基于公众视角的中小化工企业环境风险研究

Public Perception towards Environmental Risks of Small and Medium Chemical Enterprises

中小化工企业尽管能给当地政府带来可观的社会和经济效益,但同时也对其周边环境和居民健康造成严重威胁,已成为影响地方可持续发展的重要隐患。然而,公众如何看待中小化工企业造成的环境风险、企业与政府的环境管理和污染改善策略如何,目前还鲜有深入研究。本文基于河北省X县化工厂周边居民问卷调查(N=550),旨在了解公众对当地化工厂环境风险及管理的认知状况,分析影响公众环境风险认知的主要因素,并提出相应的政策建议。结果表明:了解化工厂管理情况和环保局监督情况的受访者分别占10.9%和7.5%;64%的受访者认为化工企业建成后环境质量变差,受访者认为化工厂给当地环境质量和居民健康带来风险的可能性比带来社会、经济利益的可能性更大。Spearman相关分析表明,受访者教育程度、家庭收入、生活经历等都会影响受访者的风险认知情况。最后基于调查结果从政府、企业环境信息的及时发布、化工企业排污管理以及政府、企业与公众的风险沟通方面提出改善管理的举措。

In the chemical industry, small and medium enterprises （SMEs） can generate social and economic benefits to the local government. However, SMEs can also be an obstacle to local sustainable development because they may cause severe environmental risks to the local environment and residents living adjacent to the SMEs. In China, risk management of chemical SMEs has however not been well explored from a public perspective. Using face-to-face surveys, this thesis aims to investigate public perception towards environmental risks and management of local chemical SMEs, and to analyze the main factors affecting public risk perception in X County, Hebei Province （N=550）. The results indicate that only 10.9% of the respondents knew about the pollution prevention measures undertaken by the chemical SMEs and its environmental management, and that only 7.5% of respondents knew about the county Environmental Protection Bureau’s and the government’s environmental supervision. About 64% of the respondents thought that the local environmental quality was deteriorating after the chemical SMEs started operation. According to the respondents, the chemical SMEs bring more threats to environmental quality and human health than social and economic benefits. Spearman correlation analyses show that respondents with different levels of education, household annual income, and living experiences have significant differences in their risk perceptions. Based on the analyses, three aspects to improve risk management are further discussed including 1） environmental information disclosure by the government and the chemical SMEs; 2） control over pollutant emissions of the chemical SMEs; and 3） risk communication among the local government, the chemical SMEs, and the public.