The scope for regulatory incentives to encourage increased efficiency of input use by farmers

Managing diffuse water pollution from agricultural land continues to be one of the more intractable challenges for environmental policy. The advent of the Water Framework Directive places the onus on EU member states to identify reasons why water bodies fail or are at risk of failure to meet good ecological status. In such cases, programmes of measures are to be enacted to mitigate the causes at least cost. Failing this, users may ultimately be faced with the full costs of pollution. This paper considers the scope for measures that address nitrogen and phosphorus pollution at source. Specifically the paper relates the diffuse pollution problem to the extent of over application of nitrogen and phosphorus. Data envelopment analysis applied to English cereal and dairy farmers, provides an indication of resource use and evidence of over application. This inefficiency provides a potential basis for either a least cost abatement approach using effective information and advice, or alternatively a pollution charge.     

Use of Standardized Visual Assessments of Riparian and Stream Condition to Manage Riparian Bird Habitat in Eastern Oregon

The importance of riparian vegetation to support stream function and provide riparian bird habitat in semiarid landscapes suggests that standardized assessment tools that include vegetation criteria to evaluate stream health could also be used to assess habitat conditions for riparian-dependent birds. We first evaluated the ability of two visual assessments of woody vegetation in the riparian zone (corridor width and height) to describe variation in the obligate riparian bird ensemble along 19 streams in eastern Oregon. Overall species richness and the abundances of three species all correlated significantly with both, but width was more important than height. We then examined the utility of the riparian zone criteria in three standardized and commonly used rapid visual riparian assessment protocols—the USDI BLM Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) assessment, the USDA NRCS Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP), and the U.S. EPA Habitat Assessment Field Data Sheet (HAFDS)—to assess potential riparian bird habitat. Based on the degree of correlation of bird species richness with assessment ratings, we found that PFC does not assess obligate riparian bird habitat condition, SVAP provides a coarse estimate, and HAFDS provides the best assessment. We recommend quantitative measures of woody vegetation for all assessments and that all protocols incorporate woody vegetation height. Given that rapid assessments may be the only source of information for thousands of kilometers of streams in the western United States, incorporating simple vegetation measurements is a critical step in evaluating the status of riparian bird habitat and provides a tool for tracking changes in vegetation condition resulting from management decisions.     

市和区县两级环境空气自动监测数据审核系统在上海的应用

由上海市环境监测中心和软件公司共同开发的市和区县两级环境空气自动监测数据审核系统,主要由区县监测站负责辖区自动监测数据的一级审核,市级监测站承担二级审核的责任。作为环境空气质量保证/质量控制体系的重要一环,新系统的建立极大地提高了上海市环境空气自动监测数据的有效性和数据质量。     

Ion Composition Elucidation (ICE): an Investigative Tool for Characterization and Identification of Compounds of Regulatory Importance

Ion composition elucidation (ICE) often leads to identification of compounds and provides high-quality evidence for tracking compounds to their sources. Mass spectra for most organic compounds are not found in mass spectral libraries used to tentatively identify analytes. In addition, multiple matches are common. Ion Composition Elucidation provides the numbers of atoms of each element in the ions in the mass spectrum, greatly limiting the number of possible compounds that could produce the mass spectrum. Review of chemical and commercial literature then limits the number of possible compounds to one or a few that can be purchased to confirm tentative compound identifications by comparison of mass spectra and chromatographic retention times. Ion composition elucidation is conceptually simple relative to other analytical techniques and more easily explained to a judge or jury. It is based on sums of the exact masses of atoms and their isotopic abundances. Several applications of ICE are demonstrated for ultra-trace-level compounds in an extract of the e.uent from a tertiary sewage treatment plant including: (1) measurement of five values to determine an ion's composition and to generate evidence for the compound's identity, (2) rejection of incorrect library matches, (3) rapid screening for a target compound in an extract, and (4) a strategy for tracking unidentified compounds to their sources.     

Pushing and pulling: an assessment tool for occupational health and safety practitioners

A tool has been developed for supporting practitioners when assessing manual pushing and pulling operations based on an initiative by two global companies in the manufacturing industry. The aim of the tool is to support occupational health and safety practitioners in risk assessment and risk management of pushing and pulling operations in the manufacturing and logistics industries. The tool is based on a nine-multiplier equation that includes a wide range of factors affecting an operator’s health risk and capacity in pushing and pulling. These multipliers are based on psychophysical, physiological and biomechanical studies in combination with judgments from an expert group consisting of senior researchers and ergonomists. In order to consider usability, more than 50 occupational health and safety practitioners (e.g., ergonomists, managers, safety representatives and production personnel) participated in the development of the tool. An evaluation by 22 ergonomists supports that the push/pull tool is user friendly in general.     

Reporting and evaluation criteria as means towards a transparent use of ecotoxicity data for environmental risk assessment of pharmaceuticals

Ecotoxicity data with high reliability and relevance are needed to guarantee the scientific quality of environmental risk assessments of pharmaceuticals. The main advantages of a more structured approach to data evaluation include increased transparency and predictability of the risk assessment process, and the possibility to use non-standard data.In this collaboration, between the research project MistraPharma and the German Federal Environment Agency, a new set of reporting and evaluation criteria is presented and discussed. The new criteria are based on the approaches in the literature and the OECD reporting requirements, and have been further developed to include both reliability and relevance of test data.Intended users are risk assessors and researchers performing ecotoxicological experiments, but the criteria can also be used for education purposes and in the peer-review process for scientific papers. This approach intends to bridge the gap between the regulator and the scientist’s needs and way of work.     

深入调查研究 把握主要矛盾 努力开创防震减灾工作新局面

在“九五”期间 ,江苏省地震局深入调查研究 ,把握主要矛盾 ,深化各项改革 ,狠抓实事实办 ,强化政府行政职能 ,加强宣传力度 ,加强地方地震机构建设 ,注重规划和计划的制订与实施 ,不断理顺拨款渠道 ,健全地方财政对地震事业投入的预算体制 ,健全行政规章、规范管理行为 ,加强法规建设、强化法制管理。经努力 ,各项工作取得了明显成效 ,1 996～ 1 999年 ,全局各类经费总来源为前 4年的 3 1倍 ;地震监测系统的数字化、通讯系统的计算机网络化、分析预报系统的应急决策指挥系统现代化建设取得明显进展。地震监测预报工作为保障全省经济建设顺利进行 ,维护社会稳定作出重要贡献。全局职工的住房得到明显改善 ,4年中在宁职工人均增加住房面积约 2 0m2 。人均总收入也较从前有大幅度提高。新建园艺绿地面积约 4 0 0 0m2 。工作体会主要是 ,领导班子同心协力是搞好工作的关键 ,广大职工的积极性是搞好工作的基础 ,各级领导坚持“两手抓”是搞好工作的根本 ,领导干部始终不懈地讲学习、讲政治、讲正气是搞好工作的前提     

排污单位自行监测问题剖析及对策建议

自行监测是排污单位落实主体责任必然要求,是生态环境部门环境管理重要方式.回顾我国自行监测发展历程,梳理当前自行监测在监测方案制定、自动监测和委托第三方检测等方面问题,提出了规范自行监测方案制定、审核备案,加强监督检查,探索建立自动监测设备性能综合评价机制,加大自行监测数据分析和应用等方面建议,从而提高自行监测数据质量.     

我国水质基准现状及发展趋势研究

水质基准是制定水质标准限值的重要依据,是科学的水质管理体系的重要组成部分。我国水体污染形势严峻,区域环境差异明显,亟需建立适合我国水环境特征的水质基准作为水质控制和管理的理论依据。文章对我国水质基准的概况、水质基准方法学、水质基准研究进展、存在问题及发展趋势进行了系统论述,以期为我国水质基准的研究提供参考与支撑。     

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。