Environmental evaluation system

Three general approaches, selected because they represent a range of options for impact assessment, are discussed in this section. These include the Leopold Matrix, Overlays, and the Battelle environmental evaluation system. The following is a summary. 

The environmental evaluation system [7, 10] was designed by the Battelle Columbus Laboratories in the United States to assess impacts of water-resource developments, water-quality management plans, highways, nuclear power plants, and other projects. 

The Battelle environmental evaluation system for water resources is described in Table 4. The human concerns are separated into four main categories (a) ecology (b) physical/chemical (c) aesthetics and (d) human interest/social. Each category contains a number of components that have been selected specifically for use in all U.S. Bureau of Reclamation water-resource development projects. 

Dee, N., Baker, J., Drohny, N., Duke, K., Whitman, I., Fahringer, D., 1973. An environmental evaluation system for water resource planning. Water Resources Research 9 (3), 523—535. 

Baker EL, Letz R, Fidler AT, et al. 1985. A computer-based neurobehavioral evaluation system for occupational and environmental epidemiology Methodology and validation studies. Neurobehav Toxicol Teratol 7 369-377. 

Heikkila K. (2008). Environmental evaluation of an air-conditioning system supplied by cooling energy from a bore-hole based heat pump system. Building and Environment, 43(1) 51-61. 

Wilkinson, K. J. and Buffle, J. (2004). Critical evaluation of physicochemical parameters and processes for modelling the biological uptake of trace metals in environmental (aquatic) systems. In Physio chemical Kinetics and Transport at Biointerfaces, eds. van Leeuwen, H. P. and Koster, W., Vol. 9, IUPAC Series on Analytical and Physical Chemistry of Environmental Systems, Series eds. Buffle, J. and van Leeuwen, H. P., John Wiley Sons, Ltd, Chichester, UK, pp. 445-533. 

Critical Evaluation of the Physicochemical Parameters and Processes for Modelling the Biological Uptake of Trace Metals in Environmental (Aquatic) Systems. 445... 

Motivated by statutory mandates for environmental evaluation of transportation systems. Darling solicited information from each originator of an air pollution model by a questionnaire advertised in the Commerce... 

Environment Canada recently developed an evaluation system based on effluent toxicity testing, capable of ranking the environmental hazards of industrial effluents [185]. This so-called Potential Ecotoxic Effects Probe (PEEP) incorporates the results of a variety of small-scale toxicity tests into one relative toxicity index to prioritize effluents for sanitation. In the index no allowance has been made for in-stream dilution, therefore the acmal risk for environmental effects is not modeled. The tests performed on each effluent are the following bacterial assay [V.fisheri (P. phosphoreum), Microtox], microalgal assay S. capricornutum) crustacean assay (C. dubiay, and bacterial genotoxicity test E. coli, SOS-test). 

The ISO has also produced a set of quality standards specifically for environmental management. This is the ISO 14000 series. The areas addressed by ISO 14000 are Environmental Management Systems, Environmental Performance Evaluations, Environmental Auditing, Life Cycle Assessment, and Environmental Labeling. 

The Neurobehavioral Evaluation System 2 (NES2) is a neurobehavioral evaluation system designed to facilitate screening of populations at risk of nervous system damage due to environmental agents. This evaluation system is administered on a microcomputer. Epidemiologic research influenced the sets of tests that were included in this battery. An expert committee convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) proposed a set of core tests for this battery. Many of the core tests that were... 

The Automated Portable Test System (APTS) evaluation system is an outgrowth of the work of the PETER Program. The PETER Program had identified tests that were reliable, stable, and sensitive to environmental and toxic stressors. Kennedy and colleagues52 adopted and computerized a core set of 18 tasks from the PETER Program s recommended list of performance tasks suitable for repeated measures application. Those tasks are listed in Table 6.7. 

Delta, a commercial performance impairment testing system produced by the Essex Corporation, was derived from the Automated Portable Test System (APTS) evaluation system, which, in turn, was based on the work of the Performance Evaluation Tests for Environmental Research Program (PETER), a jointly sponsored U.S. Navy and NASA program designed to identify measures of human cognitive, perceptual, and motor abilities that would be sensitive to environmental perturbations that are associated with decrements in safety and productivity. 

Global Environmental Monitoring System GENeration and evaluation of EMISsion data Global ENvironmental and Earth Science Information System... 

USEPA (1991). Dietary Risk Evaluation System (DRES) [computerprogram]. Washington, DC US Environmental Protection Agency. 

To encompass the seemingly incompatible qualitative and quantitative components of total error, we evaluate them under the umbrella of so-called data quality indicators (DQIs). DQIs are a group of quantitative and qualitative descriptors, namely precision, accuracy, representativeness, comparability, and completeness, summarily referred to as the PARCC parameters, used in interpreting the degree of acceptability or usability of data (EPA, 1997a). As descriptors of the overall environmental measurement system, which includes field and laboratory measurements and processes, the PARCC parameters enable us to determine the validity of the collected data. 

Figge K, Klahn J, Koch J. 1983. Testing of chemicals by evaluation of their distribution and degradation patterns in an environmental standard system. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 3 199-215. 

There have been a number of studies on fuels used for electricity generation. One of these studies focuses on the use of natural gas, heavy oil, or coal in cogeneration of electricity.112 Using a numerical eco-load total standardized evaluation system, these authors found that coal had the lowest eco-load of all alternatives considered. In another LCA study, Goralczyk113 compares hydroelectric, photovoltaic cells, wind turbines, oil, coal, and natural gas and quantifies that electricity from hydropower had the least environmental impact. Schleisner114 focuses on wind farms in a life-cycle inventory study that focuses on the materials used to manufacture the windmills and reports that 2% of the electricity generated during the windmill s lifetime is used to manufacture the windmill components. 

R. Hillary, Evaluation of Study Reports on the Barriers, Opportunities and Drivers for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in the Adoption of Environmental Management Systems, UK Department of Trade and Industry, Environment Directorate, London, UK, 1999. 

ISO includes environmental management systems, environmental auditing, environmental labeling, environmental performance evaluation, and lifecycle assessment. It is a process rather than a performance-based system. 

Klemm, D.J., Lobring, L.B. and Homing, W.H. (1990) Manual for the Evaluation of Laboratories Performing Aquatic Toxicity Tests, EPA/600/4-90/031, p. 109. USEPA Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory, Cincinnati, OH. 

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