Ministry Of Environmental Protection Research Articles

Can Pollution Regulations Enable Key Industries to Reduce CO2 Emissions?—Empirical Evidence from China, Based on Green Innovative Technology Patents and Energy Efficiency Perspectives

Under the influence of the dual policies of sustainable economic development and the national dual-carbon target, the establishment of an environmental protection department for the treatment of heavily polluting industries is imminent, and the country has launched pollution control policies and regulations to restrict the emission rights of heavily polluting industries. Therefore, this paper focuses on whether the restriction of emission rights in key industries has reduced carbon emissions. To achieve this, this paper uses panel data of prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019 and adopts a two-way fixed-effects DID model to systematically analyze the impact of the key pollution industry governance policies launched by the Ministry of Environmental Protection on CO2 emissions in 2017. And further analyze the role of variables such as green technology innovation patents and energy efficiency using this model, while parallel trend tests and placebo tests, and related policies are used to ensure the robustness of the regression results. This paper reveals that: (1) The heavy pollution industry governance policy implemented in 2017 can effectively reduce CO2 emissions in the cities of the treated group, and the effect is more significant in the year of policy implementation; (2) Green utility patents and energy-use efficiency are the effective mediating mechanisms to reduce CO2 emissions; (3) Over time, the effect of heavy pollution industry governance policy on CO2 emissions gradually decreases; (4) The reliability of the baseline regression results of this paper is proved by the use of parallel trend tests, placebo tests, and tests excluding the influence factors such as relevant policies in the same period. Therefore, the key polluting industries treatment policy launched by China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2017 under the recent dual-carbon policy development goals formulated by China, can effectively reduce carbon emissions; however, in the future economic development process, the government should give more consideration to the continuity of the policy impact and its coherence on economic development when implementing the policy.

Prediction Model of Soil Heavy Metal Content Based on Particle Swarm Algorithm Optimized Neural Network.

In 2014, the relevant research data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land and Resources showed that the total exceedance rate of soil heavy metal pollution in China had reached 16.1%, and in the construction of ecological civilization in the 13th Five-Year Plan, China has made the prevention and control of soil heavy metal pollution as the focus of prevention and control. Therefore, in this paper, four neural optimization network models, that is, radial basis neural network (RBFNN), generalized regression neural network (GRNN), wavelet neural network (WNN), and fuzzy neural network (FNN), are simulated and created to measure and correlate the soil heavy metal content in a city in northwest China and a city in central China from the actual situation in China. The simulations were conducted. Finally, by analyzing the comparison of predicted and true values of these four models on the test data of two sets of experimental data, the distribution of predicted differences to true values, and the calculation results of three error indicators, we found that WNN has the best prediction performance when using RBFNN, GRNN, WNN, and FNN for soil heavy metal content prediction.

Environmental Pollution Liability Insurance of Health Risk and Corporate Environmental Performance: Evidence From China.

Environmental pollution liability insurance (EPLI) is a type of insurance purchased by an enterprise to compensate the loss of the victims in the event of an environmental pollution incident. Although EPLI can realize the post-treatment of environmental pollution to a certain extent, there is still less understanding of whether EPLI can improve the environmental performance of enterprises. This study takes A-share listed companies in heavily polluting industries as the research object, determines the treatment group samples according to the Insurance coverage list published by the Ministry of Environmental Protection in 2014 and 2015, and then constructs the empirical test model. In order to ensure that there is no sample selection bias, the PSM method is used to preprocess the samples in this study to ensure the robustness of the conclusions. The empirical tests show that EPLI can significantly improve corporate environmental performance. Further analysis showed that higher public visibility is conducive to the positive environmental effects of EPLI. Compared with state-owned enterprises, non-state-owned enterprises have more significant implementation effects after introducing EPLI. On further examination, the result indicates that environmental pollution liability insurance can improve environmental performance by alleviating corporate financing constraints. The findings of this paper enrich the theory of the economic impact of environmental pollution liability insurance, which has some meaningful theoretical guidance for enterprises and policy makers.

Restricted Anthropogenic Activities and Improved Urban Air Quality in China: Evidence from Real-Time and Remotely Sensed Datasets Using Air Quality Zonal Modeling

The study aims to examine the major atmospheric air pollutants such as NO2, CO, O3, PM2.5, PM10, and SO2 to assess the overall air quality using air quality zonal modeling of 15 major cities of China before and after the COVID-19 pandemic period. The spatio-temporal changes in NO2 and other atmospheric pollutants exhibited enormous reduction due to the imposition of a nationwide lockdown. The present study used a 10-day as well as 60-day tropospheric column time-average map of NO2 with spatial resolution 0.25 × 0.25° obtained from the Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA. The air quality zonal model was employed to assess the total NO2 load and its change during the pandemic period for each specific region. Ground surface monitoring data for CO, NO2, O3, PM10, PM2.5, and SO2 including Air Quality Index (AQI) were collected from the Ministry of Environmental Protection of China (MEPC). The results from both datasets demonstrated that NO2 has drastically dropped in all the major cities across China. The concentration of CO, PM10, PM2.5, and SO2 demonstrated a decreasing trend whereas the concentration of O3 increased substantially in all cities after the lockdown effect as observed from real-time monitoring data. Because of the complete shutdown of all industrial activities and vehicular movements, the atmosphere experienced a lower concentration of major pollutants that improves the overall air quality. The regulation of anthropogenic activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic has not only contained the spread of the virus but also facilitated the improvement of the overall air quality. Guangzhou (43%), Harbin (42%), Jinan (33%), and Chengdu (32%) have experienced maximum air quality improving rates, whereas Anshan (7%), Lanzhou (17%), and Xian (25%) exhibited less improved AQI among 15 cities of China during the study period. The government needs to establish an environmental policy framework involving central, provincial, and local governments with stringent laws for environmental protection.

COVID-19 Lockdown in Israel: The Environmental Effect on Ultrafine Particle Content in the Airway.

Inhaled ultrafine particle (UFP) content in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) was observed as an airway inflammatory marker and an indicator of exposure to particulate matter (PM). The exceptional decline in air pollution during the COVID-19 lockdown was an opportunity to evaluate the effect of environmental changes on UFP airway content. We collected EBC samples from 30 healthy subjects during the first lockdown due to COVID-19 in Israel (March–April 2020) and compared them to EBC samples retrieved during April–June 2016 from 25 other healthy subjects (controls) living in the same northern Israeli district. All participants underwent EBC collection and blood sampling. Ambient air pollutant levels were collected from the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection’s online database. Data were acquired from the monitoring station closest to each subject’s home address, and means were calculated for a duration of 1 month preceding EBC collection. UFP contents were measured in the EBC and blood samples by means of the NanoSight LM20 system. There was a dramatic reduction in NO, NO2, SO2, and O3 levels during lockdown compared to a similar period in 2016 (by 61%, 26%, 50%, and 45%, respectively). The specific NO2 levels were 8.3 ppb for the lockdown group and 11.2 ppb for the controls (p = 0.01). The lockdown group had higher UFP concentrations in EBC and lower UFP concentrations in serum compared to controls (0.58 × 108/mL and 4.3 × 108/mL vs. 0.43 × 108/mL and 6.7 × 108/mL, p = 0.05 and p = 0.03, respectively). In this observational study, reduced levels of air pollution during the COVID-19 lockdown were reflected in increased levels of UFP airway contents. The suggested mechanism is that low airway inflammation levels during lockdown resulted in a decreased UFP translocation to serum. Further studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis.

InSAR Modeling and Deformation Prediction for Salt Solution Mining Using a Novel CT-PIM Function

Deformation prediction for a salt solution mining area is essential to mining environmental protection. The combination of Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) technique with Probability Integral Method (PIM) has proven to be powerful in predicting mining-induced subsidence. However, traditional mathematical empirical models (such as linear model or linear model combined with periodical function) are mostly used in InSAR approaches, ignoring the underground mining mechanisms, which may limit the accuracy of the retrieved deformations. Inaccurate InSAR deformations will transmit an unavoidable error to the estimated PIM parameters and the forward predicted subsidence, which may induce more significant errors. Besides, theoretical contradictory and non-consistency between InSAR deformation model and future prediction model is another limitation. This paper introduces the Coordinate-Time (CT) function into InSAR deformation modeling. A novel time-series InSAR model (namely, CT-PIM) is proposed as a substitute for traditional InSAR mathematical empirical models and directly applied for future dynamic prediction. The unknown CT-PIM parameters can be estimated directly via InSAR phase observations, which can avoid the error propagation from the InSAR-generated deformations. The new approach has been tested by both simulated and real data experiments over a salt mine in China. The root mean square error (RMSE) is determined as ±10.9 mm, with an improvement of 37.2% compared to traditional static PIM prediction method. The new approach provides a more robust tool for the forecasting of mining-induced hazards in salt solution mining areas, as well as a reference for ensuring the environment protection and safety management.

ECOLOGICAL AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF MAIN ASPECTS OF FORESTRY MANAGEMENT OF TERNOPIL REGION

In the context of growing anthropogenic impact on forest ecosystems, there is a need to control the use of this valuable natural resource. Ternopil region has a unique natural potential. A large area of the region is covered with forests, the main share of which is occupied by deciduous species. Ecological and statistical study of the main aspects of forestry in Ternopil region, identification of major trends is one of the priorities, as forests cover about 14% of the region, and conservation, reproduction and expansion of forests is a necessary prerequisite for planning environmental measures. The aim of the work is to conduct an ecological and statistical analysis of the main aspects of forestry in the Ternopil region in 2016–2020 and to identify the main patterns. Methodology. The research was conducted on the basis of information collection methods and statistical data analysis methods. All calculations were performed by using Microsoft Excel and Microcal Origin (version 6). The research used data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine in Ternopil region (environmental passport), Ternopil Regional State Administration, Ternopil Regional Department of Forestry and Hunting for 2016–2020 years. Scientific novelty. Based on the conducted ecological and statistical study of the main aspects of forestry management of Ternopil region in 2016–2020, a clear trend to reduce the volume of deforestation from forestry activities. The nature of the functions allows to predict the decline in the future of these indicators. The same trend is characteristic of the volume of areas of reforestation. As for the volume of areas for afforestation, they are characterized by a tendency to increase over the entire study period. In addition, based on the nature of the function for this indicator, we predict its further growth. Conclusions. It has been established that there is a clear downward trend in the volume of deforestation in the Ternopil region and the volume of deforestation from forest activities related to logging. The volume of reforestation works also decreased annually, there is a tendency to increase the area of afforestation.

ЗАГАЛЬНА ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКА ПОВНОВАЖЕНЬ ТА КОМПЕТЕНЦІЇ ОРГАНІВ ПУБЛІЧНОЇ ВЛАДИ, ЩО ЗДІЙСНЮЮТЬ ДЕРЖАВНЕ УПРАВЛІННЯ У ГАЛУЗІ ОХОРОНИ АТМОСФЕРНОГО ПОВІТРЯ

This article provides a general description of the powers and competencies of public authorities exercising public administration in the field of air protection. Atmospheric air is proposed to mean an element of the natural environment, which is an invisible mixture of gases within the territory of Ukraine and contains vital chemicals and compounds necessary for the existence of living organisms. It is determined that the subjects of public administration in the field of air protection are the system of bodies of general and special competence, which exercise public administration powers to restore, preserve, ensure air quality and ensure the right of citizens to air, and take the necessary measures. to reduce the incidence of air pollution due to air pollution. The subjects of public administration in the field of air protection are proposed to be divided into two groups: 1. subjects of general competence (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, President of Ukraine, National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine) and 2. subjects of special competence (Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine) (Government of Ukraine), Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, State Ecological Inspectorate of Ukraine, Ministry of Health of Ukraine, local state administrations and local governments). Based on the analysis of legislative and by-laws, which determine their administrative and legal status in general, the powers of these entities in the field of air protection are highlighted. Emphasis is placed on the special tasks of these actors in order to preserve the health of the nation.

Моделювання розвитку електроенергетичної системи України для обґрунтування Другого національно визначеного внеску щодо обмеження викидів парникових газів

Ukraine is obligated to adopt Nationally Determined Contribution to the Paris Agreement (NDC2) in 2021 for a period up to 2030 as a percent of 1990, requiring correct projection of green-houses gases (GHG) emissions first of all in key categories, one of that is heat and electricity production by thermal power plants (TPP) and combined heat and electricity production (CHP) which are burning organic fuel. The Ministry of environment protection and natural resources of Ukraine (MEP) proposed GHG reduction of 65% compared to 1990 which is about 3.2% lower compared to 2018, and there is a very ambitious goal taking into account desired rapid Ukrainian economic growth. To assess the reliability of this proposal the appropriate modeling GHG emission reduction from TPP and CHP was made and presented in the article. The modelling was made taking into account methodological approaches of TIMES-Ukraine modeling system, which is the basic tool for assessment of GHG reduction potential in Ukraine for MEP, and also alternative one used in BACS-RVE modeling tool, which was used for calculations for "Generation Adequacy report" which was developed by Ukrainian transmission system operator "Ukrenergo". The analysis of the modeling results showed that neglecting in the methodology used in TIMES-Ukraine the operation modes of generation and required levels of power grid balance reliability indicators does not allow fully adequately project power system development. The modeling results using BACS-RVE modeling tool showed that the reference case scenario of generation development (according to the TIMES-Ukraine) could be feasible under the condition that GHG emission tax should not be less than 100 EUR per tonne of CO2eqv, and potentially will cause the increase of electricity price. Another important result obtained using BACS-RVE is that GHG emission level for 2030 is higher compared to the reference case scenario, hence additional modeling and discussion of results are required to ensure well-grounded GHG emission projection which will allow reviewing NDC obligation for the power sector of Ukraine. Keywords: power system, greenhouse gases, modeling, load profiles, grid balance reliability

SERVICE QUALITY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE OF LATVIA

Improvement of quality of public services is one of the important goals in the advancement of the operation of state / public administration in Latvia. The aim of the research was to evaluate the quality of customer service in the institutions of public administration in Latvia, to perform the factor analysis of the collected data.The research was based on the selection of customers of public services, in total of 292 people in Riga and in Latvian regional centres in 2017-2018. The research was conducted in public institutions of Latvian regions that provide social assistance (SSIA – the State Social Insurance Agency), offer employment promotion services (SEA – the State Employment Agency); realize tax policy in the state (SRS – the State Revenue Service), implement the state environmental protection policy (MEPRD – Ministry of Environment Protection and Regional Development); provide legal aid services (DC – Daugavpils Court). The quality of services provided to the clients of corresponding institutions was evaluated. For the data collection, the service quality assessment model – the SERVQUAL instrument (Parasuraman et al., 1988) was used, as well as the analysis of the research data factors was carried out.The service quality assessment revealed that the performance of public service organizations in Latvia does not meet the customers’ expectations. The evaluation of service quality provided by public authorities, as well as their regular monitoring would improve the quality of services provided.

Organic waste utilization and urban food waste composting strategies in China - A review

Food loss may occur in production, storage, transport, and processing, which are the stages of the value chain with the lowest returns. The current searching was done by the keywords in main indexing systems including PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Institute for Scientific Information Web of Science as well as the search engine of Google Scholar. The most important points challenging areas that represent opportunities for stakeholders to look into in China are, put in place suitable economic incentives to encourage restaurants to get more involved in the formal system, create a comprehensive regulation system to benefit all relevant stakeholders by clearly defining their respective roles and responsibilities, which is necessary for the proper functioning of the whole system. In China, the most important regulations, policies and plans are regulations on safety issues of food waste treatment, detailed countermeasures on organizing, educating, supervising, and inspecting the work on food waste reduction in China, and detailed plant for household waste collection and treatment, issued by Chinese government, state council, and ministry of environmental protection. Setting national goals, awareness-raising campaigns, strict and appropriate regulation, stakeholder engagement, biorefinery and food waste recycling to animal feed are important strategies for better waste management. The most important food waste management practices in China are source separation, animal feed, rendering, composting, co-digestion, anaerobic digestion, incineration, landfill, and etc. Understanding social factors influencing household behavior is utmost importance; public education and specific communication highly contribute to improve recycling.

An evaluation of permanent crops: Evidence from the “Plant the Future” project, Georgia

Abstract Promoting investments in permanent crops is often considered by the government as a powerful measure to support long-term growth in agriculture. The same attitude is prevalent among agricultural policy makers in Georgia and hence, country’s government and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia initiate and coordinate projects facilitating new investments in permanent crops. The article deals with an evaluation of an impact of “Plant the Future” project in Georgia that provides funds for the potential beneficiaries for planting permanent crops. The structure and scope of the project are discussed in the article, and the relevant data regarding the area planted, financial impact, and beneficiaries for the period from 2015 to 2019 are analysed and the impact projection is made for the period of 2020–2043. Research showed that the target indicators of the project were fully achieved. In addition, there were a high demand from farmers to participate in this project and as a result, the budget spent in 2017–2019 exceeded the planned budget. The project appears to be beneficial in terms of net present values that are positive for all discussed discount rates, meaning that the benefits of the project are greater than costs. The return on investment of the project is around 10%, which is greater than the basic discount rate (8%). Social impact also seems to be high with 1,350 beneficiaries. According to the projection, from 2015 to 2024, around 3,000 beneficiaries will benefit from this project. In the methodology, five evaluation criteria are used, namely, relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. Based on the evaluation, specific recommendations are given.

Score-based Bayesian belief network structure learning in damage risk modelling of mining areas building development

The article describes the results of using the application of Bayesian approach, to create a decision support system to evaluate the risk of the damages to prefabricated reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, that have been exposed to the impacts from the industrial environment of mines in the form of spatial subsidence and tremors. This problem is important from the point of view of both structural safety and utility aspects. It concerns many buildings, in which the damage is often caused by the excessive consumption of thermal energy used for heating interiors or dehumidifying damp walls. The above issues make the subject extremely important from a technical, socio-economical, and energy point of view, therefore it can be categorised as sustainable development problem. The Bayesian belief network (BBN) is used to build a risk model that encompasses all the issues and variables that describe the damage process associated with the entire scope.The use of BBNs is an innovative approach in this interdisciplinary area, that encompasses civil engineering and mining environmental protection. There are two types of score-based methods for learning the structure of a BBN from data which will be applied and compared. The first is an iterative method for searching the space of potential solutions, based on the Tabu-search algorithm. The second approach used a method of stochastic searching for a space of structures (node orders) based on the global optimisation algorithm Simulated Annealing (SA). The analyses were performed in R, using the catnet and bnlearn packages. The basis for the study was a database relating to 129 prefabricated reinforced concrete buildings with a wall bearing structure, located in a copper mining area in Poland. Finally, there were eight damage intensity indexes (wui) obtained from using the above models when analysing the risk of damage to structural and finishing elements. The most effective method turned out to be using the Tabu-search algorithm with the assumed K2 criterion. As a result, the following damage indexes were obtained – 91.43%–97.14% correctly classified patterns for the training set, while for the test set – 79.17%–100%. The conducted research is interdisciplinary in the field of civil engineering and mining and environmental engineering, and the very issue of damage is also important from the socio-economical and energy point of view, especially for a large number of buildings.

ХАРАКТЕРИСТИКА ВОДНИХ РЕСУРСІВ УКРАЇНИ НА ОСНОВІ БАЗИ ДАНИХ ГЛОБАЛЬНОЇ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНОЇ СИСТЕМИ FAO-AQUASTAT

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN FAO) has the most advanced information on water resources in all countries of the world, since the share of the agriculture sector in world water use is 70%. It operates the FAO Global Information System on Water and Agriculture (abbreviated as FAO Aquastat). The data contained in this database comes from the relevant government bodies of the countries of the world (reports, publications, official websites), from information bases of other UN agencies or international organizations (UN WHO – World Health Organization; UN FPA – United Nations Population Fund; ICOLD – International Commission on Large Dams) or obtained by modeling. The Water Resources section of the FAO global information system contains about 40 indicators. The database is filled with the average values of indicators for the segments of years: 1988-1992; 1993-1997; 1998-2002; 2003-2007; 20008-2012; 2013-2017. The assessment of water resources carried out in the article based on the database of the global information system FAO Aquastat (1988-2017). showed the following results in Ukraine: internal river flow – 50.1 km3; inflow from adjacent territories – 120.2 km3; total river runoff – 170.3 km3; available groundwater reserves – 5 km3; internal renewable water resources – 55.1 km3; total renewable water resources – 175.3 km3. In terms of total renewable water resources per person (3964 m3/person/year) among 50 European countries as of 2017, Ukraine ranked 27th. In terms of internal renewable water resources per person (1246 m3/person/year), Ukraine ranked 37th in Europe. In terms of total renewable water resources (175.3 km3), Ukraine ranked 6th in Europe. In terms of the volume of internal renewable water resources (55.1 km3), Ukraine ranked 14th. Ukraine has a high coefficient of external dependence of water resources (Кз = 66.8%), which characterizes the share of total renewable water resources formed outside the country in adjacent territories – 9th place in Europe. The data on the components of water resources in Ukraine, which are given in FAO Aquastat, differ from the data published in Ukrainian sources. It is necessary to pay special attention to this methodological problem in the scientific and expert environment, as well as among officials in our country – the State Agency for Water Resources of Ukraine, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine. Indeed, with the course towards European integration, there can be no difference in information for internal and external use.

Field Study on the Law of Surface Subsidence in the High‐Intensity Fully Mechanized Caving Mining Working Face with Shallow Thick Bedrock and Thin Epipedon in Hilly Areas

Shallow and thick coal seams occur extensively in hilly areas in Shanxi Province and Shaanxi Province, China. The surface damage and landslides caused by shallow fully mechanized caving mining have a very serious impact on the environment. To provide a theoretical and reference foundation for mine environmental protection in hilly settings, a research on surface movement of the high‐intensity fully mechanized caving mining working face with shallow thick bedrock and thin epipedon (HIFMCMWFSTBTE) is urgently needed. In this study, using the P2 working face of a mine as the research object, three surface subsidence observation lines were arranged in this working face to analyze the dynamic change characteristics of surface subsidence. Besides, the law of surface movement, mining sufficiency, fracture development and distribution characteristics, subsidence speed, and surface movement duration of HIFMCMWFSTBTE in hilly areas were comparatively studied. The research results reveal that the upper part of the slope slides towards the downhill direction under the action of tensile stress or push stress. As a result, the range of the horizontal movement towards the downhill direction of the slope and the range of surface movement both increase, and the movement angle and boundary angle both decrease compared with the plain. HIFMCMWFSTBTE is prone to serious sudden discontinuous damage. Fractures on the gully region surface develop along the contour, forming a crisscross fracture network, and the fractures are not easy to close after being generated. HIFMCMWFSTBTE in hilly areas can achieve full mining more easily than those of other geological conditions. According to the field measurement, critical full mining can be achieved in P2 working face when the ratio of mining width to mining depth is 1.07. The surface movement duration of HIFMCMWFSTBTE in hilly areas is relatively short. Considerable subsidence will occur in the active stage, and the surface subsidence is sudden and violent. The measured surface stabilization time of the P2 working face is only 20% of the calculated value in the Specification for Coal Pillar Reservation and Coal Mining under Buildings, Water Bodies, Railways, and Main Shafts (hereinafter referred to as the Specification), indicating that the specification′s empirical formula is inapplicable to the calculation of surface stabilization time of the P2 working face.

Районування гірської річки для цілей цивільного захисту та екологічної безпеки (на прикладі р. Тисмениця)

У статті розглядаються результати районування русла р. Тисмениця методом ієрархічного кластерного аналізу.Обґрунтоване районування русла річки дає змогу створювати гнучкі та адресні системи запобігання зниженню рівня екологічної безпеки та виникненню надзвичайних ситуацій. На підставі отриманих результатів кластерного аналізу макрокомпонентів обґрунтоване виокремлення трьох ділянок річки: верхньої, середньої та пригирлової, а за результатами кластерного аналізу вмісту забруднюючих компонентів – двох ділянок: пригирлової та верхньої й середньої. Обґрунтовано зв’язок між геологічною будовою території досліджень та зміною макрокомпонентного складу вод річки. Подано рекомендації для служб цивільного захисту щодо використання результатів наведених у статті досліджень.

ANALYSIS OF FACTORS AND DEVELOPMENT OF METHODS FOR MANAGING THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND CIVIL SAFETY OF TRANSBOUNDARY TRANSPORTATION OF OIL AND OIL PRODUCTS THROUGH PIPELINES

Transportation of oil and oil products through main pipelines is accompanied by the outpouring of these components into the environment, which creates risks of reducing the level of environmental safety and emergencies. The object of research is the factors and methods of environmental and civil safety management of cross-border transportation of oil and oil products through pipelines. Investigated problem is the analysis of environmental and civil safety management factors for cross-border transportation of oil and oil products through pipelines has been carried out and new technical and organizational solutions have been proposed to improve the level of management. The environmental safety of oil and gas facilities is defined as the state of environmentally safe functioning of oil and gas facilities and the absence of harmful environmental impact on these facilities. On the basis of the analysis of emergency situations on the linear part of the main oil pipelines, five main reasons leading to depressurization have been identified and ranked. The oil pipeline emergency is presented in a mathematical form. The analysis of depressurization of main oil pipelines in the world and in the Lviv region is carried out. The international normative legal acts regulating the management aspects of environmental and civil safety of cross-border transportation of oil and oil products are analyzed. Innovative products – in case of water pollution as a result of a catastrophic inflow of oil products, it is proposed to use a patented installation for modeling the process of pollution of running water and a method of physical modeling of the process of spreading pollution as a result of a single discharge of oil products into the river. In the case of soil contamination with oil products, it was proposed to use a patented installation for modeling the process of filtration of contaminated solutions through the soil or bottom sediments. The advantages of the proposed new technical solutions based on known analogues are shown. The area of practical use of the research results is the subdivisions of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine, the State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations, NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, higher educational institutions, research institutes of oil and gas ecological profile.

New evidence on the soft budget constraint: Chinese environmental policy effectiveness in SOE-dominated cities

This paper analyzes the efficiency of a set of environmental measures introduced by China’s 11th Five-Year Plan in 2006, using a rich and unique data set assembled from the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the State Environmental Protection Agency. By exploiting plausibly exogenous variation in regulatory stringency generated by the regulatory system across China’s provinces, we find evidence that pollution-intensive cities reduced their SO2 emissions substantially, whereas cities with a strong state-owned enterprise (SOE) presence did not. We interpret the results as pointing to evidence of Chinese SOEs’ ongoing soft budget constraints. The findings are robust to the inclusion of different fixed effects and other key determinants of pollution. Moreover, we investigate the main factors underlying regulatory non-compliance: the overlapping (or not) of “Two Control Zone” (Special Policy Zone, Coastal) cities wherein environmental (growth) policies are prioritized; the existence of turning points below (above) which growth and reductions in pollution substitute for (complement) each other; the size and extent of industrial concentration, which determines the possibilities of firms negotiating with the local authorities; and finally, the regulation-induced adoption of cleaner technologies by polluting firms, which enhance productivity and lower SO2 emissions.

Response to Comment on "Thyroid Cancer 'Epidemic': A Socio-Environmental Health Problem Needs Collaborative Efforts".

RETURN TO ISSUEPREVCorrespondence/Rebut...Correspondence/RebuttalNEXTResponse to Comment on “Thyroid Cancer ‘Epidemic’: A Socio-Environmental Health Problem Needs Collaborative Efforts”Zhi TangZhi TangShenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen 518055, ChinaKey Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, ChinaMore by Zhi Tang, Jianqing Zhang*Jianqing ZhangShenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen 518055, China*Phone: +86-755-25531955. Fax: +86-755-25617553. Email: [email protected]More by Jianqing Zhanghttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-5822-2218, Qunfang ZhouQunfang ZhouState Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaMore by Qunfang Zhouhttp://orcid.org/0000-0003-2521-100X, Shunqing XuShunqing XuKey Laboratory of Environment and Health, Ministry of Education & Ministry of Environmental Protection, and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, ChinaMore by Shunqing Xuhttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-7771-3821, Zongwei CaiZongwei CaiState Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, SAR, ChinaMore by Zongwei Caihttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-8724-7684, and Guibin JiangGuibin JiangState Key Laboratory of Environmental Chemistry and Ecotoxicology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100085, ChinaMore by Guibin Jianghttp://orcid.org/0000-0002-6335-3917Cite this: Environ. Sci. Technol. 2020, 54, 15, 9711–9712Publication Date (Web):July 7, 2020Publication History Received3 June 2020Published online7 July 2020Published inissue 4 August 2020https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c03578Copyright © 2020 American Chemical SocietyRIGHTS & PERMISSIONSArticle Views1456Altmetric-Citations1LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InReddit PDF (623 KB) Get e-AlertsSUBJECTS:Diseases and disorders,Toxicology,Cancer,Genetics,Biomarkers Get e-Alerts

ADMINISTRATIVE TERRITORIAL REFORM

The study analyzes the administrative-territorial reform started in 2019. There are a large number of administrative units in Latvia – 119 municipalities. Compared to other European countries, Latvia has a low population density of 1 km2. The population remains below each year and therefore financial resources to cover administrative expenditure are increasing every year. Many municipalities no longer comply with the statutory requirements and are unable to provide the functions specified for them. In 2019, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development has launched an administratively territorial reform to reduce the number of administrative units. The article aim to explore the forthcoming administratively territorial reform and its impact on residents in Latgale. The author of the article studied the reform, its purpose and substance, profiles of municipalities established by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, carried out a survey of Latgale residents in order to find out the opinion of the population on the reform, as well as analysing the migration of Latgale municipalities' labour force.