Selection and integration of environmental impacts in the Danish transport infrastructure assessment process

Transport projects have numerous consequences for the environment, society and economy, and thus an EU Directive has stated a number of impacts that need to be assessed prior to any major intervention. This paper is set in a Danish context where the EU requirements have been adopted in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulation along with national requirements. In recent years, however, the EIAs have been criticised for an inconsistent inclusion of impacts and unclear assessment process. A selection of EIAs is for this reason reviewed and compared to the EU Directive and corresponding works in Sweden and the UK to identify potential opportunities for improvements. From the literature study, an overview table with all potential relevant impacts for transport projects is set up to assist the EIA process. For the sake of simplicity and transparency, the impacts selected from this table should, however, be further reduced in number to ensure that only the most important impacts are included in the process. To further increase simplicity and transparency in the EIA process, a novel framework for assessing different types of impacts is proposed. In this framework, a comprehensive decision support tool involving stakeholders is in focus. The framework is supplemented with a procedure for generating objectives and presenting results in an appropriate way to the many stakeholders involved. The impacts overview table and the assessment techniques are applied to a case study to illustrate the process, and finally, conclusions and perspectives for future work within the field are set out.     

Environmental damage: distinguishing human from geophysical causes

Abstract

During the past two decades it has become increasingly common to attribute “naturala” disasters and other damaging environmental events to proximate or underlying causes that are socially produced. Through an examination of three cases, two of them historical, this paper demonstrates that underlying causes within the geophysical domain are also important. Few types of environmental damage or disaster stem from unalloyed human causes or geophysical ones; complex intermixtures are the rule.     

县域土地利用规划生态环境影响评价研究——以陇县为例

以生态服务价值理论为指导,从土地利用变化动态度、生态系统服务总价值和生态价值敏感度3个方面评价陇县土地利用总体规划(2006～2020年)对区域生态环境的影响。结果表明,林地、耕地在规划期内生态系统服务价值都呈增长趋势,区域生态系统服务总价值增加了30700万元。     

房地产新建项目的环境影响预测评价

根据房地产开发项目环境影响评价的方法和准则,分析了新建住宅类建设项目施工期和营运期对环境产生的不良影响,及外环境对住宅小区的环境影响,预测和评价了运营期的大气污染、废水污染及施工期和运营期的噪声污染。结果表明,运营期排放的废水可以满足国家污水排放标准,氮氧化物是运营期大气污染物的主要成分,施工期土石方阶段和结构阶段的噪声排放能满足昼间噪声限值,其余噪声污染全部超出了标准限值。提出了相应的环保措施,总结了住宅建设项目环境影响评价的特点。     

《环境影响评价法》第31条新解

《环境影响评价法》第31条一直是该法备受关注和饱受争议的对象,如何全面正确地认识这一条款的规定才能更好地实施和完善环境影响评价制度？通过对31条两种情形下建设单位行为的主观恶性的再分析、对照环境影响评价的价值和目的对该责任条款的再认识、对环境影响评价执法难的根源追寻等方面来探讨对31条的全新认识和补充完善。     

化工建设规划生态环境影响评价研究

规划环境影响评价是以可持续发展的思想为出发点,通过调整规划布局或规模从规划源头预防环境污染和生态破坏.文章探讨了化工建设规划的生态环境影响评价理论和方法学体系,并以武汉化工新城为例,对该理论方法体系进行探讨.     

港口规划环评评价内容及技术方法探讨

随着经济的快速发展,港口已成为社会发展的重要支柱。但随之带来的是港口建设与环境保护之间的矛盾日益突出,因此必须实施港口规划环境影响评价。本文基于《规划环境影响评价技术导则》(试行),结合港口规划环评的特点,对港口规划环评的技术路线和评价内容进行了总结。评价重点内容从规划协调性分析、环境承载力、公众参与和风险评价四个方面进行了研究和总结,为其它港口总体规划环境影响评价工作提供参考和借鉴。     

重金属污染土壤的植物修复技术研究进展探讨

大多数传统的重金属污染治理技术成本高,会引起土壤肥力下降,对各类生态系统造成负面影响。植物修复技术是一种成本低、环境友好的方法,不会对土壤性质和生态系统产生不利影响。文章综述了植物修复治理重金属污染土壤的研究进展,探讨如何通过采取物理、化学、生物技术及农艺措施等方法提高修复植物的生物量和重金属积累量并展望了今后的研究方向。     

基于《环境影响评价》的研究性系列实验设计与教学实践研究

为提高高校本科生实验及实践类课程教学水平,基于笔者十余年实践类课程教学实践,介绍了以课程形式新建的具有研究性特质的系列本科生教学实验,实验素材主要源于“理论课程中的经典研究方法、学科前沿的科学研究实验和成熟的社会应用技术方法和规范”,最后基于具体实践教学案例,详细阐述了上述系列研究性实验的教学细节和流程.希望本研究的探索工作能够为中国高校实验教学的深入改革,以及建立基于学科的国家级基础实验教学示范中心提供基础和借鉴.     

Review of the effects of in-stream pipeline crossing construction on aquatic ecosystems and examination of Canadian methodologies for impact assessment

Pipeline crossing construction alters river and stream channels, hence may have detrimental effects on aquatic ecosystems. This review examines the effects of crossing construction on fish and fish habitat in rivers and streams, and recommends an approach to monitoring and assessment of impacts associated with these activities. Pipeline crossing construction is shown to not only compromise the integrity of the physical and chemical nature of fish habitat, but also to affect biological habitat (e.g., benthic invertebrates and invertebrate drift), and fish behavior and physiology. Indicators of effect include: water quality (total suspended solids TSS), physical habitat (substrate particle size, channel morphology), benthic invertebrate community structure and drift (abundance, species composition, diversity, standing crop), and fish behavior and physiology (hierarchy, feeding, respiration rate, loss of equilibrium, blood hematocrit and leukocrit levels, heart rate and stroke volume). The Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) approach, which is often applied in Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM), is recommended as a basis for impact assessment, as is consideration of site-specific sensitivities, assessment of significance, and cumulative effects.