation of areas and species; this phase culminated in the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act of 1973. Subsequent legislation has evolved more in the direction of an integrated, holistic approach to conservation and is beginning to incorporate the participation of local people; subsequent amendments to the 1973 act allowed greater rights to rural villagers, and the designation of conservation areas in addition to the more strictly defined protected areas (national parks, wildlife reserves, etc.). Our review of conservation legislation suggests that Nepal has had many successes to date; the country has a protected area system covering over 10% of its land area, and many target species are recovering in parks and reserves. There are also some causes of concern, including staff shortages, financial constraints within the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, and the fact that there is little legal infrastructure outside of protected areas to enforce conservation laws; further, some aspects of hunting regulations are in need of revision. Primary needs include a comprehensive review of these policies and a nationalized strategy to ameliorate the shortcomings.     

Implications of mangrove dynamics for private and use in bragança, north Brazil: a case study

This work analyses effects of recent variations in the tidal inundation frequency in a mangrove ecosystem in the Bragança peninsula, North Brazil, and its implications for land occupation and use. Field data, time series of remote sensing images and local legislation were analysed focusing on the potential socio-economic impact of a changing environmental setting due to a rise in relative sea level. In the investigated period (1972–1997), vegetation changes along the coastline indicate net losses of mangrove coverage. In the central part of the peninsula, a topographically higher herbaceous plain constituting part of a farm presents an active progression of mangrove forest into an area previously dominated by grasses and herbs. This area measured 8.8 km² in 1972 but was gradually reduced to 5.6 km² in 1997, while progressively replaced by a monospecific stand of the black mangrove,Avicennia germinans. A linear extrapolation indicates that the elevated plain may be completely covered by mangrove by 2035. Current Brazilian legislation prohibits the extraction of mangrove trees without an officially approved management plan. Thus, the usable area of the farm has suffered a reduction by ca. 36% over 25 yr and we predict that is could be entirely replaced by mangroves in the next 35 yr. In this case study, legislation and ecosystem characteristics are analysed and a management plan discussed which could represent income alternatives for affected resource users at the local and regional level.