The Atmosphere can be a Source of Certain Water Soluble Volatile Organic Compounds in Urban Streams

Surface water and air volatile organic compound (VOC) data from 10 U.S. Geological Survey monitoring sites were used to evaluate the potential for direct transport of VOCs from the atmosphere to urban streams. Analytical results of 87 VOC compounds were screened by evaluating the occurrence and detection levels in both water and air, and equilibrium concentrations in water (C_w^s) based on the measured air concentrations. Four compounds (acetone, methyl tertiary butyl ether, toluene, and m‐ & p‐xylene) were detected in more than 20% of water samples, in more than 10% of air samples, and more than 10% of detections in air were greater than long‐term method detection levels (LTMDL) in water. Benzene was detected in more than 20% of water samples and in more than 10% of air samples. Two percent of benzene detections in air were greater than one‐half the LTMDL in water. Six compounds (chloroform, p‐isopropyltoluene, methylene chloride, perchloroethene, 1,1,1‐trichloroethane, and trichloroethene) were detected in more than 20% of water samples and in more than 10% of air samples. Five VOCs, toluene, m‐ & p‐xylene, methyl tert‐butyl ether (MTBE), acetone, and benzene were identified as having sufficiently high concentrations in the atmosphere to be a source to urban streams. MTBE, acetone, and benzene exhibited behavior that was consistent with equilibrium concentrations in the atmosphere.     

完善《环境保护法》的途径探讨

随着我国环境保护形势的发展，环境法制体系的逐步健全，作为环境保护综合性法律的《环境保护法》在某些方面逐渐显现出滞后性。《环境保护法》的修改与完善，学术界已讨论了很长时间。本文主要从政府管理的角度，对《环境保护法〉的进一步完善进行了一些探讨。     

关于《安全生产法》的几点思考

《安全生产法》是我国安全生产领域的第一部基本法,其颁布实施意义深远。本文就《安全生产法》不尽完善的地方,提出了自己的看法,并提出立法建议,旨在今后进一步完善《安全生产法》,以及做好实施《安全生产法》的相关配套和细化的立法工作。     

财产保全法律制度浅探

关于财产保全制度我国民事讼诉法及最高人民法院的司法解释规定的不完善,有些制度应在立法上加以规定,并严格申请财产保全的条件,将司法实践中行之有效的财产保全的做法上升为法律规定,使我国的财产保全制度更加完善、科学。     

略论《大气污染防治法》的重大修改

《大气污染防治法》已正式颁布实施,本文主要从七个方面阐述了该法在重大修改。     

乡镇企业发展中的环境问题及法律对策

文章提出了乡镇企业在迅速发展的同时，带来的严重的环境问题，从企业的外部不经济性、布局和产业结构的不合理性、生产手段的落后、立法的不完善及执法的不力等几个方面论述了产生问题的背景原因，探讨了相应的法律对策，要求加强建立我国乡镇企业环境管理地方性立法工作，并在立法中明确排污费的使用，企业产权关系，排污交易制度及环境损害责任保险制度等内容。     

论自创生的环境法律系统

法律是自我关联的自创生系统，并且法律的发展也是法律与外界系统以及社会及其他社会子系统之间的共同进化。自创生法律系统为环境法律体系提供了一个可行的理论支持，现实中，环境法律系统对自己的现实建构来源于他自身的基本循环法律理念的法律学说、体现在保留、克服、增益、前进的自创生法律过程与循环型的法律秩序、完成于法律行为与法律规范构建。     

在《刑法》中确立污染环境罪的思考

对那些严重污染环境的行为处以刑罚,严厉打击一切严重污染环境的单位和个人是加强环境法制的一个有效手段,我国应完善污染环境者的刑事责任,在《刑法》中明确规定污染环境罪,明确污染环境罪的罪名及其犯罪构成。     

The rise and fall of the nature conservation movement in Japan in relation to some cultural values

The Japanese are traditionally regarded as nature-loving people, living in “harmony” with nature. However, this assumption is difficult to accept when observing the environmental problems in Japan. How can one explain the incongruities? Has the Japanese people's attitude toward nature changed as Japan has modernized? Is the concept of the nature-loving Japanese merely a myth? Is there another reason to explain this contradiction? This study shows political and economic origins of the paradox. The origin of the Japanese traditional idea of nature is fear and reverence of nature based on a primitive religion that developed in a rural subsistence living situation. Aesthetic and spiritual values of nature for cultural, educational, and intellectual entertainment were developed by the ruling class in the seventh century. Japan's first nature conservation movement, imported from the West, developed among the intellectual community and was advocated and promoted by the elite in the Meiji period (1868–1911). However, because deep commitment was lacking, the movement was abused by the military government before World War II. In the early 1970s the nature conservation movement seemed to be on the ascendancy, mainly because it was combined with the antipollution movement claiming the basic rights of survival. The Japanese nature conservation movement is still in the embryonic stage; in the future, the blending of some traditional resource management with the scientific philosophy of nature conservation may help promote the new wave of nature conservation in Japan.     

The eclipse of NEPA as Environmental Policy

Previous evaluations of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) have focused on the effectiveness of its procedural requirements in improving the quality of decision making with respect to environmental matters. Subsequent growth of other environmental regulation and the changing role of Environmental Impact Statements in the decision-making process should also be considered. The many federal and state environmental laws passed in the 1970s have, by defining the nature and acceptability of environmental impact and prohibiting unacceptable impacts, superseded the substantive role of NEPA in environmental protection. Although the EIS continues to serve as a focus for public debate regarding proposed government actions, such debates usually center around social or economic rather than environmental issues. NEPA has thus been superseded by other environmental laws, and its role in the decision-making process today has little relation to its earlier environmental significance.