Showing papers on "Environmental impact assessment published in 1987"

Wildland Recreation: Ecology and Management

Abstract: Recreation Use and Resource Impacts IMPACTS TO RESOURCE COMPONENTS: Soil Vegetation Wildlife Water Impact Patterns FACTORS AFFECTING IMPACTS: Environmental Durability Visitor Use MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES: Strategies and Concepts of Management Monitoring Recreational Impacts Visitor Management Site Management CONCLUSION: A Lasting Impact.

Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955–1985

Abstract: Preface Introduction: Environmental Politics - the New and the Old 1. From conservation to environment 2. Variation and pattern in the environmental impulse 3. The urban environment 4. The nation's wildlands 5. The countryside: A land rediscovered, yet threatened 6. The toxic environment 7. Population, resources, and the limits to growth 8. Environmental inquiry and ideas 9. The environmental opposition 10. The politics of science 11. The politics of economic analysis and planning 12. The middle ground: Management of environmental restraint 13. Environmental politics in the States 14. The politics of legislation, administration, and litigation 15. The Reagan antienvironmental revolution 16. Environmental society and environmental politics Notes Index.

National Environmental Policy Act

Abstract: In 1969, the United States Congress enacted a landmark environmental statute: the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Responding to reports of increasing harm to the environment of the United States, Congress substantially elevated the importance of environmental factors in government decision-making. For the first time, all federal agencies were compelled to consider the environmental implications of their major actions. In addition, a new entity, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), was established to help coordinate federal environmental policy. CEQ was also directed to submit an annual report to Congress on the status of the environment.

Environmental Science : The Way the World Works

Abstract: Using environmental science to understand and solve environmental problems. Part 1 What ecosystems are and how they work: ecosystems - what keeps them the same?, what makes them change?, adapting to change - or not. Part 2 Finding a balance between population, soil, water and agriculture: the population explosion - causes and consequences addressing the population problem food - the production and distribution of food soil and the soil ecosystems pests and pest control water, the water cycle and water management. Part 3 Pollution: sediments, nutrients and eutrophication sewage pollution and rediscovering the nutrient cycle pollution from hazardous chemicals air pollution and its control major atmospheric changes risk and economics of pollution. Part 4 Resources - biota, energy and land: wild species diversity and protection ecosystems as resources converting trash to resources energy resources and the energy problem nuclear power - promise and problems solar and other "renewable" energy sources lifestyle, land use and environmental impact.

Sediment-associated contaminants — an overview of scientific bases for developing remedial options

Abstract: The review article covers three major aspects of scientific research on sediment-associated contaminants during the last 20 years: (i) identification and monitoring of sources and distribution (sampling; sample preparation; analyses, mainly of non-residual fractions; estimation of pollution potential); (ii) study of processes and mechanisms of pollutant transfer (interactions between dissolved and particulate element species; particle environments; transport and diagenesis: colloids; surface microlayers; particle related processes; bioturbation; dredging operations; remobilization of toxic elements; bioaccumulation of organic chemicals: solid/dissolved distribution of contaminants); (iii) assessment of the environmental impact of particle-bound pollutations (chemical extraction sequence; sediment bioassay; combined chemical/biological test procedures). Enstead, empirical tests developed from multi-disciplinary research on biological, chemical and physical factors are applied for assessing the reactivity, mobility and bioavailability of sediment-bound pollutations and for estimating the validity of remedial measures.

Treatment of risk in environmental impact assessment

Abstract: Risk assessment and environmental impact assessment have developed as separate traditions. While environmental impact assessment is a broad field that includes all activities that attempt to analyze and evaluate the effects of human and related actions on the environment, risk assessment has been concerned with the relatively well-defined regulatory problems and employs formal quantitative analysis of the probability of specific undesired events, such as cancer. Risk analytic approaches, particularly the explicit treatment of uncertainty, can significantly contribute to environmental assessments. This article discusses the type and sources of uncertainty in environmental assessments, techniques for their quantification, and ways to use uncertainty estimates to calculate probabilities of effects or probabilities of exceeding environmental standards and to determine the need for mitigation or additional research.

Forecasts and Environmental Decisionmaking: The Content and Predictive Accuracy of Environmental Impact Statements

Abstract: During the 1970s, environmental impact statements (EISs) became the focal point of significant federal decisions regarding natural resources. The legal requirements of environmental assessment assume a technically sophisticated EIS that conforms to the rational-comprehensive model of decision making. The authors of this study examine the accuracy and descriptive characteristics of EIS forecasts in a sample of 29 nationally representative projects. Using data on actual post-project impacts, they evaluate the accuracy of over 200 predictions, finding that although most EIS predictions on environmental impacts fall short of the model's ideal, the outcomes of EIS assessments turn out to be reasonably prescient - that is, few impacts are inconsistent with EIS forecasts and almost no significant impacts are wholly unanticipated by EIS writers. The book concludes with suggested ways of redefining the EIS process so as to diminish false expectations and to enhance the practical strengths of the National Environmental Policy Act.

Decentralizing Federal Environmental Policy: A Research Note

Abstract: NUMBER of predictions have been made about the likely effects of President Reagan’s New Federalism on state spending. Many critics A believe that &dquo;faced with worsening fiscal constraints, some states [will] simply drop many of the programs altogether&dquo; (Elder and Kiser 1983: 56). According to a survey by the National Governors’ Association (NGA), the proportion of states saying they would reduce activities rather than maintain them at present levels was well above two-thirds &dquo;for all but a few program activities&dquo; (Davis 1982; National Governors’ Association 1982). In the environmental area, state officials have predicted that reduced federal assistance will result in decreased environmental activities and may result in negative impacts on the environment (General Accounting Office 1982). Indeed, it has been suggested that &dquo;these reductions [have] significantly weakened the ability of states to implement their existing [environmental] control responsibilities&dquo; (Davies 1984: 151). Others suggest that states and localities will respond to the cuts in federal spending by picking up defunct national programs (Gray 1983). If anything, some argue, &dquo;reductions in federal aid should result in increases in requests for state monies to make up for aid losses&dquo; (Hedge 1983: 207). The empirical evidence to date, on the other hand, suggests that &dquo;most state governments [have been] unable or unwilling to maintain service levels in the face of federal aid cuts. The most common response to the FY 1982 federal aid cuts was to cut the services affected&dquo; (Nathan et al. 1983: 204). However, these findings have also led some researchers to conclude that &dquo;it is important to disaggregate both geographically and by program

The environmental impacts of the tucuri dam on the middle and lower tocantins river basin, Brazil

Abstract: An attempt is made to appraise the present and likely future environmental impacts of the Tucurui Dam upon the mid and lower Araguaia-Tocantins Basin (Brazilian Amazonia). Information has been obtained by literature review and from field visits made by the author in 1981, 1983, and 1985. The problems of impoundment-related environmental impact assessment in tropical developing countries are also discussed. Tucurui is the world's fourth largest hydroelectric project and is the first large dam to be completed in an Amazonian rainforest environment. It is also the first of a number of large dams which Brazil plans to construct in the Araguaia-Tocantins Basin and on other tributaries of the Amazon. The appraisal of problems associated with Tucurui Dam should help planners minimize difficulties with future Amazonian hydroprojects. Like many developing country environmental impact assessments, that carried out at Tucurui was begun after the construction site had been selected and construction had begun. Tucurui impact studies have tended to concentrate on the environmental and socioeconomic impacts generated in the vicinity of the dam and reservoir; downstream impacts have received less attention but are already apparent. Major impacts identified include reservoir siltation, disruption of fisheries and agriculture (especially floodland cultivation) downstream, and human disease problems.

Environmental management and economic development

Abstract: Environmental degradation threatens the productivity of agricultural and forest resources on which developing countries depend for their economic growth. The problem is most pervasive in the poorest countries, where poverty and population pressures compel people to deplete the natural resources to meet their immediate needs for survival. Forests are burned to make room for food crops, the soil is depleted when cow dung must be used for cooking fuel instead of fertilizer - and both the environment and prospects for economic betterment suffer. This volume shows clearly that much environmental damage is the result of either shortsighted policies or lack of knowledge, as when insecure land tenure, artificially low farm prices, and illiteracy keep farmers from practicing soil conservation. The authors analyze the relation between environmental factors and economic development and focus on how developing countries can protect and even improve their natural environment while continuing to improve the economic and social welfare of their people. They look at analytical and methodological questions, illustrate in detail many of the problems, and point to possible solutions. Contrary to other recent studies, this book finds cause for some optimism: governments are turning their attention to these issues, examining the environmental effects of various economic policies, and taking steps to preserve the environment and prevent further damage.

Follow-up to environmental impact assessment: Learning from the Canadian Government experience.

Abstract: The environmental impact assessment procedure for Canadian federal government projects is briefly described. In the non-legislated Canadian system, follow-up to assessments is one of the major means of encouraging and improving the implementation of environmental impact assessment and the quality of environmental work done around development projects. The results of a study on the status of follow-up in the Canadian Government are presented. Factors that limit and that are conducive to follow-up are discussed. The effectiveness of follow-up depends as much on the circumstances surrounding a project and the concerned parties as on the follow-up techniques used; both of these aspects can be addressed in the planning and management of follow-up and of environmental impact assessment overall. Areas for improving the management of follow-up are identified and discussed: planning of follow-up activities, coordination of concerned parties, generation of clear understandings, information management, resource allocation, and maintenance of credibility. A method for planning follow-up activities for specific projects is presented.

Eec environmental policy and britain. 2nd edition

Abstract: This book is a definitive guide to European environmental legislation. All relevant directives, regulations and decisions are grouped into chapters by subject matter: water, waste, air, chemicals, wildlife and countryside, noise, and environmental impact assessment. For each piece of community legislation there is formal information, a summary of its purpose, a discussion of its contents and its development, a statement of the formal compliance in the UK' and a review of its effects on UK practice. The chapter on air includes emission from vehicles and legislation concerning lead in petrol. (TRRL)

Organotin Antifouling Hull Paints and the U.S. Navy--A Historical Perspective

Abstract: An interim finding of no significant impact for the U.S. Navy's fleetwide implementation of tributyltin (TBT) containing organotin antifouling hull paints appeared in the U.S. Federal Register of 21 June 1985. This finding was based on an environmental assessment and committed the Navy to (1) slow implementation of the painting program, extending over a 10-year period; (2) use of paints with release rates not greater than 0.1 \mu g TBT/cm2/day; (3) environmental monitoring at major Navy harbors, ensuring a target average concentration of 50 ng TBT/L or less; and (4) a commitment to update the environmental assessment in 1988. The paints intended for use by the Navy were registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and were used widely by recreational and commercial vessels. The public announcement by the Navy of its intended action resulted in a nearly unanimous negative response from Federal, state, and private agencies. This paper describes the U.S. Navy's research effort, which demonstrated the unique operational and economic benefits provided by these paints for its combat ships; the consequences of preparing the environmental assessment for Fleetwide implementation; the importance and complexity of TBT paint release rates; the response of the environmental community to potential risks of TBT use; concerns and action taken by the U.S. Congress and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the role of water column monitoring and laboratory bioassays; the enactment of regulatory legislation by states on both coasts; and the Navy's leadership in establishing a strategy for the environmental management of TBT.

Environmental impact of phosphate mining in india

Abstract: Phosphorus plays an important role in terrestrial environmental management. Mining of phosphate ore without observing necessary safeguards can cause enormous damage to the general ecosystem and in particular to the aquatic bodies which receive excess P influx. A careful enumeration of the actual mining situations observed in five phosphate mining centres brings out the fact that while some damage to the surrounding environment has already been caused due to mining operations in the area, more serious hazards are forthcoming, if suitable legislations are not enacted to contain them. Case studies include mines at Jhamarkotra, Matoon-Kanpur, Jhabua, Maldeota-Durmala and Purulia.