Parallels in Public and Private Environmental Governance

Private actors, including business firms and non-governmental organizations, play an essential role in addressing today’s most serious environmental challenges. Yet scholars have not fully recognized the parallels between public environmental law and the standard-setting and enforcement functions of private environmental governance. “Instrument choice” in environmental law scholarship is generally understood to refer to government actors choosing among options from the public law “toolkit,” which includes prescriptive rules, the creation of property rights, the leveraging of markets, and informational regulation. Each of these major public law tools, however, has a parallel in private environmental governance. This Article first provides a descriptive account of these parallels, which highlights two underappreciated tools used by both public and private actors: procurement and insurance for environmental risks. It then considers the normative criteria that should inform choices among instruments by using the example of climate change. The resulting portrait of a multi-tiered, global regime of environmental governance with both public and private options promises greater flexibility and institutional power to address otherwise intractable environmental problems than the traditional paradigm of relying only on public regulation

Parallels in Public and Private Environmental Governance

Private actors, including business firms and non-governmental organizations, play an essential role in addressing today’s most serious environmental challenges. Yet scholars have not fully recognized the parallels between public environmental law and the standard-setting and enforcement functions of private environmental governance. “Instrument choice” in environmental law scholarship is generally understood to refer to government actors choosing among options from the public law “toolkit,” which includes prescriptive rules, the creation of property rights, the leveraging of markets, and informational regulation. Each of these major public law tools, however, has a parallel in private environmental governance. This Article first provides a descriptive account of these parallels, which highlights two underappreciated tools used by both public and private actors: procurement and insurance for environmental risks. It then considers the normative criteria that should inform choices among instruments by using the example of climate change. The resulting portrait of a multi-tiered, global regime of environmental governance with both public and private options promises greater flexibility and institutional power to address otherwise intractable environmental problems than the traditional paradigm of relying only on public regulation

Trabajo temporal y siniestralidad laboral en España en el período 1988 - 1995.

Sin resume

Capas finas de ZrO2 para mejorar la resistencia química de los vidriados mates de calcio

La resistencia al ataque químico de vidriados cerámicos susceptibles al mismo, concretamente formulados a partir de una frita mate de calcio, se ha mejorado depositando en la superficie una capa delgada de óxido de circonio. Un sol de circonio estabilizado es el precursor de la capa, el cual se deposita mediante aerografía sobre el vidriado cocido y con un tratamiento térmico suave (Tmax ≈ 400 ºC), es transformado en ZrO2 y anclado a la superficie. Los ensayos de resistencia química demuestran que el vidriado protegido no sufre un ataque apreciable visualmente por parte del ácido clorhídrico concentrado, condiciones en las que el mismo vidriado sin el recubrimiento resulta gravemente dañado. El precursor utilizado genera una capa de óxido de circonio que protege el vidriado subyacente, de modo que el ataque químico por parte del ácido clorhídrico queda confinado al entorno de las grietas y discontinuidades de la capa depositadaPeer reviewe

Validación de un cuestionario para medir retrospectivamente la exposición laboral a plaguicidas

ResumenObjetivosValidar un cuestionario diseñado para medir retrospectivamente la exposición laboral a plaguicidas en un estudio de casos y controles sobre trabajadores expuestos a plaguicidas y malformaciones congénitas.MétodosSe compara la información obtenida mediante una entrevista personal con 56 agricultores con: 1) una entrevista con los empleadores de los agricultores, 2) la observación directa de los lugares de trabajo y 3) un cuestionario que cumplimentaron los agncultores durante la realización del Programa de Capacitación para Manipuladores de Plaguicidas.ResultadosLos índices de exactitud y fiabilidad fueron altos para las variables «cultivos trabajados», «períodos de tratamiento» y «utilización de protección personal», con sensibilidades entre 0,81 y 1 e índices Kappa de 0,65 a 0,80. Sin embargo, las variables «duración de los tratamientos» y «productos plaguicidas utilizados» presentaron índices de exactitud más bajos con sensibilidades entre 0,32 y 0,50.ConclusionesLos resultados sugieren que el cuestionario es un buen instrumento para la medición de algunas variables pero en otras reflejan la existencia de problemas de recuerdo. Esto hace necesario adoptar medidas que mejoren la exactitud de la medida de la exposición como la introducción en el cuestionario del tamaño del área tratada como otra variable que permita valorar la duración de la exposición y la utilización de listas de recuerdo de productos plaguicidas durante la entrevista.SummaryObjectiveThe aim of this study is to validate a questionnaire intended to assess retrospective occupational exposure to pesticides in a case control study of workers exposed to pesticides and congenital malformations.MethodsOccupational data were gathered through personal interviews to 56 agricultural workers and this information was compared to: 1) personal interviews with the workers’ foremen, 2) direct observation of working places and 3) another questionnaire self-administered previously by the workers as a part of the «Training Program for Pesticide Aplicators».ResultsAccuracy and reliability indices are high for variables such as the crops where the interviewees have been working, the time period of the treatments with pesticides and the use of personal protection during treatments (sensitivity ranges between 0.81 and 1 and Kappa index ranges between 0.65 and 0.80). However, for variables such as the duration of the treatments and the pesticides used, sensitivity values range between 0.32 and 0.50.ConclusionsThe results suggest that the questionnaire is a valid tool for measuring some items but in order to improve the quality of the exposure assessment the questionnaire was modified, including a question about size of treated areas (as a proxy variable for duration of treatments) and prompt lists were developed to make easier recall by the workers of specific pesticides used in treatments

Structural and Morphological Characterization of Micro and Nanofibers Produced by Electrospinning and Solution Blow Spinning: A Comparative Study

Nonwoven mats of poly(lactic acid) (PLA), poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO), and poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) were prepared at a nano- and submicron scale by solution blow spinning (SBS) and electrospinning in order to compare crystalline structure and morphology developed by both processes during fiber formation. Polymer solutions were characterized by rheometry and tensiometry. Spun fibers were characterized by several analytical steps. SEM analyses showed that both solution blow spun and electrospun fibers had similar morphology. Absence of residual solvents and characteristic infrared bands in the solution blow spun fibers for PLA, PCL, and PEO was confirmed by FTIR studies. XRD diffraction patterns for solution blow spun and electrospun mats revealed some differences related to distinct mechanisms of fiber formation developed by each process. Significant differences in thermal behavior by DSC were observed between cast films of PLA, PCL, and PEO and their corresponding spun nanofibers. Furthermore, the average contact angles for spun PLA and PCL were higher than for electrospun mats, whereas it was slightly lower for PEO. When comparing electrospun and solution blow spun fibers, it was possible to verify that fiber morphology and physical properties depended both on the spinning technique and type of polymer

Irrigated water, polymer application in

In the past decade, water-soluble polyacrylamide (PAM) was identified as an environmentally safe and highly effective erosion preventing and infiltration enhancing polymer when applied in furrow irrigation water at 1 mg L-1 - 10 mg L-1 , i.e., 1 ppm- 10 ppm.[1-9] Various polymers and biopolymers have long been recognized as viable soil conditioners because they stabilize soil surface structure and pore continuity. The new strategy of adding the conditioner, high molecular weight anionic PAM, to irrigation water in the first several hours of irrigation implies a significant costs savings over traditional application methods, in which hundreds of kilograms per hectare of soil additives are tilled into the entire (15 cm deep) soil surface layer. By adding PAM to the irrigation water, soil structure is improved in the important 1-5 mm thick layer at the soil/water interface of the 25%-30% of field surface contacted by flowing water. In 1995, the U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) published a PAM-use conservation practice standard for PAM-use in irrigation water." 01 A 3-year study[21 applying these standards showed that PAM at dosage rates of 1 kg ha-1 -2 kg ha-1 per irrigation eliminated 94% (80%-99% range) of sediment loss in furrow irrigation runoff, while increasing infiltration 15%-50%. Seasonal application rates using the NRCS standard typically total 3 kg ha -1 -5 kg ha-1 . As PAM-use is one of the most effective and economical technologies for reducing soil-runoff, it has branched into stabilization of construction sites and road cuts, with formal statewide application standards set in Wisconsin and several southern states. Recent studies with biopolymers such as charged polysaccharides,[11-143 whey," 51 and industrial cellulose derivatives[11.141 introduce potential biopolymer alternatives to PAM