Focusing biodiversity research on the needs of decision makers

The project on Biodiversity Uncertainties and Research Needs (BURN) ensures the advancement of usable knowledge on biodiversity by obtaining input from decision makers on their priority information needs about biodiversity and then using this input to engage leading scientists in designing policy-relevant research. Decision makers articulated concerns related to four issues: significance of biodiversity; status and trends of biodiversity; management for biodiversity; and the linkage of social, cultural, economic, legal, and biological objectives. Leading natural and social scientists then identified the research required to address the decision makers' needs and determined the probability of success. The diverse group of experts reached consensus on several fundamental issues, helping to clarify the role of biodiversity in land and resource management. The BURN participants identified several features that should be incorporated into policy-relevant research plans and management strategies for biodiversity. Research and assessment efforts should be: multidisciplinary and integrative, participatory with stakeholder involvement, hierarchical (multiple scales), and problem- and region-specific. The activities should be focused regionally within a global perspective. Meta-analysis of existing data is needed on all fronts to assess the state of the science. More specifically, the scientists recommended six priority research areas that should be pursued to address the information needs articulated by decision makers: (1) characterization of biodiversity, (2) environmental valuation, (3) management for sustainability—for humans and the environment (adaptive management), (4) information management strategies, (5) governance and stewardship issues, and (6) communication and outreach. Broad recommendations were developed for each research area to provide direction for research planning and resource management strategies. The results will directly benefit those groups that require biodiversity research to address their needs—whether to develop policy, manage natural resources, or make other decisions affecting biodiversity.     

A framework to assess regional environmental impacts of dedicated energy crop production

Numerous studies have evaluated air quality and greenhouse gas mitigation benefits of biomass energy systems, but the potential environmental impacts associated with large-scale changes in land-use patterns needed to produce energy crops have not been quantified. This paper presents a framework to assess the potential soil, water, and biodiversity impacts that may result from the large-scale production of dedicated energy crops. The framework incorporates producer economic decision models with environmental models to assess changes in land use patterns and to quantify the consequent environmental impacts. Economic and policy issues that will affect decisions to produce energy crops are discussed. The framework is used to evaluate erosion and chemical runoff in two Tennessee regions. The analysis shows that production of dedicated energy crops in place of conventional crops will significantly reduce erosion and chemical runoff.     

"以人为本"是房地产建设项目环境影响评价中的重要原则

房地产开发项目体现“以人为本”理念和对环境影响的双重性，在房地产建设项目环境影响评价中应以“以人为本”的原则加深其服务功能和环境保护目标的属性，实现房地产开发项目和谐共生的生态环境和可持续发展。     

半导体企业的EHSMS评价体系研究

为了给员工提供安全、环保、健康的工作环境,半导体制造企业必须建立环境管理和职业健康安全管理体系(EHSMS).为此,评价EHSMS运行的有效性、完整性以及合法性就显得十分重要.本文在分析半导体企业污染物影响环境和健康基础上,建立了EHSMS评估体系.为了实施EHSM评估系统,方便半导体企业用户使用,提出了一套EHSM评价系统的计算机软件解决方案.     

关于沥青烟尘治理的工业安全与卫生评价

炭阳极生产过程存在着严重的环境污染问题 ,在诸多污染物中沥青烟尘对人类生存的危害最大 ,是企业和政府强化治理的重点。笔者结合某铝厂的技术改造工程 ,对沥青烟尘的治理加以讨论 ,将先进的生产工艺和成熟可靠的净化技术作为治理污染源的有效措施 ,以保证污染物的排放量达到国家标准要求。在技改过程中 ,严格按照所涉及的安全生产规程和标准 ,把它们作为技术改造设计原则、安全防范措施、工业卫生评价的依据。     

综合安全评价(FSA)方法

为提高国际海运安全管理的决策水平,国际海事组织(IMO)接受并倡导由英国海运界提出的综合安全评价(FSA)方法,笔者对FSA方法作了本质性分析和应用性研究。阐述了FSA的由来,5个组成步骤及相互关系和流程,揭示了FSA与风险管理和安全系统工程的渊源;介绍了危险识别的7种工具;对步骤二“风险评估”重点引入了半定量分析方法和定量分析方法,并用集合论观点讨论了事故频率和后果严重度的计算方法;介绍了风险控制方案的“成本与效益评估”的数学模型;归纳了FSA方法的优缺点。指出FSA是一种集风险评价和成本/效益评估于一体,兼顾技术性与经济性,可广泛兼容具体评价方法和普遍适用各类风险评价的框架性方法,但具体应用需要有效整合适用的定性和定量方法。     

旅游区(点)安全评估体系初探

旅游区的安全状况越来越受到各级政府的广泛关注,规范旅游景点安全管理已成当务之急.文章以模糊数学和层次分析理论为指导构建了旅游区(点)安全评估指标体系和评价模型,评价过程考虑了影响安全等级的相关因素,并保留了各级评价的全部信息.实例采用典型的旅游景点指标数据,评价结果直观地反映了旅游区的安全状况.     

Ecological risk and accessibility analysis to assess the impact of roads under Habitats Directive

We propose a method for the appropriate assessment of adverse effects of roads in compliance with the European Union Habitats Directive. The method incorporates an analysis of ecological risk of edge effects by the proposed roads with the related increase in accessibility. The method was tested on 30 km of planned forest roads inside an 8,000-ha reserve included in two Natura 2000 sites. As a result, the cumulative effect of 19 road segments was judged as not significantly affecting the integrity of the sites, although they made accessible an extra 314 ha. On the basis of the accessibility calculation, 20 ha of land were set aside from forest exploitation as a mandatory mitigation measure. The method objectively determined the cumulative adverse effects, enabled comparison of plan revisions and alternatives and proved to measure direct and indirect significant effects with a realistic effort in terms of field survey and geographic information system processing.     

Selection and integration of environmental impacts in the Danish transport infrastructure assessment process

Transport projects have numerous consequences for the environment, society and economy, and thus an EU Directive has stated a number of impacts that need to be assessed prior to any major intervention. This paper is set in a Danish context where the EU requirements have been adopted in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulation along with national requirements. In recent years, however, the EIAs have been criticised for an inconsistent inclusion of impacts and unclear assessment process. A selection of EIAs is for this reason reviewed and compared to the EU Directive and corresponding works in Sweden and the UK to identify potential opportunities for improvements. From the literature study, an overview table with all potential relevant impacts for transport projects is set up to assist the EIA process. For the sake of simplicity and transparency, the impacts selected from this table should, however, be further reduced in number to ensure that only the most important impacts are included in the process. To further increase simplicity and transparency in the EIA process, a novel framework for assessing different types of impacts is proposed. In this framework, a comprehensive decision support tool involving stakeholders is in focus. The framework is supplemented with a procedure for generating objectives and presenting results in an appropriate way to the many stakeholders involved. The impacts overview table and the assessment techniques are applied to a case study to illustrate the process, and finally, conclusions and perspectives for future work within the field are set out.     

地下水污染健康风险评价理论体系研究

基于对风险的认识,以地下水为研究载体提出地下水污染健康风险评价的概念.按照风险识别、风险量化、风险管理的步骤构建了地下水污染健康风险评价的理论体系,并对每个步骤进行了详细的描述和研究方法的探讨,提出了判定的原则和方法以及对我国地下水污染健康风险管理的建议,以期为我国地下水资源管理和保护工作提供科学依据.