Validity of Performance Criteria and a Tentative Model for Regulatory Use in Compensatory Wetland Mitigation Permitting

The purpose of this paper is to develop the principles for a manageable and practical set of performance criteria that will reasonably assure no net loss in a situation in which it cannot be absolutely assured. To this end, the performance criteria proposed for 116 compensatory wetland projects on file with the Army Corps of Engineers in San Francisco, between 1988 and 1995, were examined. The trends discerned in the project proposals were analyzed and evaluated in light of the current state of wetland science. Specific suggestions for the development of uniform criteria in each of four major wetland types—riparian, perennial tidal, perennial nontidal, and seasonal—are discussed, and a system of regulation tying qualitative assessment with quantitative requirements is outlined as a reasonable solution to the enforcement of the no-net-loss policy.     

Identification, analysis and dissemination of information on near misses: A case study in the construction industry

Near misses are well-known for providing a major source of useful information for safety management. They are more frequent events than accidents and their causes may potentially result in an accident under slightly different circumstances. Despite the importance of this type of feedback, there is little knowledge on the characteristics of near misses, and on the use of this information in safety management. This article proposes guidelines for identifying, analyzing and disseminating information on near misses in construction sites. In particular, it is proposed that near misses be analyzed based on four categories: (a) whether or not it was possible to track down the event; (b) the nature of each event, in terms of its physical features (e.g. falling objects); (c) whether they provided positive or negative feedback for the safety management system; and (d) risk, based on the probability and severity associated with each event. The guidelines were devised and tested while a safety management system was being developed in a healthcare building project. The monitoring of near misses was part of a safety performance measurement system. Among the main results, a dramatic increase in both the number and quality of reports stands out after the workforce was systematically encouraged to report. While in the first 4 months of the study – when the workforce was not encouraged to report – there were just 12 reports, during the subsequent 4 months – when the workforce was so encouraged – there were 110 reports, all of them being analyzed based on the four analytical categories proposed.     

“无废城市”建设推进政策及措施的国别比较研究

“无废城市”建设已经成为应对城市固体废物（以下简称“固废”）管理挑战的国际趋势，我国也启动了“无废城市”建设试点工作。本文介绍了国际“无废城市”实践的背景和发展趋势，对我国和其他高收入国家的“无废城市”相关政策和具体实施方案进行了对比分析。分析结果表明，“无废城市”的推进政策与实施措施存在国别差异，我国的“无废城市”采纳了“问题导向”的推进策略，而高收入国家则是“目标导向”。最后对进一步推进我国“无废城市”建设试点工作提出了四点建议。     

山西夏季气溶胶空间分布飞机观测研究

以搭载了多种气溶胶观测仪器的飞机为观测平台,在2013年夏季首次对山西中部地区霾日及晴空大气气溶胶空间分布特性进行了观测,得到气溶胶粒子数浓度和尺度的垂直分布廓线以及不同高度气溶胶粒子谱分布特征.研究发现,山西夏季非降水天气条件下气溶胶粒子以核模态和积聚模态的细粒子为主,粗粒子很少.霾日气溶胶数浓度是晴空的2~3倍,主要是核模态的小粒子;气溶胶粒子数浓度随着高度逐渐减小,低空存在气溶胶累积区,逆温层的存在是导致气溶胶累积区形成的主要原因;气溶胶粒子尺度随高度增加,大粒子主要分布在2500m以上的高空;不同高度上的气溶胶粒子谱均呈双峰或三峰分布,谱型基本一致,从近地面到5000m高空,气溶胶粒子谱随高度的增加略有展宽.观测区域气团后向轨迹模拟结果显示,4000m以上高空气溶胶粒子主要是从中国西北地区远距离输送而来,3000m以下气溶胶粒子则主要来源于近地面排放.     

Continuous performance assessment and improvement of integrated HSE and maintenance systems by multivariate analysis in gas transmission units

In this study, an integrated “Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE)” and maintenance systems are presented. Multivariate analysis is used for continuous performance assessment and improvement of these systems. The two subjects of “Maintenance System” and “HSE” have been individually investigated several times in different studies. However, few studies have been done to integrate these two systems and provide an integrated system for their implementation. This study evaluates current maintenance and HSE systems of a Gas Transmission Unit by Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Moreover, decision making units (DMUs) are examined and ranked. Employees are considered as DMUs. This is done through investigating and measuring their efficiencies and identifying the inefficient and less-efficient units. Since an increase in the number of inputs does not lead to an increase in the number of outputs with the same scale, an output-oriented DEA with a Variable Returns to Scale (VRS) is used. The Fuzzy DEA (FDEA) is also used in this research to decrease uncertainty existing in qualitative indicators and human error. Finally, suggestions are given to improve those DMUs. The managers and employees of the gas transmission unit constitute the statistical population of the study. To achieve the objectives of this study, standard questionnaires with respect to HSE and Maintenance system are completed by operators. The proposed approach would help policy makers and top managers of Gas Transmission Company to have a more comprehensive and thorough understanding the working conditions with respect to the maintenance and HSE features.     

A guide for assessing control room operator performance using speed and accuracy,perceived workload,situation awareness,and eye tracking

In the petrochemical industry, control room operators must address safety-critical alarms and other tasks using complex interfaces. This study developed a guide for assessing human performance using standard human factors measurement tools, and tested the sensitivity of those tools with two interface designs (i.e., gray and black) at three levels of workload (i.e., easy, medium, and difficult). The guide measures human performance through speed and accuracy, perceived workload using two standard instruments (i.e., NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and Subjective Workload Assessment Technique (SWAT)), situation awareness through the Situation Awareness Global Assessment Technique (SAGAT), and gaze through eye tracking coordinates. Twelve engineering student participants completed one simulation session at each of the three workload levels using one of two interface designs. Workload was manipulated through the number of simulated events (failures) in each session. Overall, the speed and accuracy measures, workload ratings, and eye tracking showed sensitivity to differences in workload level, and situation awareness showed sensitivity to the interaction between workload level and interface type. None of the tools were sensitive to interface type alone. Accuracy was highest under easy workload. Time per failure decreased at higher workload levels. Perceived workload ratings from the SWAT increased as workload increased, but workload ratings from the NASA-TLX were not different across workload levels. When workload increased, situation awareness remained steady for the gray interface but decreased sharply for the black interface, illustrating an interaction effect. Finally, the percentage of time spent looking at different areas of the screen during steady-state periods differed among workload levels. The tools in this guide can be used in the petrochemical industry to make design decisions for control room interfaces when workload levels are a concern.     

Performance evaluation of integrated resilience engineering factors by data envelopment analysis: The case of a petrochemical plant

Petrochemical units are potentially prone to incidents that have catastrophic consequences such as explosion, leakage of toxic materials, and the stoppage of the production process. Resilience engineering (RE) is a new method that can control incidents and limit their consequences. It includes top-level commitment, reporting culture, learning, awareness, preparedness, and flexibility. However, this study introduces a new concept of RE (referred to as integrated RE or IRE) which includes the above factors in addition to self-organization, teamwork, redundancy and fault-tolerant. This study evaluates performance of IRE in a petrochemical plant through considering the obtained data from questionnaires and data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. Moreover, the performance of RE and the new IRE are compared and discussed. The results show that although there is a strong direct correlation between the DEA results in two frameworks, the mean scores of efficiency in IRE is slightly higher than RE. This is the first study that introduces an integrated approach for RE. In addition, this study is amongst the first ones that examine the behavior of resilience engineering by DEA. Moreover, the superiority of IRE is shown through robust statistical analysis.     

An assessment of the air pollution data from two monitoring stations in Kuwait

This article assesses the air pollution data from two monitoring stations in Kuwait. The measurements cover major pollutants, i.e., CO, CO₂, methanated and non-methanated hydrocarbons, NO _x , SO₂, O₃, and particulate matter (PM10). The data also includes meteorological parameters, i.e., solar intensity, temperature, wind speed, and wind direction, and has been collected over a period 4 years, from 2001 to 2004. Data analysis includes the assessment of annual hourly averages and 1-h maxima. Typical pollutant concentration trends, similar to those previously reported for Kuwait and for other locations around the world, are observed except for particulate matter measurements, which have higher values because of proximity to the desert. Emissions of nitrogen oxides show a consistent increase over the years. This is caused by the increase in the number of motor vehicles and the expansion in power generation and industrial activities. The data collected is a subset of the air quality criteria, as defined by the US EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency).     

Toxic substances: Measures and measurements†

The formulation of a sound policy for environmental protection and toxic substances control requires knowledge of the presence and concentration of environmental contaminants. For this reason monitoring programs have been set up in the Netherlands for water, drinking water, and air pollution. The Netherlands system for air pollution, monitoring of the substances SO2, NOχ, CO, O₃ is now fully automated. Some examples will be given to show the acquisition and management and interpretation of air pollution measurements.

Various smaller projects, supported by the Department of Health and Environmental Protection include measurement of indoor air‐contaminants, contaminants in soil and hazardous waste sites, and contaminants in biotic samples such as for instance PCB's in eels and seals and mussels. Moreover a Coordinating Committee regularly collects measurements from various sources in the Netherlands regarding pesticide residues and contaminants in food.

For cost‐effective monitoring the accuracy of the measurements must be chosen with regard to the biological effect concentration of the pollutant. The necessity of proper control measurements to establish background levels and the necessity of ring‐tests to increase interlaboratory reproducibility is discussed. In cost‐effective monitoring the minimum number of measurements, which are necessary to check the effect of environmental protection measures, must be defined through proper sampling.     

基于国内实测燃煤电厂烟气汞排放估算的不确定度

参照测量不确定度评定与表示的国家技术规范,基于近年来我国燃煤电厂常规污控设备协同脱汞的现场测试数据(文献报道和实测值)及各省原煤w(汞)的实测值,初步构建了国内燃煤电厂烟气汞排放不确定度的计算方法,并以2010年的燃煤量、污控方式布局为基础,计算了该年度汞排放的不确定度. 结果表明:2010年我国燃煤电厂烟气汞排放的总不确定度为48.8t,占平均排放总量的34.3%;其中60.2%源于污控设备脱汞效率的不确定度,39.8%源于原煤w(汞)的不确定度;采用ESP(静电除尘)、ESP+WFGD(静电除尘+湿法脱硫)、SCR+ESP+WFGD(选择性催化还原脱硝+静电除尘+湿法脱硫)和FF(袋式除尘)大气污控组合的机组各存在6.0、32.2、9.7和0.9t的烟气汞排放不确定度,分别占各对应机组烟气汞排放量的19.3%、32.8%、84.6%和53.6%,其中SCR+ESP+WFGD污控组合烟气汞排放的相对不确定度最大. 随着我国烟气脱硝工作全面推行,2015年以后,SCR+ESP+WFGD污控措施(组合)的机组所占比例将会提高到66%以上,如果仍以现有数据为基础,则来自SCR+ESP+WFGD污控措施(组合)机组的烟气汞排放不确定度将会大幅增加,因此急需增加对该类装置脱汞效率的实测样本数量.