Monitoring Diffuse Impacts: Australian Tourism Developments

/ The scientific quality of monitoring for diffuse environmental impacts has rarely been quantified. This paper presents an analysis of all formal environmental monitoring programs for Australian tourism developments over a 15-year period from 1980 to 1995. The tourism sector provides a good test bed for this study because tourism developments are (1) often adjacent to or even within conservation reserves and other relatively undisturbed natural environments, and (2) often clustered, with resulting cumulative impacts that require detection at an early stage. Here we analyze the precision and reliability with which monitoring programs as actually implemented can detect diffuse environmental impacts against natural variation. Of 175 Australian tourism developments subject to EIA from 1980 to 1993 inclusive, only 13 were subject to formal monitoring. Only 44 individual parameters, in total, were monitored for all these developments together. No baseline monitoring was conducted for nine of the 44 parameters. For the remaining 35, only one was monitored for a full year. Before, after, control, impact, paired sampling (BACIP) monitoring designs were used for 24 of the 44 parameters, and power analysis in 10. The scientific quality of monitoring was significantly better for developments subject to control by the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA). The key factor appears to be the way in which GBRMPA uses external referees and manages external consultants. The GBRMPA model merits wider adoption.     

Nitrate leaching to subsurface drains as affected by drain spacing and changes in crop production system

Subsurface drainage is a beneficial water management practice in poorly drained soils but may also contribute substantial nitrate N loads to surface waters. This paper summarizes results from a 15-yr drainage study in Indiana that includes three drain spacings (5, 10, and 20 m) managed for 10 yr with chisel tillage in monoculture corn (Zea mays L.) and currently managed under a no-till corn-soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation. In general, drainflow and nitrate N losses per unit area were greater for narrower drain spacings. Drainflow removed between 8 and 26% of annual rainfall, depending on year and drain spacing. Nitrate N concentrations in drainflow did not vary with spacing, but concentrations have significantly decreased from the beginning to the end of the experiment. Flow-weighted mean concentrations decreased from 28 mg L(-1) in the 1986-1988 period to 8 mg L(-1) in the 1997-1999 period. The reduction in concentration was due to both a reduction in fertilizer N rates over the study period and to the addition of a winter cover crop as a "trap crop" after corn in the corn-soybean rotation. Annual nitrate N loads decreased from 38 kg ha(-1) in the 1986-1988 period to 15 kg ha(-1) in the 1997-1999 period. Most of the nitrate N losses occurred during the fallow season, when most of the drainage occurred. Results of this study underscore the necessity of long-term research on different soil types and in different climatic zones, to develop appropriate management strategies for both economic crop production and protection of environmental quality.     

TRENDS IN FRESHWATER INFLOW TO SAN FRANCISCO BAY FROM TUE SACRAMENTO-SAN JOAQUIN DELTA1

ABSTRACT: Outflow from the Sacramento-San Joaquin river system (Delta outflow) provides about 90 percent of the freshwater flow to San Francisco Bay. Because this river system also supplies most of the water used in California, some believed that annual freshwater flow to the Bay had declined by as much as 50 to 60 percent as water use increased. Consequently, we studied trends in actual Delta outflow and precipitation for the period 1921 to 1986, which is when Delta outflow data are available. We found that there has been no decrease in the annual Delta outflow over this period. In fact, a statistically significant increase in annual Delta outflow of 87 cfa/yr has occurred during the period 1921 to 1986. One reason that Delta outflow has increased is because precipitation has increased faster than water use. Other contributing factors include increased runoff from land use changes, water imports from other areas, and the redistribution of ground water. In addition, statistically significant seasonal trends in Delta outflow were found. Over the period 1921–1986 Delta outflow decreased in April and May and increased from July through November. Changes in other months were not statistically significant. These seasonal changes result primarily from the operation of upstream flood control and water development projects, which store water in the spring and release it in the summer and fall. These seasonal changes are also influenced by a climatic shift that has decreased spring snowmelt runoff and increased late summer through winter precipitation.     

Measuring environmental performance at niagara mohawk power

A system for measuring environmental performance is important to the success of a company's environmental excellence program. In 1991, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation (NMPC) unveiled a new corporate policy on protection of the environment. To measure and communicate progress in achieving the goals and objectives embodied in the new policy, an environmental performance index (EPI) was developed. In this article the author shows how the EPI utilizes a weight and rating scheme to reflect environmental performance in three categories: emissions/wastes, regulatory compliance, and environmental enhancements. Performance goals have been established for the period 1992–1995, and actual performance data has been compiled for 1992 and 1993. While the EPI is designed to measure changes in NMPC's environmental performance over time, it does not provide information on how the company's performance compares to that of other electric utilities. Accordingly, NMPC is developing an environmental benchmarking program with a group of Northeast electric utilities that will allow comparisons of environmental performance between utilities.     

Industry and the environment: Chief executive officer attitudes, 1976 and 1986

This research considers the question of changing environmental values within the leadership of firms responsible for the management of pollution as an unwanted byproduct. Information was obtained from a pair of surveys mailed to the chief executive officers (CEOs) of the 50 largest firms listed within the mining and manufacturing directories of Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming in 1976 and again in 1986. The authors found that industry CEOs were more supportive of environmental concerns in 1986 than 1976, suggesting that ecological values have become institutionalized to some extent. Yet, there is little indication that this attitudinal shift in environmental concern among CEOs has been accompanied by a willingness to spend a larger proportion of the company budget on pollution control or to improve working relationships with federal regulatory officials.     

Industrial Development Versus Environmental Conservation at Local Scale: A Case Study from Southeastern Spain

Local scale has an important role in environmental management. In Spain, rapid industrialization has occurred in the last three decades, leading to substantial changes in socioeconomic relations and resulting in significant environmental degradation. This paper describes the environmental status of the township of Sax (Alicante, in southeast Spain), which has passed from agriculture to industrial manufacturing in 50 years. The human population has grown exponentially during the second half of the 20th century, with a 91% increase from 1955 to 1995, coinciding with strong growth in manufacturing (factories increased fivefold in the period 1955–1976) and important changes in the working population and land use. Illegal rubbish dumps, water pollution, forest fires, erosion, and degradation of wildlife habitats are the main outcomes of these dramatic socioeconomic and demographic changes. The administration has focused on the control of water pollution and waste management, while nongovernmental organizations have concentrated on the prevention of forest fires and the development of environmental education programs. These measures are insufficient to manage current environmental degradation, and an environmental management plan for the study area is discussed. Increasing effort in waste management and industrial wastewater control, changes in land-use policy, and the creation of an advisory committee to increase public participation in decision-making have been identified as environmental target objectives for the coming years.     

提高土壤环境管理成效:推进三大环境要素协同治理

经过长期的大气污染和水污染治理实践,各地积累了一定的技术、工程和管理经验,但随着土壤污染问题的日益凸显,三大环境要素质量如何整体提升、确保区域生态系统服务功能稳定持续发挥、满足人民群众对环境产品的需求,成为各级政府推进环境基本公共服务均等化过程中需要正视和亟待破解的一个难题。本文在系统分析当前环境污染以单要素为主线实施治理的总体思路所面临困境的基础上,基于生态系统整体性和区域统筹考量,从治理主体、治理手段、治理过程三个方面,提出推进土壤环境-水环境-大气环境协同治理的基本路径,为国家出台土壤环境管理相关政策措施、促进城镇化过程中区域环境质量整体改善提供参考。     

污染防治攻坚战实施阶段性成效评估研究

污染防治攻坚战是党的十九大提出的我国全面建成小康社会决胜时期的“三大攻坚战”之一,以解决人民群众反映强烈的大气、水、土壤污染等突出问题为重点,全面加强环境污染防治。为客观评估污染防治攻坚战实施成效,本研究构建了污染防治攻坚战评估指标体系与方法,基于环境监测数据、生态环境综合业务调度平台等数据,采用比较法、耦合协调指数等方法,从目标指标、重点任务、政策制度和经济绩效4个维度,对2018—2020年的污染防治攻坚战实施阶段性成效开展评估。结果显示：攻坚战实施成效显著,全面完成规定的13项目标指标,重点任务完成情况总体较好,有效地促进了环境经济协调发展,推动生态环境治理体制机制更加完善。然而,我国生态环境质量改善成效仍不稳固,结构性、根源性、趋势性压力尚未根本缓解,本文建议“十四五”时期应从绿色低碳转型、减污降碳协同增效、关键领域突破、环境治理体系和治理能力等方面深入打好污染防治攻坚战,持续改善生态环境质量。     

Wetland Degradation: Its Driving Forces and Environmental Impacts in the Sanjiang Plain,China

This study investigated human-induced long-term wetland degradation that occurred in the Sanjiang Plain. Results from analyzing land-use/land-cover data sets derived from remotely sensed Landsat Multispectral Scanner/Thematic Mapper imagery for four time points showed that wetlands in the Sanjiang Plain have been severely transformed, and the area of wetlands decreased by 38 % from 1976 to 1986, by 16 % from 1986 to 1995, and by 31 % from 1995 to 2005. This study showed that transition to agricultural cultivation accounted for 91 % of wetland losses, whereas transition to grassland and forest accounted for 7 % of the wetlands losses. Institutional strategies and market policies probably exerted great impacts on agricultural practice that directly or indirectly influenced the decrease in wetlands. This study also indicated that an increased population likely led to wetland conversion to cropland by showing a high correlation between population and cropland (R ² = 0.92, P < 0.001). Wetland loss occurred during later time intervals at a low rate. This study suggests that the existing wetland-protection measures in the Sanjiang Plain should be reinforced further because of possible environmental consequences of wetland loss, such as enhanced soil carbon emission, changed hydrological cycling, and regional temperature increase.     

Case study: Improving environmental management at Rhodia's Paulínia,Brazil chemical facility

At the end of 1995, Lisě Monteiro, the engineer responsible for Industrial Security and the Environment at Rhodia, was seeking possible improvements that could be introduced into the company's environmental practices. He had noticed that one of the company's industrial units, the Adipic Acid Department at the Paulínia Chemical Plant complex, was getting good results in its efforts to control environmental pollution. An outside consultant was brought in to examine the department in greater depth to see what lessons might be learned from their experience that would help Rhodia improve its managerial procedures. This article details how this plant improved its environmental performance with many quality initiatives.     

“后小康”时期我国排污许可制改革实施路线图研究

排污许可制度是发达国家普遍实行并证明行之有效的点源管理制度。"十三五"以来,我国以排污许可制度为核心的固定污染源管理体系进入快速高效构建期。2020年后,我国将进入"后小康社会"时期,排污许可制度改革与实施也将进入一个新时期。本文在充分研究目前排污许可制度改革面临问题的基础上,参考国际经验,提出"后小康"时期排污许可制改革的路线图。围绕环境质量改善,通过"后小康"时期排污许可制度的进一步改革与创新,使得中国排污许可制度更加完善、内容规范细致,让排污许可制真正成为固定污染源环境管理的核心制度,为确保"十九大"提出的"环境质量根本好转"的目标打下坚实基础。     

南京市工业系统资源环境减量投入分析

本文将物质减量图解应用于工业系统的资源环境减量投入上,对南京市工业系统1986～2004年的资源环境的使用强度和减量化水平进行了计算和分析。结果表明,南京市工业系统的资源环境使用强度在评价期间逐年降低,2004年的工业用水、能源消耗、废水排放、废气排放和“固废”排放的强度分别为1986年的18.14%、15.14%、4.36%、14.95%、15.72%;在评价期间南京市工业系统只有工业废水实现了绝对减量排放;而水耗、能耗、废气排放和“固废”排放四项指标均没有实现绝对减量,致使在此期间南京市工业系统水耗增加了384100.66万吨,能耗增加了1409.32万标准吨煤,废气排放量增加19852018.00万立方米,“固废”增加排放603.26万吨。     

Modeling the relationship between development and storm water and nutrient runoff

The EPA Storm Water Management Model was used to model the effects of urban and agricultural development on storm water runoff from uplands bordering a Louisiana swamp forest. Using this model, we examined the effects of changing land use patterns. By 1995 it is projected that urban land on the uplands bordering the swamp will increase by 321 percent, primarily at the expense of land currently in agriculture. Simulation results indicate that urbanization will cause storm water runoff rates to be up to 4.2 times greater in 1995 than in 1975. Nutrient runoff will increase 28 percent for nitrogen (N) and 16 percent for phosphorus (P) during the same period. The environmental effects of these changes in the receiving swamp forest are examined.     

水质基准与标准对我国环保产业的拉动分析

水质基准与标准是国家环境保护工作的根本,是进行环境管理的重要技术依据。随着我国水环境形势的变化和管理目标的改变,为准确、客观地反映我国当前的地表水环境状况,强化水污染防治,有效引导水环境质量改善的方向,提高水环境管理的效率,要求基于水质基准研究开展《地表水环境质量标准》的修订工作,以满足新的管理需求。预测表明,"十三五"期间我国环保投资将达到约6.8万亿,为达到修订《标准》后的目标,我国水污染防治至少需投资2.04万亿。另外,修订《标准》,将带动工业和城镇水污染防治投资超过一万亿元,能够加快环保产业的技术成果转化与应用推广。水质基准与标准对环保产业创新和社会经济发展具有积极促进作用,将在我国水环境质量改善和科技进步促进方面产生重大而深远的影响。     

从《“十三五”生态环境保护规划》看环境监管的转变

"十三五"时期是以环境质量为核心的生态文明建设的重要时期,完善环境监管制度转变是推进生态文明制度体系建设的重要内容。本文研究提出了加快实现环境监管的三个重要转变:环境管理向环境治理的转变,环境监管能力向环境治理能力现代化的转变和环境监管方式向环境综合监管的转变。另外,本文还对三个转变如何落地提出了建议。     

Review of world sulphur demand and supply

Data on the sulphur market and sulphur production are presented for the period 1975–88 and projections are given for both to 2000. The largest consumer of sulphur during the period under review was the fertilizer industry. In general a surplus of sulphur is expected by 1995, but that should disappear by 2000. The validity of the prediction depends on no new environmental constraints and on the development of large sulphur deposits in Eastern Europe and the USSR.     

环境质量模糊综合评价及其应用

环境质量评价是环境科学的重要研究课题之一，作者评述了常用指标法的不足，提出用模糊数学中综合模糊评价法评价环境质量，建立了评价模式和计算程序，并用于科学城的环境质量评价，评价计算给出的多层次数据所提供的信息，与监测结果所体现的环境质量状况符合，所建模糊评价程序是适用的。     

省域水环境保护政策实施效果评价的指标体系构建与实证研究

本文以湖北省"十二五"环境规划的水环境保护指标为主要依据,采用压力—状态—响应(PSR)模型,从污染排放强度、水质改善效果、水资源利用和污染减排效率三个维度出发,建立湖北省"十二五"水环境保护政策评价指标体系,对政策的实施效果进行量化评估。结果表明:湖北省"十二五"期间水环境保护政策实施效果呈逐年上升趋势,从二级指标来看,政策实施在污染排放强度以及水资源利用和污染减排效率两方面均取得较好的成效,但在水质改善方面效果不明显甚至有所下降。建议湖北省在"十三五"期间以至接下来更长的一段时期内,首先要重点加强省内各局部区域的水环境承载能力评估,并依据评估结果对现有的产业布局进行有效的调整;其次应进一步强化环境监测和管理力度,以减少可能的非法排污。本文构建的指标体系对进一步促进省域水环境保护政策实施效果评价的规范化、合理化不无借鉴意义。     

Land-use dynamics in a southern Illinois (USA) watershed

The Cache River of southernmost Illinois is used as a case study for developing and demonstrating an approach to quantitatively link (1) national agricultural policy and global agricultural markets, (2) landowner's decisions on land use, (3) spatial patterns of land use at a watershed scale, and (4) hydrologic impacts, thus providing a basis to predict, under a certain set of circumstances, the environmental consequences of economic and political decisions made at larger spatial scales. The heart of the analysis is an estimation, using logistic regression, of the affect of crop prices and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) rental rates on farmland owner's decisions whether to reenroll in the CRP or return to crop production. This analysis shows that reasonable ranges for crop prices (80%–150% of 1985–1995 values) and CRP rental rates (0–125% of 1985–1995 rates) result in a range of 3%–92% of CRP lands being returned to crop production, with crop prices having a slightly greater effect than CRP rental rates. Four crop price/CRP rental rate scenarios are used to display resulting land-use patterns, and their effect on sediment loads, a critical environmental quality parameter in this case, using the agricultural non point source (AGNPS) model. These scenarios demonstrate the importance of spatial pattern of land uses on hydrological and ecological processes within watersheds. The approach developed can be adapted for use by local governments and watershed associations whose goals are to improve watershed resources and environmental quality.     

区块链技术在环境监测中的应用研究

我国环境监测质量控制体系已经基本建立,但人为数据造假等违规违法行为仍时有发生,现有技术和管理手段无法有效防止。本文通过分析区块链技术的特点,梳理环境监测数据质量控制面临的问题,针对人为影响环境监测数据质量的主要手段,研究区块链保障环境监测数据质量的技术方案,提出基于区块链智能数据质量控制器改造现有监测系统的方案,并在北京市开展了试点示范,验证了区块链提高环境监测数据质量的可行性。