A poluição ambiental tem se mostrado cada vez mais presente na vida das pessoas, de diversas formas, desde as mais evidentes até as mais obscuras. A produção desenfreada de ruídos é uma das formas de poluição que afeta gravemente a qualidade de vida das pessoas. A poluição sonora é uma forma de poluição que causa um impacto de uma forma que poucos percebem. Primeiramente pelo fato de que seus danos não são perceptíveis, por não ser reconhecida pelos órgãos jurisdicionais como poluição ambiental, e por não receber a atenção necessária dos órgãos públicos que deveriam atuar na sua contenção. Uma das formas de poluição sonora que está mais presente na vida das pessoas, devido ao processo de evolução da tecnologia e também por causa do hiperconsumismo que se observa na atualidade, é a poluição sonora veicular, produzida através de equipamentos de som instalados em veículos automotores. Essa forma de propagação de ruídos é percebida de forma cada vez mais ampla no meio urbano, se mostrando um meio propagador de ruído muito presente da sociedade moderna. Como possui uma regulamentação que sai do campo do direito ambiental, não recebe o atendimento correto. além disso, o que observa-se são as leis municipais deixando de regular esse assunto tão importante, que acaba por afetar diretamente a qualidade de vida dos cidadãos. Os planos diretores das cidades regulam o parcelamento e formas de ocupação do solo, porém não dão atenção à necessidade de zonear as áreas de maior impacto por parte de poluição sonora e de fornecer locais aptos a receber certos tipos de atividades típicas e comuns da sociedade moderna, como a poluição sonora de equipamentos de som de veículos automotores, ensejando assim na produção de ruídos por estes equipamentos. Este trabalho discute os problemas atinentes à poluição sonora veicular, partindo do estudo da legislação sobre o assunto, abordando as decisões judiciais através de pesquisa quantitativa e qualitativa de jurisprudências do Tribunal de justiça do Rio Grande do Sul, e o porquê é tão presente na sociedade moderna. Através do método hipotético dedutivo e da pesquisa bibliográfica e documental, será analisado também quais as políticas adotadas no município de Caxias do Sul, algumas políticas adotadas em outros países, mostrando como que a cidade de Lisboa, em Portugal, tratou do assunto de maneira eficiente, e como o direito urbanístico poderia ser uma das formas de contenção deste tipo de poluição sonora que afeta a qualidade de vida da sociedade. / Environmental pollution has been increasingly present in people's lives in many ways, from the most obvious to the most obscure. Rampant production of noise is one of the forms of pollution that seriously affects people's quality of life. Sound pollution is a form of pollution that causes an impact in a way that few realize. Firstly, because its damages are not perceptible, because it is not recognized by the courts as environmental pollution, and because it does not receive the necessary attention from the public bodies that should act in its containment. One of the forms of noise pollution that is most present in people's lives, due to the process of evolution of technology and also because of the hyperconsumismo that is observed today, is the vehicular noise pollution, produced through sound equipment installed in motor vehicles . This form of noise propagation is perceived in an increasingly broader way in the urban environment, if it shows a very present propagating medium of noise of the modern society. Since it has a regulation that leaves the field of environmental law, it does not receive the correct service. in addition, what is observed are the municipal laws leaving to regulate this important subject, that ends directly affect the quality of life of the citizens. The city master plans regulate land subdivision and land use patterns, but they do not address the need to zonate areas of greatest impact from noise pollution and provide sites that are capable of receiving certain types of typical and common activities of modern society , such as the noise pollution of sound equipment of motor vehicles, thus leading to noise production by these equipments. This paper discusses problems related to vehicular noise pollution, starting from the study of legislation on the subject, addressing judicial decisions through quantitative and qualitative research of jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul, and why it is so present in society Modern. Through the hypothetical deductive method and the bibliographical and documentary research, it will be analyzed also the policies adopted in the city of Caxias do Sul, some policies adopted in other countries, showing how the city of Lisbon, in Portugal, dealt with the subject in an efficient way , and how urban law could be one of the forms of containment of this type of noise pollution that affects the quality of life of society.

Magister Legum - LLM

Flooding has become a problem of national proportion and many scholars have started to take note of the human impacts in this area. This study will focus on the social vulnerability framework in tandem with the environmental justice theoretical frameworks being applied to Polk County Iowa so that information can be added to the body of works within a Midwestern U.S. context. This research will contribute to the current geographical knowledge in natural hazards, environmental justice, and vulnerability to flood hazards. Taking into consideration the scarcity of county or sub-county studies in the Midwest U.S. measuring spatial tendencies in hazards vulnerability, this thesis is fitting. This study examines Polk County Iowa for social vulnerability factors present today to the natural disaster of flooding and then looks longitudinally back to 1990 to see if similar individual variables were also prominent historically. This study utilizes block group census level data and creates from it a social vulnerability index (SoVI) following Cutter et al. (2003). The study then used FEMA flood risk level boundaries and the 100-year floodplain to create a comparison of vulnerability of higher flood risk areas and lower risk areas to see if exposure to flood prone areas coincides with an increase or decrease in social vulnerability. Findings of statistical tests and the bivariate choropleth map of the study area suggest that Polk County exhibits a spatial vulnerability paradox, where the persons most socially vulnerable do not necessarily always preside in the source area for flooding. Interestingly enough the study suggests that risk capable and risk resilient populations live in some of the most physically risky places. An examination of specific individual vulnerability factors from the present and historically in 1990 give the same picture of spatial paradoxical vulnerability, leading many variables to be inconclusive. However, four variables (QFAM, QMOBILE, QEXTRACT, and AVGTRVL) did show correlation to prolonged historical disenfranchisement within the flood boundaries. It is crucial to take this information and widen the spatial location of risk from the present immobile boundary set forth and perpetuated by government entities, to a realistic flexible range of spatial locations that consider historical cultural forces and formulate new mitigation policies from these understandings. This thesis further highlights the need to use multiple interdisciplinary methods to understand what is happening within our space, place, and time. This thesis adds to the ever-growing literature in social vulnerability, and environmental justice but in a U.S. Midwestern context instead of a U.S. coastal context to a flood hazard situation.

Diploma thesis "Legislation on chemicals with a special focus on the REACH regulation" is focused on the independent part of the environmental law which is the regulation on chemicals. Regulation of chemicals is analyzed from the point of view of international, EU and Czech law. Special attention is paid to the REACH regulation. Eventually, comparison between the Czech and Finnish legal regulation is provided.

The 24-hour day/night cycle naturally helps to maintain balance and stability within a nocturnal ecosystem. While the rhythms of the natural light-dark cycle of day and night are able maintain a stable balance with ecological and human-made activities in relation to the nature of lighting and darkness, light pollution still significantly reduces average human well-being, impacts on the visibility of faint night sky objects during the night with the naked eye and telescope, and damages the night environment. It can be defined as “every form of artificial light in the wrong place at the wrong time which creates a sky glow, glare, nuisance, and other relevant causes of environmental degradation including some properties of artificial light which emit non-environmentally friendly or inappropriate light.” Light pollution can reduce human health, interfere with the nocturnal and/or dark-sky environment, reduce transportation safety and waste lighting energy consumption. Therefore, hard laws and soft laws from international and national jurisdictions established a duty on local authorities to manage outdoor lights and control all key elements of light pollution so as to ensure that people are not exposed to risks to the night environment. These also include environmental risks arising from a sky glow when measuring the non-environmentally atmospheric smog that hangs over urban areas at night where the level of exterior lighting from outdoor light sources is relatively high. However, English law does not contain stage processes and responsibilities for local authorities to deal with all aspects of outdoor light pollution. It also does not contain powers concerning the use of certain measurable degrees of non-environmentally friendly light metric, together with powers for the Government to approve a single framework for the minimisation of sky glow in public atmospheric areas at night. The main purpose of this study is to use comparative law studies to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of light pollution laws in different jurisdictions where adopted legislation has been designed to limit light pollution from outdoor light fixtures and design, and to improve national or local light pollution regulatory frameworks by providing better outdoor lighting practices through making valuable contributions to a comparison of international, European, national and local light pollution laws and to the improvement of regulatory measures in English legal system. It also proposes to do so by illustrating key differences between England and other jurisdictions and examining a set of necessary or proportional regulatory standards to combat light pollution. This research’s review of the jurisdictions and the legal systems available for both light pollution control and sustainable lighting practices has highlighted the recent evidence of such influence of hard and soft law on legislation in selected countries. When comparative law on different jurisdictions is discussed, the influence of a comparative approach in each national or municipal light pollution law is, at most, one of finding inspiration in the procedure of establishing a number of necessary steps to reforming the English law of light pollution control in favour of a better solution. Taking legal action to reduce the effects of non-environmentally friendly or unnecessary lights at night provides an excellent opportunity to deliver further benefits to both environmental lighting practices and energy efficiency. This research also highlights the key legal aspects concerning light pollution and outlines the ways in which regulators and policy makers can make the most of the interconnections between regulatory measures to address key elements of outdoor light pollution, such as sky glow, glare and intrusive light. It is intended to outline a wider vision for how English law can prevent all key elements of light pollution. This research also comparatively examines why England should be committed to ensuring that the English regulatory measures compare favourably with the global and regional light pollution control standards in the highest performing jurisdictions, and establishes stringent legal requirements for light pollution control which measure up to the highest standards set internationally. In the final Chapter we present useful recommendations which highlight instances in which England should be able to promote the application of necessary principles and stage processes through comparative effectiveness for outdoor lighting practices by applying international, regional and national criteria for different forms of outdoor lighting practices.

The concept of standing in public interest litigation has not received much attention and analysis post South Africa’s Constitutional era. This dissertation begins with a discussion of the jurisprudence of the South African courts in relation to locus standi since the early 1900s up until the year 1993. The purpose of the discussion is to illustrate the profound transformation the concept of standing in public interest litigation has undergone after the promulgation of the Constitution. A comparison is then made with the legal position on this question with the United States of America, a country that has been dubbed as the most democratic and liberal in the world which has a Bill of Rights dating back some 200 years. The case law of the US Supreme Court is dealt with, followed by the most important trends of academic criticism of this case law. This forms the basis of an informed comparison in relation to the question of locus standi between the two jurisdictions. It is argued towards the end that the locus standi dispensation in public interest litigation that has emerged in South Africa is the better of the two. Copyright / Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Public Law / unrestricted

M.Sc. / South Africa is a country with huge developmental challenges. In Africa, it is one of the few countries that have really incorporated the concepts of the information society into the fundamental reconstruction and development process. Appropriate political commitment, policy frameworks and legislation have largely been established to provide the environment in which effective information management can develop and information can be made widely available for democratic management of the country (MacDevette, 1998). It is within this framework that the development of Environmental Information Systems (EISs) for industry is taking place. The mining industry is no exception. As one of South Africa’s largest employers and natural resources users, the mining industry through its activities creates numerous environmental impacts. These environmental impacts, together with relevant legislation, sustainability reporting and international environmental standards, require mining management to capture and analyse large quantities of environmental data. The management and analysis of such data and its transformation into information requires an active environmental management strategy. It is the aim of this thesis to determine how and possibly why an Environmental Information System (EIS) can influence environmental strategy in the mining industry. Furthermore, to ascertain if mine size played a role in determining environmental strategy through the implementation and use of an EIS. In order to answer this question an electronic survey was emailed to the environmental managers at all of the mines within South Africa’s geographical boundaries. The results of the survey indicated that larger mines place more emphasis on ensuring that EISs can meet corporate environmental requirements, by ensuring that the required environmental parameters of an effective EIS are in place. It was concluded that implementation and use of an effective environmental information system would help meet the challenge of corporate environmental strategy within the South African mining industry.

Magister Legum - LLM / In this thesis I analysed the suitability and effectiveness of the criminal sanction with regards to compliance and enforcement in South African environmental law. My central argument is that the criminal sanction is not the perfect mechanism to address compliance and enforcement in South African environmental law sufficiently. Compliance and enforcement of South African environmental law has been a stumbling block for years since the implementation of the first piece of environmental legislation. Thus I explored compliance and enforcement in South Africa and identified the various issues that might be the reasons why compliance and enforcement in South African environmental law is not up to standard. I also analysed criminal environmental enforcement and came to the conclusion that criminal law is not suitable for the exclusive enforcement of environmental law. The conclusion was drawn by also analysing the criminal environmental enforcement statistics and the administrative compliance and civil action statistics of 2014-2019 in South Africa. Criminal law possesses too many inherent weaknesses and with our overcrowded criminal justice system there is no capacity for presiding officers to properly apply their mind when adjudicating environmental offences Thus I explored the alternatives to the criminal sanction and discussed and evaluated the different compliance and enforcement mechanisms in our legislative framework. I came to the conclusion that our legislative framework is sufficient to deal with environmental offences and that no new pieces of legislation need to be passed. There are various other compliance and enforcement mechanisms within our legislative framework that are better suited to deal with environmental offences.I came to the conclusion that the reasons for South Africa’s failure in compliance and enforcement in environmental law is due to those responsible for compliance and enforcement lacking the necessary capacity, skill and resources to firstly ensure that the laws are complied with and enforce it when it is not complied with. I also argue for the resurrection of environmental courts in South Africa in light of the successes in foreign jurisdictions. My concluding argument is that the criminal sanction still has a role to play in environmental compliance and enforcement in South Africa, however not as a primary mechanism.

Includes bibliographical references / This thesis explores the tensions between biodiversity conservation and agricultural development in a legal context in Rwanda, a small and poor African developing country. It does so against the backdrop of relevant international conventions, the relatively recent constitutional dispensation in the country as well as the land reform process which has been underway in the country over the last few decades. Partly based on the findings of an empirical study, the core of the work outlines, examines and critically assesses relevant domestic Rwandan policies, laws and institutions focusing on areas of particular concern namely the laws applicable to the conservation of soil, water and genetic resources in agriculture, including conservation of crop and livestock diversity. The conclusions and recommendations are embedded in the need for policies, laws and institutions to accommodate the increase in agricultural production to eradicate hunger, alleviate poverty as well as recognition of the interlinkages between agricultural development and biodiversity conservation. The study concludes that Rwandan laws are inadequate in that they have been disparately and inefficiently developed, that agricultural development and biodiversity policies be revised to aim at sustainable agricultural development and that a coordinated institutional framework with full involvement of all concerned stakeholders and appreciation of local knowledge and sustainable agricultural practices is required. Specific legal, policy and institutional shortfalls are highlighted including lack of implementing regulations; omission of necessary legislative provisions on key areas in the biodiversity and agricultural sectors and others. The work concludes by making specific recommendations and proposals to reconcile the need to promote agricultural development while facilitating biodiversity conservation and ultimately sustainable development.

People are afraid of contagious diseases. The thought that disease can spread throughout an entire population tends to make people wary of their interactions with their surrounding environment. Hearing about, or even seeing pictures of mosquitoes can make people squeamish or even stimulate an itch. Throughout the ages, the reaction to contagious diseases has been to quarantine and isolate. From the bubonic plague to the 1918 “Spanish” flu, the protocol was to quarantine those infected and isolate the rest. It may be this practice that inspired such precautions be taken by the public. Often these precautions are not warrantless and come to be second nature: Don’t get too close to sick people who appear to sneeze or cough often; cover your mouth when sneezing or coughing; wash your hands frequently. In recent years, the world has encountered new outbreaks from not so new diseases: 2002 SARS. 2009 “Swine” Flu. 2014 both Measles and Ebola. 2016 Zika. To the public, it seems that the next disease may strike at any moment. It is often the government’s duty to intervene and alleviate the damages. This thesis examines the legal aspects of the Zika virus and how past regulations have affected the spread of contagious diseases. In addition, it will examine past outbreaks of different diseases: how the country reacted, what policies were enacted, and how they relate to the current case of the Zika Virus.