Regulation of pesticide discharge into surface and groundwater under uncertainty: A model for environmental risk‐profitability tradeoffs and policy selection

The presence of contaminants in environmental media as well as the desire to maintain a high level of economic activity has led to an important and difficult decision‐making problem for both public policy decision makers and the general public. In one sense, all of the interested parties are likely to be concerned about the potential health risks posed by the presence of contaminants in environmental media and the need to design/implement policies for their mitigation and/or removal. At the same time, however, there also appear to be concerns about the cost of these policies. These costs could be measured in terms of the potential losses in economic activity that are likely to occur when a policy is adopted. The policy can be selected from a range of alternatives, with the choice being driven in part by the stakeholders represented in the policy decision problem. In this case, two general goals might be considered: minimizing environmental risk and minimizing the economic impact of the policy considered. These two objectives are likely to be viewed as conflicting goals, and the nature of the tradeoffs between them must be taken into account in the policy selection process. This paper presents the development of a zero–one weighted goal programming model that can be used to select a preferred policy that minimizes surface and groundwater contamination as well as the economic costs of environmental policy selection. A safety rule model is developed first and then extended to the zero–one weighted goal programming formulation. The stochastic aspects of these structures are emphasized throughout. The paper also addresses a number of issues related to implementation of the model.     

Evaluation and selection of regeneration of waste lubricating oil technology

Lubricant is one of the important resources that cannot be disposed of randomly due to the presence of pollutants. In response to economic efficiency and environmental protection, there is a growing trend of regeneration and reuse of waste lubricant. However, the technologies shall be compared to provide a useful reference for the use of waste lubricant. The major aim of this paper is to use analytic hierarchy process to select, analyze, and compare the regenerative technologies, thus laying a basis for the governmental bodies in policy making of lubricant recovery as well as for industrial operators in deciding the recovery methods.     

The spatial convergence and drivers of environmental efficiency under haze constraints - Evidence from China

Haze has seriously threatened the ecological environment and public health, so researching environmental efficiency under haze constraints is significant in managing pollution and evaluating the balance between economic development and environmental health. Based on the panel data of China's 99 cities during 2005–2017, this paper uses α-convergence and β-convergence models to analyze the spatial convergence of environmental efficiency under haze constraints and its drivers in China,specifically in Eastern China, Central China, and Western China.The main results are as follows: (1) The trend of environmental efficiency under haze constraints in these regions evidently follows a dumbbell curve. In recent years, it has been growing slowly in Eastern China, Central China, and Western China, and the environmental efficiency in the Eastern China is the highest, the Central China is the second, and the Western China is the lowest; (2) it demonstrates both α-convergence and β-convergence in Central China, Western China, and Eastern China, and the speed of convergence is the fastest in the Central China, the second in the Western China and the slowest in the Eastern China; there is a “catch-up effect” in cities from less environmentally efficient regions to more efficient regions; and (3) Industrial structure and degree of trade dependence have a significantly negative correlation; characteristics of the region and dependence on foreign investment have significantly positive correlations with the environmental efficiency of Eastern China and Central China; environmental regulations and economic scale limit the improvement of environmental efficiency of Central China and Western China; and technological innovation significantly impacts Eastern China only. Although the paper refers to the specific evidence of China, with haze as a new indicator in the comprehensive evaluation of environmental efficiency can be extended to other developing countries as well as to other pollutants such as land pollution and waste water. The understanding of drivers of environmental efficiency under haze constraints in China provides international policy-makers with valuable reference for formulating effective measures to balance the dilemma between economic development and environmental health.     

Assessment of potential impacts of municipal solid waste treatment alternatives by using life cycle approach: a case study in Vietnam

In Vietnam, most of municipal solid waste (MSW) is disposed of at open dumping and landfill sites, and the methane gas from waste is the un-ignorable source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. It is indispensable to explore the possibility for GHG mitigation in MSW management. The objective of this study was to estimate alternative waste treatment practices towards the GHG emission mitigation, energy consumption and generation, reduction of landfill volume, and various benefits for proposing the appropriate selection by scenario analyses for representative Vietnam’s cities. Impacts were calculated by utilizing life cycle assessment (LCA) method. A literature review survey on the current applicability of LCA database for assessing impacts from waste sector in developing countries, especially for Vietnam, was carried out. This study assessed the contribution of alternative solid waste treatment practices. The result showed that, except investment and operation costs, incineration with energy recovery seems the suitable alternative for treating waste from representative cities of Vietnam according to reduction of GHG emission and waste burden to landfill sites and energy recovery and generation. Besides, MSW composition was identified as an important factor directly influencing to impacts as well as other products and benefits of waste treatment alternatives. Reliable data on waste composition are indispensable for assessing to choose, improve, or plan the waste treatment practices towards sustainable development.     

Biodiversity offsets in EIA: Getting the timing right

Major developments can result in significant impacts on biodiversity, which the mandated process of environmental impact assessment (EIA) aims to mitigate. There has been a recent move towards the application of biodiversity offsets as a last-resort, compensatory measure when options at the earlier stages in the mitigation hierarchy of avoidance, minimisation and restoration have been exhausted. Guidance on biodiversity offset planning available in different jurisdictions, however, demonstrates a lack of consensus about when biodiversity offsets should be formally introduced into the EIA process, and previous research has highlighted the perceived risks associated with commencing detailed offset planning too early as well as too late. Here we explore the implications of how and when offset considerations are introduced within EIA. We do this by reviewing and synthesising best practice principles for biodiversity offsets from the international literature, and then exploring how and when offsets were considered in a number of case studies that draw on documentary analysis and interviews with key role players. Our case studies are based in South Africa where regional guidance on offsets exists, supporting a body of practice. The research finds that the timing of involvement of biodiversity specialists is critical in determining whether considering offsets early will reap the combined benefits of: transparency and stakeholder engagement; guaranteeing the offset before development commences; and offset enforceability without jeopardising adherence to the mitigation hierarchy. Bypassing the mitigation hierarchy was perceived as allowing proponents to ‘buy’ approvals for developments that might otherwise be found unacceptable, although there was no evidence for this in any of the case studies evaluated. Although some of our findings may be specific to the South African context, the approach taken using international best practice principles for biodiversity offsets as a benchmark can equally be applied to evaluate practice in other EIA systems. We confirm the utility of this approach by evaluating the recently released South African Draft National Biodiversity Offset Policy for its potential to support best practice biodiversity offsets in EIA.     

An economic efficiency indicator for assessing income opportunities in sustainable waste management

This article proposes a new economic efficiency indicator for measuring and analyzing the income opportunities for companies operating in the collection, transport and treatment of municipal solid waste, while also taking into account the environmental perspective. Specifically, the followed approach is based on a mixed economic and environmental perspective, with a focus on the income advantage stemming from the exploitation of secondary raw materials obtained from differentiated waste. To pursue this scope, an indicator at the company level is preliminarily identified; then, a systemic indicator is introduced by implementing an aggregation of the individual ones. The adopted methodological tool is of the rank-size type, which is particularly appropriate for inferring insights at the system level from empirical data at single company level. To validate the indicator and apply it to real data in the sector of interest, an empirical analysis is conducted on a group of Italian waste management companies. It is shown that the indicator can be a useful tool for generating valuable information for waste management companies and policy-makers, who are responsible for defining policies and programs that make the overall waste management system more sustainable, thus materializing environmental and social benefits.     

Climate Change Impacts and Human Settlements in Africa: Prospects for Adaptation

Climate change impacts on African human settlements arise from a number of climate change-related causes, notably sea level changes, impacts on water resources, extreme weather events, food security, increased health risks from vector home diseases, and temperature-related morbidity in urban environments.Some coastlines and river deltas of Africa have densely populated low-lying areas, which would be affected by a rise in sea level. Other coastal settlements will be subjected to increased coastal erosion. Recent flooding in East Africa highlighted the vulnerability of flood plain settlements and the need to develop adaptive strategies for extreme weather events management and mitigation. In the semi arid and arid zones many settlements are associated with inland drainage water sources. Increases in drought will enhance water supply related vulnerabilities. Inter-basin and international water transfers raise the need for adequate legal frameworks that ensure equity among participating nations.Similarly, water supply and irrigation reservoirs in seasonal river catchments might fail, leading to poor sanitation in urban areas as well as food shortage. Hydroelectric power generation could be restricted in drought periods, and where it is a major contributor to the energy budget, reduced power generation could lead to a multiplicity of other impacts. States are advised to develop other sources of renewable energy.Temperature changes will lead to altered distribution of disease vectors such as mosquitoes, making settlements currently free of vector borne diseases vulnerable. Rapid breeding of the housefly could create a menace associated with enteric disorders, especially in conditions of poor sanitation.The dry savannahs of Africa are projected as possible future food deficit areas. Recurrent crop failures would lead to transmigration into urban areas. Pastoralists are likely to undertake more trans-boundary migrations and probably come into conflict with settled communities.Adaptive measures will involve methods of coastal defences (where applicable), a critical review of the energy sector, both regionally and nationally, a rigorous adherence to city hygiene procedures, an informed agricultural industry that is capable of adapting to changing climate in terms of cropping strategies, and innovations in environment design to maximise human comfort at minimum energy expenditure. In the savannah and arid areas water resource management systems will be needed to optimise water resource use and interstate co-operation where such resources are shared.Climate change issues discussed here raise the need for state support for more research and education in impacts of climate change on human settlements in Africa.     

电石法生产聚氯乙烯行业危险废物判定要点分析

聚氯乙烯树脂是用途极广的热塑性高分子材料,然而,电石法生产聚氯乙烯树脂(PVC)的过程中会产生大量的危险废物,如处置不当会对环境造成严重污染。本文对电石法生产聚氯乙烯树脂(PVC)过程中产生危险废物的类型、环节和产生特性进行了分析,以供环保部门和相关企业作为针对危险废物环境管理的判定依据。     

Territorial vulnerability evaluation in tiber watershed

By now it has become a widespread, consistent practice in the European Union to consider very carefully and to regard as fundamental the basic needs of man, such as health and safety, in relation to all productive activities which may be regarded as a possible source of environmental deterioration. At the national legislative level, factors and elements regarding the environment (water, atmosphere, soil, subsoil, landscape, etc.) have been pointed out which require the state of quality to be characterised and vulnerability to the pressures caused by man's activities to be evaluated.This has brought about an evolution in the concept itself of environmental quality, which is understood more and more as actual satisfying of man's needs through the proper use of resources and the maintaining of an environmental equilibrium.Environmental quality can be pursued, therefore, by studying the most appropriate usage of the territory and by considering quality no longer as a hindrance, rule or imposition, but as a goal shared by all in improving the quality of life.In this study a few instruments are proposed for evaluating the overall capacity of a given environmental element or group of elements to withstand deterioration caused by outside pressure, which in this specific case is pollution from farming and livestock waste and sewage.Territorial vulnerability can thus be evaluated through a decision support tool (fuzzy logic), which allows different categories of people (researchers, politicians, planning technicians, citizens, etc.) to be involved in the evaluation process.For this study, the vulnerability evaluation was applied to a complex, homogenous territorial system, the Tiber watershed, where there are environmental resources which are particularly sensitive, owing both to their intrinsic characteristics as well as to the pressures stemming from livestock production activities, which is one of the major pollution risks along the regional drainage pattern.The use of GIS software has allowed the method of analysis and prioritising to be applied to environmental factors (weighting) as well as the rapid management of initial territorial data, also of differing types (qualitative and quantitative).The resulting product is a vulnerability map where the territory is classified on the basis of the evaluations of the degree of response to stresses induced by the livestock production activities.     

Meat,Dairy and Climate Change: Assessing the Long-Term Mitigation Potential of Alternative Agri-Food Consumption Patterns in Canada

We use a newly developed model of the entire Canadian energy system (TIMES-Canada) to assess the climate change mitigation potential of different agri-food consumption patterns in Canada. For this, our model has been extended by disaggregating the agricultural demand sector into individual agri-food demands to allow for a more in-depth analysis. Besides a business-as-usual (baseline) scenario, we have constructed four different agri-food scenarios to assess the viability of reducing Canadian meat and dairy consumption in order to diminish Canada’s agricultural sector energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Our policy scenarios progressively restrict the consumption of different meat and dairy agricultural products until the year 2030. Our results suggest that the implementation of a meat and dairy consumption reduction policy would lead to a 10 to 40 % reduction in agricultural GHG emissions, depending on the severity of the scenario. This translates to a 1 to 3 % decrease in total Canadian GHG emissions by the year 2030. Besides these environmental benefits, health benefits associated with a reduction in meat and dairy consumption (as inferred from other studies) are presented as an additional source of motivation for implementing such a policy in Canada.     

Impacts and mitigation measures of plastic waste: A critical review

Overwhelmed plastic waste has been gradually appreciated as a global problematic issue. Scientific efforts either dedicated to comprehending its distribution and detrimental impacts on the environment or management measures to contain it. However, there is a concern asymmetry between the knowledge of detrimental impacts of plastic waste and corresponding mitigation measures. Microplastics in the marine ecosystem is the foremost research hotspot in terms of plastic waste's detrimental impacts. Recycling plastic waste is the utmost research topic in terms of plastic waste management. Plastic pollutants derived from plastic waste contaminates the environment and ultimately threatens human health. Current measures aimed at reducing the plastic waste ended in the environment via recycling, and emphasised its retention of material value via circular economy. However, these measures did not prioritise taking direct action to mitigate the threats to human health. This review aims to bridge these two research ends of plastic waste that provides a holistic view of this problematic issue.The keywords analysis function in VOSviewer is adopted in this study to map out the state-of-the-art of existing research in plastic waste. Four research mainstreams are highlighted: (1) Environmental concerns of plastic waste in aquatic ecosystems; (2) Potential threats to human health; (3) Plastic waste reduction options and recycling methods; (4) Plastic waste thermochemical treatment. Consequently, a future research agenda is proposed.     

新疆煤炭开发环境保护问题及对策建议

针对新疆煤炭资源开发状况及新疆煤炭资源的分布特点,分析了煤炭开发过程中引发的环境问题,提出了加强煤炭资源开发区域规划环境影响评价,积极探索建立矿山生态环境恢复补偿机制,加强对煤矿开发产生的废水、矸石的处理及监管力度,加大矸石、废水的监管和排污收费征收力度等措施。     

Screening and prioritisation of chemical risks from metal mining operations, identifying exposure media of concern

Metals have been central to the development of human civilisation from the Bronze Age to modern times, although in the past, metal mining and smelting have been the cause of serious environmental pollution with the potential to harm human health. Despite problems from artisanal mining in some developing countries, modern mining to Western standards now uses the best available mining technology combined with environmental monitoring, mitigation and remediation measures to limit emissions to the environment. This paper develops risk screening and prioritisation methods previously used for contaminated land on military and civilian sites and engineering systems for the analysis and prioritisation of chemical risks from modern metal mining operations. It uses hierarchical holographic modelling and multi-criteria decision making to analyse and prioritise the risks from potentially hazardous inorganic chemical substances released by mining operations. A case study of an active platinum group metals mine in South Africa is used to demonstrate the potential of the method. This risk-based methodology for identifying, filtering and ranking mining-related environmental and human health risks can be used to identify exposure media of greatest concern to inform risk management. It also provides a practical decision-making tool for mine acquisition and helps to communicate risk to all members of mining operation teams.     

Advancing strategic environmental assessment in the offshore oil and gas sector: Lessons from Norway,Canada, and the United Kingdom

Abstract: Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for offshore oil and gas planning and development is utilized in select international jurisdictions, but the sector has received limited attention in the SEA literature. While the potential benefits of and rationale for SEA are well argued, there have been few empirical studies of SEA processes for the offshore sector. Hence, little is known about the efficacy of SEA offshore, in particular its influence on planning and development decisions. This paper examines SEA practice and influence in three international offshore systems: Norway, Atlantic Canada and the United Kingdom, with the intent to identify the challenges, lessons and opportunities for advancing SEA in offshore planning and impact assessment. Results demonstrate that SEA can help inform and improve the efficacy and efficiency of project-based assessment in the offshore sector, however weak coordination between higher and lower tiers limit SEA's ability to influence planning and development decisions in a broad regional environmental and socioeconomic context.     

Stakeholder participation in health impact assessment: A multicultural approach

The literature on impact assessment (HIA) registers the importance of stakeholder participation in the assessment process, but still lacks a model for engaging stakeholders of diverse ethnic, professional and sectorial backgrounds. This paper suggests that the multicultural approach can contribute to HIA through a revision of the generic 5-step HIA model, and its implementation in a metropolitan plan in Southern Israel. The health issue scoped by the stakeholders in the HIA is related to land uses in the vicinity of the national hazardous industry and hazardous waste site. The stakeholders were representatives of the diverse populations at stake, including rural Bedouins and Jewish city dwellers, as well as representatives from the public sector, private sector, non-governmental organizations and academia. The case study revealed that a multicultural stakeholder participation process helps to uncover health issues known to the community which were not addressed in the original plan, and provides local knowledge regarding health conditions that is especially valuable when scientific data is uncertain or absent. It enables diverse stakeholders to prioritize the health issues that will be assessed. The case study also reveals ways in which the model needs revisions and improvements such as in recruitment of diverse participants. This paper presents a multicultural model of HIA and discusses some of the challenges that are faced when HIA is implemented in the context of current decision-making culture.     

Incineration of hazardous wastes

Glaxo has practiced incineration of liquid and gaseous wastes for over twenty years and currently operate eleven liquid and gas incinerators in the United Kingdom and Singapore. The liquid incinerators burn, as their main streams, those solvents that cannot be recovered and recycled within the processes. The early installations were for readily combustible solvents only. However, there has been a progressive move into the destruction of more difficult and hazardous wastes, with the consequential requirements for more sophisticated technology, in the belief that the responsible destruction of waste should be tackled near to its source. The eventual aim is to be self-sufficient in this area of waste management. The incineration of hazardous liquid and gaseous waste has presented a series of design, operational and monitoring problems into account which have all been successfully overcome. The solutions take into account the environmental consequences of the operations from both liquid and gaseous emissions. In order to ensure minimal environmental impact and safe operation the best practicable technology is employed. Environmental assessment forms part of the process development and permitting procedures.Plenary speaker.     

Environmental impact of electricity relocation: A quasi-natural experiment from interregional electricity transmission

Pollutants such as sulfur would concentrate in the source regions and thus the localized impacts are more obvious. Local balance of electricity by transporting coal has resulted in dense concentration of coal-fired power plants in load centers and caused severe environmental problems. Electricity relocation through interregional transmission is another choice for energy transportation to achieve electricity balance across regions and pollution mitigation. Using interregional electricity transmission (IRET) lines in China as a quasi-natural experiment, this paper assesses the environmental impact of electricity relocation. In the assessment, the grid organization of “province as executor” in China is considered because it affects the sphere of IRET's influence on pollution mitigation. Here we show the environmental benefits of electricity relocation. We find that, electricity relocation through interregional transmission leads to the growth rate of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emission decreasing 7% in landing areas and Sichuan province benefits most from electricity relocation. It is interesting that there is no significant increase of SO₂ emission growth rate in sending areas compared to counterfactuals if there had no IRET due to more integration of clean energy and improved emission efficiency in sending areas. Placebo study and robustness check show that the results are quite convincing. Therefore, IRET provides an appealing choice for China's environmental control in eastern region, and it is not necessarily at the cost of pollution in western region. The methodology can be applied to assess the environmental impacts of other program or policy elsewhere.     

Methodology for environmental assessment of proposed activity using risk analysis

This study applies a process of detailed assessment to summarize the potential impact of a proposed construction or other activity on the environment before implementation of an investment plan. The aim of the study was to develop a general methodology for analysis and evaluation of environmental issues connected with planned activities and proposed projects (especially buildings and engineering constructions, required implementation of environmental impact assessment process) using a risk analysis method, thus enabling the best option among the proposed activities to be chosen. The methodology was developed for conditions in Slovakia but could be arranged for any other country considering national conditions, requirements, standards and legislative. Application of the developed methodology in environmental impact assessment could create preconditions for more effective implementation of the EIA process. This paper provides a framework for the risk analysis component of the scoping phase within the EIA process. The process outlined in this paper will assist with determination of an estimation of risks to environmental and health of proposed activities.