Significant developments in sustainable development law and governance: A proposal

This article develops a practical proposal for progress on sustainable development law. It examines the prospects for an international sustainable development law to provide a framework for more effective, coherent governance. Sustainable development law is briefly defined and an analytical framework is provided. Different degrees of integration between economic, social and environmental law are described. Certain principles of international law related to sustainable development are also highlighted. It is argued that these principles may serve to guide law‐makers and jurists where social, economic and environmental law and policy conflict or overlap. Continuing, underlying questions of sustainable development governance are addressed and its global frameworks analysed. The article also focuses on the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg in August‐September 2002, and its specific mandate for the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) to take related legal developments into account. The article advances a proposal: that governments, economic, social and environmental intergovernmental organizations and other actors establish a ‘network of inquiry’ with members from relevant groups, including legal and academic organizations, and other expert groups, in order to follow, research, analyse and debate legal developments in a balanced way.     

Enhanced water resource base for sustainable integrated water resource management

The article states the case for greatly enhanced reliance on desalination in the provision of freshwater. It argues that the concept of integrated water resource management (IWRM), should be expanded to routinely include desalination, and that sea water and brackish water should be listed among available sources of freshwater. In recent years, the price per m3 of freshwater obtained from desalination has steadily declined, and is now within competitive range of conventional sources, especially as extracting water from surface sources (rivers, lakes) is becoming increasingly expensive as well as ecologically harmful, and groundwater in many locations is saline or depleted. With the expectation that by 2020, five billion people will reside in megacities, today's conventional water resources are likely to become insufficient. As many of these megacities are located near ocean coasts, sea water seems a logical solution.     

MODELING SEDIMENT AND PHOSPHORUS LOSSES IN AN AGRICULTURAL WATERSHED TO MEET TMDLs1

ABSTRACT: This paper studies the effectiveness of alternative farm management strategies at improving water quality to meet Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) in agricultural watersheds. A spatial process model was calibrated using monthly flow, sediment, and phosphorus (P) losses (1994 to 1996) from Sand Creek watershed in south‐central Minnesota. Statistical evaluation of predicted and observed data gave r² coefficients of 0.75, 0.69, and 0.49 for flow (average 4.1 m³/s), sediment load (average 0.44 ton/ha), and phosphorus load (average 0.97 kg/ha), respectively. The calibrated model was used to evaluate the effects of conservation tillage, conversion of crop land to pasture, and changes in phosphorus fertilizer application rate on pollutant loads. TMDLs were developed for sediment and P losses based on existing water quality standards and guidelines. Observed annual sediment and P losses exceeded these TMDLs by 59 percent and 83 percent, respectively. A combination of increased conservation tillage, reduced application rates of phosphorus fertilizer, and conversion of crop land to pasture could reduce sediment and phosphorus loads by 23 percent and 20 percent of existing loads, respectively. These reductions are much less than needed to meet TMDLs, suggesting that control of sediment using buffer strips and control of point sources of phosphorus are needed for the remaining reductions.     

TRANSIENT RESPONSE FUNCTIONS FOR CONJUNCTIVE WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE SNAKE RIVER PLAIN,IDAHO1

ABSTRACT: Increasing demands on western water are causing a mounting need for the conjunctive management of surface water and ground water resources. Under western water law, the senior water rights holder has priority over the junior water rights holder in times of water shortage. Water managers have been reluctant to conjunctively manage surface water and ground water resources because of the difficulty of quantification of the impacts to surface water resources from ground water stresses. Impacts from ground water use can take years to propagate through an aquifer system. Prediction of the degree of impact to surface water resources over time and the spatial distribution of impacts is very difficult. Response functions mathematically describe the relationship between a unit ground water stress applied at a specific location and stream depletion or aquifer water level change elsewhere in the system. Response functions can be used to help quantify the spatial and temporal impacts to surface water resources caused by ground water pumping. This paper describes the theory of response functions and presents an application of transient response functions in the Snake River Plain, Idaho. Transient response functions can be used to facilitate the conjunctive management of surface and ground water not only in the eastern Snake River Plain basin, but also in similar basins throughout the western United States.     

基于CAN总线的分布式安全报警系统

CAN总线是一种多主站局部网络 ,支持分布式控制系统或实时控制系统的通信功能 ,具有检错功能强 ,抗干扰 ,传输速率高等优点 ,广泛应用于工业控制领域。笔者以CAN总线技术为基础 ,用单片机和个人计算机组成分布式安全报警系统 ,该系统具有开放性、全分散体系结构、安装维护简单等特点。笔者介绍了该系统的总体构成及其软件和硬件设计。试验结果表明 ,该系统实现了事故现场、住户与住宅小区三者联系的安全报警功能。系统稳定性好 ,实时性强 ,报警准确。     

基于ArcIMS的旅游安全管理系统

结合旅游业的特点,即综合性、敏感性、涉外性或国际性,提出旅游安全管理系统应该包括:灾前的防范系统、灾时的抗灾系统以及灾后的评估善后系统3大部分的设计思路。将相应的旅游重大危险源监控系统的功能定为:以行政监察、社会监督、行业自律和应急救援体系为主的宏观管理系统。阐述了Web GIS的优点并推荐了一种构建Web GIS的新技术———ArcIMS,利用ArcIMS的系统构建的旅游安全管理系统具有功能健全、管理方便、系统成熟和安全可靠的诸多优点;同时整个系统的构建相对于其他Web GIS系统的开发而言,技术难度比较低、开发速度比较快,而且系统运行相对稳定,减轻了系统维护的负担。最后,结合旅游安全信息流的特点,具体阐述了运用ArcIMS作为旅游安全管理系统的平台的合理性和可行性。     

中美煤矿安全比较与借鉴

中国和美国都是煤炭生产和消费大国,但是中国的煤矿安全却与美国存在巨大差距。笔者首先从两国历年来煤矿安全数据分析入手,认为:美国煤矿安全经历了严重恶化、小幅波动和安全稳定3个阶段;而中国的煤矿经历了改革开放前大起大落和其后的小幅波动两个阶段,迄今为止,还没有进入安全稳定时期。然后从法规、监察、采矿权、安全投入、矿工及工会、教育及培训、科技进步等7个方面对两国的煤矿安全进行了比较。最后,借鉴美国进入第3阶段的成功经验,提出一些改善中国煤矿安全的相应对策建议,如完善法规、加强监管、明晰采矿权、设立安全投入预算资金、改善矿工的弱势地位、加强教育与培训、依靠科技进步等。     

道路交通安全管理措施比较研究

根据近五年来我国道路交通安全状况的实际,针对目前我国道路交通安全管理的现状,本文就道路交通法规建设、道路交通安全宣传教育、道路交通执法、道路事故紧急救援措施等相关内容与日本、美国、欧洲交通发达国家进行了对比分析,以图找出我国现行的道路交通安全管理对策中的薄弱环节及完善的途径.     

湘钢2#高炉拆除大修工程安全技术管理

通过对拆除前、拆除中、拆除后以及大修整个过程实施全方位安全技术管理，实现了全面的管理目标．取得了良好的社会效益和经济效益。     

论对社会弱势群体的职业卫生与安全的法律保护

结合对“社会弱势群体”含义、产生原因的分析以及对我国社会弱势群职业卫生与安全法律保护现状的总结，本文指出了法律对社会弱势群体职业卫生与安全给予倾斜性保护的重要意义，并进一步提出了加强对社会弱势群体职业卫生与安全法律保护具体措施的设想。