In the empirical study in question, the current situation concerning the public water supply, waste water disposal, and water pollution prevention in Saxony with regard to the decision makers' knowledge of and approach towards "sustainable development" and its implementation is dealt with. Important results of the study are: · A comprehensive and uniform familiarity with the term and the contents of "sustainable development" is not present on all relevant decision-making levels. · The main area of activity of an institution influences its familiarity with the term "sustainable development." If the main area of activity of an institution lies in the field of water supply or water pollution prevention, familiarity with the term is greater. · Familiarity with the term "sustainable development" depends on the size of the respective institution with regard to the number of residents that it is responsible for supplying and the number of employees working for it. In larger institutions, familiarity with the term is more widespread. · The fact that many institutions are more committed ecologically and socially shows the fundamental possibility of incorporating these goals. Nevertheless, economic goals are given the highest practical importance, because of their limiting effects with regard to implementation of goals and decisions. · The significance of economic goals depends on the type of institution. In private-sector and public businesses they tend to have the greatest significance. For ecological and social goals, such dependence cannot be proved. · The greatest problems perceived in making "sustainable development" materialize depend on the type of institution. Whereas communities see such problems equally for all goals, economic and social goals are what cause problems for special purpose associations. In all other types of institutions such problems exist primarily for economic goals. · The organizational form influences the effects with regard to sustainable development. Possible privatization in various forms therefore should always be judged by the resulting effects on "sustainable development."

M. Tech. Mechanical engineering. / Acid deposition is caused by the emission of acidic gases, for example, nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide. Nitrogen oxide emissions can be controlled by the proper selection of equipment and operating conditions. Sulfur dioxide on the other hand, can be cleaned by means of procombustion, combustion or post-combustion techniques; the latter being the most effective. The objective of this study is to find suitable additives which will augment the reactivity of lime towards FGD (flue gas desulfurization), while at the same time being easily available at a low price. Zeolite based sorbents yielded the highest reactivity, and all additives, except iron waste, had pozzolanic materials as their main reactive compounds.

The environmental governance sphere in South Africa is fragmented. This fragmentation is exacerbated in the provinces. Fragmentation manifests in various ways, including, inter alia, structural fragmentation between the various spheres and line functions of government, fragmented environmental legislation which is silo-based and issue-specific, jurisdictional overlaps, and duplication of procedures and processes. Fragmentation poses several disadvantages and may ultimately hamper effective and sustainable service-delivery by government. The problem of fragmentation forms the crux of this study. The principal objective of this thesis is accordingly to investigate possible solutions to address fragmentation and to propose a more sustainable strategy to achieve integration of currently fragmented environmental governance efforts in South Africa and the North-West Province (NWP). The NWP has specifically been chosen as a case study in this regard since problems of fragmentation are exacerbated in the provinces. The first step in this thesis is to analyse the theoretical concept of sustainability in order to establish the eventual objective of what integrated environmental governance efforts should achieve. The concept of fragmented governance and possible generic reasons for fragmentation, including unco-operative and unsustainable organisational behaviour, are also investigated to highlight the nature and disadvantages of fragmentation and other factors that may contribute to it. A further component of the theoretical analysis includes an investigation of the concepts of integrated, or holistic governance, and an investigation of the concepts integrated environmental management (IEM), co-operative environmental governance (CEG), and integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC). These concepts are investigated in order to ascertain the possible solutions for integration that they may pose. Secondly, this thesis investigates the current state of the fragmented environmental governance regime in South Africa and the NWP. The extent and reasons for fragmentation are discussed; and unco-operative organisational behaviour patterns in the national, provincial and local spheres of government are investigated. The concepts of IEM, CEG and IPPC, as they are established in South African law, are also discussed. Thirdly, this study investigates integrated approaches to environmental governance in the international sphere by way of a comparative study. For this purpose, the relevant provisions of the European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, 1996 are discussed. The comparative study is concluded with an investigation of the provisions of the Directive as they are applied in national legal frameworks in the EU, with specific reference to Finland and the Netherlands. The main objective of this part of the study is to ascertain whether established solutions for integration of governance efforts are available in practice, and if so, to what extent they are employed to address fragmentation. This study concludes with recommendations on how the fragmented environmental governance sphere in South Africa may be integrated. These include short-, medium-and long-term scenarios, namely: a less radical strategy which must aim to optimise the current environmental governance regime by employing established concepts such as IEM, CEG and IPPC; a more radical strategy, which aims to establish a single act to regulate all procedural aspects relating to environmental governance and authorisations, and a single authority that is responsible for all procedural aspects in terms of the act; and an extremely radical strategy, which aims to establish a one-stop environmental governance shop, with a single act regulating all procedural and substantive aspects, and a single lead agent responsible for regulation in terms of this act. / Thesis (LL.D. (Estate Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

One-third of American children under the age of 18 years and one in ten Canadian children aged 0-11 years are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) predisposing them to multiple health problems. Although several intervention strategies to reduce ETS exposure among children have been tested, to date there is not enough evidence to recommend one strategy over another. The objectives of this study were: (a) to test if parents' participation in an intervention based on an empowerment ideology and participatory experiences decreases the number of cigarettes smoked in homes; and (b) to identify barriers to making homes and vehicles smoke-free, as well as facilitators used by parents to manage these barriers. To enable informed decision-making on how to measure empowerment, a systematic review was conducted to identify questionnaires that best measure health-related empowerment among adults and in families. / In a randomized controlled trial, 36 families were allocated to the intervention (n=17) or control group (n=19). The six week intervention included three, two hour group sessions, followed by three follow-up telephone calls, all at weekly intervals. Data were collected in interviewer-administered questionnaires at baseline and at six months follow-up. / No significant difference was detected between the intervention and control groups in the number of cigarettes smoked in the home daily at six months follow-up. However empowerment increased and the number of cigarettes smoked in the home decreased in both the intervention and control groups from baseline (median=17) to six-month follow-up (median=5). / Parents identified multiple barriers to smoke-free homes and vehicles including personal factors, factors involving others, and factors related to the physical environment. The most commonly identified barriers to smoke-free homes were personal factors, with tobacco addiction cited most often. In describing how to overcome barriers, parents identified facilitators involving other people as most effective, yet they most often relied on themselves. None ofthe parents identified a health provider as a facilitator. The multiple and complex barriers identified in this study suggest that interventions and practice guidelines should incorporate multiple strategies and individualized approaches to assist parents to make their homes and vehicles smoke-free.

Viena aktualiausių jūros aplinkos apsaugos problemų - tyčiniai neteisėti teršalų išmetimai iš laivų, pažeidžiant tarptautinius aplinkosauginius reikalavimus. Nors pavieniai neteisėti naftuotų vandenų išmetimai iš laivų dažniausiai nėra dideli, tačiau bendras visų neteisėtų išmetimų kiekis yra didžiulis. Tarptautinė jūrų organizacija, supratusi problemos svarbą, patvirtino 1973 metais tarptautinę konvenciją dėl taršos iš laivų prevencijos, kuri vėliau virto MARPOL 73/78. Tačiau nepaisant to, kad šiuo metu MARPOL 73/78 taikoma 99 % pasaulinio laivyno, pavyzdžiui Baltijos jūroje kasmet apžvalgos skrydžių metu užfiksuojama apie 400 neteisėtų išmetimų iš laivų, tačiau jų būna gerokai daugiau. Tokiais atvejais teršėjai paprastai nėra nustatomi, nežinoma, kiek ir kokių teršalų pateko į jūrą. Tyčiniai neteisėti naftuotų vandenų išmetimai iš laivų tai dėl ekonominių, finansinių paskatų atliekamas pažeidimas. Pažeidėjas gali turėti gan reikšmingos finansinės naudos nepriduodamas laive susidarančių atliekų (naftuotų vandenų) ar krovinio likučių į uosto atliekų priėmimo įrenginius, tiesiog juos išmesdamas į jūrą. Be to, pažeidėjai turi ekonominį pranašumą prieš tuos laivų savininkus ar įmones, kurios išleidžia nemažai lėšų investuodami į aplinkosaugines technologijas, kad tinkamai vykdytų taršos iš laivų reikalavimus. Lietuvoje nuo 1997 m. nebuvo nustatyta nei vieno neteisėto tyčinio naftuotų vandenų išmetimo iš laivų. Siekiant įgyvendinti tarptautinius ir ES reikalavimus taršos iš... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Intentional illegal discharges from ships – one of the most significant environmental problems. While the individual discharges are not always large, the accumulative effect is significant. The importance of the problem was recognised by International Maritime Organization. International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 and Protocol of the 1978 relating to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships 1973 (MARPOL 73/78) was adopted. Today MARPOL 73/78 is applicable for 99 % World shipping tonnage. About 400 illegal oil discharges are observed during areal surveillance flights every year in the Baltic Sea, but obviously there are more of them. Usually in such cases polluter is unknown and there is no information what kind of oil is spilled and how much. Illegal discharges from ships are an economically motivated violation, that can involve significant gain for those violating the law. The offender can have significant financial benefit not discharging ship generated waste to port reception facilities, but discharging them into the sea. In addition, those violating the law have an unfair economic advantages over companies spending the necessary money to comply with the law. There were no illegal discharges detected in Lithuania since 1997. In order to implement international and EU requirements in the field of prevention pollution from ships, the amendments of the Low on Marine Environment Protection and the Law on State... [to full text]

The U.S. government implemented many incentive programs in the 1980s to encourage farmers to reduce agricultural runoff and erosion through the use of best management practices (BMPs). Remote sensing, GIS, and modeling, have been used to determine the effectiveness of BMPs through comparisons of before and after BMP implementation. The Salamonie watershed in Northeastern Indiana was studied for BMP effectiveness. The study addresses how agricultural practices have changed over a twenty nine year period (1975-2003), and how the implementation of BMPs will decrease the amount of sediment and nutrient load to surface waters. Methods reported on include the use of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) watershed model and how different weather data (precipitation and temperature) greatly affects streamflow predictions, as well as the effects of BMP implementation on sediment loads to surface water. The outcomes of this study provide a viable argument of how BMPs implementation positively affects water quality in the watershed region by effectively reducing sediment loads. / Department of Geography

The environmental governance sphere in South Africa is fragmented. This fragmentation is exacerbated in the provinces. Fragmentation manifests in various ways, including, inter alia, structural fragmentation between the various spheres and line functions of government, fragmented environmental legislation which is silo-based and issue-specific, jurisdictional overlaps, and duplication of procedures and processes. Fragmentation poses several disadvantages and may ultimately hamper effective and sustainable service-delivery by government. The problem of fragmentation forms the crux of this study. The principal objective of this thesis is accordingly to investigate possible solutions to address fragmentation and to propose a more sustainable strategy to achieve integration of currently fragmented environmental governance efforts in South Africa and the North-West Province (NWP). The NWP has specifically been chosen as a case study in this regard since problems of fragmentation are exacerbated in the provinces. The first step in this thesis is to analyse the theoretical concept of sustainability in order to establish the eventual objective of what integrated environmental governance efforts should achieve. The concept of fragmented governance and possible generic reasons for fragmentation, including unco-operative and unsustainable organisational behaviour, are also investigated to highlight the nature and disadvantages of fragmentation and other factors that may contribute to it. A further component of the theoretical analysis includes an investigation of the concepts of integrated, or holistic governance, and an investigation of the concepts integrated environmental management (IEM), co-operative environmental governance (CEG), and integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC). These concepts are investigated in order to ascertain the possible solutions for integration that they may pose. Secondly, this thesis investigates the current state of the fragmented environmental governance regime in South Africa and the NWP. The extent and reasons for fragmentation are discussed; and unco-operative organisational behaviour patterns in the national, provincial and local spheres of government are investigated. The concepts of IEM, CEG and IPPC, as they are established in South African law, are also discussed. Thirdly, this study investigates integrated approaches to environmental governance in the international sphere by way of a comparative study. For this purpose, the relevant provisions of the European Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Directive, 1996 are discussed. The comparative study is concluded with an investigation of the provisions of the Directive as they are applied in national legal frameworks in the EU, with specific reference to Finland and the Netherlands. The main objective of this part of the study is to ascertain whether established solutions for integration of governance efforts are available in practice, and if so, to what extent they are employed to address fragmentation. This study concludes with recommendations on how the fragmented environmental governance sphere in South Africa may be integrated. These include short-, medium-and long-term scenarios, namely: a less radical strategy which must aim to optimise the current environmental governance regime by employing established concepts such as IEM, CEG and IPPC; a more radical strategy, which aims to establish a single act to regulate all procedural aspects relating to environmental governance and authorisations, and a single authority that is responsible for all procedural aspects in terms of the act; and an extremely radical strategy, which aims to establish a one-stop environmental governance shop, with a single act regulating all procedural and substantive aspects, and a single lead agent responsible for regulation in terms of this act. / Thesis (LL.D. (Estate Law))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2006.

環保投資往往造成廠商成本負擔之增加，若缺乏政府管制或經濟誘因，廠商極有可能降低環保方面的投資，導致自然環境的污染及社會外部成本之發生，故透過公共環保政策之適度介入，似乎是不得不存在之必要手段。而本文所欲探討的環保補貼政策，即是存有多元見解及爭議之一種經濟誘因工具。 本文先介紹環保補貼之範圍、定義與各國適用之情形，並採用文獻回顧之方式，整理各學者對政府獎勵企業污染防治措施之爭議，以瞭解環保補貼對環境保護或全球整體經濟的影響。 肯定環保補貼對經濟發展及環境保護有正面的效果之後，接著討論環保補貼與SCM協定中「禁止性補貼」、「可控訴補貼」及「不可控訴補貼」類型間之關係，並探討當「不可控訴補貼」類型所依據之SCM協定相關規定停止適用後目前之定位，同時提出環保補貼於SCM協定下合法規避他國控訴之方式。 本文最後檢驗與分析我國之環保補貼於SCM協定下之適法性，並對我國環保補貼政策未來之發展與方向提出建議。 / The use of subsidies as environmental policy instruments has increased in recent years since firms usually aren’t willing to pay for the expense of pollution prevention and control. Environmental subsidies involving financial support by the government, as an economical incentive approach, are deemed to be important and effective by many researchers. However, it still remains controversial because some researchers argue that government intervention would always result in resources distortion and economic inefficiency. Therefore, this thesis focuses on subsidies with a positive impact on the environment and aims to discuss their utility and compatibility with relevant WTO covered agreements, especially the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measure (the SCM Agreement). The thesis first introduces the definition, scope and practice of environmental subsidies, and, by using literature review, presents several studies on the environmental and economic impact of environmental subsidies. The thesis then discusses the relevant regulations under the SCM Agreement framework and finds that environmental subsidies may be categorized as more than one type, ie non-actionable subsidy, of subsidies under the SCM Agreement. Furthermore, the thesis also analyzes how environmental subsidies can be designed in a way that complies with the SCM Agreement, thus avoiding the risk of being challenged under the WTO by other WTO Members. Finally, the thesis examines various types of environmental subsidies provided by Taiwanese government to understand whether they are consistent with the regulations of the SCM Agreement. Suggestions based on this research are put forward at the end of the thesis.

A novel combustor design, referred to as the Stagnation Point Reverse-Flow (SPRF) combustor, was recently developed that is able to operate stably at very lean fuel-air mixtures and with low NOx emissions even when the fuel and air are not premixed before entering the combustor. The primary objective of this work is to elucidate the underlying physics behind the excellent stability and emissions performance of the SPRF combustor. The approach is to experimentally characterize velocities, species mixing, heat release and flame structure in an atmospheric pressure SPRF combustor with the help of various optical diagnostic techniques: OH PLIF, chemiluminescence imaging, PIV and Spontaneous Raman Scattering. Results indicate that the combustor is primarily stabilized in a region downstream of the injector that is characterized by low average velocities and high turbulence levels; this is also the region where most of the heat release occurs. High turbulence levels in the shear layer lead to increased product entrainment levels, elevating the reaction rates and thereby enhancing the combustor stability. The effect of product entrainment on chemical timescales and the flame structure is illustrated with simple reactor models. Although reactants are found to burn in a highly preheated (1300 K) and turbulent environment due to mixing with hot product gases, the residence times are sufficiently long compared to the ignition timescales such that the reactants do not autoignite. Turbulent flame structure analysis indicates that the flame is primarily in the thin reaction zones regime throughout the combustor, and it tends to become more flamelet like with increasing distance from the injector. Fuel-air mixing measurements in case of non-premixed operation indicate that the fuel is shielded from hot products until it is fully mixed with air, providing nearly premixed performance without the safety issues associated with premixing. The reduction in NOx emissions in the SPRF combustor are primarily due to its ability to stably operate under ultra lean (and nearly premixed) condition within the combustor. Further, to extend the usefulness of this combustor configuration to various applications, combustor geometry scaling rules were developed with the help of simplified coaxial and opposed jet models.

Office of Chemical Emergency Preparedness and Prevention, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, through a cooperative agreement