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Environmental Consulting
Environmental consulting is often a form of compliance consulting, in which the consultant ensures that the client maintains an appropriate measure of compliance with environmental regulations. There are many types of environmental consultants, but the two main groups are those who enter the field from the industry side, and those who enter the field from the environmentalist side. Environmental consultants work in a very wide variety of fields. Whether it be providing construction services such as Asbestos Hazard Assessments or Lead Hazard Assessments or conducting due diligence reports for customers to rid them of possible sanctions. Consultancies may generalize across a wide range of disciplines or specialize in certain areas of environmental consultancy such as waste management. Environmental consultants usually have an undergraduate degree and sometimes even master's degree in Environmental Engineering, Environmental Science, Environmental Studies, Geology, or some other s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compliance (regulation)
In general, compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. Compliance has traditionally been explained by reference to the deterrence theory, according to which punishing a behavior will decrease the violations both by the wrongdoer (specific deterrence) and by others (general deterrence). This view has been supported by economic theory, which has framed punishment in terms of costs and has explained compliance in terms of a cost-benefit equilibrium (Becker 1968). However, psychological research on motivation provides an alternative view: granting rewards (Deci, Koestner and Ryan, 1999) or imposing fines (Gneezy Rustichini 2000) for a certain behavior is a form of extrinsic motivation that weakens intrinsic motivation and ultimately undermines compliance. Regulatory compliance describes the goal that organizations aspire to achieve in their efforts to ensure that they are aware of and take steps to comply with relevant laws, policies, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Site Investigation
Geotechnical investigations are performed by geotechnical engineers or engineering geologists to obtain information on the physical properties of soil earthworks and foundations for proposed structures and for repair of distress to earthworks and structures caused by subsurface conditions; this type of investigation is called a site investigation. Geotechnical investigations are also used to measure the thermal resistance of soils or backfill materials required for underground transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines, radioactive waste disposal, and solar thermal storage facilities. A geotechnical investigation will include surface exploration and subsurface exploration of a site. Sometimes, geophysical methods are used to obtain data about sites. Subsurface exploration usually involves soil sampling and laboratory tests of the soil samples retrieved. Geotechnical investigations are very important before any structure can be built, ranging from a single house to a large wareho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Law
Environmental law is a collective term encompassing aspects of the law that provide protection to the environment. A related but distinct set of regulatory regimes, now strongly influenced by environmental Legal doctrine, legal principles, focus on the management of specific natural resources, such as forests, minerals, or fisheries. Other areas, such as environmental impact assessment, may not fit neatly into either category, but are nonetheless important components of environmental law. History Early examples of legal enactments designed to consciously preserve the environment, for its own sake or human enjoyment, are found throughout history. In the common law, the primary protection was found in the law of Nuisance in English law, nuisance, but this only allowed for private actions for damages or injunctions if there was harm to land. Thus, smells emanating from pig sty, pigsties, strict liability against dumping rubbish, or damage from exploding dams. Private enforcement, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sustainability Consultant
A sustainability consultant is someone who advises businesses on methods to deliver their products or services in a sustainable manner (usually in an ecological sense). Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has grown to be a very specific field and includes focal areas like "''green building, renewable energy, waste management and sustainable development''." Construction and Engineering Sustainability consultants for building construction focus largely on the energy performance of a building: how much energy will be needed to heat, cool, or otherwise power a building, and how efficiently this energy can be recycled. They might also consult on the source of the energy if it will be from an alternative source. One engineering technique to reduce energy usage is Passive Building Design. Organisational culture and behaviour change Research on the role of sustainability consultants in the UK found that there is a tendency to focus on technical aspects of building energy efficiency, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eco-capitalism
Eco-capitalism, also known as environmental capitalism or (sometimes) green capitalism, is the view that capital exists in nature as "natural capital" (ecosystems that have ecological yield) on which all wealth depends. Therefore, governments should use market-based policy-instruments (such as a carbon tax) to resolve environmental problems. The term "Blue Greens" is often applied to those who espouse eco-capitalism. Eco-capitalism can be thought of as the right-wing equivalent to Red Greens. Basic assumptions of capitalism - like continued economic growth - are not put to a test in the bright green environmentalism proponents' discourse. This, and the commodification of nature as a central element, has led to various criticisms of the idea. History The roots of eco-capitalism can be traced back to the late 1960s. The " Tragedy of the Commons", an essay published in 1968 in ''Science'' by Garrett Hardin, claimed the inevitability of malthusian catastrophe due to libe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Engineer
Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline that encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and also improve the health of living organisms and improve the quality of the environment. Environmental engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering and chemical engineering. While on the part of civil engineering, the Environmental Engineering is focused mainly on Sanitary Engineering. Environmental engineering is the application of scientific and engineering principles to improve and maintain the environment to: * protect human health, *protect nature's beneficial ecosystems, *and improve environmental-related enhancement of the quality of human life. Environmental engineers devise solutions for wastewater management, water and air pollution control, recycling, waste disposal, and public health. They design municipal water su ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sustainable Development
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The desired result is a state of society where living conditions and resources are used to continue to meet human needs without undermining the integrity and stability of the natural system. Sustainable development was defined in the 1987 Brundtland Report as "Development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs".United Nations General Assembly (1987''Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our Common Future'' Transmitted to the General Assembly as an Annex to document A/42/427 – Development and International Co-operation: Environment. As the concept of sustainable development developed, it has shifted its focus more towards the ec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Accounting
Green accounting is a type of accounting that attempts to factor environmental costs into the financial results of operations. It has been argued that gross domestic product ignores the environment and therefore policymakers need a revised model that incorporates green accounting. The major purpose of green accounting is to help businesses understand and manage the potential quid pro quo between traditional economics goals and environmental goals. It also increases the important information available for analyzing policy issues, especially when those vital pieces of information are often overlooked. Green accounting is said to only ensure weak sustainability, which should be considered as a step toward ultimately a strong sustainability. It is a controversial practice however, since depletion may be already factored into accounting for the extraction industries and the accounting for externalities may be arbitrary. It is obvious therefore that a standard practice would need to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radon
Radon is a chemical element with the symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colourless, odourless, tasteless noble gas. It occurs naturally in minute quantities as an intermediate step in the normal radioactive decay chains through which thorium and uranium slowly decay into various short-lived radioactive elements and lead. Radon itself is the immediate decay product of radium. Its most stable isotope, 222Rn, has a half-life of only 3.8 days, making it one of the rarest elements. Since thorium and uranium are two of the most common radioactive elements on Earth, while also having three isotopes with half-lives on the order of several billion years, radon will be present on Earth long into the future despite its short half-life. The decay of radon produces many other short-lived nuclides, known as "radon daughters", ending at stable isotopes of lead.+ ion is believed to form by the following reaction: : Rn (g) + 2 (s) → (s) + 2 (g) For this reason, antimo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flood Risk Assessment
A flood risk assessment (FRA) is an assessment of the risk of flooding from all flooding mechanisms, the identification of flood mitigation measures and should provide advice on actions to be taken before and during a flood. The sources of water which produce floods include: * Groundwater (saturated groundwater) * Vadose (water flowing the ground in an unsaturated state) * Surface water * Artificial water (burst water mains, canals or reservoirs) * Rivers, streams or watercourses * Sewers and drains *Flooding of low-lying coastal regions due to sea level rise For each of the sources of water, different hydraulic intensities occur. Floods can occur because of a combination of sources of flooding, such as high groundwater and an inadequate surface water drainage system. The topography, hydrogeology and physical attributes of the existing or proposed development need to be considered. A flood risk assessment should be an evaluation of the flood risk and the consequences and impact a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environment Act 1995
The Environment Act 1995c 25 passed under the ministerial tutelage of John Gummer, is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which created a number of new agencies and set new standards for environmental management. See also *English land law *UK environmental law *Hedgerows Regulations 1997 The Hedgerows Regulations 1997 of England and Wales is a UK Statutory Instrument (1997 No. 1160) which came into effect on 1 June 1997 and is government legislation which falls under the Environment Act 1995. It was created to protect hedgerows, ... External links * United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1995 Environmental law in the United Kingdom Waste legislation in the United Kingdom 1995 in British law 1995 in the environment {{UK-statute-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
