Andelen människor som flyttar till städer ökar, vilket gör att det blir allt mer konkurrens om markytan. För att skapa fler bostäder tas mark i anspråk som tidigare haft andra syften eller bestått av naturliga grönytor. När växtlighet prioriteras bort minskar ekosystemtjänster som har förmåga att rena stadsluften. Denna studie baseras på Stockholm, där den regionala översiktsplaneringen åsyftar att staden ska förtätas för att skapa mer centrala bostäder. Att stadsluften är förorenad är ett generellt problem som utsätter invånare för hälsorisker.  Detta är en fallstudie som granskar hur luftföroreningar uppmärksammas när nya bostadsprojekt är planerade att etableras. Fem fall har valts ut nära en hårt trafikerad Europaväg, för att undersöka hur luftkvaliteter beaktats i planprocesserna. Dokument har granskats och berörda aktörer har intervjuats. Riskerna med luftföroreningar omnämns ytterst lite i vissa fall, medan de anses som betydande miljöpåverkan i andra. Detta har lett till att miljökonsekvensbeskrivningar (MKB) krävts vid vissa bostadsprojekt men inte i andra, trots att liknande eller högre nivåer av luftföroreningar eller fordonsmängd uppmätts eller beräknats vid projekten som uppmärksammat aspekten minst. Resultaten i fallstudien belyser den varierande förekomsten av omnämnandet om luftföroreningar och därmed risker för människors hälsa i de olika bostadsprojekten. / The numbers of people that are living in cities are expanding. That means an arising competition of the ground surface. To create enough homes areas that earlier was filled with natural green spaces are sometimes becoming mobilized. Green space’s that seems to clean the air becomes rarer. This study is based on the city of Stockholm, that is planned to expand more towards the central parts of the city. The city air is as in many other cities polluted and citizens are exposed to health risks.  This is a case study that examines how air pollution is being noticed in new residential projects. Five projects located close to a heavy traffic road have been chosen. Documents have been surveyed and relevant stakeholders have been interviewed in reason to find out how air quality is being observed. The different concerns regarding air quality has lead to decisions that environmental impact assessment (EIA) has being required in some cases, but not in others. Thus the levels of air quality or traffic density have approximately been the same or sometimes even higher in the cases that mentioned air quality least. This case study highlights the varied mention about air pollution and thereby the risks for human health in the studied projects.

There is a vision in the EU for a transition to a low carbon society, including a carbon-neutral energy system, containing a high share of renewable energy. However, this vision is not isolated from other political goals, such as halting the loss of biodiversity by 2020. Both of these goals are accompanied by EU legislation promoting their respective aims. One of the central challenges, in light of this transition, is the very nature of the legal system – that it is rather fragmented – both regarding the substantive law applicable to renewable energy activities and the legal processes that renewable energy activities face. The aim is therefore to discuss certain challenges arising from the fragmented legal system applicable to renewable energy activities. The dissertation is based on EU and Swedish law. First, I investigate the EU’s competence in the field of renewable energy and address how such policy may better reflect the protection of biodiversity. Thereafter, in a Swedish context, I analyse the relationship between protection of biodiversity and promotion of renewable energy. Finally, I address the problems arising from the fragmented legal procedures of renewable energy activities, with the main example of wind power installations and new transmission lines. In general, this study suggests that the current system lacks consistency between renewable energy and nature protection legislation and there is a coordination problem with regards to the permit processes of the development of renewable energy activities. These conclusions point towards a need for a broader perspective on the development of renewable energy activities, which could include: a more integrated planning system for renewable energy activities; exploring the use of derogation rules from the Water Framework Directive; and a more integrated EU renewable energy policy with specific sustainability criteria.

The main goal of my thesis is to provide an in-depth analysis of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which is currently one of the significant legal tools of environmental quality protection. In case any public or private project is likely to have a significant effect on the environment, it needs to pass through the EIA proceedings. This process precedes the development consent to the project. The original EU legal regulation (Council directive 85/337/EEC amended by Directives 97/11/EC, 2003/35/EC and 2009/31/EC) is described in the first part of the thesis. The main sources of this chapter are the judicial decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Communities that reflect the incorrect transpositions of the directive into the legal order of the individual member states. The second chapter is focused on specific attributes of the Czech legal regulation that is included in the legal act no. 100/2001 Sb. modified by further amendments. The regulation is divided into two parts: The first part, the assessment, is concluded by a non-binding opinion, while the second part is concluded by development consent or refusal, as based on particular legal regulations. The most severe issue of the Czech regulation is the insufficient ensurance of participation opportunities of members of the public...

The topic of the thesis is Public participation in the environmental impact assessment proceedings (EIA). The thesis is divided into three chapters further divided into subchapters. The first chapter deals with the EIA proceedings in general including the history and legal sources of EIA. Moreover the Aarhus convention (as a principal source confirming the public participation in decision making proceedings in environmental matters) is described in detail. The following chapter examines the term of "development consent" and related term "subsequent procedure" as a fundamental conditions to ensure public participation in the appropriate extent as is set down by the directive 2011/92/EU. The third chapter is focused on the main issues related with the Czech legislation regarding the form and methods of public participation in the EIA proceedings and subsequent procedures as well as an access of a public concerned to a review procedure before a court.

This thesis aims to provide an analysis of the environmental impact assessment procedures in the Czech republic, including its international and european context, with focus on the topic of public participation in these procedures. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The first chapter provides a definition of environmental impact assessment and enumerates its fundamental principles. The second chapter deals with international, european and historical roots of EIA and SEA procedures. The next chapter describes the course of EIA procedure in the Czech republic. The fourth chapter describes the SEA procedure. The last, fifth chapter deals with the topic of public participation in environmental impact assessment. Finally, the thesis comprises a summary of contained conclusions.

The process of environmental impact assessment is a control procedure that aims to summarize and evaluate the impact of a project on the environment at the stage of project planning and thus to reduce its potential negative impacts in the future. One of the main ideas of the EIA process is to avoid since the very beginning problems and confrontation which would otherwise appear in the future in connection with the planned project. This principle is particularly important in cases of transboundary assessment where communication between countries and joint consultations on the project in its early stages of planning might prevent potential conflicts and disruption of mutual relations in the future resulting from an already implemented plan. The cornerstone of a transboundary assessment is the understanding that the harmful effects of a specific project do not stop at the borders of one state, but can reach a territory of many other countries, mutual cooperation in this subject is thus with regard to environmental protection necessary. The necessity of such a cooperation on one hand, as well as its pitfalls and difficulties on the other hand, are illustrated in the case of transboundary EIA between the Czech Republic and Austria, that is specifically in the case of the construction of the nuclear power plant...

The subject of this dissertation are selected issues of legal regulation of the environmental impact assessment. The dissertation aims to assess the legislation from the viewpoint of efficiency of an environmental protection against the negative impacts of projects on the environment and public health. The dissertation is divided into four chapters further divided into subchapters. The first two chapters are focused on a development of an EIA institute since its start, as well as international, European subsequently Czech incorporation into legislation. The third chapter examines the term of subsequent procedure as a fundamental condition for defining the set of rights and obligations in the proceedings in which projects should be allowed. The last chapter is a comprehensive overview of the various forms of public participation and opportunities for the public to enforce their interests in the assessment of the effects of projects on the environment.

<p>Waste-derived organic products are nutrient-rich materials often applied to agricultural land as a fertilizer to enhance agricultural production and soil quality. Commercially available biosolid-based products, which are sold and distributed in bags or bulk, are rapidly gaining popularity for urban and suburban use. Although biosolid-derived products have many benefits, they may contain trace organic contaminants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) and pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs), in varying levels, depending on waste source composition. These organic compounds have been used in a variety of consumer and industrial products and are known to accumulate in biosolids due to their recalcitrance in conventional wastewater treatment processes. Thus, the application of commercially available biosolids-based products on urban and suburban gardens may lead to transfer and accumulation of organic contaminants into food crops, raising food safety concerns. Most studies to date have focused on municipal biosolids application on agricultural lands with very few studies focused on commercial products available for home and urban gardens. For the latter, the evaluations of bioavailability and subsequent plant uptake of organic contaminants from biosolids have also often been conducted by adding organic contaminants to the growing media (e.g., soil or hydroponic) at a concentration that greatly exceed environmentally relevant concentrations. Moreover, there are currently no studies evaluating leaching and plant uptake potential of contaminants from commercially available (e.g., local stores) biosolids. The research described in this dissertation 1) assessed the occurrence of PFAAs and representative PPCPs in commercially available biosolid-based products and their porewater concentrations in saturated media as a measure of bioavailability and leachability; 2) investigated how heat-treatment, composting, blending and thermal hydrolysis processes on biosolids to convert them to commercial biosolid-based products affect PFAA concentrations in the production of commercial biosolid-based product; and 3) assessed the bioavailability and plant uptake of PFAAs and targeted PPCPs by kale and turnips grown in soil-less potting media amended with Milorganite (a commercially available biosolids-based fertilizer product) at the recommended rate and four times the recommended rate.</p><p>The biosolid-based products displayed varying levels of organic contaminants. Higher PFAA concentrations were detected in biosolid-based products compared to nonbiosolid-based products. The common treatment processes used in taking biosolids to commercially available products were ineffective in reducing PFAA levels in the products except for blending with other essentially PFAA-free materials, thus served as a simple dilution. Porewater concentrations of PFAAs and PPCPs as an indicator of leachability and bioavailability were higher for the less hydrophobic compounds (e.g., short-chain PFAAs and diphenhydramine and carbamazepine with lower octanol-water partition coefficient). Leachability alone did not explain the observed plant uptake potential of PFAAs and PPCPs. With similar leachability and molecular weight/size between diphenhydramine and carbamazepine, higher uptake was observed with a positively charged compound (diphenhydramine compared to a neutral compound (carbamazepine). However, not all positively charged compounds were taken up by the plant. Azithromycin, a positively charged compound, had lower uptake than other contaminants which may be due to its large molecular size compared to diphenhydramine. Higher concentrations of miconazole, triclosan, and triclocarban were found in the biosolids-fertilizer; however, these compounds had low leachabilities and limited uptake by plants. Also, for PPCPs, the application rates of biosolid-based products did not necessarily correlate with the higher uptake and translocation of contaminants to the above-ground portion of plants. </p><p>This study provides an evaluation of commercially available waste-derived organic products under condition comparable to home and urban garden setting. Although biosolids-based products can serve as alternatives to synthetic fertilizers, they contain higher levels of trace organic contaminants than nonbiosolid-organic products. Common biosolids treatment processes are ineffective for reducing the levels of trace organic contaminants in biosolids, particularly for PFAAs. Thus, it is critical to control the sources contributing to the higher level of these contaminants in biosolids-based products. Also, regulations (e.g., triclosan and triclocarban) and replacements (e.g., longer-chain PFAAs to short-chain PFAAs) of persistent trace organic chemicals have led to a reduction in their levels in biosolids-based products. Although longer chain PFAAs are more likely to bioaccumulate and persistent than the replacement short-chain alternatives, the current study has shown that the short-chain PFAAs are more readily taken up to edible parts of plants than longer-chain PFAAs even when applying at the recommended fertilizer rate. Thus, the current movement to replace longer chain PFAAs with short chains has the potential to result in higher total PFAA concentrations being bioavailable for plant uptake, thus increasing the risk of food contamination by PFAAs. </p>

As usinas hidrelétricas são fundamentais na produção energética brasileira, sendo também responsáveis pela geração de importantes impactos ambientais negativos na escala local, os quais acabam tendo efeito no próprio desempenho dos municípios afetados. Com o objetivo de equacionar estes impactos de natureza física, biótica e socioeconômica, instituiu-se a Avaliação de Impacto Ambiental (AIA) por meio da Política Nacional de Meio Ambiente em 1981. A partir de então, este instrumento tem passado por alterações temporais no campo político, legal, institucional e técnico, as quais podem refletir-se na forma como o instrumento equaciona os impactos ambientais e, neste caso, nos próprios desempenhos de desenvolvimento dos locais afetados por hidrelétricas. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a relação entre o desempenho de desenvolvimento nos municípios brasileiros afetados por hidrelétricas e a trajetória da Avaliação de Impacto Ambiental. Nesse sentido, o resultado obtido neste trabalho, é um indicativo de que a AIA quando bem executada pode ser um meio eficaz para gestão de impactos e planejamento ambiental. / Brazilian hydropower plants are fundamental in Brazil\'s energy production, although they are also responsible for generating significant environmental impacts at the local scale, which having an effect on their own municipal development performances. Aiming to solve these physical, biotic and socio-economic impacts, was created the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by the National Environmental Policy in 1981. Since then, this instrument was temporal changed by political, legal, institutional and technical contexts, which may be reflected in how the instrument solves environmental impacts and, in this case, the municipal development performances affected by hydropower plants. This project aimed to analysis the relationships between municipal development performances and the temporal course of Environmental Impact Assessment. In this sense, the result obtained in this project is an indication that the EIA when well executed can be an effective means for impact management and environmental planning.

Avaliação de Impacto Ambiental AIA é um instrumento de gestão ambiental que tem como objetivo identificar, prever e interpretar as conseqüências sobre o meio ambiente de uma dada ação humana. Se bem conduzida pode auxiliar o processo de tomada de decisão, incrementar a viabilidade ambiental de projetos e propostas de desenvolvimento, e constituir em instrumento de gestão ambiental. Apesar de existirem exemplos de aplicação bem sucedida, verifica-se que em muitos casos os resultados esperados não têm sido satisfatórios para o que se pretende com ela. Falhas, tanto na elaboração dos Estudos de Impacto Ambiental, como na condução das demais fases e, conseqüentemente, prejudicando a eficácia da AIA e naquilo que se pretende com esse instrumento de política pública, que é a proteção e a melhoria da qualidade ambiental, têm sido verificadas. Trabalhos recentes, têm enfatizado as variáveis de ordem gerencial do processo de AIA como determinantes do seu sucesso, muito mais do que a qualidade técnica ou o conteúdo científico de um EIA. Um bom sistema de gerenciamento da implantação e operação de um empreendimento pode corrigir imperfeições resultantes das etapas prévias do processo de AIA. A fase de acompanhamento do processo de AIA pode ser considerada como etapa crítica para seu sucesso. Impactos que não são corretamente identificados ou previstos pelo EIA, podem ser corrigidos por meio de medidas mitigadoras desenvolvidas depois da aprovação do projeto. Nesse contexto, o presente trabalho buscou analisar a estrutura de gestão ambiental adotada para o cumprimento da fase pós-aprovação do processo de AIA desenvolvido para o Trecho Sul do Rodoanel, com base em documentos disponíveis no órgão ambiental estadual responsável pelo licenciamento, informações obtidas com o empreendedor, visitas técnicas e entrevistas. Os resultados permitem observar que, apesar da existência de deficiências, o desempenho ambiental alcançado pode ser considerado satisfatório, ainda mais considerando o porte do empreendimento e a complexidade ambiental da região de inserção. As principais falhas que podem ser apontadas referem-se ao subdimensionamento de determinadas medidas preventivas, prevalecendo assim uma atuação mais corretiva. Se por um lado, não-conformidades ambientais observadas podem ser atribuídas, em alguns casos, à falta de equipes e de equipamentos suficientes, e em outros, à falta de capacitação ou de interesse quanto ao trato das questões ambientais, mesmo considerando a padronização de procedimentos, a incorporação de medidas ambientais nos editais de contratação e a execução de programas de treinamentos ambientais; por outro, avanços tecnológicos e investimentos garantiram bom desempenho ambiental de algumas medidas mitigadoras implementadas. Conclui-se que apesar das etapas iniciais (avaliação preliminar e análise detalhada) da AIA contituirem em excelentes ferramentas de planejamento e otimização de esforços e recursos, a etapa pós-aprovação, que compreende a gestão ambiental da implantação dos empreendimentos, a partir da efetivação das medidas preventivas e mitigadoras propostas anteriormente, constitui etapa crucial no sentido de alcançar os seus objetivos, que é a busca pela sustentabilidade ambiental do desenvolvimento. Se não for bem executada, pode colocar todo o esforço e recursos conferidos às etapas anteriores a perder. Em caso contrário, pode suprir eventuais deficiências. / The Environmental Impact Assessment - EIA is an environmental management tool that aims to identify, predict and interpret the consequences on the environment of a particular human action. If well managed can help the process of decision making, enhance the environmental sustainability of projects and development proposals, and constitute an instrument of environmental management. Although there are examples of successful implementation, it appears that in many cases the expected results have not been satisfactory for what we expect from it. Failures both in the preparation of environmental studies, as in the conduct of other phases and, consequently, undermining the effectiveness of EIA and what is meant by this instrument of public policy, which is the protection and improvement of environmental quality, have been verified. Recent studies have emphasized the variables of management of the EIA process as critical to their success, much more than the technical quality and scientific content of an environmental study. A good management system implementation and operation of an enterprise can correct imperfections resulting from previous stages of the EIA process. The follow-up phase of the EIA process can be regarded as critical step for its success. Impacts that are not properly identified or anticipated by the environmental study, can be addressed by mitigation measures developed after the approval of the project. In this context, the present work was developed to sought, based on documents available at the state environmental agency, responsible for the licensing process, information obtained from the entrepreneurial, technical visits and interview, to review the environmental management structure adopted for the implementation of follow-up phase of the EIA process developed for the Southern Section of Rodoanel. The results allow us to observe that despite the deficiencies, the environmental performance achieved can be considered satisfactory, especially considering the size of the enterprise and the environmental complexity of the region of insertion. The main flaws that can be highlighted refer to the undersizing of certain preventive measures and, therefore, there was a further corrective action. On the one hand, environmental non-compliances observed can be attributed in some cases, to the lack of sufficient staff and equipment, and in other, the lack of training or interest in the treatment of environmental issues, even considering the standardization of procedures, the incorporation of environmental measures in the contracts and implementation of environmental training programs. On the other hand, technological advances and investments assure good environmental performance of some mitigation measures implemented. We conclude that despite the initial stages of EIA (preliminary assessment and detailed analysis) form it into an excellent tool for planning and optimization of efforts and resources, the post-approval stage, which includes the environmental management of the implementation of projects, from the accomplishment of preventive and mitigating measures proposed earlier, it is a crucial step towards achieving its goals, which is the quest for environmental sustainability of development. If not well implemented, it can put all the effort and resources given to the previous steps to lose. Otherwise, it can overcome any shortcomings from previous steps.