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This article focuses on formation of environmental policy in different periods in Lithuania. The purpose of the article is to analyze main steps of development environmental policy. Some researchers keep opinion that the beginning of environmental policy started in the interwar period. Meanwhile more environmental specialists are following position that in this period had been not founded any specialized environmental institution and the roots of environmental policy cannot be in the interwar years. Actually development of environmental policy started after Second World War in the soviet period when Nature Conservation Act has been adopted and State Nature Protection Committee, and some environmental protection agencies had been founded. The beginning of modern environmental policy started in the beginning of re - establishing of the Independent Republic when Sate Environmental Protection Department has been founded and Environmental Protection Act has been adopted. The adoption of the State Environmental Protection Strategy and the National Environmental Protection Strategy are main current strategic instruments to develop modern environmental policy in Lithuania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the concept of environmental compensation and provides the examples of environmental compensation practices in various European Union countries. The principle of environmental compensation is to avoid, minimize, restore or compensate the damage to the biodiversity due to human activities, however in practice it is almost impossible to achieve no net loss to the biodiversity. European Union has issued Directive that established the principles of environmental compensation already in 2004, however until now the practices of environmental compensation in European Union countries are very fragmented. The implementation of environmental compensation principles in urban development is constrained mainly by factors such as lack of space, and the complexity of environments that are affected. There is a lack of integrated approach towards the strategies how environmental compensation should be implemented in the planning of various projects that have impact upon biodiversity. Furthermore, there is a lack of holistic approach towards the nature in legislation and practices of environmental compensation, as usually focus of instruments is on specific parts of natural environment. Ideally, the principles of environmental compensation should be an integral part of national strategies of sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air cleaning efficiency tests on placing material load into the lavsan biofilter were carried out. Testing included butanol vapour-contaminated air stream pulled during the boot. The studies were conducted by the Department of Environmental Protection at VGTU that developed a biofilter - an experimental biological air cleaning device. Measurements were done using 60 lmin and 90 lmin air volume aspirators under the initial pollutant concentration making 180,305, 350,440 and 545 mg/m³. Before measuring the concentrations of butanol lavsan cartridge, loading was periodically irrigated with nutrient-rich solution. In order to evaluate the influence of microorganisms on genus Pseudomonas, cleaning efficiency tests were repeated - Boot was moistened with water only, which allowed measuring butanol vapour concentrations after the cartridge. At the concentration of 180±9 mg/m³, efficiency reached 41% at a speed of 0,07 m/s and 46 % at a speed of 0,10 m/s. Measuring the performance of the initial concentration of 545±67 mg/m³, efficiency was 54% at 0,07 m/s and 53 % at 0,10 m/s respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to properly analyse the operation of a two-level multichannel cyclone. a study on how air flow moves inside the cyclone is necessary. The two-level multichannel cyclone is designed to separate solid particles from the air stream and has been built in the Environmental Protection Laboratory at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. Researches on finding how the air flow distributes within two levels and channels of the six-channel cyclone were made. Air velocity was measured using multimeter Testo-400 and dynamic Pito tube. Air velocity measurements in ducts before and after the device were done using an anemometer. The results showed that the air volume at both cyclone levels were equal, and air velocity in the channels that were the same at both levels was also distributed equally. The highest air speed was measured at the end of the last IV channel and reached 13 m/s. Minimum air velocity can be observed when the rings are arranged in such way that 75% of the air flow returns to the previous channel, and the maximum speed is when the previous channel returns 25% of the air flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the decision-making process in the energetics sector. In the work, multicriteria decision-making support tools, their application domains and usability possibilities are analysed and structured. The article presents the support tools selected for environmental policy integration in energetics and determines the possibilities of their application for Lithuania's energetics policy. It gives the methodology of multicriteria decision-making in the energetics sector, based on the assessment of the impact of energy and environmental policy priority goals. The definition of 'harmonious development' is extended, regarding philosophies of various generations about the basic aspects of Human, Nature and System's capacity harmonization. According to this expanded definition, there is presented an improved energetics policy development system: Propulsion - State - Response (PSR). The main contribution is the design of the State phase, combining the Human, Nature and System parts, aiming to create overall and relevant strategies. A consecutive energetics policy development system is set out and the method of its use is described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At this moment, in the world as well as in Lithuania, politics of environmental protection is one of the most important policy directions. After the 2008 Parliament election, a new environmental programme of the Government was compiled, which should satisfy society's expectations, solve the most relevant environmental problems and ensure quality realization of environmental policy in Lithuania during 2008-2012. The aim of the work was to analyze and evaluate environmental aspects in the election campain of political parties during the 2008 election to the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania and in Government programmes. The analysis has shown that: 1. The environmental protection management system of Lithuania ensures quite a reliable administration and implementation of environmental politics in the Republic of Lithuania. However, it still causes some problems, so this system should be improved. 2. Environmental protection is regulated by various legal documents which should ensure an appropriate implementation of environmental protection. However, often the main problems remain unsolved due to abundance and imperfection of these documents. 3. Analysis of environmental protection programmes of political parties of Lithuania shows that the Lithuanian environmental protection politics are mostly oriented to protection of natural environment. Less attention is paid to the protection of landscape, cultural and recreation resources. 4. The programmes of environmental protection, prepared by political parties, are made according to environmental preferences of certain social groups, and therefore the lack of complex approach in these programmes is indicative of the limited social ecological consciousness. 5. The main environmental preferences of coalition parties of the Parliament of the Republic of Lithuania, mentioned in the programmes of the parties, also reflect society's expectations and are involved into the ambitious governmental programme which should be implemented during 2008-2012. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The essence of sustainable development is to attain mutual harmony and compromise of three equal values: environment, economy and social society. In order to achieve this goal none of the values should not be made primary over the others and their coexistence should be ensured by proper conditions. Due to the significance of implementation of sustainable development goals various environmental measures are needed which are based not on state enforcement, but on enabling to avoid environmental law violations and encouraging voluntary compliance with the requirements of environmental law. As a consequence, the balance between the environmental, economic and social society goals can be ensured more effectively. The potentially effective measure to ensure compliance with the requirements of environmental law is public disclosure of environmental information and violators of environmental law. The article considers the importance of the concept of public disclosure of environmental information, Lithuanian practice on this issue, and its importance for the purposes of sustainable development. The author also reveals the concept of public disclosure of environmental law violations, analyzes this topic in the context of Lithuania, and its importance for the achievement of sustainable development goals. The mechanism of public disclosure of environmental information enables the society to control legal entities, so that they do not unduly focus solely on their economic goals, thus denying other values to the society. Public disclosure of information on legal entities which have committed environmental law violations and state enforcement measures applied to them encourages legal entities to voluntarily comply with the requirements of environmental law and not to commit environmental law violations. The author concludes that both public disclosure of environmental information and public disclosure of legal entities which have committed environmental law violations and enforcement measures applied to them by the state encourages legal entities to voluntarily abstain from committing environmental law violations and enables to reduce costs of enforcement. If legal entities voluntarily comply with environmental law requirements, the need for control and supervising bureaucracy apparatus decreases and the aims of sustainable development can be achieved more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The legal regulation of environmental legal relationships seeks to to protect and restore natural resources, protect the environment from any harmful impact and improve the quality of life health protection. These aims may be successfully achieved in case a common and harmonious system of legal regulation is created and implemented. However, such a system of legal regulation of environmental relationships in Lithuania has not yet been created. The article introduces and analyses the environmental relationships, their peculiarities and social importance. It further considers a question of which environmental relationships should be the object of environmental law. In the light of the goal of legal regulation to integrate EU and Lithuanian environmental policy principles into the other fields of social life, the article also characterizes the methods, principles and functional relations with legal norms of other legal branches and legal acts. The current situation of legal regulation of environmental relationships is criticised as too complicated and ineffective. The ambiguity, uncertainty and other shortcomings of the legal regulation are caused by huge vicissitude, frequent amendments, duplication between the EU and Lithuanian laws and other legal acts. As a consequence, preconditions for corruption, law abuses, breach of subjective rights, possibility of public and private interests conflicts are created, which its causes passiveness and legal nihilism of the society. The article suggests to create, enforce and improve the system of legal regulation of environmental relationships, systematize and codify environmental legal norms, raise activity of the society and improve the level of its legal knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]