State of the Environment 2011 -- Australia

State of the Environment 2011
Independent report to the Australian Government Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Australian State of the Environment Committee, Authors.

The 2011 State of the Environment (SoE) report aims to give Australians the best possible and clearest answers to three basic questions:

• What is the current condition of the Australian environment?
• What are the risks the Australian environment faces and are we doing enough to protect it?
• Where is the Australian environment headed?

 

Much of Australia's environment and heritage is in good shape, or improving. Other parts are in poor condition or deteriorating. Some of the pressures on our environment arise from past decisions (or even just bad luck) that have left an ongoing legacy of impact. Our changing climate, and growing population and economy are now confronting us with new challenges.

  

The consequences of our past environmental and heritage management are reflected in a number of environment indicators that continue to cause concern. Introductions of feral animals and weeds, widespread land clearing, the drainage of wetlands, intensive harvesting of fish stocks and a host of other past actions will continue to exert pressures on our environment regardless of environmental policies and management that now prohibit or minimise such actions, and regardless of our management of the drivers of climate change, and growing population and economy. For example, if we did not add one more person or business to the nation, the ongoing impacts of feral goats, rabbits, cane toads, land clearing and vegetation dieback would continue to be significant.

 

 

 

 

 

2012 CEQR Technical Manual -- City of New York

2012 CEQR Technical Manual


The CEQR Technical Manual (the Manual) assists city agencies, project sponsors, and the public in conducting environmental reviews subject to City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR). The Manual (in PDF format below) summarizes CEQR procedures and provides guidance on the substantive areas of analysis customarily assessed in an environmental review.


Applicability of the CEQR Technical Manual: The updated CEQR Technical Manual should be used as guidance for any environmental review commenced on or after February 2, 2012. In the case of impact analyses commenced prior to the release date that are not considered complete as of such date--through the issuance of a Negative Declaration, a Conditional Negative Declaration, or a Final Environmental Impact Statement--the lead agency should consider, taking into account as necessary the scheduled timing of completion of environmental review under the applicable regulatory approval process, whether supplementation of the impact analyses to reflect a methodology of the updated CEQR Technical Manual should be conducted.

Endangered Sea Turtles: Better Coordination, Data Collection, and Planning Could Improve Federal Protection and Recovery Efforts -- GAO

Endangered Sea Turtles: Better Coordination, Data Collection, and Planning Could Improve Federal Protection and Recovery Efforts, from the Government Accountability Office (12-242) January 31, 2012. 

What GAO Found


The services have coordinated some sea turtle protection efforts, including jointly developing recovery plans, and they established a memorandum of understanding in 1977 to define their roles in joint administration of their efforts. Nevertheless, neither the memorandum nor the services have clearly defined how and when the services are to coordinate; also, the services do not consistently share information about the majority of the take they authorize. According to sea turtle experts GAO spoke with, each service may therefore be authorizing sea turtle take without knowing how much its counterpart has authorized, and the combined allowance may be harming threatened and endangered sea turtles and delaying their recovery.

NMFS and FWS each use databases that collect information about consultations involving take of sea turtles and other species, but they do not use these databases to comprehensively collect and analyze sea turtle take data. Specifically, not all of the databases require entry of data on anticipated and actual take. The services also maintain separate documents that collect information about anticipated take, but these documents are not structured to easily allow analysis of total anticipated take and do not track actual take. According to some experts and NMFS officials GAO spoke with, total take should be considered when the services determine whether proposed actions are likely to jeopardize species or approve additional take authorizations.

Biological opinions prepared by NMFS and FWS do not clearly explain how the services determine that an action anticipated to result in the take of sea turtles will not jeopardize their continued existence. Guidance developed by the services states that the opinions should be written so the general public can trace the path of logic to the conclusion. But some experts GAO spoke with said, and GAO’s review of selected biological opinions found, that the opinions may not clearly describe why the services conclude that a particular action, such as commercial fishing anticipated to harm turtles, will not jeopardize the species’ existence. If the analyses and decisions in the opinions are not clear, neither Congress nor the public can be assured that the services are adequately protecting vulnerable sea turtle populations as required by the Endangered Species Act.

Neither NMFS nor FWS has developed its own service-specific operational plans describing the actions it will perform to achieve the goals in their jointly prepared sea turtle recovery plans. In the absence of service-specific plans, the services rely on the jointly developed recovery plans to guide their sea turtle protection and recovery efforts. But GAO’s review of these recovery plans found that they do not include key elements of effective planning, such as performance measures to gauge progress toward goals. Without service-specific plans and performance measures, neither service can ensure that it is taking the steps needed to realize sea turtle recovery goals.

Synopsis of the Queensland Environmental Legal System -- ELP

Synopsis of the Queensland Environmental Legal System.  This book from Environmental Law Publishing (AU) explains the four layers of the Queensland environmental legal system: international law; Commonwealth law; Queensland law; and the common law. It provides short explanations of major international treaties and domestic legislation with links to useful websites for anyone interested in a particular topic.

Conservation Café -- Greenburgh (NY) Public Library

Conservation Café

Preserving our Community Forests during ”Stormy” Times Friday, March 23, 8:45 a.m. – 10 a.m. (Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.) Greenburgh Public Library in Elmsford, NY With all the recent harsh weather wreaking havoc on our local tree population, what does it take to protect the trees that are left behind? Find out how you can help protect and preserve the trees in your local community. The program will feature:• Rick Harper, from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Westchester, who will discuss the importance of urban forests and their value to the ecosystem; • Mark Gilliland, from the Village of Irvington’s Green Policy Board and Chairman of the Tree Board, who will discuss the results of the recent tree inventory and present analysis of the data collected during the study; • Frank DiMarco, Commissioner of Tuckahoe Department of Public Works, who will discuss the town’s newly revised tree ordinance. A panel discussion with a question-and-answer session will follow with:• Brendan Murphy, Forester with the Watershed Agricultural Council, who will discuss helpful information about choosing and planting native trees for reforestation efforts on public land as well as in your own backyard; • Allan Douglas, Field Operations Planner for Con Edison, will give a brief overview of their Vegetation Management Program and respond to any inquiries. Pre-registration is requested. Register online or by calling (914) 422.4053. Coffee provided by Coffee Roaster Labs – please bring your own mug and carpool if possible. The Greenburgh Public Library is located at 300 Tarrytown Road in Elmsford, NY.

World Water Forum -- Conference

World Water Forum 2012 Marseille, France

The Forum that will take place in Marseille from March 12th to 17, 2012

"Every three years since 1997, the World Water Council, with a host country and city, organises a forum that mobilises creativity, innovation, competence and know-how in favour of water.

The five World Water Forums organised since 1997 have placed water on the international political

agenda. They have undoubtedly contributed to a global awareness of the water issues. The Forum must be perceived first of all as a tri-annual process initiated as soon as a host country and a host city have been selected and prepared by a series of preparatory processes which combine thematic, regional and political activities. These processes mobilise thousands of water stakeholders from 5 continents over a three year period and culminate in the Forum week. However this week is not an end in itself: it represents simply an important milestone in a continuous process combining dialogue, action and monitoring of the results.

With a unifying and open-minded spirit, the World Water Forum strives to open its activities to the

tire water stakeholders of the professional community, water users, political arena and of the civil
society. The World Water Council, the host city and the host country promote interactions and
partnerships at all geographic scales and between all actors."

BuildingEnergy 2012 -- Conference

BuildingEnergy is the most established and most cross-disciplinary renewable energy and high performance building conference in the region. Organized by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association, it brings together architects, engineers, builders, policymakers, developers and building managers for three days of networking, accredited educational sessions and a high-level trade show. Attracting participants from across the US and Europe, it will take place next year March 6-8, 2012, at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston, MA.