An environmental management system implementation model for U.S. colleges and universities

The Osnabruck model, and another under development by the South Carolina Sustainable Universities Initiative, are the only two EMS models that have been proposed specifically for colleges and universities, although several guides are now available. The Environmental Management System Implementation Model for U.S. Colleges and Universities detailed in this paper, an adaptation of the ISO 14001 standard and USEPA recommendations, has been tailored to U.S. colleges and universities for use in streamlining the implementation process. In using this three-phased implementation model created for the U.S. research and academic setting, it is hoped that these highly specialized institutions will be provided with a clearer and more cost-effective path towards the implementation of an EMS and greater compliance with local, state and federal environmental legislation.     

Mapping knowledge investments in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: a new approach for assessing regulatory agency responses to environmental disaster

In the aftermath of large-scale disasters, the public's dependency on federal and state agencies for information about public safety and environmental risk is acute. While formal rules and procedures are in place to guide policy decisions in environmental risk assessment of spatially concentrated hazards such as regulated waste sites or vacant city lots, standard procedures for risk assessment seem potentially less well-suited for urban-scale disaster zones where environmental hazards may be widely dispersed and widely varying. In this paper we offer a new approach for the social assessment of regulatory science in response to large-scale disaster, illustrating our methodology through a socio-spatial analysis of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) hazard assessment in New Orleans, Louisiana, following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We find that the agency's commitment of epistemic resources or “knowledge investments” varied considerably across the flood-impacted portion of the city, concentrating in poorer and disproportionately African American neighborhoods previously known to be heavily contaminated. We address some of the study's social and policy implications, noting the multidimensionality and interactive nature of knowledge investments and the prospects for deepening and extending this approach through comparative research.     

论美国能源监管立法与能源管理体制

美国联邦政府从20世纪30年代开始制定能源监管立法。依据集中程度和立法主题,美国能源监管立法可分为电力管控、核能监管、能源安全、放松管制等4个发展时期。根据现行美国能源立法．美国能源管理体制分为联邦和州两个层次。在联邦层次,对能源进行监管的部门有美国能源部、联邦能源监管委员会、核能监管署、环境保护署、国会内政部等。其中,能源部主要负责能源发展和安全的大政方针的制定,联邦能源监管委员会的使命在于通过管制和市场的手段执行能源立法及能源政策。在州层次,一般由州能源委员会、州公用事业委员会以及州环保局负责州的能源监管。     

Environmental indicators for small and medium enterprises in the Philippines: An empirical research

Environmental indicators allow a firm to make measurements related to its environmental performance. In practical terms, they can be used to form a measuring, benchmarking and monitoring tool to track environmental performance for small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Within an Environmental Management System (EMS), environmental indicators can be used to check if a firm has met the targets it is required to set for itself. It can also be used in firms that have not yet implemented an EMS. The use of an Environmental Indicators System (EIS) is thus recommended for SMEs, many of which do not have an EMS, in order to enhance their environmental performance. As noted in A Guide to Corporate Environmental Indicators published by the Federal Environment Ministry (Bonn) and the Federal Environmental Agency (Berlin), three categories of environmental indicators can be developed, depending on whether they describe: (1) a company's environmental impact (environmental performance); (2) the management's environmental activities; or (3) the external condition of the company's environment.The objective of this paper is to present how environmental indicators were established and implemented for Philippine SMEs and to show that the indicators significantly correlate with the environmental performance of the SMEs. In order to test this hypothesis, a survey-questionnaire was designed and administered among SMEs covering six industrial sectors in the Philippines. Based on the survey responses, a Gap analysis between the environmental performances of SMEs and state-of-the-art companies was performed. The Gap analysis showed that environmental indicators were indeed able to capture the features of actual environmental performance.Further, a structural equation model was proposed and validated. It yielded a significant linkage between the environmental indicators and environmental performance.     

The Environmental Performance Strategy Map: an integrated LCA approach to support the strategic decision-making process

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a well-known tool for analyzing environmental impacts on a wide perspective with reference to a product system and the related environmental and economic impacts. The need for a novel approach that complements environmental and financial considerations is addressed in this study with the introduction of a new graphical representation: the Environmental Performance Strategy Map. This graphical map allows one to combine the main environmental indicators (footprints) with the additional dimension of cost. The paper defines the Sustainable Environmental Performance Indicator as a single measure for sustainability of a given option. Comparison of different options for strategic decision-making purposes can be enhanced and facilitated by the use of this indicator.     

Community knowledge in environmental health science: co-producing policy expertise

As lay publics demand a greater role in the environmental and health decision-making that impacts their lives, policy makers are being forced to find new ways of understanding and incorporating the expertise of professionals with the contextual intelligence that community residents possess. This paper highlights how co-producing science policy, where technical issues are not divorced from their social setting and a plurality of participants engage in everything from problem setting to decision-making, can contribute to more scientifically legitimate and publicly accountable decisions. Through a detailed case study utilizing participant observation, ethnographic field work, semi-structured interviews, and reviews of original documents, this paper highlights how residents in a low income, Latino immigrant neighborhood in New York City organized their knowledge to participate in and significantly alter a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency exposure assessment. This paper reveals both the contributions and limits of local knowledge in environmental health governance and how the co-production framework can contribute to more technically credible science and democratically accountable policy.     

美国《濒危物种法》对联邦机构的要求--美国《濒危物种法》第七章浅析

目前，在世界范围内，美国《濒危物种法》可以说是物种保护方面最强有力的国内立法，它规定了两项国家政策，其一就是要求所有的联邦部门和机关都必须努力保护濒危物种并运用其权力促进《濒危物种法》立法宗旨的实现。本文简要介绍美国《濒危物种法》的历史发展和其第七章的主要内容，分析美国《濒危物种法》对联邦机构在物种保护中的要求。     

Estimating environmental benefits of natural hazard mitigation with data transfer: results from a benefit-cost analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency hazard mitigation grants

This paper summarizes methods, data and results associated with the first major attempt to evaluate the environmental benefits of U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency natural hazards mitigation grants. The study relied heavily on the refinement of benefit transfer methods. Categories of benefits include water quality for recreational and commercial fishing, drinking water, outdoor recreation, hazardous waste, wetlands and aesthetic, health and safety benefits. Environmental and historic benefits proved to be a very minor proportion of the total benefits in dollar terms. Only a very small percentage of earthquake and wind-related hazards yielded environmental benefits, while a sizeable percentage of flood hazard grants did so. We also discuss the prospects that environmental benefits might have been much greater had data been available to analyze more environmental impacts.     

Relationship of non-methane hydrocarbons and NOx to ozone formation in the atmosphere of Bahrain

The hourly air quality monitoring data for hydrocarbons, NO_x, and ozone were analyzed from two sites; one north of the industrial areas in Sitra and the other one located south on the east coast. The background levels of non-methane hydrocarbons at both sites were in excess of the U.S. federal ambient air quality standard of 0.24 ppm most of the time. The U.S. ozone air quality hourly standard of 0.12 ppm. however, was exceeded twice only at Sitra during high ambient NO _x concentrations greater than 0.15 ppm and high non-methane hydrocarbon levels of 10 ppm. The suitability of introducing the U.S. standard for non-methane hydrocarbons to the region is discussed.     

美国环境执法特点及其启示

从美国环保局的权力、地位、守法援助、守法激励、守法监督、民事与刑事执法、经济处罚额计算以及公众参与和执法协调等方面总结了美国的环境执法经验,得出兼顾环境和市场经济目标,执法与守法相结合,恩威并重、科学执法,民主、公平执法4条执法启示,供我国环境执法借鉴.      

The use of Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) for identifying environmental costs

The Expert Working Group on “Improving the Role of Government in the Promotion of Environmental Management Accounting (EMA)” was set up by the United Nations Division for Sustainable Development (UN DSD) in cooperation with a number of government agencies and non-governmental experts to promote Environmental Management Accounting (EMA) through publications, pilot projects and by establishing an international forum for discussion on the role of governments in the promotion of EMA.EMA, Environmental management accounting represents a combined approach that provides for the transition of data from financial accounting, cost accounting and mass balances to increase material efficiency, reduce environmental impacts and risks and reduce costs of environmental protection. EMA is performed by private or public corporations, but not by nations and has a financial as well as a physical component.The core focus of environmental management accounting and of the EMA UN DSD methodology is assessment of total annual environmental expenditure on emission treatment, disposal, environmental protection and management. In addition, and that is new and challenging for most companies, the material purchase value of all non-product output and its production costs are added. This total sum often provides a frightening picture of total annual costs of inefficiency and gets companies to improve their information systems and material efficiency options, which is the goal in the light of cleaner production.The first book published by the Expert Working Group, Environmental Management Accounting—Procedures and Principles (Jasch, C., United Nations, New York, 2001), defines principles and procedures for EMA, with a focus on techniques for quantifying environmental expenditures or costs, as a basis for better controlling and benchmarking purposes. The methodology excludes costs external to the company (so-called externalities, e.g. environmental and social effects that occur to the general public), but focuses on comprehensive assessment of direct annual expenditure on emission treatment, environmental protection and management as well as wasted material and energy input (efficiency losses in production). Firstly, total annual expenditure is assessed, then improvement options, savings and investment projects as well as product prices can be (re-)calculated. The method is currently applied in several case studies. The following summary provides some of the core definitions and generic assessment tables.     

Cost effective identification of properties underutilized or abandoned due to potential releases of hazardous materials

The U.S. General Accounting Office estimates that there may be as many as 650000 underutilized or abandoned properties across the country owing to perceived or actual releases of hazardous materials. Liabilities presented by these properties, referred to as Brownfields sites, create substantial limitations to property acquisition and employment opportunities, particularly in economically distressed areas. Several federal and state programs have been developed to evaluate and cleanup such sites, but the number of projects funded are far outnumbered by the sites remaining to be investigated. An innovative approach to Brownfields site assessment has been developed that relies on a unique partnership between academia, state and federal environmental regulators, and municipalities. Students in environmental programs are provided the necessary skills to conduct Phase I environmental site assessments pursuant to ASTM guidelines. The reports produced provide a comprehensive evaluation of the environmental value of potential Brownfields sites and form a basis for making future informed decisions regarding site usage and/or necessary remedial actions. A model for the effective development of Brownfields partnerships is introduced. Several case histories are presented where this program has been implemented.     

Informal knowledge processes: the underpinning for sustainability outcomes in EIA?

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was originally tailored for restructuring rules and values regarding environmental protection, through interdisciplinary work. EIA has developed as a tool for decision-making for the implementation of projects which potentially pose significant environmental impacts. This paper reviews the sustainability and interdisciplinarity assumptions inherent in EIA. It illustrates through a case study of a proposed landfill extension in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, that these principles can arise more from informal knowledge processes than from legal ones. It can be shown that interdisciplinarity is often misunderstood as multidisciplinarity or simple knowledge clustering, and sustainability has no common definition amongst EIA practitioners, but that there predominates an understanding which delivers weak sustainability, driven primarily by social and economic goals. The conclusion is that EIA cannot achieve the original vision set out in the world's first legislation adopted in 1970 unless a learning-organization approach is taken whereby: the critical role of informal knowledge is recognized; informal knowledge is properly managed by EIA teams to engender a common understanding of sustainable development goals; interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary working practices are adopted.     

Application of the analytic hierarchy process to select characterization and risk-based decision-making and management methods for hazardous waste sites

Environmental managers at U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) installations overseas are faced with the challenge of managing contaminated sites at these installations with little information on the extent of contamination or the risk posed by the site. In this regard, DoD managers overseas encounter a situation quite similar to the situation faced by decision makers in the U.S. who are managing brownfields. Innovative site characterization and risk-based decision-making methods, which are currently being developed for expeditious application at brownfield sites in the U.S., may also be appropriate for application at overseas DoD sites. In this paper, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used by DoD decision makers to evaluate and rank innovative site characterization technologies and risk-based decision-making and management methods, for use at installations in Korea. Results indicate that for sites with high potential risk the decision makers preferred site characterization technologies that produce data of high quality and a method that can be used to establish credible risk-based remediation goals. This study provides a framework for applying characterization technologies and risk management to poorly characterized contaminated sites in developing countries, where resources for remedial actions may be limited.     

中国政府环境信息公开实施效果评价

环境信息公开是国际上公认的新一代环境治理手段,也是我国建设＂阳光政府＂的基本要求.在《环境信息公开办法》实施2 a后,针对31个省级、5个计划单列市和27个省会城市环境保护局落实环境信息公开的制度和行动进行调查分析,通过资料调查、实际公开申请和深入访谈,全面评估政府环境信息公开办法实施的有效性,以期为该办法的进一步完善...     

太浦河流域锑污染环境风险评估

以太浦河流域为研究对象,从环境风险发生机理入手,分析流域内各环境风险要素之间互相影响及作用机制,基于环境风险受体、锑污染源和流域水文特征三方面构建环境风险评估体系,分析不同情景条件下流域发生锑污染的环境风险,并根据断面水质控制目标核算不同流量条件下流域的环境容量,为流域突发性水污染事件的应急响应和风险防范管理提供决策依据。     

Characterization of Polyurethane Foam Environmental Monitoring Tools for the Recovery and Release of Viruses

Food and Environmental Virology - The U.S. FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Preventive Controls for Human Food Rule emphasizes the importance of an effective environmental monitoring (EM) program....     

Climate change and human health—what influences the adoption of adaptation programming in the United States public health system?

With growing evidence on how climate change impacts human health, public health agencies should develop adaptation programs focused on the impacts predicted to affect their jurisdictions. However, recent research indicates that public health agencies in the United States have done little to prepare the public for predicted climate change impacts, largely due in response to a lack of resources and priority. This study surveyed Environmental Health (EH) Directors across the United States to determine the extent to which individual level attitudes and beliefs influence the adoption of climate change adaptation programming in a department. The results indicate that an EH Director’s perception of the health risk posed by climate change explained 27% of the variance in the number of climate change impacts being addressed. Furthermore, the study found that environmental attitude and political views made strong, unique contributions in explaining the variance in risk perception. The results provide evidence that individual-level attitudes and beliefs, as well as organizational-level barriers influence the adoption of climate change adaptation programs in public health agencies. As a result, increasing EH Directors’ perception of risk by highlighting the likelihood and severity of localized impacts may increase the adoption of adaptation programming despite existing organizational barriers (e.g., lack of resources). Given the fact that risk perception has been shown to influence behavior across cultures, these findings are also useful for understanding the influence of individual decision makers on public health programming around the world.     

A rough set-based quality function deployment (QFD) approach for environmental performance evaluation: a case of offshore oil and gas operations

Activities in offshore oil and gas (OOG) that cause environmental impacts can be systematically managed through an environmental management system (EMS). Environmental performance evaluation (EPE) is an essential part of an EMS. However, previous studies on EPE indicate that existing lists of indicators little insight into how indicators are modified to more accurately assess environmental performance.In this paper, a way is proposed to identify and define specific environmental performance indicators on a case-by-case basis, which consists of five steps: (1) describing environmental requirements; (2) determining favourable outcomes corresponding to the requirements; (3) identifying required activities or issues to achieve the outcomes; (4) searching for proper measures of the activities or issues; and (5) generating a list of key indicators. Based on these steps, a quality function deployment (QFD) approach is developed to determine key indicators and evaluate environmental performance. To handle uncertainties in QFD, the decision makers’ evaluations are quantified through rough numbers using the concept of rough sets. The outputs of the proposed approach are different environmental performance indices. Using these indices, decision makers can easily determine whether an improved performance has been achieved through an EMS. The proposed approach is transparent and promising for use as a unified tool for EPE. An application of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a numerical example.     

Evaluating the best available social science for natural resource management decision-making

Increasing recognition of the human dimensions of natural resource management issues, and of social and ecological sustainability and resilience as being inter-related, highlights the importance of applying social science to natural resource management decision-making. Moreover, a number of laws and regulations require natural resource management agencies to consider the “best available science” (BAS) when making decisions, including social science. Yet rarely do these laws and regulations define or identify standards for BAS, and those who have tried to fill the gap have done so from the standpoint of best available natural science. This paper proposes evaluative criteria for best available social science (BASS), explaining why a broader set of criteria than those used for natural science is needed. Although the natural and social sciences share many of the same evaluative criteria for BAS, they also exhibit some differences, especially where qualitative social science is concerned. Thus we argue that the evaluative criteria for BAS should expand to include those associated with diverse social science disciplines, particularly the qualitative social sciences. We provide one example from the USA of how a federal agency − the U.S. Forest Service − has attempted to incorporate BASS in responding to its BAS mandate associated with the national forest planning process, drawing on different types of scientific information and in light of these criteria. Greater attention to including BASS in natural resource management decision-making can contribute to better, more equitable, and more defensible management decisions and policies.