Developing environmental quality standards for various pesticides and priority pollutants for French freshwaters

The French Ministry of the Environment and Water Agencies have derived environmental quality standards following the existing French framework called SEQ-Eau, for 28 pesticides and seven priority substances listed in the Water Framework Directive. Like other existing frameworks, SEQ-Eau relies upon the use of standard toxicity test results and assessment factors. This approach made it possible to derive the desired quality standards, but due to the lack of chronic toxicity data many of the standards are only provisional. In addition, emerging issues such as endocrine disruption should be taken into account in this framework. Depending on the available data, more flexible derivation approaches, such as the statistical distribution of NOECs, are recommended for future versions of SEQ-Eau. A comparison is made using SEQ-Eau and the methodology currently being discussed in Europe to develop environmental quality standards, showing that the European approach is more conservative. Conversely, the proposed approach under the Water Framework Directive does not cover the entire range of required quality classes.     

Supporting multi-stakeholder environmental decisions

This paper examines how multiple criteria analysis (MCA) can be used to support multi-stakeholder environmental management decisions. It presents a study through which 48 stakeholders from environmental, primary production and community interest groups used MCA to prioritise 30 environmental management problems in the Mackay-Whitsunday region of Queensland, Australia. The MCA model, with procedures for aggregating multi-stakeholder output, was used to inform a final decision on the priority of the region's environmental management problems. The result was used in the region's environmental management plan as required under Australia's Natural Heritage Trust programme. The study shows how relatively simple MCA methods can help stakeholders make group decisions, even when they hold strongly conflicting preferences.     

Screening of environmental pressure from products in the Swedish railway infrastructure: Implications for strategic environmental management

This paper proposes a method to be used in environmental reviews as an initial tool for estimating upstream environmental pressures from material use in organisations dealing mostly with construction materials. Upstream environmental pressures are often omitted in environmental reviews from organisations and instead tend to be site specific, with a limited life-cycle perspective. This paper uses the Swedish National Rail Authority as a case to present the approach. An energy indicator is used to estimate the environmental pressure of material use.In the studied building project, a small set of products contribute to a major part of the material use and the material-related energy use. The energy use is almost exclusively of nonrenewable energy carriers. The three most important products are all homogenous and non-complex, which makes the energy indicator well suited for the analysis. The organisation can use the results to focus on the most important products and also to see which parts of the organisation contribute to the material-related energy use. Rail traffic in Sweden is almost exclusively from non-fossil-based energy carriers. This highlights the importance of the infrastructure to the overall environmental pressure of the railway. Consequently, if road transport were to shift away from fossil fuels, railways earlier environmental advantages would diminish, since research suggests that railway infrastructure is more energy intensive than road infrastructure.     

Developing and applying an index of environmental integrity for the US Mid-Atlantic region

Environmental conditions in the Mid-Atlantic region of United States are presently being documented in a series of reports that use 'environmental report cards' to summarize the condition of individual natural resources (e.g. estuaries, streams, forests, and landscapes) over the entire region and within major subregions. An 'index of environmental integrity' (IEI) approach has been developed and is illustrated using the information content of these report cards to evaluate the overall condition throughout the region. The IEI approach is a four-step process: (1) select individual components for the index, (2) calculate subindex values for each of the individual components, (3) aggregate the subindex values into the overall index, and (4) interpretation of index values. The IEI approach was illustrated by applying to the Mid-Atlantic estuaries and wadable streams in the Mid-Atlantic Highlands. Because the IEI approach is new, application should not be made without considering issues such as evaluation of the selection of the indicators, weighting scheme, uncertainties, and appropriate way to interpret the values.     

Cutting the cake: Supporting environmental fund allocation decisions

This paper describes a decision support model for allocating financial resources amongst multiple user groups in environmental management problems. The model is based on the multiple criteria analysis (MCA) method of compromise programming. It was used to inform the allocation of Natural Heritage Trust funds across 14 regions in Queensland, Australia. The model targets funding to those regions with greater natural resource management needs. Need is determined by 19 weighted criteria relating to natural resource assets and threats. The model was accepted by the Australian Government, Queensland Government and regional groups as an appropriate means for allocating program funds; first in 2005 and then again, with improvements, in 2007. This paper shows that an MCA model can improve the transparency, auditability and acceptance of allocation decisions which would otherwise be heavily politicised.     

Contours of an environmental design and planning ethic

If the search for values lies at the kernel of the philosophical ethical inquiry, then Lynch's monumental work, A Theory of Good City Form must be regarded as shaping the contours of an environmental design and planning ethic. The explicit connection between human values and settlement form in Lynch's theory reaches far in the realm of environmental design and planning, with ethical, legal, and procedural implications. Furthermore, the universal (performance) dimensions of the theory offer an accountability of the contingency of the particular (historical) conditions specific to place and society. A close scrutiny of the key theoretical dimensions suggests the possibility of bridging the procedure vs. substance, object vs. subject and means vs. ends chasms. Thus, certain ethical, legal, and procedural dilemmas encountered in competing theoretical perspectives are reconciled.     

Achieving quality environmental audits: Twenty tips for success

In 1995 the authors spent a considerable amount of time conducting audits and audit training classes all over the world. In rolling out Colgate-Palmolive's reengineered environmental audit program, they coupled a two-day training program with a three-day audit. Whether in Asia-Pacific, South America, Europe, or the United States, auditors, especially those newly trained, always seemed to fall into the same traps time and again. In order to facilitate the learning process, the authors prepared a list of 20 tips to use at the beginning and end of all training programs and audits. In this article, the authors share the 20 “golden rules” to help all auditors improve the quality of their audits.     

Integrating total quality principles into an environmental training program

To effectively comply with pressing environmental regulations, Northrop Aircraft Division needed to quickly train 5,000 employees to handle and dispose of hazardous waste properly. To accomplish this environmental cultural change process, Northrop decided to incorporate the principles of another culture change being effected within the company—that of Total Quality Management. The necessary information was delivered to thousands of workers in a limited amount of time through a new Focal Point training program, the effectiveness of which was demonstrated by marked improvement in inspection reports.     

Green design tools for environmental management

Carnegie Mellon University's Green Design Initiative develops tools that environmental managers and decision makers can use to address real-world environmental issues. The initiative focuses on creating tools that are easy to use and that help companies prevent waste and pollution before they start.© 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Developing new environmental excellence programs: Lessons from epa's environmental leadership program

Interest in the concept—and implementation—of environmental excellence is at an all-time high. A wealth of examples from individual companies, trade associations, states, industry coalitions, and the federal government illustrate the growing acceptance by a wide range of stakeholders of a management systems approach to environmental issues. Perhaps nowhere is this more clear than in the collection of public comments submitted to EPA in response to its January 15, 1993, Federal Register notice, which proposed the creation of an Environmental Leadership Program (ELP). The authors, both of whom worked on the ELP, review these public comments and offer a set of “do's and don'ts” for organizations interested in establishing an environmental excellence program. In addition, the authors outline the Green Track proposal, a plan to structure an alternate regulatory pathway based on environmental excellence.     

Setting rational environmental goals: Five Swedish environmental quality objectives

Goals and performance targets are commonly used as tools in the policy-implementation process. In Sweden, environmental policy is operationalized through a system of environmental quality objectives that were adopted by the Swedish Riksdag in the late 1990s. The objectives describe what level of environmental quality Sweden should aim for within a generation, and are designed to guide decision making in all sectors of society. However, to guide decision making toward improved environmental quality, these objectives should satisfy a set of rationality (functionality) criteria; they should be precise, evaluable, approachable, motivating and coherent. In this paper, five Swedish environmental quality objectives are investigated through an application of the suggested criteria: (1) a balanced marine environment, flourishing coastal areas and archipelagos; (2) a magnificent mountain landscape; (3) a non-toxic environment; (4) natural acidification only; and (5) a good built environment. The aim of the paper is to bring the rationality of the objectives up for discussion, and to illustrate the range of issues and difficulties that are involved in choosing and assessing environmental policy goals.     

Urban water infrastructure optimization to reduce environmental impacts and costs

Urban water planning and policy have been focusing on environmentally benign and economically viable water management. The objective of this study is to develop a mathematical model to integrate and optimize urban water infrastructures for supply-side planning and policy: freshwater resources and treated wastewater are allocated to various water demand categories in order to reduce contaminants in the influents supplied for drinking water, and to reduce consumption of the water resources imported from the regions beyond a city boundary. A case study is performed to validate the proposed model. An optimal urban water system of a metropolitan city is calculated on the basis of the model and compared to the existing water system. The integration and optimization decrease (i) average concentrations of the influents supplied for drinking water, which can improve human health and hygiene; (ii) total consumption of water resources, as well as electricity, reducing overall environmental impacts; (iii) life cycle cost; and (iv) water resource dependency on other regions, improving regional water security. This model contributes to sustainable urban water planning and policy.     

Developing a collaborative model for environmental planning and management

Methods for involving the public in natural resource management are changing as agencies adjust to an increasingly turbulent social and political environment. There is growing interest among managers and scholars in collaborative approaches to public involvement. Collaboration is conceptually defined and elaborated using examples from the natural resource management field. This paper then examines how collaboration theory from the organizational behavior field can help environmental managers to better understand those factors that facilitate and inhibit collaborative solutions to resource problems. A process-oriented model is presented that proposes that collaboration emerges out of an environmental context and then proceeds sequentially through a problem-setting, direction-setting, and structuring phase. Factors constraining collaboration are also specified, including organizational culture and power differentials. Designs for managing collaboration are identified, which include appreciative planning, joint agreements, dialogues, and negotiated settlements. Environmental managers need new skills to manage collaboration within a dynamic social and political environment. Further research is needed to test the propositions outlined here.     

Agroforestry systems and environmental quality: introduction

Investments in agroforestry research during the past three decades-albeit modest-have yielded significant gains in understanding the role of trees on farmlands, and the ecological and economic advantages of integrated farming systems. While early research focused mostly on farm or local levels, broader-level ecosystem services of agroforestry systems (AFS) have raised high expectations in recent years. The nine papers included in this special collection deal with three of such environmental benefits of AFS: water-quality enhancement, carbon sequestration, and soil improvement. These benefits are based on the perceived ability of (i) vegetative buffer strips (VBS) to reduce surface transport of agrochemical pollutants, (ii) large volumes of aboveground and belowground biomass of trees to store high amounts of C deeper in the soil profile, and (iii) trees to enhance soil productivity through biological nitrogen fixation, efficient nutrient cycling, and deep capture of nutrients. The papers included have, in general, substantiated these premises and provided new insights. For example, the riparian VBS are reported to increase the reservoir life, in addition to reducing transport of agrochemicals; the variations in C storage in different soil-fraction sizes suggest that microaggregate (250-53 μm) dynamics in the soil could be a good indicator of its C-storage potential; and the use of vector analysis technique is recommended in AFS to avoid consequences of inaccurate and overuse of fertilizers. The papers also identified significant knowledge gaps in these areas. A common theme across all three environmental quality issues covered is that more and varied research datasets across a broad spectrum of conditions need to be generated and integrated with powerful statistical tools to ensure wide applicability of the results. Furthermore, appropriate management practices that are acceptable to the targeted land users and agroforestry practitioners need to be designed to exploit these environmental benefits. The relative newness of research in environmental quality of AFS will pose some additional challenges as well. These include the lack of allometric equations for tree-biomass determination, absence of standardized norms on soil sampling depth, and limitations of fixed-effect models arising from issues such as pseudo-replication and repeated measures that are common in studies on preexisting field plots. Overall, this special collection is a timely effort in highlighting the promise of AFS in addressing some of the environmental quality issues, and the challenges in realizing that potential.     

Supporting tqem with boeing's environmental assessment monitoring program

This article describes how Boeing'S program to conduct environmental assessments has developed since its inception five years ago, and has contributed to the company'S overall Quality Improvement process.     

Environmental cost accounting: The bottom line for environmental quality management

Recent years have seen the environment emerge as one of the most pressing issues facing American business. Eventually, environmental costs will affect the bottom line of every American company. A recent study in the National Law Journal estimates that cleanup of the nation's known hazardous wastes sites will cost $752 billion over thirty years under current environmental policies. Environmental legislation and regulations impose annual compliance costs estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency at more than $30 billion. In the near future, environmental expenses for cleanup, regulatory compliance, and management are anticipated to grow to between 2.5 and 3 percent of GNP. Corporations that wish to be competitive must successfully manage these costs while maintaining or improving their role as responsible corporate citizens. Implementing a comprehensive system for identifying and managing environmental costs requires a multidisciplinary team effort. Environmental costs impact product selection, design and pricing, capital budgeting, and future strategic direction. In order to make informed and meaningful managerial decisions on environmental programs, real cost data are vital. An environmental management systems (EMS) requires information to set goals and then monitor progress towards those goals over time. This article will discuss the current cost accounting systems (CASs) available to support the myriad goals of environmental management systems. In addition, the article will outline a framework for plotting the location of your current EMS on a matrix of regulatory and information requirements and evaluating whether your corporation's CAS is adequate to support the goals and objectives set by your environmental management program. By anticipating future regulatory and information requirements, flexible systems can be developed to adapt to new and more stringent regulations and more complex information requirements.     

Selecting measures for corporate environmental quality: Examples from TQEM companies

Companies undertaking TQEM programs must decide how to measure continuous improvement in the environmental field at the outset of their implementation activities. In the past three years, the leading TQEM companies have made these tough choices and have begun to share their findings with the larger professional community. The author proposes a model for classifying environmental measurement data and presents examples of approaches adopted by TQEM companies.