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Purpose The purpose of this case study is to explore whether Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) complies with the Global Reporting Initiative Standards in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure practices for the period 2014–2019. Design/methodology/approach By analysing both annual and sustainability reports of the bank using content analysis for each Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) category, 100 universal standards, 200 economic standards, 300 environmental standards, 400 social standards. The authors then compute and discuss the degree of compliance of ADIB disclosures by using annual charts and graphs. Findings Results show that, although ADIB issues sustainability reports, numerous GRI standards do not appear in the bank’s reports such as general disclosures GRI 102, economic disclosures items such as anti-competitive behaviour GRI 206 and environmental disclosures such as gas emissions GRI 305 due to the nature of bank’s activities. However, the bank focuses mainly on social standards GRI 400 including community services, training and development. Hence, ADIB partially complies with the GRI standards (2016) especially social disclosures. Research limitations/implications The study encompasses some limitations: first, due to the discretionary nature of CSR reporting, many items were ignored or missed for the full period. Second, the disclosure of a sustainability report by the company was only available for the year 2017, which, in turn, makes it difficult for comparison. Practical implications The findings of this study have important implications for academics and researchers, and practitioners as they pave the way for further investigation regarding CSR compliance of Islamic financial institutions. The results also have important implications for Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions in developing a CSR reporting standard if Islamic banks are to enhance their image globally and to maintain competitive advantages. Originality/value This paper contributes to the growing debate on CSR disclosures in the Islamic banking industry by comparing ADIB practices with regard to the GRI standards.

Complex agroforestry systems (AFS) based on the diversity of natural ecosystems have been strategic for the restoration of the degraded areas allying biodiversity conservation with food production that allows minimizing restoration costs. We supposed that AFS may provide diversification of production and earnings for farmers over time depending on the system design, species utilized, and management. The financial analysis conducted in a biodiverse, multistratified, and successional AFS, with 20 species mostly from the Rainforest, associated with annual species pointed out that the restoration costs were minimized. The financial analysis was based on technical and economic coefficients obtained for two years and simulated for 20 years. The established AFS (EAFS), however, demonstrated low financial performance in the first 10 years of the project with IRR of -3.9% and 5.6% and B/C ratio of 0.8 and 1.1 for 10 and 20 years, respectively, with payback in 14 years. Based on the results obtained, simulation of a system (SAFS) was carried out from changes in the arrangement, species selection, and management. The SAFS presented IRR of 20.7% e 13.5%, B/C ratio of 1.6 and 1.8 for 10 and 20 years, respectively, with payback in 2 years. It has been shown that financial analysis might help to promote agroforestry restoration and the environmental compliance of rural properties through the financial prognosis of the system that allows the generation of products with a positive financial balance over the time required for the ecological restoration process.

This study aimed to assess the environmental information disclosure of listed manufacturing firms on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. Furthermore, this study used the content analysis procedure of the firm’s annual reports and sustainability reporting. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standard was adopted as the guidelines for assessing environmental disclosure. Meanwhile, the evaluated topics are material, energy, water, biodiversity, emissions, effluents and waste, environmental compliance, and supplier environmental assessment. The results showed that manufacturing firms had disclosed environmental information at a moderate level, and the average performance level was relatively low. Furthermore, by topic, the environmental performance levels showed that disclosure related to effluents and waste was the highest, followed by energy, materials, emissions, water, biodiversity, and compliance, respectively. The results indicated that the Indonesian government needs to improve environmental law enforcement for industrial practice. Furthermore, Indonesia’s capital market authority is expected to introduce a sustainability index as part of a business organisation’s concern for environmental protection. The Institute of Indonesia Chartered Accountant (IAI) also needs to consider developing a standard for environmental reporting as an integral part of corporate financial reporting. Keywords: Annual report, environmental disclosure, environmental compliance, stock exchange, sustainability reporting

This paper assesses the level of corporate sustainability disclosures in an environmentally-sensitive industry in Nigeria - the oil and gas industry. The paper aims to evaluate the extent of sustainability disclosure in the annual report’s oil and gas industries. The study retrieves secondary data on sustainability disclosure for 10 years (2010 - 2019) from eight oil and gas industries listed in the Nigerian stock exchange through a desktop approach and content analysis methodology. Content analysis of the sustainability disclosure is to identify items of sustainability disclosed in the annual reports. The paper assesses the extent of disclosure by adopting the global reporting initiative’s scoring index. Findings from the analysis indicate a very low-level climate change and environmental pollution disclosure. Only 13.8% of the companies disclosed their impact on climate change and environmental pollution. On the contrary, all the companies revealed their community investment, which this paper regards as legitimizing smokescreen ecological pollution. The paper contributes to the literature by connecting the legitimacy theory to the decoying sustainability disclosure of oil and gas companies in Nigeria. In conclusion, the study recommends more stringent sustainability disclosure policies for the oil and gas to provide more information for environmental and climate change advocates and investors in censuring the companies, which might instill improved environmental compliance.Keywords: Climate Change, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Governance Indicators, Oil and Gas, Renewable Materials, Social Indicators, Sustainability DisclosuresJEL Classifications: M4, M14, M140, Q53, Q54, Q56, Q57DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.11095

The research aims to set a system for evaluating the environmental commitment for investment projects through the process of bank financing of these projects and highlighting the direct and indirect environmental impacts resulting from them. Consequently, a proposed framework for limiting the pollution resulting from these projects, avoiding the loss or closure of these projects, reducing the percentage of financing risks to banks, and preparing an appropriate scenario through which it is possible to rationalize the financing of these projects and reduce the risk ratio. The research was based on the (descriptive analytical) approach, in describing environmental risks and environmental compliance policies and in determining the mutual impact between investment projects and environmental pollution resulting from these projects, and then developing solutions and mechanisms to overcome obstacles and reduce the percentage of financing risks to banks by applying environmental compliance requirements and environmental standards. This study also focuses on the (descriptive, meta-descriptive) approach, to infer the resulting application of commercial banks and their role in financing environmentally friendly investment projects, and the consequent protection of the environment from pollution, the preservation of natural resources and the right of future generations in a clean environment, and through research tools: surveying the collection of information and data from commercial banks and some environmental investment projects and analyzing these data and information obtained using statistical measures and statistical analysis program SPSS; The most important explanation for the use of the "extrapolation" in this study is the work of the proposed framework, which outlines the way to apply the environmental commitment assessment. The study reached several conclusions: the applied study proved the lack of clarity of the concept of environmental responsibility in banks, and the lack of environmental awareness among the majority of managers and officials of banks and their belief that the responsibility to address most of the environmental problems facing investment projects lies solely with the government. The study recommends that the government should adopt, in cooperation with the Central Bank of Egypt CBE, a national campaign aimed at changing concepts and enhancing the principles of environmental economic culture. And in order to set a clear and specific strategy for the development process with specific sources of funding and distribution of roles and to determine the powers and levels necessary for implementation. This is what Egypt has already begun to implement with the development of the Egyptian Vision 2030.

The article is addressed to the groups of regime rules of the Russian Federation (RF) seaports that are of the highest relevance and have undergone significant changes in legal regulation in 2020. The impact of new challenges and threats, destructive for the port industry and the country as a whole, was relieved thanks to timely and effective measures. Updating the organizational and legal mechanism of sanitary control and quarantine formalities in seaports was considered against the COVID-19 pandemic. Their effectiveness and correspondence with world practices are noted. Analysis of the legal regulation of transport security and ensuring the protection of seaports showed the directions for further rulemaking works and the construction of an integrated safety and security system for a seaport by eliminating the duplication of security systems’ functions. The necessity for a reasonable allocation of funds for ports security is noted, taking into account the analysis of performance functions and based on a risk management system. The ecology element of the regime of the Russian Federation’s seaports is considered taking into account the recent organizational measures to reduce dust and petroleum pollution. The importance of maintaining a balance between verification measures and levels of environmental hazards are indicated.

Companies are expected to comply with environmental laws and regulations. They also face increasing stakeholder interest in information about environmental compliance management efforts. Corporate websites serve today’s enterprises as an important medium for voluntary environmental disclosure. However, relatively little research has addressed the topic of environmental compliance management. This empirical study explores current practices of website disclosure of environmental compliance management. Data were collected through a randomly selected sample of 154 European production companies in two groups of medium-sized and very large companies. Environmental management issues concerning the functionalities and disclosure subjects observed on the company websites were recorded. The analyses revealed that in general, corporate websites contain little information about environmental management and environmental compliance management, and large companies disclose more than small companies. The results also indicate that the disclosure practices of some countries deviate remarkably from those of other countries in the sample.

The objective of this work was to propose a pedagogical unit in an area of environmental protection (APA) on the Ilha do Combu based on results from thermal and hydrological analyses associated with verticalization and the loss of green areas in Belem. Fieldwork was done including analysis of evaoptranspiration rates, monitoring of species used in landscaping projects, and tests using computational tools to evaluate the thermal load and degree of insolation, as well as to elaborate an architecture project for the area. Data were collected material available in the area that could aid in mitigation of the “garbage footprint” and in the destination of illegal wood apprehended by environmental compliance agencies that could be used in a construction project immersed in an insular landscape design. The use of sustainable strategies such as green roofs and surfaces enables a reduction of the thermal load during the hours with the highest incidence of solar radiation in low-latitude regions, suc as the APA on the Ilha do Combu. The proposed pedagogical unit is integrated into the environment, allowing for permanent cross-ventilation, as well as forced ventilation during the most critical periods of the day and year, beside protection of building fronts by solar-powered devices and shade. The preoccupation with environmental comfort and reutilization of materials in this proposal makes it ideal for bioclimatic construction in the Brazilian Amazon.

In recent years advances in Earth Observation (EO) have increased our ability to inventory, monitor, and understand Earth’s natural and artificial ecosystems. In particular, recent technological developments in the instrument characteristics of the remote sensing systems enabled large-scale usage of EO in environmental governance and protection. Remote sensing can be a potent tool employed in the field of environmental compliance. However, to extract and distribute relevant information to potential stakeholders, simple, yet efficient and robust approaches are needed. The focus of our research is the development of EO algorithms and the corresponding EO processing chains that could be used operationally for providing cost-efficient information to end-users to address environmental compliance and tackle environmental violations over specific thematic domains using freely available Copernicus data. The EO algorithms and the relevant EO processing chains have been developed as part of the EU-H2020 funded project: “EnviroLENS-Copernicus for environmental law enforcement support” where the demonstration area of our approach is in the Montenegro – Albania border. The case considers several sites along the border to Albania, from the coastal area of Velika Plaža to the North Lake Skadar National Park. All sites have been designated in the past as protected areas, due to their rich biodiversity and threatened habitats. The focus of this contribution is on the deforestation detection processing chain. The developed EO processing chains rely on the use and analysis of multi-temporal Sentinel-2 images, while it adopts an object-based perspective for detecting, quantifying, and mapping potential environmental violations.

O estudo teve como objetivo caracterizar a piscicultura continental do Litoral Norte/RS a partir de consultas em órgãos ambientais, escritórios da Emater/Ascar-RS e a aplicação de um questionário à 56 produtores rurais/piscicultores da região quanto a alguns aspectos significativos da atividade, tais como: principais espécies criadas, infraestrutura, sistemas de produção, manejo alimentar, fontes de abastecimento de água, monitoramento da qualidade da água, tratamento de efluentes, finalidade da atividade, medidas de prevenção e controle da atividade aquícola. Os resultados mostraram que a piscicultura da região é desenvolvida de forma familiar, predominando o sistema de criação semi-intensivo, em áreas de pequeno porte, de até 0,5 ha, em tanques escavados e destacando-se a criação de espécies exóticas, principalmente carpas e tilápias para consumo próprio e venda esporádica. Quanto aos aspectos ambientais, ficou constatada a carência de algumas medidas de prevenção e regularização ambiental da atividade. Também foi possível identificar “gargalos” que impedem um desenvolvimento eficaz da piscicultura na região, como gestão da atividade, comercialização e regularização ambiental. O apoio técnico aos piscicultores é feito por meio do serviço de extensão da Emater/Ascar-RS. Os dados coletados podem colaborar futuramente no planejamento de ações públicas voltadas para o fortalecimento da atividade que ainda é incipiente na região.

The construction of hydropower projects is proliferating, and environmental studies are conducted to make them more environmental-friendly. As properly managed hydropower projects have minimal environmental impacts, the environmental compliance of the projects should be assessed to know whether they are properly managed. However, the environmental compliance of the hydropower projects has not been adequately evaluated. To understand such compliance, we assessed the implementation status of the mitigation measures proposed in the approved environmental study reports of the hydropower projects of Nepal as a case study. We studied eight hydropower projects, of which three were under-construction, and five were operated projects. We found that about three-fourths of the mitigation measures are partially or fully implemented in hydropower projects. There are no substantial differences in the environmental compliance between operated and under-construction hydropower projects. We found that socio-economic and cultural environment-related mitigation measures are mostly implemented in hydropower projects. However, there are some major environmental non-compliance of hydropower projects in the physical and biological environment, which can severely undermine the environmental performance of the hydropower projects. As hydropower projects are necessary for reducing the negative impacts of fossil fuels in Nepal and the global context, these mitigation measures should be implemented to make them more environment-friendly. We recommend frequent inspection and monitoring and other measures that should be urgently applied to increase the environmental compliance of hydropower projects. Similarly, further research on the reason behind the non-compliance, the effectiveness of the mitigation measures, and ways to improve the compliance rate should be carried out.

The article analyzes the features of professional training of future employees of the machine-building industry in higher education institutions of Ukraine. The existing developments on the research problem and practical aspects of training future specialists in mechanical engineering are analyzed. The object of research is the process of professional training of future specialists in mechanical engineering. The purpose of this article is to analyze the features of professional training of future specialists in the machine-building industry with further identification of problems and prospects for improving the professional training of future specialists in mechanical engineering. Based on the analysis of curricula for bachelors and masters of mechanical engineering, the structure of the study load by cycles of disciplines is established. In particular, the share of humanitarian, natural, professional and practical training of future workers in the machine-building industry is determined. The directions of improvement of professional training of future specialists of mechanical engineering by the analysis and adaptation of general didactic principles concerning definition of the maintenance of education are defined: the account of social conditions and needs of a society; compliance of the content of education with the goals of the chosen model of education; structural unity of the content of education at different levels; unity of semantic and procedural aspects of education; accessibility and environmental compliance. Prospects for further research are the development of methodological support for the training of future specialists in engineering specialties on the basis of a competency-based approach

Natural gas is of the most interest out of a whole range of currently used motor fuels since it can reduce harmful emissions to the atmosphere. The impact large vehicle fleets have on the environment is, as a rule, higher than the impact of private motor vehicles due to large annual mileage. A single management center for such fleets can provide more reliable information on the operating conditions of vehicles, and replacement of diesel engines with gas ones in vehicle fleets of large cities will improve the environmental conditions of urbanized areas. The article analyzes potential consumers of compressed-gas trucks in cities. The migration of vehicles of utility companies to natural gas will reduce the volume of harmful emissions to the atmosphere and the noise level at garbage pickup in the morning. Studies on the safety of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles have confirmed its high level. Nevertheless, reliability matters remain relevant. The suggested method for prediction of possible failures and service planning, as well as prediction of operating conditions will take into account the prospects of enlargement of gas-engine vehicle fleets and the ways to reduce the environmental load.

Environmental disclosure in business has been researched. However, only a few projects have addressed disclosures in connection to the companies' obligations to follow environmental laws, standards, and regulations which is the main objective of the field of corporate environmental compliance management (CECM). This article describes the basis of a systematic literature review and the current state of knowledge about CECM website disclosure. Furthermore, major conceptual and methodological aspects for future disclosure studies are presented. The authors also propose a global CECM data collection and further research directions in order to close today's knowledge gap concerning determining factors and major characteristics of CECM disclosure. The research directions are exemplified by a set of novel questions. Future investigations of these questions through corresponding data analysis on the basis of the proposed CECM data collection will yield new insights that are relevant for researchers, practitioners, and governmental agencies.

The pulp and paper industry in contrast to other manufacturing industries consumes a large amount of energy and emits pollutants along with greenhouse gases. The waste generated from the pulp and paper industry causes severe harm to the aquatic life, disturbs the food chain, and also causes various health implications. In this review, we have highlighted some of the primary pollutants released from the industry and their health hazards. Strict action and implementation of the regulatory model is required in this industrial sector for environmental compliance. The environmental pollution caused by the pollutants poses a threat to aquatic life as well as to plants and human beings. The effect of pollutants on the environment has been assessed many times, but their mitigation still has a significant challenge. This review highlights some recent techniques to reduce pollutants from the pulp and paper industries. Among these techniques, microbial fuel cells, anaerobic digestion, bleaching technologies, cleaner production, and transformation pathways are the most used techniques. These will help in understanding the risk of pollutants released from the industry and the techniques will help in tackling these pollutants for a sustainable environment development.

Environmental issues are not a new issue, environmental degradation and social gaps in the environment are a matter of great concern. This study aimed to analyze the form of environmental responsibility and how the application of Green Accounting concept in a university. This qualitative research used phenomenology approach with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis technique where the research locations were in UIN Alauddin Makassar and Hasanuddin University Makassar. Data source was primary data obtained through interview and also supported by other secondary data. The method of data analysis was constructing research conclusion by abstracting empirical data collected from the field. Findings of this study revealed that the awareness of UIN Alauddin Makassar to the environment is still inadequate and not fulfil the expectations of the campus community that is different from the responsibility of Hasanuddin University Makassar which has been considered quite responsible with the existence of various environmental conservation programs. Green Accounting concept that can be seen from environmental concerns and environmental involvement in these two universities is also very different especially in terms of building management awareness, cost availability and environmental compliance studies. As for the reporting and environmental audit, both UIN Alauddin Makassar and Hasanuddin University Makassar has not been conducted until now.

When reading this title, everyone tends to wonder why is there need to talk about biopolymers in the defense field. Isn’t the same subject as for the civil field? Or, are we really debating about bio-polymers? Allow me to recall two of the most known and used definitions of biopolymers: chemicals that preserve their efficacy while maintaining low toxicity; bricks of human organs or bones reconstruction. But aren’t they also important puzzle pieces when considering the environment? In this regard, another definition should be added: biopolymers are substances produced without toxic byproducts; they are biodegradable or, at least, biocompatible, having a minimal impact on the environment. The governments finance military forces, whose duties are the preparation and conduction of different operations, in order to defend people and land. While maintaining continuous improvement of infrastructure and equipment, military forces must assume a growing significance to environmental compliance and restoration efficiency. Military purposes include utilization of explosive devices and protection equipment. We may number here also biopolymers used as drug delivery matrices. Or as matrices for drug entrapment, being known that every organic molecule has a particular structure that may imprint in a biopolymer matrix. It is known that the material and its use are inseparable, and that not every material is suitable for any kind of application. Some of them perform successfully under static conditions, but fail or perform undesirably during real situations. Therefore, they must be evaluated together. In this context, the obtaining and use of environment-friendly compositions, or biopolymers, in order to minimize the risks of potential accidents, while improving the performances, is mandatory.

Through its functioning, information and communication technologies form a number of preventive mechanisms aimed at ensuring environmental protection, both in the long term and in situations requiring an immediate response. The mobility of information technologies makes it possible to assess the scale of the threat of causing socially dangerous consequences with the greatest accuracy and to organize in timely manner activities aimed at their prevention. Mechanisms that establish control over the activities of large industrial facilities from the point of view of their environmental safety deserve special attention. By bringing relevant reporting data to the public, thereby stimulating the policies of these enterprises in favor of environmental compliance. Information and communication technologies, as a direct object of their influence, have individual and public consciousness, which determines the uniqueness of the mechanism arising on their basis, aimed at forming the ecological consciousness of society. Since environmental awareness formation is not a one-time phenomenon, but a long-term process extended in time, the results of its work are manifested gradually, providing favorable (natural) conditions for the further existence and development of mankind.

The Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (“IPE”), a domestic Chinese non-governmental organization, plays a unique role in China’s environmental governance by leveraging openly published information to improve environmental compliance and ultimately outcomes. The organization’s use of officially-published information as the basis for its interaction with stakeholders serves the dual purpose of lending credibility to IPE’s advocacy efforts while also mitigating operational sensitivities. While IPE’s work has generally been framed through the lens of transparency, this chapter illustrates how IPE’s mechanisms of influence extend well beyond just the provision and consolidation of information. By implementing systematic assessments to evaluate subjects and rank them, IPE serves as a civil society regulator that incentivizes stakeholders to engage and collaborate with IPE to improve their performance. Moreover, adopting separate ranking systems to target local governments’ disclosure performance and industrial environmental compliance, respectively, is self-reinforcing. On the one hand, the Pollution Information Transparency Index (“PITI”) motivates governments to implement existing laws and policies that mandate environmental disclosure. Wider implementation of these policies in turn expands the quantity of data underpinning the Corporate Information Transparency Index (“CITI”), enabling it to better strengthen corporate environmental governance. IPE’s role, therefore, adds value beyond just consolidating information by supplementing official environmental enforcement efforts where capacity may be lacking.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T18:22:03Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-09-01 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Aquaculture is one of the fastest-growing food sectors in Brazil. Cage fish farming has been widely practiced in the country, mainly in hydroelectric reservoirs. However, different regulatory, technical, and economic challenges may need to be overcome before the sector can achieve increased national and international competitiveness. This study aimed to analyze and compare the competitiveness of tilapia cage farms located on different sides of the Canoas I hydroelectric reservoir, which forms the border between the states of Sao Paulo and Parana, Brazil. Structured questionnaires were administered to all fish farmers in the reservoir. Questions about seven competitiveness indicators were rated on a 5-point Likert scale. The results revealed that the major barriers to competitiveness are the institutional environment and environmental sustainability. Parana has an active environmental inspection service, but Sao Paulo does not. As a result, tilapia fish farmers in Parana gave more importance to environmental compliance than those located in Sao Paulo. Univ Estadual Maringa UEM, Maringa, Parana, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Sao Paulo, Brazil Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Sao Paulo, Brazil FAPESP: 2014/16075-2

The marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) industry plays a vital role in the U.S. clean energy strategy by providing a renewable, domestic energy source that may offset the need for traditional energy sources. The first MHK deployments in the U.S. have incurred very high permitting costs and long timelines for deploying projects, which increases project risk and discourages investment. A key challenge to advancing an economically competitive U.S. MHK industry is reducing the time and cost required for environmental permitting and compliance with government regulations. Other industries such as offshore oil and gas, offshore wind energy, subsea power and data cables, onshore wind energy, and solar energy facilities have all developed more robust permitting and compliance pathways that provide lessons for the MHK industry in the U.S. and may help inform the global consenting process. Based on in-depth review and research into each of the other industries, we describe the environmental permitting pathways, the main environmental concerns and types of monitoring typically associated with them, and factors that appear to have eased environmental permitting and compliance issues.

Author(s): Sutter, Mary; Mitchell-Jackson, Jenn; Schiller, Steven R; Schwartz, Lisa C; Hoffman, Ian M | Abstract: Avoided energy and capacity costs are the primary yardstick utilities use to determine which energy efficiency programs are cost-effective for their customers. But sometimes "non-energy impacts" — not commonly recognized as directly associated with energy generation, transmission and distribution — represent substantial benefits, such as improving comfort, air quality and public health.Considering whether and how to include non-energy impacts is an important part of cost-benefit analyses for these programs. This report offers practical considerations for deciding which non-energy impacts to include and how to apply values or methods from other jurisdictions.Researchers reviewed studies quantifying non-energy impacts used in 30 states and applied a five-point system to indicate transferability of a value or method from each study for 16 categories of non-energy impacts:Water resource costs and benefitsOther fuels costs and benefitsAvoided environmental compliance costsEnvironmental impactsProductivityHealth and safetynAsset valueEnergy and/or capacity price suppression effectsAvoided costs of compliance with Renewable Portfolio Standard requirementsAvoided credit and collection costsAvoided ancillary servicesComfortEconomic development and job impactsPublic health impactsEnergy security impactsIncreased reliabilityThe U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office supported this work.

Marine renewable energy is a relatively new phenomenon that is becoming cost-competitive with traditional sources of energy. Marine hydrokinetic energy (MHK), as it moves to commercial scale, will be subject to myriad laws and regulations associated with wildlife impacts and efforts to avoid unsustainable adverse effects. At the same time that MHK is developing in this arena in the U.S., regulations and policies are changing, creating a moving target and affecting already established industries, such as oil and gas. To ensure that MHK can be cost-effective and to reduce risks of delays and impracticable project adjustments and mitigation in the U.S., early consideration of laws governing wildlife and how they are applied will be key. Planning to address wildlife priorities associated with statutory needs and industry/stakeholder goals can drive development of technology, engineering choices, siting, planning, mitigation, and adaptive management practices. Other marine industries have been recently affected by U.S. wildlife laws. For example, offshore wind is experiencing delay on the U.S. East Coast in part due to challenges with environmental statutory requirements and agency concerns about impacts. In oil and gas, it is unclear how new regulatory requirements, such as the Incidental Take Regulation pending for geophysical surveys in the Gulf of Mexico will affect the industry. MHK and other marine energy industries can leverage proactive planning and agency engagement to reduce risks of delays and costs that could significantly affect proposed projects.

Since the advent of the Lava Jato operation, the term compliance has acquired a hitherto unknown popularity. Although it has been related to criminal guardianship, it takes care of a perfectly possible strategic management in the most diverse branches of law. In this study, the compliance is approached within the environmental sphere, as an instrument of feasibility and effectiveness of legal norms and practices in favor of environmental protection. Much is questioned whether the practice of compliance is mandatory or to what extent would be of great value for the development and business performance. In the environmental aspect, the research demonstrates that the preventive nature of this governance technique can bring current and future benefits. In addition, there is, implicitly, the approach to the concept of sustainability within the objectives described by the United Nations. To carry on this study, a bibliographic research was developed, based on selected scientific articles, as well as Brazilian doctrine and legislation pertinent to the theme. The achieved results of the research demonstrated that applicability of compliance practice in the environmental matters can be adopted in view of its preventive nature.

Port environmental management initiatives have not yet been properly implemented in Brazilian public ports, and when they exist, they are still very fragmented and are not based on techniques of planning or environmental management, but instead are only intended to answer the minimum requirements of the legal licensing process for construction and port operation. The purpose of this article was to analyze if environmental licensing can be considered an environmental management tool for Brazilian public ports. For this, exploratory research with a qualitative focus was carried out in the 37 Brazilian public ports, regarding the current situation of environmental licensing. It was concluded that the environmental licensing of public ports in Brazil is still a long process and associated with a lot of unpredictability, where some ports, after many years, do not even have the proper operating licenses and the environmental management of most public ports is still insufficient or even non-existent. In this context, environmental licensing can be considered a management tool, however, it cannot be replaced by the planning and constant improvement of environmental compliance&mdash, both those provided for by law and other environmental regulatory mechanisms&mdash, at a national and international level.

The degree of robustness of environmental management program in the EIA reports of 56 green-field and 28 brown-field environmentally approved projects was found to be low, revealing that it is not ...

Environmental stewardship is the keystone to sustainability in mining and industry. While environmental compliance appears to be costly at first sight, it gives a mining company a competitive edge. Several pieces of legislation have been enacted as a means to deal with impacts of mining on the environment and hence provide an enabling environment for sustainable development (SD). The industry has adopted the principles of environmentally responsible mining, in line with the recommendations of international bodies like the International Organization for Standards (ISO), The Equator Principles Association and International Finance Corporation (IFC). This paper evaluates the sustainability of the South African mining industry in the light of the National Planning Commission (NPC)’s overview that ‘South Africa's growth path is highly resource-intensive and hence unsustainable.’ Arguments are presented to refute this viewpoint and additional impacts of mining on the environment, not mentioned by the NPC, are also discussed together with the measures that the mining industry has taken to resolve such impacts. Although the mining industry has instituted emergency preparedness measures, environmental incidents do occur, but these isolated incidents do not provide evidence that mining is unsustainable. Such events are a feature of all sectors of the economy. The author advocates the establishment of a SD legal framework through consultative discussions with interested and affected parties to create an environment conducive for legal compliance, which would include SD indicators to enable the Department of Minerals and Resources to monitor company compliance and identify defaulting companies.

Intensive shrimp production has been considered one way to increase output quantity. However, many factors need to be considered to maintain product quality, sustained practice, and environmental compliance. The adoption of monitoring technologies in shrimp farming such as monitoring important water quality parameters including temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, and salinity, offers several benefits, including increasing farming processes and cost efficiency and reducing harmful environmental impacts. A sampled survey dataset comprising 184 shrimp farmers from Ca Mau, Kien Giang, and Soc Trang provinces in Vietnam, one of the world largest shrimp producers, was used to examine factors that affect farmers' adoption of aquaculture information and communication technologies (ICT). The study empirically tested an adoption model using technology acceptance model and theory of planned behavior under perceived production risks. Results suggest that farmers who both perceive the ICT as being useful in their shrimp farms and are influenced by other important peers are more likely to adopt aquaculture technologies. Farmers who feel confident to learn a new technology are likely to find the technology easier to use than someone who is not as confident. Due to the inherent risky nature of intensive shrimp production, even if Vietnamese shrimp farmers perceive a high level of technology-adoption risk, they still feel more confident towards learning to use a new ICT and its usefulness, and are therefore likely to increase their adoption. The study's results suggest ICT service providers should collaborate with local aquaculture departments to develop pilot farms to showcase new aquaculture technologies and demonstrate key features and their compatibility with existing farms' infrastructure, which will consequently entice farmers to quickly adopt shrimp monitoring technologies.

In the period 1990-2012, the percentage for open defecation has dropped by 11% in sub-Saharan Africa which has resulted to substantial progress in access to improved sanitation facilities i.e. pit latrines, VIPs, septages and centralized sewage facilities since 1990 [figure 1]. This therefore put at ease the operations of many municipal's water resource and waste management agencies. Recent investigation confirms that the number of people defecating in the open is currently increasing in 26 of 44 countries of sub-Saharan Africa and this unsustainable practice is predicted to persist as long as there are toilets that are dysfunctional or unhygienic (WRC, 2015) in Africa. Per review conducted, the unhygienic and dysfunctional conditions of public toilets facilities are results of poor sludge management operations of which inconsistent collection of faecal sludge from toilet sites is a major part. Reported cause of inconsistent emptying of faecal sludge at sanitation sites is due to higher cost of faecal sludge management(FSM) services within urban and peri-urban settlements. FSM services comprise of three stages i.e. collection, treatment & re-use, and disposal of which the treatment stage accrue the most cost of the services. Treatment cost depends on treatment techniques applied by sanitation inspectors/operators but there is currently no definite treatment method which is the most suitable as the physico-chemical properties and environmental compliance requirements for disposal of faecal sludge is highly variable and most solutions have not been demonstrated at scale. To be precise on the key scope of study, on-site sanitation & centralized facility faecal sludge treatment techniques and management practices are deemed the core basis of study hereafter. In this paper, anaerobic-aerobic phosphorous removal process (A/O) is selected as an efficient and cost-effective centralized facility sludge treatment technique and its applied to a case study in Bujumbura municipal of Burundi. Also a simple but effective on-site sanitation management plan which is feasible in Africa communities is discussed.Read Complete Article at ijSciences: V72018011542 AND DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18483/ijSci.1542

The marine renewable energy (MRE; renewable energy captured from waves, tides, ocean currents, the natural flow of water in rivers, and marine thermal gradients, without building new dams or diversions) industry has a vital role in the U.S. clean energy strategy as we progress to meet U.S. electricity and blue economy needs with renewable, domestic energy sources. However, a thorough assessment of the U.S. marine energy permitting process from the viewpoints of both developers that propose projects and regulators that permit them has not been performed. Sharing practical experiences in this new industry is vital to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the permitting process, identify data and information gaps, develop lessons learned, and advance the industry. This paper is a case study of qualitative findings, lessons learned, and recommendations from guided discussions, workshops, and webinars with both marine renewable energy developers and state and federal regulators that have experience in the permitting process in the U.S.

Costs to permit Marine Energy projects are poorly understood. In this paper we examine environmental compliance and permitting costs for 19 projects in the U.S., covering the last 2 decades. Guided discussions were conducted with developers over a 3-year period to obtain historical and ongoing project cost data relative to environmental studies (e.g., baseline or pre-project site characterization as well as post-installation effects monitoring), stakeholder outreach, and mitigation, as well as qualitative experience of the permitting process. Data are organized in categories of technology type, permitted capacity, pre- and post-installation, geographic location, and funding types. We also compare our findings with earlier logic models created for the Department of Energy (i.e., Reference Models). Environmental studies most commonly performed were for Fish and Fisheries, Noise, Marine Habitat/Benthic Studies and Marine Mammals. Studies for tidal projects were more expensive than those performed for wave projects and the range of reported project costs tended to be wider than ranges predicted by logic models. For eight projects reporting full project costs, from project start to FERC or USACE permit, the average amount for environmental permitting compliance was 14.6%.

Our study explores the effects of regulatory monitoring and enforcement activities on facilities' compliance with environmental regulatory laws. In particular, our study examines regulated facilities' perceptions of the effectiveness of monitoring and enforcement efforts for inducing compliance and the influence of these perceptions on facilities' responses to actual inspections and enforcement actions. No previous study explores this influence. For our conceptual analysis, we extend standard deterrence theory by incorporating the behavioral dimension of intrinsic motivation. For our empirical analysis, we examine chemical manufacturing facilities permitted under the Clean Water Act during the years 2002 to 2004. Using an original survey, we collect data on facilities' perceptions. We then compare responses to government interventions between facilities that perceive enforcement as effective and those that do not. For facilities perceiving enforcement as effective, increased deterrence of any type generates little gain. In contrast, for those facilities who perceive enforcement as ineffective, increased deterrence from inspections improves compliance with the Clean Water Act.

Australia has been rapidly advancing the field of water accounting as a tool to improve water management across the country. Water accounting is the application of a consistent and structured approach to identify, measure and report water resource information. The Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau) has developed Australian Water Accounting Standards for General Purpose Water Accounting Reports.Following collaboration between the Bureau and the Newmarket Gold Mining Company, this paper investigates how General Purpose Water Account Reporting can be applied and used in the minerals industry to simplify and improve aspects of regulatory reporting. This case study demonstrates how General Purpose Water Accounting Reports and the lessons learned from the ongoing development of the Australian National Water Account can be practically applied to regulatory reporting and corporate data management for a mining operation in the Australian Northern Territory. This paper also demonstrates the benefits of aligning a standardised water account with data that is already routinely collected as part of mining operations environmental compliance.

Reduced sea ice has made the Arctic Ocean more accessible for vessel traffic. In turn, the heightened interest to better understand rapidly changing sea ice dynamics, ecosystems, and related ocean processes in the Arctic Ocean has led to closer interactions with and the need to avoid potential conflicts between scientific researchers and Indigenous coastal communities. In particular, researchers need to minimize spatial and temporal overlap of science activities with subsistence hunts as the Arctic is essential to Indigenous communities for their food security and cultural heritage. In this regard, a Community and Environmental Compliance Standard Operating Procedure (CECSOP) was recently developed for the R/V Sikuliaq, which is owned by the National Science Foundation and operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences and is part of the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System. The CECSOP was developed with input and guidance from Alaska Indigenous community groups, state and federal agencies, and sea-going scientists. Here the document's basic principles and procedures are described, as well as its utility in helping guide constructive discussions and interactions between scientific users of R/V Sikuliaq and subsistence hunting communities when research and subsistence hunt activities have spatial and temporal overlap. The CECSOP is a “living” document and subject to future modifications and improvements. It may serve as a model for other scientific, commercial and industrial vessel operators to ensure best practices between subsistence hunting communities and vessel operators in the Arctic.

As a consequence of rapid industrialization, the waterbodies of Bangladesh have transformed into seasonal dead zones from the ensuing pollution. Despite having environmental regulations to control industrial pollution, lack of effective enforcement has jeopardized environmental quality. Evaluation of enforcement mechanisms have not gained attention from researchers until recently. This qualitative and descriptive analysis illustrates the current enforcement regime for environmental compliance in Bangladesh focusing on fines levied on polluters. Although there are no official guidelines for fines based on type of violation, this paper identified that there are differences of fines among violation based on historical data. It was also found that textile factories are not penalized heavily compared to non-textile factories. Repeat offenders were found to be penalized at the same rate. This study can be used to design appropriate penalty structure based on violation types, and reform the enforcement system so that polluters pay principle is actually implemented.

Cleaner production has become necessary to create resource-efficient production, as societies have become increasingly concerned with environmental issues. This paper develops a theoretical structural model representing the impact of five latent variables of eco-innovation drivers on the environmental performance. The conceptual framework is empirically tested based on a survey of Malaysian green tech companies. The results suggest that compliance with environmental regulations is the strongest predictor in the model. Market focus and technology used were confirmed as drivers that impact environmental performance positively. This paper concludes that the values of eco-innovation allow companies to counter challenges from competitors in the marketplace.

Currently, problems related to environmental compliance are meeting growing echo in public opinion. This increase in awareness forces manufacturing companies to incorporate the concept of sustainable development into their processes. The textile industry, in turn, attempts to reduce its environmental impact by creating, designing and developing innovative industrial processes, more concerned with ecology, but still ensuring high yields and adapting quickly to fashion trends. In this context, one of the leading textile engineering research axes concerns the substitution of various textile wet processes often expensive in terms of energy, water, chemicals and auxiliaries consumptions, degradation of textile materials and/or wastewater treatment by new cleaner processes using green solvents. One of the various strategies envisaged is the application of ionic liquids. Recently, it has been proved that these emergent solvents could be successfully used in some important textile processes. This led not only to eliminate certain ecological and technical drawbacks of some textile wet processes, but also to create innovative textiles with valuable properties. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of ionic liquids with particular emphasis on their ecological and industrial potentials. The state of the art of the main researches applied in textile processes using these green solvents was then assessed and discussed.

When states incompletely monitor or enforce, environmental nonprofits step in. We estimate the impact of these groups on industrial compliance with the Clean Water Act, as well as their eff...

This paper reviews how the requirements of safety, availability, energy efficiency and environmental compliance have influenced the design and operation of fired equipment over the last 50 years. It presents the various norms and standards relevant to the classes of fired equipment used in the Oil & Gas industry and highlights the differences between prescriptive norms and performance based standards. The main hazards and common causes of accidents of process heaters, petrochemical furnaces and boilers are described. Finally, this paper reviews the evolution of the risk mitigations and design best practices over the last decades. It discusses in particular the particular challenges of improving the safety performance of existing equipment. Before the first oil crisis of 1973, the price of refinery fuels was very low and it was common practice to run heaters inefficiently with high excess air (e.g. 5 to 8 % O2 in the flue gas) and high draft to reduce the probability of sub-stoichiometric combustion and positive pressure in the combustion chamber. Since the safety margin was provided by operating with high excess air and high draft, control improvements were considered unnecessary. Fired equipment safety was essentially distributed between operator response to alarms (e.g. process upset conditions), instrumented protective functions programmed in the safety instrumented system and solutions such as explosion doors and snuffing steam to mitigate the consequence of explosions. In the last 25 years, the drive for safer operation with higher energy efficiency, lower NOx emissions and fewer nuisance trips has led operating companies to adapt their approach to fired equipment safety. The modern approach to fired equipment safety is to distribute the risk across independent protection layers. These safety barriers rely on a comprehensive control system with constraints and a safety instrumented system, but also on operational excellence with well-trained operators, good operating procedures and reliability-centered maintenance and risk-based inspection. As an important benefit, constraint controls with automated fuel cutbacks have proven effective at minimizing nuisance trips by keeping the heater within operational limits.

A number of alternative environmental enforcement tools are available that may be used to enhance the environmental enforcement effort in South Africa. Current debate focuses on which tools work effectively and the reasons for their success. The debate is however dominated by issues concerning policy challenges, such as the adoption of alternative tools and necessary arrangements to ensure these tools contribute to overall environmental enforcement performance. In order to contribute to the debate and stimulate further debate, this article offers a typology of alternative enforcement tool categories, lists the generally argued benefits and disadvantages of both command and control approaches and alternative enforcement tools, offers framework conditions for the successful adoption and use of some of the enforcement tools, and explores empirical and other evidence to determine whether environmental management systems are adequately able to drive sustained and consistent legal compliance. A South African case study is also presented to illustrate the manner in which a combination of alternative enforcement tools may be integrated with command and control tools to ensure consistent and sustained legal compliance.

2017-373 Federal agencies involved in oil spill response in the U.S. are required to comply with several environmental compliance laws. Where a Federal agency is operating in a way that may affect endangered species in the area, Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) requires the agency to “consult” with the two Federal agencies responsible for protecting those species and habitats – the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, nonprofit organizations filed several lawsuits against the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (the “Action Agencies”) for failure to comply with the ESA during oil spill contingency planning. In one case, a settlement required the Action Agencies to consult with the NMFS and USFWS (together, called the “Services”) on the plan to use oil spill dispersants in California waters. Perhaps responding to these developments, several Regional Response Teams across the country initiated or made plans to review the status of their ESA Section 7 consultations. These efforts have varied in cost, scope, composition of agency representatives involved, and success in completing a consultation for a variety of reasons. There have been numerous challenges for USCG and EPA in meeting the ESA Section 7 consultation requirements for oil spill planning. First, the most recent framework for cooperation between the Action Agencies and the Services regarding consulting on oil spill planning and response activities is contained in an Interagency Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signed in 2001. Although the agreement is still valid, some parts have been identified as outdated or in need of clarification. Secondly, there are no direct funding mechanisms or dedicated personnel assigned to the Action Agencies to work on pre-spill ESA Section 7 consultations. Third, recommendations and consultation outcomes can vary between Service agencies as well as internally within each Service agency due to a high level of regional autonomy. In 2015, the National Response Team (NRT) formed a new, interagency subcommittee to improve the Federal Action Agencies’ ability to comply with environmental laws such as the ESA with respect to oil spill response and pre-spill planning. A workgroup of the NRT Subcommittee was formed to specifically address pre-spill ESA Section 7 consultation processes. The workgroup includes regional and national representatives from the Action Agencies and the Services. In addition to strengthening relationships and understanding among the participating agencies, the workgroup has identified gaps in the 2001 MOA and is in the process of developing tools and templates on how to conduct pre-spill ESA Section 7 consultations to help fill some of the existing gaps. The workgroup ultimately hopes to facilitate the development of updated, complete, efficient, and consistent ESA Section 7 consultations across the nation.

This article reports the findings of an empirical study on the regulation of ship-source pollution at one United Kingdom-based global ship management company. In examining the corporate response of the case-study company, particular attention is given to the regulatory influences promoting such compliance as expressed in the views of company executives. The findings show that both legal regulatory pressures and customer demands are important factors in encouraging the company to comply with environmental requirements. However, the study also revealed that compliance with environmental requirements ultimately depends on the way in which individual companies adapt to different national regulatory and enforcement regimes.

Nanotechnology, defined as the science of very small matter called nanomaterial, comprises the study of chemical and physical properties of particles which are structured in sizes ranging from 1 to 100 nm. At this size range, nanomaterial exhibits superior chemical and physical characteristics as compared to those displayed while existing in normal size. To date, multiple nanotechnology research centers within the United States are investigating the potential use of different types of nanoparticles as titanium dioxide (TiO2) in the construction industry to attain superior characteristics of building materials, improve their rating as environmentally friendly material, and improve the overall LEED rating of construction projects.The major impediments to the widespread implementation of nanotechnology include high nanomaterial cost, lack of industrial experience, and absence of standard specifications for building materials incorporating nanoparticles. This research article presents a research effor...

Despite increased interest in green/environmental crimes, little is known about these offenses, perhaps because traditional criminological questions and methods are typically applied to study street crimes rather than green crimes. For example, while the geography of street crime has long been studied, the geographic distribution of green crimes has been ignored. The current study addresses this issue using US EPA Environmental Compliance History Online data to construct measures of environmental crimes across US states. The geographic over-lap between the distribution of green crime and street crime at the state level is then examined. In addition, an effort is made to discover correlates related to the geographic distribution of green crime. We found that the distribution of street and green/environmental crimes are unrelated. Moreover, we found that the best predictors of environmental crime rates across states is US EPA region, suggesting these crime rates are organizationally constructed. Our study also indicated that two other factors helped predict the geographic distribution of green crimes: welfare expenditures (states with high welfare expenditures have lower rates of environmental crime); and the black-white population ratio: states with high white populations have less environmental crime, indicating a potential environmental justice issue.

The process industries face many pressures, such as meeting production targets, minimizing costs, and maximizing product quality. In addition, manufacturers (process industries such as refineries, processing plants, metal producers, paper mills, pharmaceutical plants, or oil and gas producers) must adhere to increasing governmental safety and environmental compliance regulations. This chapter discusses how most of these issues can be addressed through intelligent use of real-time operating data continuously collected from their production facilities. It advocates the use of a data-driven strategy to optimize operational efficiency and maintenance and enable business personnel to quickly and easily take corrective action when abnormal conditions occur. By taking corrective actions in real time, unnecessary costs can be avoided, bottom line profitability is increased, employee safety is maintained, and responsible environmental stewardship is achieved. The strategy uses real-time data infrastructure software as the integration layer between production process control systems (operational technology), business systems, and advanced offline analytics (information technology).

There is growing evidence that tobacco farming and use, among other critical livelihood factors, has an impact not only on health but also on the environment. The tobacco industry in Kenya has been on the rise with new production areas emerging. However, the nature of the environmental friendliness of the production, processing and consumption technologies have yet to be evaluated in many parts of Kenya. This study undertook an environmental auditing of tobacco farming activities in the South Nyanza region of Kenya for purposes of evaluating their compliance levels and policy formulation. Data collection was achieved through a detailed environmental audit checklist, focused group discussions, interviews, and field observations. Generally, the environmental compliance level with the National Environment Management Authority, World Health Organization standards and world best farming practices was dismal, at 13.6%. Tobacco companies' compliance rating with standards in application of pesticides and agrochemicals, use and management of energy resources, tobacco leaf storage and disposal of uncollected leaves, occupational health and safety, and best established practices in corporate social responsibility stood at 19.8, 15.7, 27.7, 2.1 and 11.8%, respectively. The low compliance level implies unsustainable farming practices; thus the need for enhanced enforcement of good environmental practices in the sector. Development of policies and legislation on economically viable and environmentally sustainable alternative crops is therefore recommended.

Author(s): Pauer, Ron | Abstract: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL, Berkeley Lab) is a multi-program scientific facility operated by the University of California (UC) for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Berkeley Lab’s research is focused on the physical, biological, environmental, and computational sciences, with the objective of delivering scientific knowledge and discoveries pertinent to DOE’s mission. This annual report describes environmental protection activities and potential impacts resulting from LBNL operations conducted in 2018. The format and content of this report satisfy the requirements of both DOE Order 231.1B, Administrative Change 1 (Environment, Safety, and Health Reporting) and the operating contract between UC and DOE (DOE Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231, also known as Contract 31). LBNL activities are planned and conducted with full regard to protecting employees, the public, and the environment, as well as complying with all applicable environmental, safety, and health laws and regulations. As presented in Chapter 2, Berkeley Lab implements an Environmental Management System (EMS) to oversee environmental compliance activities and continually improve overall environmental performance while maintaining operational capability and sustaining its overall mission. The effectiveness of the EMS and environmental programs is reviewed annually as part of the performance evaluation process of Contract 31. For fiscal year (FY) 2018, which began October 1, 2017, and ended September 30, 2018, the EMS was given a performance rating of B plus for its management of environmental activities (on a scale from A plus as the highest grade, to F as the lowest). The measurement and rating system was developed jointly by Berkeley Lab, UC, and DOE. The FY 2018 rating was based on how Berkeley Lab met the objective in DOE’s FY 2018 Performance Evaluation and Measurement Plan (Appendix B in Contract 31, Section J) of providing an efficient and effective EMS. Six significant accomplishments, which ranged from effective teaming on projects and with regulatory agencies to improved program assessment approaches, were factors in the rating. The EMS was also graded through the federal Office of Management and Budget’s annual EMS performance metrics, in which a reporting scorecard rates elements of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 standard and the degree of integration between the EMS and Berkeley Lab’s sustainable practices. Overall scores fall into one of three categories: green (highest), yellow (middle), or red (lowest). For FY 2018, Berkeley Lab received a score of green. A week-long formal conformity audit of the EMS was conducted at the end of July by a qualified external party, as is required every three years. The audit team found that Berkeley Lab’s EMS continues to conform to the ISO standard with no major nonconformance. An overview of environmental protection and restoration programs is provided in Chapter 3, including information about compliance activities, operating permits, and regulatory agency inspections and audits that occurred during 2018. Twenty-one minor violations and two Class II violations were issued during agency inspections of programs governing aboveground and underground storage tanks, hazardous waste treatment units, hazardous waste storage areas, hazardous materials management, and wastewater, stormwater, and air emission sources. This report also includes information on environmental monitoring performed in 2018 (Chapter 4). The results of these monitoring activities confirmed that groundwater cleanup actions have been effective in reducing concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the groundwater, although concentrations appear to be reaching asymptotic levels in some areas. Site groundwater plumes are stable or are attenuating, and VOCs are not migrating off site. All emissions and discharges from LBNL operations were within environmental compliance release limits except oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide from boilers (under 5 million BTUs) from Buildings 2, 66, and 88. The radiological dose assessments (Chapter 5) performed in 2018 concluded that the maximum potential dose to a hypothetical resident from Berkeley Lab’s airborne radionuclide releases was approximately 0.04% of the DOE and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency annual limit of 10 millirem per year (mrem/yr); the potential dose from all radiation sources at Berkeley Lab was approximately 0.15% of the average natural background radiation dose of 310 mrem/yr in the United States, and about 0.5% of the DOE annual limit of 100 mrem/yr from all sources.

The AKOBEN Programme, an environmental performance rating and disclosure initiative that show the environmental performance of gold mining firms with reference to their daily activities post environmental impact assessment and issuance of an environmental permit was introduced in Ghana to serve as a monitoring and verification tool towards environmental compliance and responsible mining. As to whether the AKOBEN Programme is enhancing the environment and or safeguarding public health in Ghana needs to be investigated. A systematic multi-methods environmental audit approach comprising of comparative analysis, time series analysis, air and water quality indices were used within the framework of the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response to answer the questions what is happening to the environment and what the consequences for the environment and humanity are. The quality and suitability of River Kwabrafo as a habitat for aquatic life, for agricultural, recreational and drinking purposes pre and post AKOBEN Programme introduction as well as the quality of agricultural soils and river sediments in gold mining communities was determined. The study revealed that the AKOBEN Programme rates gold mining firms based on variable-by-variable concentrations of toxic water pollutants such as As, Cd, Hg, CN and non-toxic water pollutants such as pH, suspended solids, dissolved solids and electrical conductivity without taking into account the cumulative effect of the pollutants and the various uses of water. Results on the quality of River Kwabrafo based on the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment Water Quality Index confirmed no differences in water quality concerning use for agriculture, recreation, drinking and as a habitat for aquatic life before and after the introduction of the AKOBEN Programme. The study also revealed the quality of air at Anyinam to be acceptable with reference to PM10 and unhealthy with reference to total suspended particulate (TSP). The AKOBEN Programme failed to delineate TSP into oxides of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, methyl mercury and oxides of sulphur for which reason the impacts of greenhouse gases and methyl mercury on the Obuasi Municipality could not be investigated under the AKOBEN Programme. Mean arsenic concentrations for all study sites exceeded the arsenic reference for Ghana with significant differences existing between mean soil Cd and Hg levels at AKOBEN sites, Non-AKOBEN sites and Control sites. This study will not only elucidate the environmental and health problems associated with gold mining operations at AKOBEN and Non-AKOBEN sites in Ghana, but will also present complex water quality data into simple communication format for easy understanding to policy makers and non-expert audience.