Governing Quasi-Public Network Services for adaptation to climate change

Adaptation takes place in both private and public sectors, or as an interrelation between the two, and often under the realm of public regulation. Thispaper uses the Swedish and the Norwegian electricity grid sector, as providers of a vital public good under strict public regulation, to analyse reforms' effects on adaptive capacity in this area. The paper shows that transformational changes in both sectors during the 1990s shifted both the formal organisational structure (rules and regulations), as well as the organisational culture, in the direction of economic efficiency. These two dimensions individually reduced adaptive capacity to climate change, although differently in the two countries. However, the formal structure and organisational culture also yielded substantial influence on each other. This leads to the conclusion that when designing public regulations and implementing reforms, organisational culture must be considered in the design. Also the paper contests previous findings in the literature by showing that under given conditions there exist some substitution between the two dimensions in influencing adaptive capacity, implying that both dimensions should be included when analysing adaptation since analysing them in isolation is likely to lead to wrong conclusions.     

Model‐Based Nitrogen and Phosphorus (Nutrient) Criteria for Large Temperate Rivers: 2. Criteria Derivation

Nitrogen and phosphorus criteria were developed for 233 km of the Yellowstone River, one of the first cases where a mechanistic model has been used to derive large river numeric nutrient criteria. A water quality model and a companion model which simulates lateral algal biomass across transects were used to simulate effects of increasing nutrients on five variables (dissolved oxygen, total organic carbon, total dissolved gas, pH, and benthic algal biomass in depths ≤1 m). Incremental increases in nutrients were evaluated relative to their impact on predefined thresholds for each variable; the first variable to exceed a threshold set the nutrient criteria. Simulations were made at a low flow, the 14Q5 (lowest average 14 consecutive day flow, July‐September, recurring one in five years), which was derived using benthic algae growth curves and EPA guidance on excursion frequency. An extant climate dataset with an annual recurrence was used, and tributary water quality and flows were coincident with the river's 10 lowest flow years. The river had different sensitivities to nutrients longitudinally, pH being the most sensitive variable in the upstream reach and algal biomass in the lower. Model‐based criteria for the Yellowstone River are as follows: between the Bighorn and Powder river confluences, 55 μg TP/l and 655 μg TN/l; from the Powder River confluence to Montana state line, 95 μg TP/l and 815 μg TN/l. Pros and cons of using steady‐state models to derive river nutrient criteria are discussed.     

Influencing climate change regulations: examining responses from large-scale firms

Recent climate change projections and a push towards a universal agreement on carbon emission reductions suggest that firms will need to respond to future regulatory changes. This paper employs an influencing strategies lens to examine how large-scale firms might respond to future climate change regulations. The study uses a structured qualitative methodology to explore and explicate the strategic responses from 21 international firms to the proposed emissions trading scheme outlined in Australia's Garnaut Climate Change Review. The results of the analysis show that firms can use pre-emptive influencing strategies in attempts to shape and mould regulatory design parameters, secure high levels of transitional economic support, and shift the balance of public policies and expenditure. Complementary defensive strategies may also target policy makers and regulators with some of the potential negative consequences of the new regulations.     

儿童在道路行驶中的安全与防护——加拿大新的儿童汽车座椅法规与测试方法

本文主要介绍加拿大新的《机动车辆约束系统和加高座椅安全法规》（SOR/2011-16）的相关内容,同时对儿童汽车座椅的研究与测试方法也进行了详细描述,以对我国相关行业提供借鉴。     

Economic and Ecological Rules for Water Quality Trading1

Horan, Richard D. and James S. Shortle, 2011. Economic and Ecological Rules for Water Quality Trading. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(1):59‐69. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2010.00463.x Abstract: Emissions trading in textbook form uses markets to achieve pollution targets cost‐efficiently. This result is accomplished in markets that regulators can implement without knowing pollution abatement costs. The theoretical promise of emissions trading, along with real‐world success stories from air emissions trading, has led to initiatives to use trading for water pollution control. Yet, trading, particularly when it involves nonpoint sources of pollution, requires significant departures from the textbook concept. This paper explores how features of water quality problems affect the design of markets for water pollution control relative to textbook emissions markets. Three fundamental design tasks that regulators must address for pollution trading to achieve an environmental goal at low cost are examined: (1) defining the point and nonpoint commodities to be traded, (2) defining rules governing commodity exchange, and (3) setting caps on the commodity supplies so as to achieve an environmental target. We show that the way in which these tasks are optimally addressed for water quality markets differs significantly from the textbook model and its real‐world analogs. We also show that the fundamental appeal of emissions trading is lost in the case of realistic water quality markets, as market designs that reduce the costs of achieving water quality goals may no longer be implementable without the regulatory authority having information on abatement costs.     

生产者责任延伸制与电子废弃物管理——环境法规

日益增加的固体废弃物和工业废弃物已成为主要的社会问题。回收服务相对来说还很不足,导致很多废弃物只能进行简单的填埋、焚烧处理。这将导致严重的环境污染。借鉴国外一些发达国家废物管理领域的政策趋势,我国近年来出台了一系列关于电子废弃物管理的政策法规,但也暴露出正规的废物处理企业无法取得规模收益,入不敷出,电子废弃物处理基金的征收及补贴对象不明确等诸多问题。引入生产者责任延伸制将外部影响内部化,在理念和功能等方面适应了电子废弃物管理的需要。     

How Green is Too Green? Public Opinion of What Constitutes Undesirable Algae Levels in Streams1

Abstract: A public opinion survey was carried out in Montana to ascertain if the public identifies a level of benthic (bottom‐attached) river and stream algae that is undesirable for recreation. The survey had two parts; an On‐River survey and a By‐Mail survey. The On‐River survey was conducted via 44 trips randomly scheduled throughout the state during which recreators were interviewed in‐person at the stream. Selection of stream segments and survey dates/times was based on known, statewide recreational use patterns. By‐Mail survey forms were sent to 2,000 individuals randomly selected from Montana’s Centralized Voter File (CVF) available from the Montana Secretary of State. The CVF was current through 2004 and represented over 85% of the state’s eligible voting population. In both surveys, eight randomly ordered photographs depicting varying levels of stream benthic algae were presented, and participants were asked if the algae level shown was desirable or undesirable for recreation. Survey form design, selection of photographs, and pretesting followed acceptable protocols that limited unintentional bias through survey execution. There were 433 returned forms (389 complete) for the By‐Mail survey, while the On‐River survey documented 563 interviews. In both surveys, as benthic algal chlorophyll a (Chl a) levels increased, desirability for recreation decreased. (Other measures of benthic algae biomass are presented as well.) For the public majority, mean benthic Chl a levels ≥200 mg/m² were determined to be undesirable for recreation, whereas mean levels ≤150 mg Chl a/m² were found to be desirable. Error rates were within the survey’s statistical design criteria (≤5%). The largest potential error source was nonresponse in the By‐Mail survey; however, the population represented by nonrespondents would have to exhibit profoundly different perceptions of river and stream algae to meaningfully alter the results. Results support earlier work in the literature suggesting 150 mg Chl a/m² represents a benthic algae nuisance threshold.     

Environmental Exposure of Aquatic and Terrestrial Biota to Triclosan and Triclocarban1

Abstract: The synthetic biocides triclosan (5‐chloro‐2‐(2,4‐dichlorophenoxy)phenol) and triclocarban (3,4,4′‐trichlorocarbanilide) are routinely added to a wide array of antimicrobial personal care products and consumer articles. Both compounds can persist in the environment and exhibit toxicity toward a number of biological receptors. Recent reports of toxicological effects in wildlife, human cell cultures, and laboratory animals have heightened the interest in the occurrence of these biocide and related toxic effects. The present study aimed to summarize published environmental concentrations of biocides and contrast them with toxicity threshold values of susceptible organisms. Environmental occurrences and toxicity threshold values span more than six orders of magnitude in concentration. The highest biocide levels, measured in the mid parts‐per‐million range, were determined to occur in aquatic sediments and in municipal biosolids destined for land application. Crustacea and algae were identified as the most sensitive species, susceptible to adverse effects from biocide exposures in the parts‐per‐trillion range. An overlap of environmental concentrations and toxicity threshold values was noted for these more sensitive organisms, suggesting potential adverse ecological effects in aquatic environments. Affirmative evidence for this is lacking, however, since studies examining environmental occurrences of biocides vis‐à‐vis the health and diversity of aquatic species have not yet been conducted.     

中美环保产业对比分析研究

基于对中美两国环保产业的内涵、法律法规、经济政策及市场化发展情况等方面的比较和分析,探讨了中美两国环保产业发展中存在的异同点,针对我国环保产业发展中存在的不足提出了加快我国环保产业发展的政策建议。     

环境规制对技术效率和生产力损失的影响分析

以中国工业为研究对象,以经济发展程度不同所分的东部、中部和西部地区兰个地区作为研究区域,采用非参数数据包络法(DEA)中的径自效率测量方法(radial efficiency measure)为主要研究方法,分析了在1998-2005年期间环境规制对中国工业的技术效率和生产力损失的影响.研究结果表明,在指定的研究期间,环境规制使得中国工业技术效率提高,但是对于生产力的发展却产生了负面的影响.三个地区之间受环境规制影响的差异较大,其中东部为环境规制所付出的成本最大,即东部为环境污染所付出的环境成本最高,这也是为何从九十年代开始,污染物从东部往中西部转移的原因;从受污染物影响的角度来看,因控制废水而引起的生产力损失大于因控制SO2而引起的生产力损失,即对于中国工业,废水的环境成本大于SO2的环境成本.另外,从研究结果中也可知,在中国现有的生产方式下,实施严格的环境规制有一定难度,所以改变旧的生产方式,实施可持续发展的生产方式是当务之急.