From Spatial to Local: The Impact of the European Union on Local Authority Planning in the UK

In 1998 the Minister for the Regions, Regeneration and Planning issued a statement which argued that the European context for planning had been largely missing from the planning system in England. This paper explores the impact of European Union (EU) membership on the practice of local authority planning in the UK. The research was based on nine local planning authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. The results indicate that EU membership has exerted a direct and indirect influence on planning at the local level. A classification of EU influences on local planning activities is developed. The research also indicates that the scope and structure of the UK planning system are being influenced by EU membership. There is considerable emphasis on the role of planning as a tool for sustainable development, and the development of environmental quality standards, coupled with existing policies in the sphere of nature conservation, present a challenge to the traditional approach of the UK planning system of balancing all material considerations.     

ASSESSMENT ANALYSIS FOR WATER SUPPLY ALTERNATIVES1

ABSTRACT Providing adequate water supplies of good quality is becoming a serious problem in many areas of the United States. Some of the alternatives proposed for meeting the growing shortage of clean-water or cheap-water are reallocation, reuse, and importation. This paper outlines a methodology to assess all of these water supply alternatives by examining the amount and time-staging for development of water sources. In conceptualizing the problem, sources of supply are classified in three categories: primary or base supplies, secondary or effluent supplies, and supplementary or imported supplies. A model of the water system is formulated as a “transportation problem” in linear programming depicting the possible sources of supply which can be used to satisfy the requirements of various water users. The optimizing objective in the model is to minimize the cost of water under various assumptions for operating the system. A case study of the Salt Lake Qty, Utah, area is used to illustrate the application of the model in obtaining optimal water supply allocations for projected future demands. Assessment of alternatives in the study include redistribution of supplies, time-staging of supplies and related treatment facilities, and sensitivity of allocations to changes in costs.     

Decomposition of hazardous organic materials in the solidification/stabilization process using catalytic-activated carbon

The application of a catalytic-activated carbon to the solidification/stabilization (S/S) process for immobilization of phenol and 2-chlorophenol and catalytic decomposition was investigated. The effect of the catalytic-activated carbon, in amounts of 0.25-1% (by dry sand wt.), on the leaching of phenol and 2-chlorophenol was studied. H2O2 was added as a source of oxygen in the amounts of 1 or 5%, with respect to liquid solution weight. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) leaching tests showed that adding the catalytic-activated carbon to the S/S matrix significantly reduced the leachability of both phenol and 2-chlorophenol. Only trace amounts of phenol were found in the leaching solution, while the concentration of 2-chlorophenol was below the detection limit of the gas chromatography (GC). Without addition of the catalytic-activated carbon, 87% of the phenol and 92% of the 2-chlorophenol leached. Additional tests on TCLP leachate solutions using GC-mass spectrometry indicated the existence of simple, less hazardous, hydrocarbons, including alcohol. Catalytic-activated carbons treated with phenol in the presence of H2O2 were also analyzed using time of flight-secondary ion mass spectroscopy (TOF-SIMS). Results indicate that the phenol aromatic ring was broken by the catalytic reaction.     

The removal of heavy metals in urban runoff by sorption on mulch

A series of adsorption experiments was conducted in order to assess the ability of three mulches to remove several of the heavy metal ions typically encountered in urban runoff. Three types of mulch, cypress bark (C), hardwood bark (H), and pine bark nugget (P), were selected as potential sorbents to capture heavy metals in urban runoff. The hardwood bark (H) mulch had the best physicochemical properties for adsorption of heavy metal ions. In addition, because of its fast removal rate and acceptably high capacity for all the heavy metal ions, it was concluded that the H mulch is the best of the three adsorbents for treatment of urban runoff containing trace amounts of heavy metals. In order to investigate the sorption isotherm, two equilibrium models, the Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms, were analyzed. The sorption of these metals on H mulch conformed to the linear form of the Langmuir adsorption equation. At pH 5 and 6, the Langmuir constants (S(m)) for each metal were found to be 0.324 and 0.359 mmol/g (Cu); 0.306 and 0.350 mmol/g (Pb); and 0.185 and 0.187 mmol/g (Zn) at 25 degrees C.     

Effects of mixing-induced irradiance fluctuations on photosynthesis of natural assemblages of coastal phytoplankton

Photosynthesis versus irradiance relations were determined from field incubations of natural assemblages of phytoplankton that were either cycled at three different rates between the surface and a depth of 5 m or kept at constant depths. Photoinhibition of photosynthesis was not observed in the bottles kept at constant depths during 3.5-h experiments. Photosynthesis versus irradiance (P-I) curves derived from bottles kept at constant depths and the irradiance time course received by each of the cycled bottles were used to predict photosynthesis within each of the cycled bottles. P-I curves derived from measurements under relatively constant irradiance accurately predicted the mean photosynthetic response of phytoplankton that experienced large fluctuations in irradiance.     

Factors affecting fertilization success in two species of patellid limpet (Mollusca: Gastropoda) and development of fertilization kinetics models

Laboratory experiments were undertaken to examine fertilization success in the intertidal prosobranch limpets Patella ulyssiponensis and Patella vulgata. Alkalization of eggs (10 min in pH 9.0 sea water) prior to fertilization trials improved fertilization rates greatly. Fertilization success was found to be a function of sperm concentration, gamete age and contact time. Sperm concentration needed for optimum fertilization success in vivo ranged between 10⁵ and 10⁷ sperm ml⁻¹ for both species although at higher concentrations the number of normally developing trochophore larvae decreased. For P. vulgata, sperm longevity (at a concentration of 10⁶ sperm ml⁻¹) did not exceed 6 h, whereas eggs of both species were fertilizable for up to 12 h. Maximum fertilization success occurred after 15–30 min gamete contact time. The Vogel et al. (Math Biosci 58:189–216, 1982) fertilization kinetics model is developed to allow for non-complete fertilizations under optimal sperm concentrations, and a new parameter fitting technique is developed to improve estimates of fertilization success for short gamete contact times.     

Survival of brown trout during spring flood in DOC-rich streams in northern Sweden: the effect of present acid deposition and modelled pre-industrial water quality

Mortality and physiological responses in brown trout (Salmo trutta) were studied during spring snow melt in six streams in northern Sweden that differed in concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and pH declines. Data from these streams were used to create an empirical model for predicting fish responses (mortality and physiological disturbances) in DOC-rich streams using readily accessible water chemistry parameters. The results suggest that fish in these systems can tolerate higher acidity and inorganic aluminium levels than fish in low DOC streams. But even with the relatively low contemporary deposition load, anthropogenic deposition can cause fish mortality in the most acid-sensitive surface waters in northern Sweden during spring flood. However, the results suggests that it is only in streams with high levels of organically complexed aluminium in combination with a natural pH decline to below 5.0 during the spring where current sulphur deposition can cause irreversible damage to brown trout in the region. This study support earlier studies suggesting that DOC has an ameliorating effect on physiological disturbances in humic waters but the study also shows that surviving fish recover physiologically when the water quality returns to less toxic conditions following a toxic high flow period. The physiological response under natural, pre-industrial conditions was also estimated.     

When r-selection may not predict introduced-species proliferation: predation of a nonnative oyster.

Predicting outcomes of species introductions may be enhanced by integrating life-history theory with results of contained experiments that compare ecological responses of exotic and analogue native species to dominant features of the recipient environment. An Asian oyster under consideration for introduction to the Chesapeake Bay, USA, the rapidly growing Suminoe oyster (Crassostrea ariakensis), may not be as successful an invader as its r-selected life history suggests if the trade-off for rapid growth and maturation is lower investment in defenses against blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) predation than the native Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica). In laboratory trials, blue crabs simultaneously offered equal numbers of Suminoe and Eastern oysters consumed more nonnatives, irrespective of whether the crabs had previous experience with Suminoe oysters as prey. Satiated blue crabs consumed nearly three times as many Suminoe oysters as Eastern oysters of 25-mm shell height, and eight times as many of 35-mm shell height. Despite blue crabs consuming small (30 mm) Suminoe oysters at twice the rate of large (40 mm) Suminoe oysters, when 40-mm Suminoe were paired with 30-mm Eastern oysters, seven times as many of the larger (Suminoe) oysters were consumed. The greater susceptibility of C. ariakensis than C. virginica to blue crab predation appears to be based upon the biomechanics of shell strength rather than active selection of a more attractive food. Much less force was required to crush shells of Suminoe than Eastern oysters of similar shell height. Tissue transplant experiments demonstrated greater predation on oyster tissues in weaker C. ariakensis shells independent of tissue identity, and duration of handling time before rejection of C. virginica exceeded the time to crush C. ariakensis. These results, coupled with the present importance of blue crab predation in limiting recovery of native Eastern oysters, imply a role for blue crabs in inhibiting Suminoe oysters, if introduced, from attaining high adult densities required to restore a fishery, provide appreciable reef habitat, and reduce turbidity through filtration. Thus, in high-predation environments, allocation of resources to rapid growth and development rather than to predation defenses reflects a life-history trade-off that may promote early stages of invasion, yet prevent attainment of dense adult populations.     

Assessing Wetland Condition on a Watershed Basis in the Mid-Atlantic Region Using Synoptic Land-Cover Maps

We developed a series of tools to address three integrated tasks needed to effectively manage wetlands on a watershed basis: inventory, assessment, and restoration. Depending on the objectives of an assessment, availability of resources, and degree of confidence required in the results, there are three levels of effort available to address these three tasks. This paper describes the development and use of synoptic land-cover maps (Level 1) to assess wetland condition for a watershed. The other two levels are a rapid assessment using ground reconnaissance (Level 2) and intensive field assessment (Level 3). To illustrate the application of this method, seven watersheds in Pennsylvania were investigated representing a range of areas (89-777 km2), land uses, and ecoregions found in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Level 1 disturbance scores were based on land cover in 1-km radius circles centered on randomly-selected wetlands in each watershed. On a standardized, 100-point, human-disturbance scale, with 100 being severely degraded and 1 being the most ecologically intact, the range of scores for the seven watersheds was a relatively pristine score of 4 to a moderately degraded score of 66. This entire process can be conducted in a geographic information system (GIS)-capable office with readily available data and without engaging in extensive field investigations. We recommend that agencies and organizations begin the process of assessing wetlands by adopting this approach as a first step toward determining the condition of wetlands on a watershed basis.     

Artificial Sampling Units: A Tool for Increasing the Sensitivity of Tests for Impact in Soft Sediments

The distribution of benthic organisms in soft sediments is patchy in time and space on many scales. Such variability makes assessment of ecological impacts difficult. Sediment-related variables, such as grain-size and organic content, which can affect colonization by infauna, vary over similar scales. Variations in characteristics of the sediment may contribute to spatial variability in infaunal assemblages, making it difficult to detect the putative impacts of disturbances, such as the production of boat-generated waves (wash), on these organisms. Here, the hypothesis that infaunal assemblages colonizing containers of homogeneous sedimentwould be less spatially variable than those colonizing natural sediment was tested. Containers were deployed at mudflats differing in exposure to wash. If wash does affect colonization, a reduction in variability among sites of similar exposure should enable stronger differences to be seen between wash and no-wash zones. Assemblages colonizing homogeneous sediment were less variable than those colonizing site-specific sediment. No difference in colonization was, however, seen between places differing in their exposure to wash. Nevertheless, this method is of use in the assessment of ecological impacts in sedimentary environments, where it is difficult to detect putative impacts above the great natural variability in assemblages.