Case studies: Application of SEA in provincial level expressway infrastructure network planning in China — Current existing problems

Since the Law of the People's Republic of China on Environmental Impact Assessment was enacted in 2003 and Huanfa 2004 No. 98 was released in 2004, Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) has been officially being implemented in the expressway infrastructure planning field in China. Through scrutinizing two SEA application cases of China's provincial level expressway infrastructure (PLEI) network plans, it is found that current SEA practice in expressway infrastructure planning field has a number of problems including: SEA practitioners do not fully understand the objective of SEA; its potential contributions to strategic planning and decision-making is extremely limited; the employed application procedure and prediction and assessment techniques are too simple to bring objective, unbiased and scientific results; and no alternative options are considered. All these problems directly lead to poor quality SEA and consequently weaken SEA's effectiveness.     

石油化工企业火气系统安全性评估方法

火气系统属于减缓层内的安全仪表系统,在减轻事故后果方面起到非常重要的作用。针对传统火气系统只满足功能需求设计的不足,提出与风险分析相结合的火气系统设计新理念,以具体案例分析场景危险性,通过覆盖率、可用性、有效性等参数,定量场景的潜在生命损失,以风险降低为目的,量化计算事故后果和频率,评估火气系统的有效性。     

Appraising the role of relationships between regulators and consultants for effective EIA

The role of relationships between regulators and consultants engaged in environmental impact assessment (EIA) is explored. A Partnering Agreement between Western Australian regulators and consultants gave rise to a survey and interviews with representatives of these EIA practitioners to understand levels of cooperation between them and ways to improve EIA practice locally. A mixture of quantitative and qualitative responses are presented with an emphasis on practitioner comments reproduced in their own words and ‘voice’. The results suggest that while relationships are strained because of staff resources and levels of expertise brought about by a major resource boom in recent years, there is a great desire for cooperation and collaboration. Greater clarification and understanding of each stakeholder's purpose and role in the EIA process along with opportunities for EIA practitioners to interact, communicate and socialise are identified as positive ways forward. The value of establishing the relatively simple Partnering Agreement approach is demonstrated and is put forward as something that practitioners internationally might equally benefit from as a means of improving the effectiveness of EIA practice.     

Estimating the effectiveness of ergonomics interventions through case studies: implications for predictive cost-benefit analysis

PROBLEM: Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can help to justify an investment in ergonomics interventions. A predictive CBA model would allow practitioners to present a cost justification to management during the planning stages, but such a model requires reliable estimates of the benefits of ergonomics interventions. METHOD: Through literature reviews and Internet searches, 250 case studies that reported the benefits of ergonomics programs and control measures were collected and summarized. RESULTS: Commonly reported benefits included reductions in the number of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) or their incidence rate, as well as related lost workdays, restricted workdays, and workers' compensation costs. Additional benefits reported were related to productivity, quality, turnover and absenteeism. DISCUSSION: Benefits reported were largely positive, and payback periods for ergonomics interventions were typically less than one year. SUMMARY: The results of this review could be used to develop predictive CBA models for ergonomics programs and individual control measures. IMPACT ON INDUSTRY: Cost-justifying ergonomics interventions prior to implementation may help to secure management support for proposed changes. Numbers used for the benefits side of a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) need to be based on "real world" data in order to be credible. The data presented in this paper may help in the development of simple cost-benefit models for ergonomics programs and control measures.     

Strategic environmental assessment in China: motivations, politics, and effectiveness

This paper examines how strategic environmental assessment has been practiced at the national level in China through 2005 and why it has been practiced in the manner observed. Based on literature reviews and interviews carried out in 2005 and 2006, we find that bureaucratic politics between environmental and nonenvironmental ministries has limited the legislation and implementation of strategic environmental assessment to environmental assessment (EA) for a set of government plans defined in the 2003 Environmental Impact Assessment Law. Interviewees from environmental and nonenvironmental ministries and key research institutes have reported that few planning EAs have been performed at the sectoral level. Nonenvironmental ministries have either evaded the 2003 Environmental Impact Assessment Law and have not undertaken required planning EA or have organized planning EA on their own without participation by the State Environmental Protection Administration. The rising tension between the environmental and nonenvironmental ministries has limited the role of planning EA as a participatory decision-making tool. In addition to bureaucratic politics, we find that weak public participation and underemphasis on social analysis in planning EA may have further compromised the utility of planning EA.     

An inquiry into the concept of SEA effectiveness: Towards criteria for Chinese practice

The importance of improving the effectiveness of Plan EIA and SEA-type evaluations in China cannot be overstated: at a time when the country's economy is being boosted by a stimulus package worth over RMB 400 trillion – largely for infrastructure – the pressure on China's already strained environment and resource base is bound to increase. The aim is to propose the criteria for plan EIA's effectiveness to raise the awareness of the need to strengthen the performance of the assessment and maximize its potential benefits. The authors first review critically the discourse on the effectiveness of the impact assessment, identifying three dimensions: substantive, procedural and incremental. The resulting conceptual framework allows them to interpret the weaknesses of the Chinese discourse on the effectiveness and of the practice of the Plan EIA to date. The result is the identification of a clear gap, both in terms of the breadth of the concept, and in terms of the quality of the existing criteria, which tend to be very generic to the point of inapplicability. The analysis also reveals a need for transitioning from formal models of the Plan EIA to more strategic approaches, in a gradual manner that is consistent with context-specificities. The proposal of a set of preliminary criteria for effectiveness is therefore structured on three levels. This framework is meant to input into the ongoing debate on how to improve the practice of PEIA and the SEA-type evaluations in China, and provide ideas for a government strategy aimed at maximizing the positive impact of PEIAs on planning, as well as on the context of application.     

环境空气质量新标准对“十二五”目标完成的影响

十二五"期间全国PM_(10)浓度陡增导致了达标城市比例降低,影响了《国家环境保护"十二五"规划》空气质量指标的完成。通过对PM_(10)浓度时间和空间变化分析,得出《环境空气质量标准》(GB3095-2012)的逐步实施对全国PM_(10)浓度的异常变化有着显著影响。新标准的发布施行,促进了PM_(10)监测仪器和方法更新升级,大幅收严了监测数据统计的有效性,提升了监测数据的质量控制水平,从主观和客观上更加有效的提高了监测数据的精度。     

声屏障参数简易计算方法的探讨

声屏障作为从传播途径解决噪声问题的一种有效措施,得到了越来越多的应用。本文简单介绍了声屏障设计的一般步骤和设置所需考虑的周边环境条件的一般原则;同时还介绍了一种简易声屏障参数计算方法,通过声屏障衰减理论和工程实践验证,证明了计算方法的可行性,为声屏障工程应用提供借鉴。     

Comparative effectiveness of discharge and input control for reducing nitrate pollution

Nitrate pollution has caused serious environmental concerns, but its control is often complicated by its diffuse nature. In most cases, nitrate control has been linked to either nitrogen input or leaching. By incorporating the relationship among land use, fertilizer application, and nitrogen leaching into a linear programming model, this analysis investigates the comparative effectiveness between input and leaching control. The empirical results from a groundwater catchment in eastern England suggest that leaching control can be more cost-effective in nitrate reduction than fertilizer input control. The implications for control of nitrate leaching through incentives systems are discussed.     

化工企业建立职业健康安全体系绩效对照研究

了解化工企业职业健康安全管理体系建立前后安全管理、工伤事故、经济与社会效益三个方面的变化情况.通过对9家化工企业的调查分析.研究表明,职业健康安全体系对提高化工企业职业安全健康管理水平有较好的作用.