Air assimilative capacity-based environment friendly siting of new industries--a case study of Kochi region, India

Air pollution has become a matter of grave concern, particularly in mega-cities and urban areas, where the situation is alarming and becoming more and more severe day-by-day and warrants, therefore, careful planning to facilitate future industrial development. Site selection, with the objective of minimizing adverse environmental impacts based on environmental criteria is a vital prerequisite, particularly for air polluting industries. In order to locate any air polluting industry, the assimilative capacity of the region needs to be assessed carefully and planned accordingly, so that the receiving environment is not adversely affected. Assimilative capacity of a region/airshed, widely represented through the ventilation coefficient by many researchers in the past, does not give a clear picture about the amount of emission load that can be assimilated in a given region. The ventilation coefficient, at best, can only present a broad picture about the air pollution dispersion potential (low, medium or high) of the region. A modified approach, which utilizes air quality modelling as a tool to estimate the maximum allowable emission load that a region can assimilate without violating the stipulated standards, has been used for estimating the assimilative capacity of the air environment. Details of this approach have been presented in this paper through a case study carried out for the Kochi region, located in the Kerala State of India. A variety of emission and meteorological scenarios have been considered and critical emission loads have been estimated. This approach shall provide necessary technical guidance to the environmental regulatory authorities as well as to the industries in planning environment friendly industrial development.     

A comprehensive approach to API RP 752 and 753 building siting studies

Facility siting studies are an important part of process safety, and are required for facilities that fall under OSHA’s PSM program. Facility siting is frequently interpreted as performing a building siting study which adheres to the guidance given in API RP 752. Building siting may also consider siting of temporary or portable buildings based on the guidance in API RP 753. While both API RP 752 and API RP 753 provide a framework and some guidance for performing building siting studies, they do not provide detailed methodologies or provide guidance on performing a detailed analysis. As a result many building siting studies are inconsistent in their overall approach, or in the way they address hazards. Due to the recent scrutiny applied to building siting studies, more attention has been given to provide evaluations which correctly describe the range of hazards that may affect an occupied building at a petrochemical facility. This paper outlines a comprehensive methodology for performing building siting studies at such facilities. The methodology addresses the applicable hazards and the available tools by which the potential impacts to building occupants can be evaluated.     

Integrating multi-criteria evaluation techniques with geographic information systems for landfill site selection: a case study using ordered weighted average

This paper presents a GIS-based multi-criteria decision analysis approach for evaluating the suitability for landfill site selection in the Polog Region, Macedonia. The multi-criteria decision framework considers environmental and economic factors which are standardized by fuzzy membership functions and combined by integration of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and ordered weighted average (OWA) techniques. The AHP is used for the elicitation of attribute weights while the OWA operator function is used to generate a wide range of decision alternatives for addressing uncertainty associated with interaction between multiple criteria. The usefulness of the approach is illustrated by different OWA scenarios that report landfill suitability on a scale between 0 and 1. The OWA scenarios are intended to quantify the level of risk taking (i.e., optimistic, pessimistic, and neutral) and to facilitate a better understanding of patterns that emerge from decision alternatives involved in the decision making process.     

Implications of environmental program planning for siting a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain,Nevada, USA

The US Department of Energy (DOE) plans to conduct site characterization studies at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, to determine if the location is a suitable site for a nuclear waste repository. In lieu of traditional environmental review in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the DOE is relying on an environmental assessment (EA) mandated by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 as the cornerstone of its environmental program for the Yucca Mountain Project. Because of statutory restrictions, the EA is not based on comprehensive baseline information. Neither does it address fundamentals of environmental analysis such as ecological integrity and assessment of cumulative impacts. Consequently, the present environmental program for Yucca Mountain reflects decisions made without complete information and integrated environmental review. The shortcomings of the program risk compromising the natural integrity of Yucca Mountain and invalidating future assessment of the ability of a nuclear waste repository located at the site to protect the environment. Significant improvements are needed in the repository siting program before it can serve as a model of how society can evaluate the long-term environmental consequences of advanced technologies, as has been suggested.     

The effects on welfare of the imposition of individual transferable quotas on a heterogeneous fishing fleet

This paper examines the determination of effort levels, the rental price of quotas and the number of participants in a fishery managed with a total allowable catch and individual transferable quotas. How these variables change is determined for three phases of the management process. Potential participants in the fishery are assumed to be heterogeneous in their catching capabilities so that almost all active fishers earn positive net profits from fishing activities. It is shown that these quasirents are reduced during any of the management phases considered here. The impact of free allocations of permanent quota rights on fishers’ welfare is also considered. This may increase the welfare of all fishers if the allocation is based on catch history. However, an example is provided where the welfare of some highliners is reduced when the allocation is based on effort history.     

关于建立工业企业环境行为信息公开化制度的几个问题

阐述了工业企业地为信息公开化制度在中国环境管理和政策创新中的重要意义和作用，对工业企业环境行为信息公开化内容、指标体系和标准等进行了分析，并结合镇江市的经济、社会和环境状况作实例分析，提出了进一步完善该制度的建议。     

Model calculating annual mean atmospheric dispersion factor for coastal site of nuclear power plant

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SITING OF A WATER POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITY AT JAMESTOWN,RHODE ISLAND1

ABSTRACT: The town of Jamestown, Rhode Island, located on Conanicut Island in Narragansett Bay, is constructing a secondary treatment plant in order to comply with NPDES regulations. Twelve candidate sites for the plant and marine outfall were initially proposed, and ability to meet State water quality standards at these sites was evaluated using an EPA buoyant plume model. A final outfall site, Taylor Point, was selected by the Town from among the sites considered acceptable. Taylor Point was then subjected to field hydrographic studies including drogue tracking, current recordings, and tracer dye surveys. Results of the measurement program served as input to a two-dimensional effluent dispersion model which predicted excess BOD, coliform, and suspended solids resulting from effluent discharge off Taylor Point. The model predictions demonstrated that State water quality standards can be maintained outside the initial discharge plume.     

Some observations on work‐sharing

The background to this paper is the substantial and prolonged rise in the measured rate of unemployment which appears to have continued, more or less unabated, since 1968. A number of commentators have recently questioned the effectiveness and desirability of remedial policy measures designed to expand labour demand, and there appears to be increasing support for the idea that a return to full employment can only be achieved by limiting the supply of labour, with work‐sharing apparently offering the greatest scope for success. The author questions the validity of such a policy, given the current legislative and operational environment in which labour market decisions are taken.     

中国化工产业园区化的驱动机制:基于社会-生态系统框架下的博弈论分析

化工产业园区化是政府合理规范化工园区且将化工园区外化工生产企业关停并搬迁至化工园区内的产业集聚化,是解决目前中国化工产业安全事故频发、环境污染严重等问题,推进化工产业转型升级的重要政策之一。中国化工产业园区化的社会—生态系统框架刻画了化工园区、化工产品、化工园区管委会、企业和公众四个核心子系统的关联,在此基础上,中国化工产业园区化的博弈模型将参与者简化为政府(包括化工园区管委会)、企业(化工生产企业)和公众(化工生产企业现址影响半径内的居民群体),并分别构建了政府与企业间的博弈模型与公众参与下的政府与企业间的博弈模型。根据模型推论,此两类情景博弈的纳什均衡都可以为(政府行政政策,企业按期搬迁入园)或(政府经济政策,企业按期搬迁入园)。中国化工产业园区化的驱动机制,是在作为外在驱动主体的政府和公众的引导和监督下,作为内在驱动主体的化工生产企业,在各驱动因素的协同作用下,实现其"按期搬迁入园"的机制。进而得出化工生产企业与化工园区"按期匹配搬迁入园"、提升化工园区公共服务能力、差异化地一企一策及建立公众和企业与政府的三方对话机制的四点政策建议。