INFLUENCING WATER LEGISLATWE DEVELOPMENT WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO AVOID1

ABSTRACT: Whomever would affect water policy development must influence the water legislative process. This paper discusses in the context of the Model State Water Allocation Code the following ten ideas about doing that: (1) seek the right timing for enactment; (2) set modest goals; (3) prepare a well-drafted proposal; (4) recognize diversity by offering legislative choices; (5) consider the impacts of adoption; (6) make alliances; (7) respect executive influence; (8) become involved in legislative interaction; (9) be flexible; and (10) persist. Heeding these ideas, although not guaranteeing enactment, is sure to be educational for participants and useful to legislators.     

Using community relations to reduce costs during remediation projects

Almost everyone who has been involved in a site remediation project has seen schedules slip and costs escalate due to political pressure from the public or the press. While focusing on remediation technologies and containment techniques to control costs, many organizations have neglected a major cost driver—public opinion. This article examines community relations from the perspective of an organization trying to control costs during a site remediation project. It details the strong correlation between the cost of a site cleanup and the level of public dissatisfaction and provides an organization with specific strategies on how to use proven communications techniques to lower costs. Examination of several case studies is provided, including a study involving a site in which community representatives actively worked to reduce project costs. It is clear that any responsible cleanup must be protective of public health and the environment. But it is becoming increasingly apparent that wise allocation of available resources has a profound effect on the program's ability to ensure public and environmental safety. In many cases, it has been proven that some costly cleanups—for example, involving excavation—sometimes actually increase risk by creating an exposure pathway where none existed before. In turn, such cleanups waste resources that are needed elsewhere. The challenge in dealing with this complicated issue is to help stakeholders understand the true ramifications of the choices that are faced at each site. If these stakeholders feel uninformed, powerless, or excluded from the process, it is likely that they will be unable to enter a productive discussion. The community relations programs outlined in documents such as a Superfund guidance can be helpful in familiarizing the community with site-related issues and with gathering public input. These activities act as a baseline for the programs discussed in this article. However, existing programs are not focused on providing a strategic advantage in reaching cleanup solutions and balancing health and environmental considerations with economic considerations.     

Smart Growth and Sustainable Development: challenges, solutions and policy directions

In this paper, we focus on the issues related to development densities that emerged from our study of sprawl and development issues in three regions of British Columbia, Canada. We chose to focus on this aspect of the Smart Growth agenda because, while many of its other elements enjoy wide support across social interests, the goal of achieving a higher density urban fabric is highly controversial. We proceeded by collecting data on development densities and 13 indicators of community sustainability in 26 municipalities. The results suggest that the density of communities is associated with efficiencies in infrastructure and with reduced automobile dependence, with the ecological and economic implications which flow from that. However, it does not necessarily correlate with greater affordability of housing or more access to green space. In fact, if anything, we discovered a negative relationship between housing affordability and green space per capita and higher land-use densities. In a second stage of the research, we conducted a qualitative analysis of a subset of six municipalities and identified key policy issues for moving ahead with the Smart Growth agenda. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy issues that emerged from these case studies.     

POTENTIAL PHOSPHORUS LOAD REDUCTIONS UNDER THE LAKE OKEECHOBEE REGULATORY PROGRAM1

ABSTRACT: Nutrient loading from beef pastures located within the northern Lake Okeechobee watershed in Florida, has been identified as a source of phosphorus contributing to the accelerated eutrophication of the lake. Since 1989 within the watershed, 557 agricultural drainage sites, mainly beef pasture, have been monitored for compliance under a regulatory program. Of those sites, 154 were actively monitored for phosphorus concentrations from October 1, 1998, to September 30, 1999. Of these 154 sites, 77 were considered to be out of compliance (OOC). An OOC site is defined as having runoff with a 12‐month average phosphorus concentration exceeding the permitted discharge limit. The average annual phosphorous load from the 77 OOC sites for an eight‐year study period from October 1, 1991, to September 30, 1999, was estimated using measured concentration values and simulated runoff obtained from an agricultural nonpoint source pollution model, CREAMS‐WT. The 77 OOC sites produced an estimated average annual 46 metric tonnes of phosphorus load, of which an estimated 22 tonnes of phosphorus reached Lake Okeechobee on an average annual basis. The remaining estimated average annual 24 tonnes of phosphorus load was retained by streams and wetlands in the discharge transport system between the sites and the lake. The estimated average annual load reaching Lake Okeechobee from the OOC sites represented 11 percent of the phosphorus load above a five‐year average annual target load for the lake. However, the OOC site drainage areas represented only 3 percent of the northern watershed that drains into the lake. Of the 77 OOC sites, 12 sites had an average annual phosphorus loading rate equal to or greater than 3.0 kg/ha and were placed on the priority list for the Critical Restoration Project in the Lake Okeechobee watershed. To estimate the possible phosphorus load reductions from the 77 sites, two scenarios were modeled. The first scenario reduced phosphorus concentrations in runoff to the permitted discharge limits under the Lake Okeechobee regulatory program. The second scenario changed current land uses to native rangeland with an estimated annual offsite total phosphorus areal loading rate of 0.114 kg/ha. These two scenarios are hypothetical with assumed concentration values and loading rate. Model results showed that the first management scenario reduced the average annual phosphorus load to the lake by an estimated 15 tonnes. The second scenario reduced the average annual phosphorus load to the lake by an estimated 21 tonnes.     

Macro kinetic studies for photocatalytic degradation of benzoic acid in immobilized systems

Semiconductor photocatalytic process has been studied extensively in recent years due to its intriguing advantages in environmental remediation. In this study, a two-phase swirl-flow monolithic-type reactor is used to study the kinetics of photocatalytic degradation of benzoic acid in immobilized systems. Transport contributions into the observed degradation rates were determined when catalyst is immobilized. Intrinsic kinetic rate constants and its dependence on light intensity and catalyst layer thickness, values of adsorption equilibrium constant, internal as well as external mass transfer parameters were determined. The simultaneous effect of catalyst loading and light intensity and optimum catalyst layer thickness were also determined experimentally. Reaction rate constants and overall observed degradation rates were compared with slurry systems.     

“EMPRESS”计划:通过改善管理实现持久地节约能源

联合国环境规划署(UNEP)和全球环境组织正在中欧和和东欧发起"EMPRESS”(有关能源管理和执行的节约计划)计划.这项计划集中了两个既定的提高能源效率的手段--能源服务机构(ESCOs)和监测与确定指标系统(M＆T)--,以便通过低成本手段以及改善管理方法减少二氧化碳的排放执行费用将由如此节约能源后产生的效益承担.     

Laboratory studies on the remediation of mercury contaminated soils

Mercury, in contrast to other toxic metals, cycles between the atmosphere, land, and water. During this cycle, it undergoes a series of complex chemical and physical transformations. Because of these transformations, it is found in the environment not only as simple inorganic and organic compounds, but also as complex compounds. As a result, it is difficult to remediate mercury contaminated materials. Laboratory studies were conducted with a mercury contaminated complex waste from an industrial site to evaluate the ability of extractants such as H₂O₂, H₂SO₄ and Na₂S₂O₃ to decontaminate the waste. Up to 87 percent of the total mercury present in the waste was extracted. Mercury was recovered as insoluble mercury sulfide by adding Na₂S solution to the combined filtrates from the H₂O₂ + H₂SO₄ and Na₂S₂O₃ treatment steps. The technique described in this article is capable of recovering mercury in a usable form and can be used as a pretreatment to remediate mercury contaminated waste before laud disposal.     

Solid substrate fermentation of cassava fibrous residue for production of alpha-amylase, lactic acid and ethanol

There is serious concern about the disposal of solid residues left after large scale extraction of starch from cassava. Owing to the high starch content (55-65% on dry weight basis) and organic matter of these wastes, an attempt has been made to utilize it for the production of three bioproducts, i.e. alpha-amylase, lactic acid and ethanol in solid substrate fermentation by incubating the solid residue at different moisture holding capacity (40-80%) and incubation period (12- 60 hr for alpha-amylase, 24-144 hr for ethanol and 2-10 days for lactic acid). The highest product yield was obtained at 60% moisture holding capacity of the residue and period of incubation varied from 36 hr (alpha-amylase), 120 hr (ethanol) to 6 days (lactic acid). This study showed that the solid residues from cassava starch factories could serve as a low-cost substrate for bioproducts production.