The final goal of the EUROWET project is to integrate the substantial multidisciplinary European research in wetlands to help attain the sustainable management of the water cycle. This will be achieved by the translation of state-of-the art science developed at both national and European levels, into practical guidance for end-users. This will be achieved by a comprehensive review, expert assessment and a focussed dissemination strategy. There is considerable scientific knowledge and technical experience gained in diverse aspects of wetland science and management including hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology restoration, socio-economic and policy analysis. However the results of research and management experience are still too fragmentary and not sufficiently orientated to problem-solving or simply inadequately framed to be effectively transferred to, or used by, stakeholders and policy-makers. Simultaneously the general outcome of the scientific research has been increased awareness of the significance of wetlands in delivering goods and services important for human welfare including quality of life, biodiversity conservation and maintenance or enhancement of environment quality. Despite this wetlands continue to be degraded and lost throughout Europe without adequate consideration of the wider benefits to be achieved from this management. The new Water Framework Directive (WFD) promotes a unique opportunity to redress this problem by means of the holistic, integrated approach to water management. There is currently in preparation horizontal guidance on Wetlands as part of the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) process. There is however work still to be done on providing more specific scientific and technical guidance on the effective implementation of the Directive with respect to wetlands. This is particularly the case in relation to Integrated River Management, the CIS cluster within which wetlands are being considered in the WFD.
Die Immissionsüberwachung wird in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern durch den Betrieb eines landesweiten Luftmessnetzes gewährleistet. Entsprechend bestehender Gesetze werden folgende Aufgaben durchgeführt: -Überwachung von Grenzwerten -Ermittlung der städtischen und ländlichen Hintergrundbelastung -Ermittlung der Belastung an verkehrsbelasteten Standorten -Ermittlung der Belastung im Umfeld von Industriebetrieben und Hafenanlagen -Beobachtung der Langzeitentwicklung -Ermittlung der Ursachen von Grenzwertverletzungen -Uberprüfung der Maßnahmen zur Luftreinhalteplanung -Information der Öffentlichkeit entsprechend der vorgeschriebenen EU-Richtlinien -Datenauswertung und Beurteilung entsprechend der vorgeschriebenen EU-Richtlinien und nationaler Gesetze und Vorschriften -Datenaustausch -besondere Berichtspflichten bestehen gegenüber der EU -Entwicklung von Messtrategien -Einsatz verschiedenster Messverfahren und Kalibriertechniken Die stationären Messstationen sind entsprechend ihres Einsatzzweckes mit verschiedenen Messgeräten ausgestattet, mit denen es möglich ist, die kontinuierliche Überwachung der Luftschadstoffbelastung an Feinstaub (bis1998 Schwebstaub), Stickoxiden, Ozon, Schwefeldioxid und Kohlenmonoxid kontinuierlich zu überwachen, zu erfassen und zeitnah hierüber zu berichten. Für die Ermittlung der Benzolkonzentrationen kommen an drei Standorten Passivsammler zum Einsatz. An einigen der Messstationen wurden darüber hinaus Geräte zur diskontinuierlichen Feinstaubsammlung installiert, um nach Laboranalysen Kenntnisse über die Inhaltsstoffe des Feinstaubs (z. B. PAK und Schwermetalle) zu gewinnen. Diese Daten werden gegenwärtig in 14 vollautomatisch betriebenen Messcontainern an folgenden Standorten gewonnen: verkehrsnah gelegene Messstationen in: Neubrandenburg, Rostock, Schwerin, Stralsund, Wolgast ländlich gelegene Messstationen: Gülzow, Göhlen, Löcknitz, Rostock-Stuthof, Leizen, Garz Messstationen im städtischen Hintergrund: Güstrow, Rostock-Warnemünde. Desweiteren wird ein NH3-Messnetz zur orientierenden Messung betrieben, um die Kenntnisse über die räumliche Variabilität der NH3-Immissonen im ländlichen Raum zu verbessern und damit wichtige Informationen z. B. im Rahmen von Genehmigungsverfahren zu generieren.
Urban regions in the EU face increasing but uncertain flood risks due to urbanization and the effects of climate change. In European (a.o. the Flood Risk Directive) and in national and regional policies, attempts are made to diversify and align different Flood Risk Strategies (FRSs). In our proposal, five such strategies are distinguished: risk prevention; flood defense; mitigation; preparation; and recovery. We assume that vulnerable urban agglomerations will be more resilient if multiple FRSs are applied simultaneously, linked together and aligned. At the same time, the application of a diverse cluster of FRSs has to be appropriate, i.e. attuned to the physical and social context. The latter asks for innovative Flood Risk Governance Arrangements (FRGAs). In the proposed program, insights from governance and legal scholars will be integrated and combined, leading to policy design principles for FRGAs as well as concrete recommendations for policy and law at the level of the EU, its member states, regional authorities, and public-private partnerships. Across different EU countries and regions, we expect to identify different mixes of FRSs. We will analyze, explain and evaluate the emergence and dominance of the FRGAs through which these FRSs are institutionally embedded. For this, a comparative analysis of FRGAs in six EU member states will be carried out. This analysis will reveal good practices, provide understanding of the resilience of FRSs as well as their appropriateness in different physical, social and legal contexts. The design principles thus derived, will be brought together in a design-oriented framework for ex-ante evaluation of FRGAs. As part of the program, various target group specific knowledge dissemination activities will be carried out, aimed at regional stakeholders, high level policymakers and EU officers. To this end, Grontmij, a consultancy company, and CEPRI (The European centre for flood risk prevention) have been included in the consortium, apart from universities in the six EU member states.'
The objective of CEFES is to perform a focused assessment and evaluation of data in EU forest monitoring networks to provide policy relevant information on: - The interactive effects of climate change with air quality change (nitrogen (N) deposition and ozone (O3) exposure) on European forest ecosystems and their services (wood production, C sequestration, biodiversity and the protective functions of forests in view of an adequate soil and water quality). - The way in which adaptive and sustainable forest management strategies can be used to mitigate climate and air quality change effects on forest structures and functions and keep forests sustainable in the long-term. The evaluations will be based on available data from forest monitoring systems at the European scale (mainly available data at ICP forests Level II and Level I plots with additional data derived in the LIFE+ FUTMON project) in combination with available databases on air quality and meteorology, and key data assessed in CEFES itself. More specifically, the objectives are to evaluate the above mentioned datasets and to assess the climate (precipitation, temperature) and air quality (N and acid deposition, O3) pressures and their effects on: - the protective functions of soil and water resources in terms of changes in (i) hydrological budgets and ground water recharge and (ii) soil acidification and N leaching to ground water and surface water; - forest growth, carbon (C) sequestration and the related CO2 exchange; - tree species diversity and ground vegetation, in terms of its nature conservation value; - forest ecosystem health, phenology and regeneration potential. Building on to these evaluations, CEFES aims to identify regionally specific adaptive management strategies in order to mitigate the impact of climate change on forest structures and functions. Considering the LIFE+ objectives, the project aims to contribute specifically to monitoring and evaluation of environmental policy and legislation by: - Evaluation of climate change scenarios, as described by the IPCC scenarios, and air quality change scenarios, as determined by policies related to (i) the Air Quality Framework Directive and related Daughter Directives of the EU and (ii) the UNECE Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution. - Provision of policy relevant information on effects of climate change in relation to air quality change on forest ecosystems in Europe and giving recommendations for adaptation measures at the forest management level. - Provision of data that contributes to the reporting needs (specifically as defined in the criteria and indicators of the Ministerial Conferences of Protection of Forest Ecosystems, MCPFE) and obligations at national and European level.
Das Europäische Umweltbüro EEB und der BUND Sachsen, unterstützt von der Anwaltskanzlei Baumann, haben eine EU-Beschwerde gegen die Bundesrepublik Deutschland bei der EU-Kommission eingereicht. Der Regierung und den Vollzugsbehörden in Sachsen wird vorgeworfen, Vattenfall/EnBW für das Braunkohlekraftwerk Lippendorf eine unberechtigte Ausnahme von strikteren Grenzwerten für Schwefeldioxid gestattet zu haben, welches nicht die Bedingungen der EU-Vorgaben – so die Einschätzung EEB und BUND Sachsen – erfülle. Die Genehmigung seitens der Behörden erlauben Schwefelemissionen bis zu 375 mg/Nm³, die EU-Vorgaben erlauben bis zu maximal 200 mg/Nm³. Das EU-Recht erlaubt eine Abweichung jedoch nur, falls eine technische Begründung der Behörde zuvor übermittelt wird. Diese muss belegen, dass der reguläre Emissionsgrenzwert nicht durchführbar ist. Das EEB und die Anwaltskanzlei Baumann bemängeln, dass keine entsprechende Begründung vorliegt und die Behörde die Sonderverschmutzungsrechte dennoch gestattet hätte.
The adoption of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC imposes the sewage sludge to be subsequently treated so it is expected by 2005 to increase twofold in comparison whit 1992. However, classical incineration to treat this vast amount of sludge must be no longer accepted from an environmental point of view. In addition, the Sewage Sludge Directive 86/278/EEC regulates the uses and properties of stabilised sludge for being either recycled or disposed. Both directives drive specific actions in two complementary ways. Firstly, a deep knowledge of current sludge treatment, such as mesophilic, thermophilic or autothermophilic processes, must be promoted to solve that problem in the UE ambit, taking in account the particular considerations of each treatment facility. In second place, the development of new processes must be supported to open new alternatives that could valorise that waste.The proposal aims at developing strategies for the disposal and reuse of waste sludge. The scope envisages to develop several processes for reducing both amount and toxicity of sludge, with simultaneous transformation into green energy vectors such as methane or hydrogen. In outline, mesophilic and mainly thermophilic and autothermophilic conditions will be deeply explored as classical alternatives for sludge stabilisation, assuring sanitary conditions of the treated sludge. Also, valuable materials will be obtained from sludge, such as activated carbons, which will be used in conventional adsorption processes and in innovative advanced oxidation processes.The main outcomes expected at the end of the projects are guidelines for technology selection in agreement with the geographic, economic and technical characteristics of the sewage plants, demonstration of the feasibility of new applications for the sewage sludge, manufacturing of activated carbon from sludge sewage as innovative recycling of sludge waste, and a deep understanding of the methods involved. Prime Contractor: Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.
FOOTPRINT aims at developing a suite of three pesticide risk prediction and management tools, for use by three different end-user communities: farmers and extension advisors at the farm scale, water managers at the catchment scale and policy makers/registration authorities at the national/EU scale. The tools will be based on state-of-the-art knowledge of processes, factors and landscape attributes influencing pesticide fate in the environment and will integrate innovative components which will allow users to: i) identify the dominant contamination pathways and sources of pesticide contamination in the landscape; ii) estimate pesticide concentrations in local groundwater resources and surface water abstraction sources; iii) make scientifically-based assessments of how the implementation of mitigation strategies will reduce pesticide contamination of adjacent water resources. The three tools will share the same overall philosophy and underlying science and will therefore provide a coherent and integrated solution to pesticide risk assessment and risk reduction from the scale of the farm to the EU scale. The predictive reliability and usability of the tools will be assessed through a substantial programme of piloting and evaluation tests at the field, farm, catchment and national scales. The tools developed within FOOTPRINT will allow stakeholders to make consistent and robust assessments of the risk of contamination to water bodies at a range of scales relevant to management, mitigation and regulation (farm, catchment and national/EU). They will in particular i) allow pesticide users to assess whether their pesticide practices ensure the protection of local water bodies and, ii) provide site-specific mitigation recommendations. The FOOTPRINT tools are expected to make a direct contribution to the revision of the Directive 91/414/EC, the implementation of the Water Framework Directive and the future Thematic Strategy on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides. Prime Contractor: Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières; Paris; France.
The working documents on revision of the Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) on Biowaste and the Soil Protection Communication call for standards on sampling and analysis of sludge, treated biowastes and soils. The European Directives are intended to prevent unacceptable release of contaminants, impairment of soil function, or exposure to pathogens, and to protect crops, human and animal health, the quality of water and the wider environment when sludges and treated biowastes are used on land. The EU animal by-product regulations are fixing microbiological threshold values, for which microbiological methods of analysis are needed. The European Commission wishes to cite European (CEN) standards in order that there is harmonised application of the directives and that reports from Member States (MS) can be compared. This project to develop standards for hygienic parameters in sludge, soil and biowaste, presented under the name 'HORIZONTAL-HYG', will be carried out under the umbrella of the main project HORIZONTAL 'Development of horizontal standards for soil, sludge and biowaste'. This ensures full integration in the CEN system through BT Task Force 151 specially set up in support of this project as well as direct supervision by DG ENV and MS, which form the Steering Committee of HORIZONTAL. Preparation of HORIZONTAL-HYG was taken in a full agreement with the DG ENV, DG JRC and the MS already contributing to HORIZONTAL. HORIZONTAL-HYG's objective is to produce standardised methods for sampling and hygienic microbiological parameters, as Salmonella spp, Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, Ascaris ova in sludges, treated biowastes and soils written in CEN format. Validation of the methods is an essential part of the development as it quantifies performance in terms of repeatability and reproducibility. The consortium is well connected in CEN and ISO and thus provides an excellent basis for implementation of the deliverables. Prime Contractor: Energieonderzoek Centrum Nederland; Petten, Netherlands.
Der seit 2010 geltende Luftqualitäts-Jahresgrenzwert für Stickstoffdioxid von 40 Mikrogramm pro Kubikmeter wurden in einigen Gebieten Deutschlands nicht eingehalten. Die europäische Luftqualitätsrichtlinie (2008/50/EG) räumt die Möglichkeit ein, für die betroffenen Gebiete bei der Europäischen Kommission eine Fristverlängerung für die Einhaltung der Grenzwerte zu beantragen. Bis zum 01.Januar 2015 kann die Grenzwerteinhaltung von den Kommunen maximal aufgeschoben werden. Voraussetzung dafür sind genaue Aufstellungen, welche Maßnahmen in den Städten wann getroffen werden sollen und welches Minderungspotential gesehen wird. In ihrem Beschluss vom 20. Februar 2013 teilte die Europäische Kommission mit, dass sie bei 33 von 57 Fristverlängerungsanträgen deutscher Regionen Einwände erhebt. Die eingereichten Unterlagen sind nach Auffassung der Kommission nicht ausreichend und gehen in einigen Fällen nicht über das Niveau von Entwürfen hinaus. Halten die Kommunen die Grenzwerte nicht ein, droht Deutschland im schlimmsten Fall ein Vertragsverletzungsverfahren von der EU mit hohen Strafzahlungen.
The aim of SIPE is to promote and increase the use of research results in support of Standards (related to the compartments air, water, soil and waste) to stakeholders from RTD, Standardisation bodies, policy and enterprises/SMEs. A dedicated www-based Standards Information Portal (SIPE-RTD) will be developed and implemented. Easy transfer of information is facilitated by an input module (SIPIS) and a document repository. An Interfacing Group, consisting of stakeholders representatives will be invited to comment on the initial concept and to steer the development of the portal. They shall be instrumental to ensure that SIPE-RTD develops into a fit-for-use and sustainable entity. EC FP-funded research projects in support of Standards and their results, and Standards related to the mentioned sectors will be listed. EC Directives in these areas and their policy tasks will be collated. The same set of keywords will be used to describe all data sets. This pool of (Standards related) keywords will be interlinked by algorithms into a Categorisation scheme of keywords. This scheme will be the basis for the interactions within and between the stakeholder communities, and be used for gap analyses. Information on RTD projects (and their results), information on Standards and Directives will be entered into SIPE-RTD. Short descriptions in non-scientific language will be entered together with web-links. To maximise dissemination to all stakeholders the target audiences will be defined and their networks/professional organisations will be mapped. Dissemination will be two-way: inform all stakeholders on the activities of the SIPE project and inform all on the benefits of SIPE-RTD as an important tool in communication between different Standards communities. The Interfacing Group and a Stakeholder Network will test and validate SIPE-RTD and support dissemination to their respective audiences.