Left to interest groups? On the prospects for enforcing environmental law in the European Union

ABSTRACT

There have been important changes in the enforcement of European Union environmental law over the last 25 years. Environmental law has traditionally been reliant on the European Commission, but the Commission has started to withdraw from enforcement. Instead, it is undertaking efforts to ‘outsource’ enforcement to environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) by systematically promoting access for such groups to national courts. While the Commission has indicated that it sees centralised and private enforcement as substitutes, the advantages and drawbacks of each mechanism are evaluated and it is concluded that both mechanisms have an important role to play. In particular, the private enforcement of EU environmental law is dependent on national opportunity structures that are unlikely to ever be fully liberalised and harmonised by EU procedural law. Private enforcement is therefore not a panacea for compliance problems, and the growing absence of a central enforcing authority is a cause for concern.     

基层环境执法存在的问题及对策浅析

阐述了环境执法中存在的问题，指出了真正造就一支“来之能战，战之能胜”的高效、廉洁、文明的环境执法队伍，必须加快立法步伐，加大环境法制宣传教育力度，提高环境法制意识，进行行政管理体制创新，改革机构，打破地方政府“供养制”，加强环保执法队伍的建设。     

基于逆向思维的卫星热真空试验热电偶实施工艺方法

目的提高卫星热真空试验的热电偶实施效率,提升实施结果和试验结果的一致性。方法基于逆向思维的方法,将正常流程中后实施的星上工作转移至星下提前实施,即首先完成热电偶的分区和路径规划工作,再在星下完成热电偶的模板制作和焊连电连接器工作,最后在星上完成热电偶的粘贴工作。结果实现了星上工作星下化,星下工作辅线化,辅线工作单元化,并在卫星热真空试验中成功应用。结论工艺方法合理可行,操作方便,主线工作效率提升267%,现场实施一致性提高,并降低了热电偶引线损伤的可能性。     

中国和国际环境条约

文章介绍了中国在积极参与环保领域的国际合作中，先后批准加入的２１个重要的多边环境和签署的２１项双边环境协定，并回顾最近几年在履约方面的重要进展，主要包括臭氧层的保护、控制危险废物越境转移，保护生物多样性、防止全球气候变化等几个方面的工作，同时，也展望了今后我国在履约方面所面临的艰巨任务。     

中国履行斯德哥尔摩公约淘汰硫丹的社会经济影响

通过构建化学品风险管理SEA(社会经济影响分析)方法学,结合中国硫丹生产、使用及替代技术状况的调研,对中国履约淘汰硫丹的社会经济影响进行了分析. 结果表明:中国5 a淘汰情景下的总成本为5 007.2×104元,其中产业经济成本为4 852.2×104元,管理成本为155.0×104元,沉没成本约为651.0×104元;10 a淘汰情景下的总成本为2 748.5×104元,其中产业经济成本为2 507.6×104元,管理成本为240.9×104元,而沉没成本约为651.0×104元. 硫丹淘汰对现有硫丹原药生产企业会产生一定的经济及化工生产链影响,但总体经济影响不大. 对履约淘汰硫丹的主要利益攸关方、就业影响和消费者福利等因素的分析表明,除对硫丹长期集中使用的棉花种植者构成一定的短期影响外,中国履约淘汰硫丹产生的社会影响较小. 其中,5 a淘汰情景比10 a淘汰情景可减少约2 000 t硫丹环境排放量,具有更显著的环境和健康效益. 因而,建议中国采用5 a淘汰情景履约淘汰硫丹,研究成果可为国家硫丹履约行动计划的制订和实施提供参考.      

An investigation of safety climate in OHSAS 18001-certified and non-certified organizations

Many organizations worldwide have implemented Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series (OHSAS) 18001 in their premises because of the assumed positive effects of this standard on safety. Few studies have analyzed the effect of the safety climate in OHSAS 18001-certified organizations. This case–control study used a new safety climate questionnaire to evaluate three OHSAS 18001-certified and three non-certified manufacturing companies in Iran. Hierarchical regression indicated that the safety climate was influenced by OHSAS implementation and by safety training. Employees who received safety training had better perceptions of the safety climate and its dimensions than other respondents within the certified companies. This study found that the implementation of OHSAS 18001 does not guarantee improvement of the safety climate. This study also emphasizes the need for high-quality safety training for employees of the certified companies to improve the safety climate.     

农村污水治理政府组织实施模式创新研究——以县域为基本单元

目前,中国农村污水治理面临体制机制障碍和政府组织实施等诸多难题.县域是具备财政统筹和政策制定能力的最基本行政区划,以县域为基本单元组织实施农村污水治理具有必要性和可行性.为此,需要厘清县级政府及其职能部门组织实施责任,注重农村污水处理工程设计管理、工程施工管理、工程资金管理以及农村污水处理工程的长效运行管理.这种“过程管理”,能够解决农村污水治理的组织实施难题,改善农村地区水环境和卫生状况,促进农村经济和社会可持续发展.     

Characterization of ISO 14001 implementation

Environmental degradation caused by human activities is of concern to society, government, industry, companies, and the people who are able to enjoy improved lifestyles because of industrial activities. However, all of these parties also have a responsibility to support and conserve the environment and act responsibly toward the earth. This article, which includes a systematic literature review and draws upon the authors’ practical experience, summarizes the benefits, motives, and difficulties in implementing environmental management systems using the International Organization for Standardization's (ISO) 14001 framework.     

Picking up speed: public participation and local sustainability plan implementation

Although planning scholars often argue that public participation improves implementation outcomes, this relationship is rarely empirically tested. This study investigates how public engagement, during planning and after plan adoption, impacts on the speed of local government sustainability plan implementation. It includes a correlation analysis of quantized in-depth interviews with sustainability planners in 36 American cities. The study finds that individual characteristics of public engagement, both during planning and after plan adoption, had statistically significant relationships to implementation speed, but in some cases this relationship was negative. The correlations imply that sustainability planners can make strategic choices to improve implementation speed through public participation in plan creation and after plan adoption. Alternatively, planners also make choices during participatory planning that slow implementation, a problematic outcome when the ultimate goal of a planning process is on-the-ground change.     

Farmers' perceptions of implementation of climate variability disaster preparedness strategies in Central Uganda

This paper examines smallholder farmers' perceptions of the implementation of climate change disaster preparedness strategies in Mpigi district in Central Uganda. Furthermore, existing community early actions against climate change disasters were investigated. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions at the community level. Using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16, data obtained through semi-structured interviews were subjected to quantitative analysis to generate percentages for several variables and cross-tabulation analyses between selected variables. Farmers perceived prolonged droughts, increased pests and diseases outbreaks in crops and livestock as a consequence of climate change as the major climate change disasters. They considered the implementation of climate change disaster preparedness at community and village level as inadequate. This triggered implementation of various early actions by farmers as responses to climate change disasters. These actions constitute an informal community-based early warning system against climate change disasters.