An approach to integrate impact scoping with environmental impact assessment

Impact scoping is the process of identifying important issues of a proposal and focusing the environmental impact assessment (EIA) on the high-priority issues. Although impact scoping in one form or another has been inherent to EIA for some time, documentation of its development and discussion of refinements to impact scoping processes have not been forthcoming. This article traces the development of impact scoping through time and highlights the need for such processes in EIA. A focused environmental assessment (FEA) approach to impact scoping that is suitable for implementation in an EIA is presented here and advantages of its use are delineated. FEA is a three-staged process that encourages impact scoping through progressive steps including impact identification, assessment and management planning. FEA combines a suite of EIA methods including: issues matrices, impact hypotheses, valued ecosystem components, and stakeholder participation sessions to effectively integrate impact scoping with EIA.     

Environmental legislation, economic growth and risk in minerals development The Bolivian case

This paper examines the General Environmental Law of Bolivia which was recently passed by its Congress. It is a multi-purpose law with two primary objectives: (i) the protection and conservation of the environment; and (ii) the promotion of sustainable development. In this law, environmental benefits are emphasized by stating general principles, not by attempting to define the means. Regulations setting forth the means are left to the writing of subsequent complementary codes. This paper shows that much of the controversy surrounding the legislation disappears when it is seen as a guideline rather than an operational part of Bolivia's industrial policy. In essence, the law addresses environmental awareness in a region that is more anxious than ever to speed economic growth.     

ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS RELATIVE TO WATER QUALITY1

Our immense national water quality control program has been launched on a wholly empirical basis, much as our ancestors initiated early navigation improvements and flood control. Not only has there been no effort to determine the benefits of water quality control; the theoretical groundwork for optimization has not been developed. Three main national objectives for consideration are national economic efficiency, preserving and improving the national environment for man's use and development (conservation), and regional development. Although popular at present, the regional development objective is not particularly useful from an economic viewpoint. Efficiency objectives other than environmental can be evaluated but are apt to be minor. Other water quality benefits can be broken down appropriately into four main categories: (a) man's recreational environment; (b) man's home environment; (c) man's working environment; (d) intangibles related to scientific, historic, health and cultural values. In management of water quality, various technical relationships must be considered, particularly as to quantity of water needed for waste disposal, and relationship of this use to water supply withdrawals. Advanced waste treatment must be compared with other alternatives, not only of flow augmentation, but also technological process changes, distribution of effluents, and artificial river aeration.     

ELECTROPHORETIC WATER CLARIFICATION TECHNIQUES1

Only very recently has a limited amount of attention been focused directly on electrophoresis as a method for improving water quality. This approach has been proposed primarily as a method for removal of suspended colloidal material, although solutes can also be removed by this method. Very simply electrophoresis is defined as the movement of charged suspended particles in a dc electric field. Several electrophoretic clarification systems and techniques have been developed and evaluated primarily for removing colloidal clay from suspension. The methods should apply equally well to any negatively charged particulate matter. Design for optimal clay removal efficiency and operating cost efficiency has been based upon previous theoretical results and upon modification of the combination filter-el ectrophores is model of Bier. These systems and techniques along with the theoretical developments leading to their design are discussed. Results and conclusions are given for tests that have been concluded concerning the feasibility or practicality of these electrophoretic clarification systems for commercial use. These are viewed in light of various limiting factors such as electrical conductivity of the medium, quality of water desired, colloid concentrations and electrophoretic mobility of the suspended materials.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL TO EVALUATE HYDROLOGIC RISK IN WATER RESOURCE SYSTEM DESIGN1

In this paper, a procedure for analyzing a water resource system with special emphasis on evaluation of acceptable economic risk due to occasional failures to deliver water is proposed. The basic methodology includes the development of a simple mathematical model which describes the physical hydrologic and economic characteristics of a single reservoir irrigation and city water supply system and an evaluation of economic benefits of the system with full and partial deliveries of water. The system is simulated for various combinations of decision variables (system magnitudes) and an optimum design is obtained by response surface technology. Emphasis is placed on the basic model and methodology although, in order to introduce some realism, the procedure is applied to data based on the existing reservoir system on the South Concho River in West Central Texas.     

METEOROLOGICAL EXPERIMENTS FOR AUTOMATED SATELLITES

Four satellites have been used in meteorology. They are TIROS, ESSA, Nimbus, and Applications Technology Satellite (ATS). The first three operate in the orbital altitudes of about 1000 to 1200 km while the fourth, ATS, is at geosynchronous altitude of 36,000 km. Cloud cover is being observed operationally from low orbit and experimentally from synchronous altitude. Wind velocity has been inferred from the frequent cloud cover pictures taken by ATS and satellite-balloon systems are being developed which will locate and track constant-density level balloons for determining wind flow. Spectrometers and radiometers operating in the electromagnetic spectral region from the ultraviolet to the microwave region are being developed to quantitatively measure temperature, water vapor, density, and wind profiles. These will furnish data for the development and testing of atmospheric models for numerical prediction. In addition, experiments are being developed to measure ozone and other constituents of the air, solar energy, surface conditions, heat balance and other atmospheric attributes which affect the structure and dynamics of the atmosphere.     

Electrostatic precipitator emission and opacity performance control through rapper strategy

The opacity and emission performance of two “identical” cold-side precipitators at a power plant utilizing a Western coal source was investigated through an extensive test program. The test program included establishment of outlet emission versus opacity correlations for the two “identical” units, correlation of rapper strategy (frequency and amplitude) with opacity, and correlation of power-off rapping strategy with opacity. Analysis of the test program data demonstrates that the opacity-emission correlations from the two “identical” units can be significantly different. The potential reasons for the differences between the two units are identified and examined in light of the test program data. Strong correlation of opacity with rapping strategy was developed from the test program. Results demonstrate that an automatic power-off rapping technique can significantly enhance precipitator performance on ash from Western coal.     

Adjusting for car occupant injury liability in relation to age, speed limit, and gender-specific driver crash involvement risk

It is well established that older drivers' fragility is an important factor associated with higher levels of fatal crash involvement for older drivers. There has been less research on age-related fragility with respect to the sort of minor injuries that are more common in injury crashes. This study estimates a quantity that is related to injury fragility: the probability that a driver or a passenger of that driver will be injured in crashes involving two cars. The effects of other factors apart from drivers' fragility are included in this measure, including the fragility of the passengers, the crashworthiness of cars driven, seatbelt use by the occupants, and characteristics of crashes (including configuration and impact speed). The car occupant injury liability estimates appropriately includes these factors to adjust risk curves by age, gender, and speed limit accounting for overrepresentation in crashes associated with fragility and these other factors.