Public involvement in the EIS process

In the United States public involvement in the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process is required by Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Guidelines, Executive mandates, and agency guidelines. Public participation after the initial Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and throughout the preparation of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) is desirable for it permits contributions from:

1. those who are directly affected by a proposed project.
2. individuals with expertise in environmental fields that may be affected by government action.

Early public participation can be useful in identifying environmental problems and potential sources of controversy. A systematic approach should be applied by government agencies to solicit public opinion throughout the preparation of the DEIS. Early, active, and meaningful participation particularly by those government and public segments most affected by the proposed project is a positive step towards effectively using the EIS as a management tool for mitigating impacts to the human environment. Here we discuss the role of public participation in the EIS process and develop an approach for initiating early and expressive public participation.     

‘Green On Green’: Public perceptions of wind power in Scotland and Ireland

The wind energy debate represents a new kind of environmental controversy which divides environmentalists of different persuasions who attach contrasting priority to global and local concerns. Case studies of public attitudes towards existing and proposed windfarm developments in Scotland and Ireland are used to test three counter-intuitive hypotheses derived from previous attitudinal research. These are: (a) that local people become more favourable towards windfarms after construction; (b) that the degree of acceptance increases with proximity to them; and (c) that the NIMBY syndrome(not-in-my-back-yard) does not adequately explain variations in public attitudes. All three hypotheses are supported by this study. Large majorities favour wind power development in principle and in (local) practice. Although some aspects of NIMBY attitudes exist, the surveys reveal an ‘inverse NIMBY’ syndrome, whereby those with windfarms in their ‘backyard’ strongly support the technology. The research endorses the view that aesthetic perceptions, both positive and negative, are the strongest single influence on individuals' attitudes towards wind power projects. Comparison of the current institutional factors driving wind energy development with those during earlier eras of hydro-power development and large-scale afforestation emphasizes the need for strategic planning guidance. The potential for using a planning-led approach to windfarm developments by adopting ‘Indicative Windfarm Strategies’ is discussed.     

The Role of Civic Environmentalism in the Pursuit of Sustainable Communities

This paper addresses public participation in sustainability initiatives and in the development of sustainable communities. In particular, it examines two models of public participation in environmental policy, referred to as 'information deficit models', and 'deliberative and inclusionary processes and procedures' (DIPS). The difference between the two models will be examined through the framework of the US discourse of 'civic environmentalism'. Using both examples and an analysis of recent literature, a distinction between 'narrow focus' and 'broad focus' civic environmentalism will be presented. It is argued that 'information deficit models' of public participation usually associated with 'narrow focus' civic environmentalism can successfully contribute to the 'environmental' aspects of sustainable communities. The paper concludes that DIPS and the greater sharing of control by citizens, non-governmental organizations and local governments offered by 'broad focus' civic environmentalism, are far more likely to result in a greater social capital, and a holistic appreciation of the inextricable links between environmental, social and economic characteristics of sustainable communities.     

Exploring the perceived impacts of a public high school closure for urban liveability in a Canadian midsized city

ABSTRACT

Public schools are more than educational institutions; they are essential to creating liveable neighbourhoods. Despite their importance, public schools are being permanently closed across North America, and particularly in the Canadian province of Ontario. In 2015, one of Ontario's public school boards made the decision to permanently close the province's oldest public high school, located in the urban core of the historic midsized city of Kingston. While the school is not scheduled to close until late 2019, the established fate of this prominent public asset has important consequences for the liveability of Kingston's urban core. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to document residents’ perceived impacts of the decision to close to Kingston Collegiate Vocational Institute (KCVI) on liveability in the school's catchment area. We observed widespread dissatisfaction with the decision to close KCVI (85%), with large proportions of respondents (above 40%) anticipating KCVI's closure to negatively impact neighbourhood liveability in various ways in the future. Approximately one-quarter of respondents indicated that they have considered moving as a result of the decision, and among these, concerns about negative impacts to household-level well-being were particularly acute. Given the socio-demographic profile of respondents who have considered moving, these findings suggest that the closure of KCVI could have a destabilising effect on the neighbourhoods within the KCVI catchment area by driving families out of the city's urban core. Our findings suggest that policies to address concerns of under-enrolment are short-sighted and undermine efforts of other sectors to promote liveable communities.     

An Empirical‐Theoretical Analysis Framework for Public Participation in Environmental Impact Assessment

Public participation has been increasingly recognized as one of the most important aspects of environmental impact assessment. However, the definition of adequate evaluative criteria for public participation, with a strong theoretical backing, the functionality of empirical best practice and the consideration of the country-specific context, has remained elusive. The evaluative framework developed here is an attempt to fill this gap. Best-practice public participation is defined as consisting of two components: (1) legal provisions; and (2) actors' attitudes and capacities (towards participation). The theoretical model, defined on the basis of Webler's adaptation of Habermas's theory of communicative action, is then translated into evaluative criteria for bestpractice public participation.     

于GRI体系的机场企业环境信息披露研究

机场作为民航运输的关键节点和重要枢纽,肩负着服务区域经济的重要使命,同时也面临环境保护与可持续发展的巨大挑战。作为公共基础设施和城市形象窗口,机场上市公司具有披露环境信息的义务与责任。在充分研究国内机场上市公司环境信息披露制度背景的基础上,本研究借鉴全球报告倡议组织（GRI）发布的《可持续发展报告指南》（第四版）及机场运营者行业补充（GRI-AOSS）构建了适用于我国机场的环境信息披露评价指标体系,并利用公开数据对国内6家机场上市公司的环境信息披露情况进行了实际测评。结果表明：我国机场环境信息披露程度较低,存在内容简单、量化不足、质量下降等问题。机场上市公司环境信息披露亟待在法律法规层面进行系统规范。建议借鉴GRI等相关国际标准及成功经验,制定适用于我国的科学可行的环境信息披露标准和制度体系。     

美国环境信息化建设及其启示

我国环境信息化存在基础设施和系统建设分散,数据难以共享,信息资源开发利用程度低,公众服务能力弱等问题,难以满足新时期生态环境保护工作的要求.美国环保署在环境信息管理方面建立了一套完善的组织架构和管理体制,实现了环境数据的共享、开放和信息资源的综合开发与利用.本文介绍了美国环保局的首席信息官(CIO)制度,信息化基础设施统一建设和运维等信息化管理制度,以及设施登记系统,有毒物质排放清单,我身边的环境,环境数据仓库,环境数据传输与交换等信息系统,结合我国的环境信息化建设,提出了若干政策建议.     

"What Works Well; What Needs Improvement": Lessons in public consultation from British Columbia's resource planning processes

Resource planning and management in British Columbia, Canada, has been steadily moving towards more active public participation. While government agencies have long been required to consult the general public during the course of land or resource use planning, the 1990s brought in a period of more intense public involvement. In terms of resource planning, this led to the creation of several new planning processes. Given that there is now considerable experience with the Commission on Resources and Environment (CORE) and the Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) processes, it is time for an appraisal. In particular, the paper examines the public's perceptions of these processes with respect to 'what works well' and 'what needs improvement'. The results highlight a number of areas to which process designers and managers should direct attention. There are three key items of note. First, there are generally low levels of awareness by respondents of public consultation processes in their community. Second, there is a need for access to timely, relevant and readable information throughout the course of the process in order to keep participants and the public as up-to-date as possible. Finally, there must be greater clarity about the process itself, including mandates, participants and decision-making powers.     

Public commitment making as a structural solution in social dilemmas

Research shows that public commitment making helps promote pro-environmental behavior. However, not everyone may be willing to make such commitments. Therefore, it is important to investigate the conditions under which commitment making is likely to occur. We expected dispositional trust and situational expectations to determine the willingness to install a system of public commitments. Two studies are presented which show that group members low in dispositional trust (low trusters) are likely to choose for a public commitment system when their situational expectations concerning other group members' contributions are high, while those high in dispositional trust (high trusters) are likely to choose for a public commitment system when their situational expectations concerning other group members' contributions are low. It appears that for both low and high trusters the choice for a system of public commitments is instigated by a motivation to further the collective outcomes.     

中国化工产业园区化的驱动机制:基于社会-生态系统框架下的博弈论分析

化工产业园区化是政府合理规范化工园区且将化工园区外化工生产企业关停并搬迁至化工园区内的产业集聚化,是解决目前中国化工产业安全事故频发、环境污染严重等问题,推进化工产业转型升级的重要政策之一。中国化工产业园区化的社会—生态系统框架刻画了化工园区、化工产品、化工园区管委会、企业和公众四个核心子系统的关联,在此基础上,中国化工产业园区化的博弈模型将参与者简化为政府(包括化工园区管委会)、企业(化工生产企业)和公众(化工生产企业现址影响半径内的居民群体),并分别构建了政府与企业间的博弈模型与公众参与下的政府与企业间的博弈模型。根据模型推论,此两类情景博弈的纳什均衡都可以为(政府行政政策,企业按期搬迁入园)或(政府经济政策,企业按期搬迁入园)。中国化工产业园区化的驱动机制,是在作为外在驱动主体的政府和公众的引导和监督下,作为内在驱动主体的化工生产企业,在各驱动因素的协同作用下,实现其"按期搬迁入园"的机制。进而得出化工生产企业与化工园区"按期匹配搬迁入园"、提升化工园区公共服务能力、差异化地一企一策及建立公众和企业与政府的三方对话机制的四点政策建议。     

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act's Public Registry System

Public access to information and public participation in the environmental assessment (EA) process are cornerstones of the Canadian EA system. The Government's commitment is stated in the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act which requires that federal departments establish and operate a public registry of information on the EAs they conduct to ensure convenient public access. The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has taken the lead to ensure this commitment is met through the development of an innovative electronic Public Registry System. The system allows all federal departments conducting EAs to meet their obligations in a consistent and cost-effective manner. The public can easily access information on the 'who, what, when, where and why' of all EAs carried out by the federal departments, as well as document listings and the actual EA documents. Access is through the Internet, CD ROM, and in hardcopy.     

国家公园建设背景下的公益型保护地研究进展

当前我国自然保护地体系改革正处于关键时期,公益型保护地是一种利用社会公益力量,由政府监督、民间管理并协调保护与发展的新型保护地模式。该模式注重社会公益力量在自然保护地建设中的作用,能够补充已有保护地资金、技术和人力的不足,填补了我国目前保护地体系的空缺。本文论述了国家公园建设背景下的公益保护地的内涵,分析了当前公益保护地的特征,讨论了国内外公益型保护地的运营管理机制,包括土地权利的获得、基于协议保护机制的保护地运营、特许经营在保护地的实施和社区保护模式的成功经验。今后我国公益型保护地的建设应鼓励公益组织与民间力量参与,在管理理念上应坚持保护第一和公益性,促进管理体制转变和科学划定界限,并完善公益组织参与保护地建设的激励和监督机制。     

环境行政公益诉讼中检察机关与公众的合作机制研究

《中华人民共和国行政诉讼法》的最新修改增加了检察机关提起行政公益诉讼的规定。从此前试点情况看,生态环境和资源保护案件在行政公益诉讼案件中占比最大,加之"生态文明"入宪,此类案件在今后一段时间依然会是行政公益诉讼的重点。制度虽已建立但落实千头万绪,检察机关面临诸多困境。在党的十九大提出的构建"全民共治"的环境治理体系框架下,基于此类诉讼的公益性,寻找公众与检察机关之间的合作空间,可以实现多赢。     

Walking in the Irish countryside: landowner preferences and attitudes to improved public access provision

This paper explores the attitudes of landowners across Ireland to the wider provision of public access for recreational walking using a multinomial logit model. The study also investigates the level of compensation required to improve the supply of this public good. Results indicate that 51% of landowners are not willing to provide access (non-providers), 21% are willing to provide access free of charge (free providers) and 28% seek compensation (willing providers). The findings indicate that participation by landowners in a proposed public access scheme is influenced by landowners' experience with walkers, farm type, farm insurance costs, household demographics, regional variations, opportunity cost of land and participation in other agri-environment schemes. Mean willingness-to-accept for landowners willing to facilitate improved public access for walking was found to be €0.27 per metre of walkway.     

Perceived landscape impacts of mobile telecommunications development in the Peak District National Park,England

This study explored the public perceptions of mobile telecommunications development – new landscape elements installed to deliver new technology – in a protected area. It examined: (1) the perceived landscape impacts of such development; (2) the importance attached to the socio-economic value of mobile telecommunications; and (3) the factors underlying the perceived landscape impacts of mobile telecommunications development. A postal questionnaire survey was conducted in the Peak District National Park, England with 420 respondents drawn from National Park residents and visitors, urban dwellers and members of environmental organisations. The study suggests that: (1) there was a prevailing antipathy towards the landscape impacts of mobile telecommunications development in the National Park; (2) apart from emergency uses, the other socio-economic benefits of mobile telecommunications technology were thought to be relatively unimportant in the National Park; and (3) rather than socio-demographic characteristics, it was respondents' understandings of protected areas' needs for the technology and potential health risks that had significant effects on the perceived landscape impacts. Overall, this study suggests that the significance of National Park landscapes is respected by the public, even when setalongside the convenience of modern technology, which has substantial implications for landscape planning and management in protected areas.     

我国城市水体黑臭治理的基本思路研究

城市水体黑臭已经成为继雾霾之后公众关注度较高问题。消除城市水体黑臭是全面建成小康社会和环境质量改善的关键,也是现阶段向水污染宣战的重点问题。本文分析了我国城市水体污染现状、问题与成因、整治存在的难点,从工程治理、管理和制度建设等角度提出了相关建议,为城市水体黑臭治理提供参考。     

公众参与对环境治理效果的影响——基于阶梯理论的实证研究

近年来,公众已经成为中国环境治理中不可或缺的力量,公众参与的方式和渠道也在不断拓展和丰富。为考察不同类型公众参与方式对环境治理效果的影响差异,本文基于公众参与阶梯理论,选取四类公众参与方式和四类污染物,结合我国2008—2017年30个省份数据,利用面板数据回归模型进行了实证检验。结果表明,横向比较不同类型的公众参与方式,公众环境来访对环境治理的促进效果优于环境信息公开和环保网络舆论,而政协提案、人大议案的积极效应尚不显著。纵向比较不同类型的污染物治理效果,公众参与能显著促进大气污染物的减排,对噪声和固体废物污染效果的影响次之,而在水污染治理中的作用较不理想。建议政府进一步优化健全环境信息公开机制,并重视公众层面的环境诉求,建立公众与地方生态环境部门的良好互动机制,同时鼓励公众通过新媒体渠道参与环境治理。     

控制环境与健康风险:美国环境标准制度功能借鉴

传统观念下,环境与健康分属两个不同领域,美国作为最早遭遇环境与健康问题的国家,经过多年努力,形成了建立以保障公共健康为核心的环境标准体系和环境与健康风险评估框架,实现了对环境与健康风险的有效控制。美国对环境污染物的界定主要取决于其对公共健康的影响,将污染物分为普遍及对公共健康危害较大的污染物、一些污染范围较小或对公共健康危害较小的污染物两类,且采取不同的标准制定方法。在标准制定方面,主要是将有关科学共识转化为可执行的环境标准。为了避免环境标准的不确定性带来的不利影响,建立了包括科学论证、公开透明、周期性审查等较为严格的环境标准制定程序。美国赋予环境标准制度以控制环境与健康风险的功能,并通过建立以保障公共健康为核心的环境标准体系,实现对环境与健康风险有效控制的执法路径,对解决中国目前存在的环境标准价值缺失、体系割裂、内容缺失等问题,实现环境标准的功能再造具有较强的借鉴意义。     

Structural challenges that contributed to the decline of the communities for climate protection programme

In 2004 New Zealand's (NZ) Labour-led government launched the Communities for Climate Protection – NZ (CCP-NZ) programme. Following a shift in Government leadership in 2008, from Clark's Labour-led to Key's National-led government, the CCP-NZ programme was discontinued. Through the narratives of managers charged with the implementation and delivery of the CCP-NZ programme, this paper explores the structural challenges that contributed to the initiative's decline in NZ local government. This research contributes to the academic literature by shedding light on the outworking of a local government carbon management strategy. Additionally, this study provides policy makers and managers seeking to embark on organisational carbon mitigation the opportunity to glean insight from the experience of public sector managers responsible for the CCP-NZ programme.     

The chemical industry's commitment to continuous improvement in environmental performance

One of the greatest challenges facing the chemical industry today is regaining the lost confidence of the public. This concern led to the Chemical Manufacturers Association's (CMA's) adoption of the Responsible Care® initiative—not a slick new promotional campaign but a commitment to continuous improvement in environmental performance. The author highlights components of the program, which is seen as an outgrowth of Total Quality Management.