Impacts of motor vehicle operation on water quality in the US – Cleanup costs and policies

This paper investigates the costs of controlling some of the environmental impacts of motor vehicle transportation on groundwater and on surface waters. We estimate that annualized costs of cleaning-up leaking underground storage tanks range from $0.8 billion to $2.1 billion per year over 10 years. Annualized costs of controlling highway runoff from principal arterials in the US are much larger: they range from $2.9 billion to $15.6 billion per year over 20 years (1.6–8.3% of annualized highway transportation expenditures). Some causes of non-point source pollution were unintentionally created by regulations or could be addressed by simple design changes of motor vehicles. A review of applicable measures suggests that effective policies should combine economic incentives, information campaigns, and enforcement, coupled with preventive environmental measures. In general, preventing water pollution from motor vehicles would be much cheaper than cleaning it up.     

The dredging dilemma: Economic development and environmental protection in Oakland Harbor

Abstract

Seaport expansion often generates tensions between the national interest in efficient transport and local interests in water quality and habitat preservation. The governing American permitting system, however, establishes an extraordinarily cumbersome, legalistic, and costly method for balancing environmental and economic considerations. A case study of the Port of Oakland illustrates the tendency. For four years, plans to find an environmentally acceptable site for dredged material have been stymied by a sequence of inconclusive regulatory and judicial proceedings. Meanwhile, large container ships can enter and leave Oakland harbor only at high tide, and not fully loaded. Despite the absence of any authoritative determination concerning environmental risks, the port was compelled to accede to progressively more expensive disposal methods. Such “adversarial legalism”; is not unique to the Oakland harbor case, but recurs in other policy spheres. It stems from a governmental structure that fragments decision‐making power among many agencies, that constrains regulatory discretion with legal demands for scientific certainty, and that by allowing agency decisions to be challenged readily in court, encourages legalistic defensiveness and extortion rather than compromise. The article concludes with a discussion of the conditions under which regional planning bodies might overcome these centrifugal tendencies.     

船舶压载水污染的控制和管理

压载水对现代船舶的安全航行是绝对必要的，但它对生态、经济和人类健康构成了严重威胁，排放船舶压载水被全球环境基金组织确认为危害海洋的四大威胁之一.为防止压载水带来的生物污染，除了在深海更换压载水外，IMO还提出了将来可能采用的一些方法，分析不同处理方法的经济性。     

地铁环控方案的综合评价

采用模糊数学的方法构造模型,以南方某地铁为例,对开式、闭式及屏蔽门式等3种地铁环控方案,从社会、经济、技术、环境等几个方面进行综合评价。最终确定:在非炎热地区,可不设空调时,采用开式环空方案为最优;在其它一定要设空调的地区,采用屏蔽门方案为最优。     

城市自行车交通的现状及未来发展研究

该文针对我国城市交通系统中的自行车交通现状,分析了城市交通发展趋势,论证了自行车交通的地位和作用,并倡导居民出行选择自行车作为交通工具,以及对未来自行车交通的发展提出合理化建议,可供相关专业人员参考。     

甘肃省发展生态交通的实践与思考

针对甘肃省的地理特征和交通发展现状,提出了实施东部保护、中部恢复、西部治理的生态交通工程战略.以雅永公路的具体实践为例,阐述了直线穿越沙漠、修建宽阔平整带、铺设平铺式粘土(砂砾)沙障、铺筑渣油沥青光滑路面和营造防沙林带或插设直立式沙障等公路交通工程防沙治沙的具体措施.根据甘肃西部的地域特点,提出了率先在甘肃西部实施生态交通工程项目试点的三点建议:组织开展生态交通工程项目理论研究和技术攻关;着手编制甘肃省生态交通工程项目规划;选择试点项目实施近中远期生态交通工程项目规划.     

废蓄电池对环境的污染与回收利用

论述了废蓄电池对环境所造成的严重污染,介绍了废蓄电池综合利用与再生铅的提取方法,并就废蓄电池管理与回收的现状,提出了理顺废蓄电池的回收渠道、规范收购行为的合理化建议,指出在我国当前工业化的进程中要解决好节约资源、保护环境两大课题的重要性。     

城市交通发展过程中的环境问题及对策研究

交通污染已经成为我国城市空气和噪声的主要污染源,严重影响了城市的经济发展和居民的生活质量。用牺牲环境及资源来解决交通问题是城市交通发展的一大误区。该文在分析城市交通污染现状的基础上,从可持续发展的角度,按照以人为本的理念,提出了治理交通污染的宏观政策与具体对策。     

公路规划环评中公众参与框架的设计与实施评价

论文分析了环境影响评价中公众参与的现状和国内外发展的状况以及目前存在的问题,对公众参与在环境影响评价中应用的意义和作用进行了探讨,根据公路规划的特点和环境影响提出了提高公众参与有效性的原则和实施框架,建立了对公众参与过程进行评价的模糊综合评价方法和变权评价方法。研究结果对规范公路规划环评中的公众参与以及保证公众参与的有效实施具有现实意义。     

贯彻安全、环保、舒适、和谐新理念的广梧高速公路勘察设计

广梧高速公路双凤至平台段是粤西一条典型的山区高速公路,2004年初被确定为交通部和广东省联合公路勘察设计典型示范工程。项目设计组在广泛调查研究的基础上,提升安全至上的理念,注重环境保护和矿产资源保护,节约耕地,应用全寿命周期成本的理念进行方案比较分析,追求自然和谐的公路景观。