The value of “EHS auditing” in the United States: Making sense out of the current chaos

Conventional wisdom has advocated environmental auditing as a prudent part of an internal control program and one of the key tools in driving proactive efforts. As a part of risk management activities, it is often employed to protect an organization, its employees, and officers from liability. Conscientious use of such audits has undoubtedly protected human health and the environment. Ironically, those who make the most consistent efforts to audit compliance and management systems, according to advocates of audit protection, may be the most vulnerable to enforcement actions and lawsuits. This article places the escalating calls for audit protection in a proper context.     

长庆油田质量安全环保巡察实践

质量安全环保巡察是长庆油田分公司QHSE管理体系的重要组成部分,是升级版的管理体系审核方式,在长庆油田已初见成效。推行“六个三”运行模式,坚持问题导向,紧盯问题突出单位、关键技术和管理岗位,深察管理渎职、监督失职、岗位失责和承包商失信等问题,突出风险管控、质量管理、承包商管理等方面,正向查落实,查压力传导、责任落实,逆向追责任,追溯问题根源,查找管理症结,准确追责问责,倒逼责任归位,达到持续改进QHSE管理的目的。     

浅析环境监测站质量体系内部审核

环境监测站质量管理体系内部审核是监测站自我发现问题、分析问题、解决问题,实现质量管理体系持续改进的重要环节。通过总结当前环境监测站内审时在审核策划、实施审核、结果评价及跟踪验证等4个阶段的注意事项,提出了全面细致策划、严格实施审核、客观公正评价、深入实地验证等提高内部审核质量的对策和建议。     

Lake rehabilitation: A status report

The widespread recognition of lake degradation as a major environmental concern has led to accelerated efforts to better protect and manage lake resources. Where it is too late for avoidance strategies, lake rehabilitation is receiving increasing attention as a natural resources management option. In recent years, a significant number of lake rehabilitation experiences has been documented throughout the world, and many nations and states have embarked upon major lake rehabilitation programsLake rehabilitation is not a ready-to-go technology at this time and still must be regarded as partly experimental. Nevertheless, there have been a number of notably successful lake rehabilitation experiences. Reducing or halting the influx of undesirable materials is the sine qua non for lake rehabilitation. In most successful experiences to date, this has been accomplished by diversion and/or wastewater treatment. A number of in-lake strategies have also been employed to rehabilitate degraded lakes, often as part of an overall restoration plan. Techniques that appear to be most useful include dredging and nutrient inactivation. Several examples of successful applications are noted.Although efforts to rehabilitate lakes have produced a mixed record, there are encouraging results that suggest the viability of this approach. Lake rehabilitation, however, is no substitute for environmental management strategies that provide for protection of lake ecosystems in the first place.     

石油化工清洁生产审核方法探讨

清洁生产是环境保护工作实现由末端控制转向全过程控制的必由之路,对提高能源资源利用效率,减少污染物排放,降低工业污染,缓解环境压力至关重要。长期以来,中国石油积极履行其社会责任,坚持清洁生产的技术政策,把它作为构建和谐企业、走新型工业化道路的重要举措,通过持续开展清洁生产审核,落实清洁生产方案,目前已取得了明显成效。文章通过清洁生产审核工作实践总结,提出了石油化工生产过程中开展清洁生产审核的有关方法和建议。     

The environmental audit. II. Application to stream network design

The planning and execution of water quality management programs requires careful collection and analysis of data coupled with a systematic review and analysis of programmatic success. The environmental audit is a tool which facilitates improved water quality planning and management. This article demonstrates the utility of the environmental audit by reviewing portions of a comprehensive review of the water quality management program for the state of Idaho. The audit is a tool which forces careful design of a sampling program before data are collected. In the audit approach, program objectives are clearly stated prior to initiation of sampling. Stated objectives are also evaluated regularly to identify tension points, that is, conflicts between expectations and reality. In the example taken from Idaho, a management review team followed a directive to redesign the water quality monitoring program. We present a summary of the redesign as proposed by that team, to illustrate the results of a typical review of monitoring programs. That summary is followed by an example of how the proposed program would differ if the audit approach had been used. The two approaches offered both coincident and conflicting recommendations. Management review team and audit recommendations for lake sampling programs were similar even though a different process was used to develop the recommendations. The most striking contrast between the two results lies in the review team's approach to the problem. The directives followed, and the team's responses, concentrate on tools, such as increasing biological monitoring or reliance on monthly BWMP stations. In contrast, the audit results stress addressing management questions for which clear objectives have been stated, depending on specific tools only as needed to meet stated objectives. Although the audit does integrate externalities in its structure, it is little affected by economic or political influences. A major strength of the audit approach is its ability to provide defensible data for management decision making.     

建设项目环保设施竣工验收监测时的环境管理检查

建设项目竣工环境保护验收监测已成为建设项目环境管理中的一个重要组成部分,本文主要讨论了建设项目竣工环境保护设施验收监测中环境管理检查的几个方面,力求使验收工作能够全面、真实地反映建设项目环境保护情况。     

Environmental auditing: Theory and applications

The environmental audit has become a regular part of corporate environmental management in Canada and is also gaining recognition in the public sector. A 1991 survey of 75 private sector companies across Canada revealed that 76% (57/75) had established environmental auditing programs. A similar survey of 19 federal, provincial, and municipal government departments revealed that 11% (2/19) had established such programs. The information gained from environmental audits can be used to facilitate and enhance environmental management from the single facility level to the national and international levels. This paper is divided into two sections: section one examines environmental audits at the facility/company level and discusses environmental audit characteristics, trends, and driving forces not commonly found in the available literature. Important conclusions are: that wherever possible, an action plan to correct the identified problems should be an integral part of an audit, and therefore there should be a close working relationship between auditors, managers, and employees, and that the first audits will generally be more difficult, time consuming, and expensive than subsequent audits. Section two looks at environmental audits in the broader context and discusses the relationship between environmental audits and three other environmental information gathering/analysis tools: environmental impact assessments, state of the environment reports, and new systems of national accounts. The argument is made that the information collected by environmental audits and environmental impact assessments at the facility/company level can be used as the bases for regional and national state of the environment reports and new systems of national accounts.     

苏州地区农村生活污水治理工程绩效审计评价体系的研究

现阶段我国的环境审计处于探索阶段,在审计对象上,以环境保护资金为主,在审计类型上,以财务收支审计为主,不能综合考虑环保工程的环境效益、经济效益和社会效益。为此,根据苏州地区农村生活污水治理工程的实际情况,通过大量的调研和长期的监测,并听取了经济、审计、环保专家的意见,建立了农村生活污水治理工程绩效审计评价体系,提出了科学、合理、可行的农村生活污水治理工程绩效审计评价方法。     

Identifying Determinants of Nations' Wetland Management Programs Using Structural Equation Modeling: An Exploratory Analysis

Integrated management and policy models suggest that solutions to environmental issues may be linked to the socioeconomic and political characteristics of a nation. In this study, we empirically explore these suggestions by applying them to the wetland management activities of nations. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate a model of national wetland management effort and one of national wetland protection. Using five predictor variables of social capital, economic capital, environmental and political characteristics, and land-use pressure, the multivariate models were able to explain 60% of the variation in nations' wetland protection efforts based on data from 90 nations, as defined by level of participation in the international wetland convention. Social capital had the largest direct effect on wetland protection efforts, suggesting that increased social development may eventually lead to better wetland protection. In contrast, increasing economic development had a negative linear relationship with wetland protection efforts, suggesting the need for explicit wetland protection programs as nations continue to focus on economic development. Government, environmental characteristics, and land-use pressure also had a positive direct effect on wetland protection, and mediated the effect of social capital on wetland protection. Explicit wetland protection policies, combined with a focus on social development, would lead to better wetland protection at the national level.     

绿色管理在榆林气田的实践和应用

作为一种全新的管理理念和模式,绿色管理已成为现代企业管理的重要组成部分。多年来,中国石油长庆油田公司第二采气厂以实现"科技、绿色、和谐"大气田为目标,在气田建设生产过程中始终坚持"保护环境、创造和谐"的环境保护方针,通过学习先进环境管理经验,实施和推行绿色管理,并不断探索和创新,环境保护工作取得了良好的绩效。     

Using expert judgments to understand spatial patterns of forest-based camping: a values-at-risk application

Fire management agencies in Canada are mandated with protecting multiple forest values from wildfire. Deciding where to reduce fire hazard and how to allocate resources and fire suppression efforts requires an understanding of the values-at-risk from wildfire. The protection of recreation infrastructure is often assumed to provide adequate protection of recreation values. We use an expert judgment approach to provide a spatial distribution of recreation values-at-risk in the forested eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountain region of Alberta, Canada. Data were collected in 2004 from 11 land managers responsible for public lands management and wildfire prevention in the region. Expert assessments showed that recreation values were not confined to areas with publicly funded infrastructure. Exploratory spatial analysis of the ratings identified hotspots and cold spots of recreation activity. Maps resulting from these efforts will provide guidance to fire managers in the prioritization of fire management activities.     

Environmental Protection as a US National Government Priority: Analysis of Six Annual Public Opinion Surveys, 1999 – 2004

Public support for environmental protection in the US as a federal government priority has substantially dropped since 2001. Data for the years 1999?–?2004 show that the least support was from non-Hispanic white, middle-class, college educated and suburban residents. Poorer, black, and residents of large cities have become the strongest supporters. In addition, with the important exception of wanting the federal government to focus on job creation, the public is less interested in many other domestic program priorities, including crime prevention and regulating health care management. The results are not an ominous sign that the public has lost interest in environmental planning and management, but are interpreted here as a notice that there must be aggressive efforts to explain to the public, media and elected representatives that efforts are critically important to public health, job creation and economic development.     

Better environmental future in Europe through environmental auditing?

environmental auditing must be rejected if the aim is to make companies introduce a specific management concept. Rather, it is preferable to leave the search for effective environmental protection strategies to the competitive system, especially since the criteria for environment-oriented management in the European Community audit proposal are without substance. Environmental auditing can, however, assume a complementary function in the framework of an overall environmental policy if it is designed as an information tool with which companies provide information on the development of environmental problems deriving from their manufacturing processes and products. However, the model required to establish a framework of quantity and evaluation criteria is not available. Further, auditing does not cover products. Similarly, there are no proposals defining the evaluation procedure for ecological resource scarcity. Thus, the attempt of the Commission of the European Communities to create the elementary prerequisites for consistent and verifiable environmental auditing in the corporate sector has failed.     

Striking the Balance Between Environment and Economy in Coastal North Carolina

A fundamental purpose of intergovernmental growth management has been to infuse regional concerns—especially regional environmental and economic development concerns—into local land use planning. This paper presents results from a study of state-mandated local planning in coastal North Carolina during the mid-1990s, addressing in particular local efforts to ‘strike a balance’ between environment and economy as required by the state's planning mandate. While acknowledging the need for coastal resource protection, coastal localities were not striking a balance between environment and economy through their planning efforts beyond stating support for the State's minimum resource protection rules. Within this context, key factors yielding less environmentally focused local planning included both local elected officials' concerns about the need for economic development for jobs and their belief that environmental protection was not a local problem. Factors that tended to shift local planning back toward environmental protection included local officials' perception that the local economy was in good shape and heightened citizen engagement.     

Social Acceptability of Water Resource Management: A Conceptual Approach and Empirical Findings from Portland,Oregon1

Abstract: Surface water resources in urban areas serve multiple functions ranging from recreation to wildlife habitat. As a result, diverse values influence people’s views about resource protection, potentially leading to conflicting interests. In metropolitan Portland, Oregon, natural resource planning has recently focused on habitat restoration as well as stormwater and pollution mitigation, especially through the protection of riparian areas. Due to opposition over proposed regulations in the study region, this research examines public attitudes about an array of resource management efforts. The primary research question is: what is the extent of positive–negative attitudes about water resource protection, and what theoretical dimensions underlie diverse judgments? After empirical survey results are presented, I outline a conceptual approach for future assessments of environmental attitudes while highlighting important value‐based dimensions of judgments. Although flexible, the framework allows broad comparisons to advance knowledge about the social acceptability of varied water resource management approaches across diverse places and contexts.     

在环境保护中开展环境审计的重要作用

工业革命把人类推向工业文明,工业文明刺激人类对资源的无限需求,创造出大量消耗资源、严重污染环境的生产方式,产生了大量的环境污染和生态危机。于是,提高环境质量、开展环境保护、保证经济发展的可持续性的呼声越来越高。环境审计作为环境保护的一种有力工具,在当代经济活动中会越来越发挥其重要作用。本文就环境审计的有关问题作一阐述,以其推动环境审计在我国的发展。     

The potential effect of ISO 14000 standards on environmental audit training in the United States

Training has been an important component of the environmental audit profession since its outset some 15–20 years ago. Training and education have taken on a variety of forms—from audit texts and articles, to formal courses, to videotapes, to on-the-job training programs. These efforts have helped to advance the sophistication of environmental auditing over the past few years. Now, with the advent of the international ISO 14012 Environmental Auditor Qualification Guidelines,¹ the auditing profession in the United States and around the world likely will be transformed in the near future. In fact, many organizations are now reengineering their programs in anticipation of the emerging Guidelines. The expected transformation holds for training and education programs as well. This article suggests some of the ways in which environmental audit training is likely to be reshaped as a result of ISO 14012. Offerors of training courses and seminars would be wise to anticipate the changes and modify their programs accordingly. A quick response could provide a competitive advantage. Moreover, corporate audit program managers should conduct critical evaluations of commercial offerings to assure that the programs' contents are consistent with ISO 14012 “auditor certification” expectations.     

基于GIS的环境监测监控系统

随着我国环境保护工作的深入发展,对环境管理手段提出了更高的要求,利用G1S技术实施环境管理是适应现代环境管理发展需要的。本文对环境监测监控系统作了较详细的介绍和分析,说明了环境监测监控系统在环境管理中的重要作用。     

浅析内部审核与管理评审在海洋环境监测质量管理中的应用

计量认证质量管理体系在海洋环境监测质量"过程性"管理中是否得以有效发挥,取决于质量管理体系中的两个活力因子即内部审核和管理评审活动的有效开展.通过分析内部审核和管理评审基本内涵及其在质量管理体系中的重要作用的基础上,探讨在现阶段海洋环境监测质量管理中如何有效实施内部审核和管理评审活动;并特别指出实验室高层管理者对内部审核和管理评审活动的重要性认识和领导方式方法以及内部审核和管理评审活动结果的后续工作处理等问题,应引起注意.