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Presents information on a study which proposed a method for the end-management of old landfills in Finland which is based on the utilization of forest and paper industry wastes flows. Landfill construction from waste material flows; Environmental benefits of landfill management through waste utilization; Difficulties in waste utilization.

The adoption rate for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design – Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) projects has varied considerably across the United States. Local governments and developers face variation in the incentives and barriers while implementing LEED-ND projects across four key dimensions – economic, policy, public awareness, and organizational. This paper investigated the drivers of variation using a mixed-methods approach including a two-stage Heckman model, a survey of Texas subdivision developers and interviews with local planning officials. Results indicate that initial public funding may lead to more LEED-ND projects being completed, but with a diminishing return as these projects become established within the region. Support for local programs including tax abatement, public-private partnerships, and other incentives were also demonstrated to help facilitate LEED-ND project adoption. Overall this paper underscored the important role, especially early on, the public sector and local governments play in initiating local LEED-ND projects to inform and motivate the land development industry. • U.S. LEED-ND projects face variation in adoption rates, barriers, and incentives. • 4 key dimensions identified – economic, policy, public awareness, and organizational. • Initial public funding may lead to more LEED-ND projects being completed. • Local interviews find support for local programs to incentivize further projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydraulic fracturing is an increasingly common method of oil and gas extraction across the United States. Many of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing processes have been proven detrimental to human and environmental health. While disclosure frameworks have advanced significantly in the last 20 years, the practice of withholding chemical identities as "trade secrets" or "proprietary claims" continues to represent a major absence in the data available on hydraulic fracturing. Here, we analyze rates of trade secret claims using FracFocus, a nationwide database of hydraulic fracturing data, from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2022. We use the open-source tool Open-FF, which collates FracFocus data, makes it accessible for systematic analysis, and performs several quality-control measures. We found that the use by mass of chemicals designated as trade secrets has increased over the study time period, from 728 million pounds in 2014 to 2.96 billion pounds in 2022 (or a 43.7% average yearly increase). A total of 10.4 billion pounds of chemicals were withheld as trade secrets in this time period. The water volume used (and therefore total mass of fracturing fluid) per fracturing job has shown a large increase from 2014 to 2022, which partly explains the increase in mass of chemicals withheld as trade secrets over this time period, even as total fracturing jobs and individual counts of proprietary records have decreased. Our analysis also shows increasing rates of claiming proppants (which can include small grains of sand, ceramic, or other mineral substances used to prop open fractures) as proprietary. However, the mean and median masses of non-proppant constituents designated as trade secrets have also increased over the study period. We also find that the total proportion of all disclosures including proprietary designations has increased by 1.1% per year, from 79.3% in 2014 to 87.5% in 2022. In addition, most disclosures designate more than one chemical record as proprietary: trade secret withholding is most likely to apply to 10–25% of all records in an individual disclosure. We also show the top ten reported purposes that most commonly include proprietary designations, after removing vague or multiple entries, the first three of which are corrosion inhibitors, friction reducers, and surfactants. Finally, we report the top ten operators and suppliers using and supplying proprietary chemicals, ranked by mass used or supplied, over our study period. These results suggest the importance of revisiting the role of proprietary designations within state and federal disclosure mechanisms. • Proprietary claims allow chemical identities used in hydraulic fracturing to be withheld as trade secrets. • Proprietary claims have increased from 2014 to 2022 in mass, frequency, and proportion. • a total of 10.4 billion pounds of chemicals were withheld as trade secrets from 2014 to 2022. • These results suggest the importance of revisiting the role of proprietary claims within disclosure mechanisms. This paper investigates rates of trade secrets, or chemical records designated as proprietary, in hydraulic fracturing chemical disclosure data. This research is necessary to close information gaps in environmental health and toxicological research on hydraulic fracturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to investigate the responsiveness of renewable energy production (REP) to fluctuations in geopolitical risks, oil prices and economic policy uncertainty (EPU). It applies a cross-quantilogram framework to examine monthly data of the US economy for the period of 1986–2022. The findings illustrate the asymmetric effect of historical geopolitical risk (GPRH) on REP under long memory. The findings also hold after different subcategories of GPRH, including geopolitical threats and geopolitical acts, are considered. A positive shock in GPRH has the most decisive positive impact on REP when the policies are driven by both energy security and environmental commitments. A positive shock in GPRH can negatively impact REP when policies are driven by energy security causes only. EPU exerts strong negative effects on REP in bearish and bullish states of the market under medium and long memory across different measures of EPU. Dynamic connectedness analysis applying TVP-VAR method between pairwise variables indicates that net REP is a volatility receiver to the changes in GPRH, its subcomponents, oil prices and different measures of EPU. [Display omitted] • Application of cross-quantilogram approach to US monthly data during 1986–2022. • Responsiveness of renewable energy production to historical geopolitical risk. • A positive shock in GPRH has asymmetric effects on REP in long memory. • This nexus is sensitive to the motivation of energy policies in US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To effectively manage species and habitats at multiple scales, population and land managers require rapid information on wildlife use of managed areas and responses to landscape conditions and management actions. GPS tracking studies of wildlife are particularly informative to species ecology, habitat use, and conservation. Combining GPS data with administrative data and a diverse suite of remotely sensed, geo-referenced environmental (e.g., climatic) data, would more comprehensively inform how animals interact with and utilize habitats and ecosystems and our goal was to create a conceptual model for a system that would accomplish this – the 'Automated Interactive Monitoring System (AIMS) for Wildlife'. Our objective for this study was to develop a Customized Wildlife Report (CWR) - the first AIMS for Wildlife deliverable product. CWRs collate and summarize our 8-year GPS tracking dataset of ∼11 million locations from 1338 individual (16 species) avifauna and make actionable, real-time data on animal movements and trends in a specific area of interest available to managers and stakeholders for rapid application in day-to-day management. The CWR exemplar presented in this paper was developed to address needs identified by habitat managers of Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and illustrates the highly specific, information offered and how it contributes to assessing the efficacy of conservation actions while allowing for near real-time adaptive management. The report can be easily customized for any of the thousands of wildlife refuges or regional areas of interest in the United States, emphasizing the broad application of an animal movement data stream. Utilizing diverse, extensive telemetry data streams through scientific collaboration can aid managers and conservation stakeholders with short and long-term research and conservation planning and help address a cadre of issues from local-scale habitat management to improving the understanding of landscape level impacts like drought, wildfire, and climate change on wildlife populations. [Display omitted] • Our Automated Interactive Monitoring System (AIMS) for Wildlife utilizes animal GPS data. • We developed proof-of-concept Customized Wildlife Reports (CWRs) with 11 million locations. • CWRs inform wildlife managers' decision-making in near real-time. • We conceptualize a multi-tool AIMS for Wildlife incorporating remote-sensing data. • Automated delivery of animal movement data will allow for true adaptive management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of international trade on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has primarily been viewed through the lens of emissions embodied in goods, which flow from lower-income to higher-income countries. This trade has been interpreted as allowing the high-income countries to shirk their responsibilities to address the global climate challenge by offshoring emissions. However, international trade may also have an impact on climate through flows from higher-income to lower-income countries, particularly long-lived capital and durable goods that have the potential to avoid future emissions. Given the innovation resources concentrated in higher-income countries and their historic domination of trade in such long-lived goods, this concept may balance the scales to some degree. This paper briefly develops the concept of future avoided emissions and illustrates it with the empirical case of the United States' trade in battery electric vehicles (BEVs) from 2017 to 2020. • Trade in capital goods may reduce future emissions in importing countries. • Such trade may balance trade in goods that embody emissions. • Trade in BEVs is an example, reducing future emissions from conventional cars. • A case study of US BEV trade reveals a surplus in future avoided emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract This article further develops the literature on the local consequences of natural resource extraction by using newly collected county data from 1964 to 1988 to capture both short- and long-term mortality effects. The article identifies the net impact on mortality and provides evidence that throughout the majority of its distribution, increases in extractive industry activity are associated with small decreases in total and cancer mortality on a year-to-year basis. However, increases in extractive activity are associated with net increases in county-level total, cancer, and infant mortality in the long run, and at very high levels of activity, and are strongly impacted by coal mining activity. Additional analysis is required regarding the short- and long-run mechanisms, but the paper provides preliminary evidence that extractive activity and local community pollution are positively related. Highlights • Newly collected data are used to identify time-varying effects at the county level. • Resource extraction is associated with small decreases in short-term mortality. • Resource extraction is associated with net increases in mortality over the long-run. • The effects of extraction on mortality vary depending on extraction amount. • The results are strongly impacted by the presence of coal mining activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Extreme weather events often disrupt the operation of public transit systems, and challenge the capacity of transit agencies to effectively respond to them. In this paper, we draw upon a recent nationwide survey of 273 public transit agencies in metropolitan regions across the United States to understand the factors that influence their scope of adaptation to anticipated climate risks. We find that a transit agency undertakes more adaptation measures when transit officials perceive greater risks and greater adaptive capacity of the agency, or when it experiences more severe extreme weather events. We also show that local institutional environment, in particular, political ideology, affects the scope of transit adaptation activities. Transit agencies that operate in more politically liberal counties tend to engage in more adaptation actions, while the effect of state-level ideology depends on the level of perceived influence from state governments. Highlights • Greater perceived risks lead transit agencies to take more adaptation measures. • Experiences with extreme weather events precipitate transit adaptations. • Transit agencies adapt to extreme weather when perceiving greater capacity. • Local political ideology influences the scope of public transit adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013, around 1336 desalination plants in the United States (US) provided purified water mainly to municipalities, the industry sector and for power generation. In 2013 alone, ∼200 million m 3 of water were desalinated; the amount that could satisfy annual municipal water consumption of more than 1.5 million people in the US. Desalination has proven to be a reliable water supply source in many countries around the world, with the total global desalination capacity of ∼60 million m 3 /day in 2013. Desalination has been used to mitigate water scarcity and lessen the pressure on water resources. Currently, data and information about desalination are still limited, while extensive socio-economic analyses are missing. This paper presents an econometric model to fill this gap. It evaluates the impact of selected socio-economic variables on desalination development in the US in the time span 1970–2013. The results show that the GDP and population growth have significantly impacted the desalination sector over the analyzed time period. The insights into the economics of desalination provided with this paper can be used to further evaluate cost-effectiveness of desalination both in the US and in other countries around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A surprising number of U.S. cities have drinking water with unhealthy levels of chemicals and contaminants. The city of Jacksonville (Florida), the location for this study, owns the dubious distinction of being ranked among the worst major American cities in water quality according to water quality tests conducted between 2005 and 2009 by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). This report of toxic chemicals in the Jacksonville water supply generated considerable negative publicity and coincides with a frequent and common complaint among residents of foul-smelling water. System revenues from water supply and program subsidies from government are often inadequate in mitigating the problems, perceived or real, with water quality. Therefore, this paper investigates how much residents will be willing to pay for improvements in the quality of tap water. The commonly known economic metric willingness-to-pay (WTP) is applied to estimate any possible rate hikes public utility can assess in any effort to improve real or perceived water quality. The study shows that the estimated weighted average of WTP is $6.22, which can be added to the regular water bill without eliciting much negative reaction from residents. Evidence shows that factors such as trust in authorities, health concerns, family structure, and education significantly impact the WTP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lake Erie is one of the most valuable natural resources in the United States, providing billions of dollars in benefits each year to recreationalists, homeowners and local governments. The ecosystem services provided by Lake Erie, however, are under threat due to harmful algal blooms. This paper provides recreational damage estimates using spatially and temporally varying algae measures and monthly fishing permit sales collected between 2011 and 2014. Results indicate that fishing license sales drop between 10% and 13% when algal conditions surpass the World Health's Organization's moderate health risk advisory threshold of 20,000 cyanobacteria cells/mL. For Lake Erie adjacent counties experiencing a large, summer-long algal bloom, this would result in approximately 3600 fewer fishing licenses issued and approximately $2.25 million to $5.58 million in lost fishing expenditures. Our results show a discrete jump in reduced angling activity upon crossing this threshold, with limited additional impacts associated with more severe algal blooms. This suggests that policies aimed at eliminating, rather than mitigating, algal levels are most beneficial to the Ohio angling industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Economists advocate that the billions of public dollars spent on conservation be allocated to achieve the largest possible social benefit. This is “cost-effective conservation”—a process that incorporates both monetized benefits and costs. Though controversial, cost-effective conservation is poorly understood and rarely implemented by planners. Drawing from the largest publicly financed conservation programs in the United States, this paper seeks to improve the communication from economists to planners and to overcome resistance to cost-effective conservation. Fifteen practical lessons are distilled, including the negative implications of limiting selection with political constraints, using nonmonetized benefit measures or benefit indices, ignoring development risk, using incomplete cost measures, employing cost measures sequentially, and using benefit indices to capture costs. The paper highlights interrelationships between benefits and complications such as capitalization and intertemporal planning. The paper concludes by identifying the challenges at the research frontier, including incentive problems associated with adverse selection, additionality, and slippage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

It is generally acknowledged that willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimates for environmental goods exhibit some degree of spatial variation. In a policy context, spatial variation in threatened and endangered species values is important to understand, as the benefit stream from policies affecting threatened and endangered species may vary locally, regionally, or among certain population segments. In this paper we present WTP estimates for eight different threatened and endangered marine species estimated from a stated preference choice experiment. WTP is estimated at two different spatial scales: (a) a random sample of over 5000 U.S. households and (b) geographically embedded samples (relative to the U.S. household sample) of nine U.S. Census regions. We conduct region-to-region and region-to-nation statistical comparisons to determine whether species values differ among regions and between each region and the entire U.S. Our results show limited spatial variation between national values and values estimated from regionally embedded samples, and differences are only found for three of the eight species. More variation exists between regions, and for all species there is a significant difference in at least one region-to-region comparison. Given that policy analyses involving threatened and endangered marine species can often be regional in scope (e.g., ecosystem management) or may disparately affect different regions, our results should be of high interest to the marine management community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This investigation explores whether sustainable finance and renewable energy could facilitate U.S. carbon neutrality. We perform the time-varying parameter-stochastic volatility-vector auto-regression (TVP-SV-VAR) model to obtain the changing relations among U.S. sustainable finance (SF), renewable energy (RE) and carbon dioxide emission (CO2). The empirical outcomes reveal a short-term negative effect from RE to CO2, indicating that renewable energy consumption could promote U.S. carbon neutrality. This effect is asymmetrical, and it could be observed that RE increase has a greater effect on CO2 than RE reduction. Also, the development of sustainable finance could facilitate U.S. carbon neutrality, and the direct impact is longer and more significant than RE, but the indirect effect of SF on CO2 by influencing RE is hysteretic. Besides, the asymmetric effect reveals that the negative direct impact of SF increase on CO2 is smaller than SF reduction, and the latter's indirect effect is more rapid than the former. Against the backdrop of global warming and frequent extreme weather, the above conclusions have meaningful practical applications for the U.S. to achieve carbon neutrality targets through developing sustainable finance and renewable energy. [Display omitted] • This paper explores the effects of SF and RE on U.S. carbon neutrality. • The facilitation of SF on U.S. carbon neutrality is more influential than that of RE. • There is a hysteretic indirect effect of SF on CO2 by influencing RE. • The negative effect of RE reduction on CO2 is smaller than that of RE increase. • The direct and indirect effects of SF on CO2 are asymmetric. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many US governmental and Tribal Nation agencies, as well as state and local entities, deal with hazardous wastes within regulatory frameworks that require specific environmental assessments. In this paper we use Department of Energy (DOE) sites as examples to examine the relationship between regulatory requirements and environmental assessments for hazardous waste sites and give special attention to how assessment tools differ. We consider federal laws associated with environmental protection include the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), as well as regulations promulgated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Tribal Nations and state agencies. These regulatory regimes require different types of environmental assessments and remedial investigations, dose assessments and contaminant pathways. The DOE case studies illustrate the following points: 1) there is often understandable confusion about what regulatory requirements apply to the site resources, and what environmental assessments are required by each, 2) the messages sent on site safety issued by different regulatory agencies are sometimes contradictory or confusing (e.g. Oak Ridge Reservation), 3) the regulatory frameworks being used to examine the same question can be different, leading to different conclusions (e.g. Brookhaven National Laboratory), 4) computer models used in support of groundwater models or risk assessments are not necessarily successful in convincing Native Americans and others that there is no possibility of risk from contaminants (e.g. Amchitka Island), 5) when given the opportunity to choose between relying on a screening risk assessments or waiting for a full site-specific analysis of contaminants in biota, the screening risk assessment option is rarely selected (e.g. Amchitka, Hanford Site), and finally, 6) there needs to be agreement on whether there has been adequate characterization to support the risk assessment (e.g. Hanford). The assessments need to be transparent and to accommodate different opinions about the relationship between characterizations and risk assessments. This paper illustrates how many of the problems at DOE sites, and potentially at other sites in the U.S. and elsewhere, derive from a lack of either understanding of, or consensus about, the regulatory process, including the timing and types of required characterizations and data in support of site characterizations and risk assessments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The emergence of the novel coronavirus has necessitated immense research efforts to understand how several non-environmental and environmental factors affect transmission. With the United States leading the path in terms of case incidence, it is important to investigate how weather variables influence the spread of the disease in the country. This paper assembles a detailed and comprehensive dataset comprising COVID-19 cases and climatological variables for all counties in the continental U.S. and uses a developed econometric approach to estimate the causal effect of certain weather factors on the growth rate of infection. The results indicate a non-linear and significant negative relationship between the individual weather measures and the growth rate of COVID-19 in the U.S. Specifically, the paper finds that a 1 °C rise in daily temperature will reduce daily covid growth rate in the U.S. by approximately 6 percent in the following week, while a marginal increase in relative humidity reduces the same outcome by 1 percent over a similar period. In comparison, a 1 m/s increase in daily wind speed will bring about an 8 percent drop in daily growth rate of COVID-19 in the country. These results differ by location and are robust to several sensitivity checks, so large deviations are unexpected. • This paper develops a temporal model to estimate daily weather fluctuation's effects on growth rate of COVID-19 infection. • Marginal increases in temperature, relative humidity and wind speed reduces COVID-19 growth rate. • The effect of weather fluctuations on COVID-19 growth rate is non-linear. • The impact of weather changes differ by geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper based on quantile stochastic frontier framework constructs quantile eco-efficiency measures. Using the estimates from the quantile stochastic frontier, the eco-performance of the U.S. states for nitrogen oxides (NO X), carbon dioxide (CO 2), and sulfur dioxide (SO 2) emissions is evaluated. A decoupling analysis involving the evaluation of the nonsynchronous change among states' economic output and environmental degradation levels is also performed. The findings suggest that U.S. states have followed a decoupling process among their GDP and emission levels over the period 1990–2017. In addition, a quantile eco-productivity change estimator is presented alongside with its main components (i.e. quantile eco-technical change and quantile eco-efficiency change). Our findings suggest that over the examined period states' eco-productivity levels have been improved driven both from their eco-technical and eco-efficiency change levels. • We examine regional eco-efficiency across the US states. • We examine regional eco-productivity across the US states. • We employ a quantile stochastic frontier analysis. • We employ a decoupling analysis among U.S. states' GDP and emissions levels. • We find that eco-productivity levels was driven by eco-technical change levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental regulations often have the objective of eliminating the lower tail of an index of environmental quality. That part of the distribution of environmental quality moves somewhere above a threshold and where in the original distribution it moves is a function of the control strategy chosen. This paper provides an approach for estimating the economic benefits of different distributional changes as the worst environmental conditions are removed. The proposed approach is illustrated by examining shifts in visibility at Class I visibility areas (National Parks and wilderness areas) that would occur with implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Regional Haze Program. In this application we show that people value shifts in the distribution of visibility and place a higher value on the removal of a low visibility day than on the addition of a high visibility day. We found that respondents would pay about $120 per year in the Southeast U.S. and about $80 per year in the Southwest U.S. for improvement programs that remove the 20% worst visibility days. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a Stormwater Emergency Response Framework (SERF) for use in the containment and treatment of stormwater runoff following a hazardous material release. The framework consists of four high level process steps and a decision tree. These resources are intended to assist stormwater managers in fulfilling their emergency response responsibilities within the United States' National Incident Management System. Robust hydraulic and watershed modeling may take weeks to months to develop for a contaminated site, whereas decisions made in the initial hours can have a significant impact on limiting contamination spread. Many web resources are publicly available to assist responders in visualizing stormwater runoff flow paths. A case study provided in this paper also demonstrates how simple calculations may be utilized to estimate peak flows and storage volumes necessary to respond to precipitation events immediately. These calculations are useful for decision makers' allocation of containment and treatment resources within the impacted area. This includes where to deploy available resources to minimize contamination risks to downstream communities and where supplemental resources from outside partners are urgently needed. • Process steps and decision tree for response to a hazardous material release. • Overview of web resources available to rapidly visualize runoff flow paths. • Framework application to a notional wide-area contamination case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biodiversity is an essential part of properly functioning ecosystems, yet the loss of biodiversity currently occurs at rates unparalleled in the modern era. One of the major causes of this phenomenon is habitat loss and modification as a result of intensified agricultural practices. This paper provides a starting point for considering biodiversity within dairy production, and, although focusing primarily on the United States, findings are applicable broadly. Biodiversity definitions and assessments (e.g., indicators, tools) are proposed and reviewed. Although no single indicator or tool currently meets all the needs of comprehensive assessment, many sustainable practices are readily adoptable as ways to conserve and promote biodiversity. These practices, as well as potential funding opportunities are identified. Given the state of uncertainty in addressing the complex nature of biodiversity assessments, the adoption of generally sustainable environmental practices may be the best currently available option for protecting biodiversity on dairy lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At an estimated 206 million gallons, the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) is the largest marine oil spill in the history of the United States. In this paper we develop a series of random utility models of site choice by saltwater anglers in the Southeast US and estimate monetary compensation for recreational losses due to the DWH oil spill. Heterogeneity in angler preferences is accounted for by using mixed logit models, and different compensation measures for shore-based, private boat, and for-hire anglers are estimated. Results indicate that willingness to pay for oil spill prevention varies by fishing mode and anglers fishing from shore and private boats exhibit heterogeneous preferences for oil spill avoidance. In addition, the total monetary compensation due to anglers is estimated at USD 585 million. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential rebate programs for low-flow water devices have become increasingly popular as a means of reducing urban water demand. Although program specifics vary, low-flow rebates are available in most U.S. metropolitan areas, as well as in many smaller municipalities. Despite their popularity, few statistical analyses have been conducted regarding the effects of low-flow rebates on household water use. In this paper, we consider the effects of rebates from the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA). Using panel regression techniques with a database of rebate recipients, we estimate the marginal effects of various low-flow devices on household water demand. Results indicate a negative correlation between household water use and the presence of most low-flow devices, after controlling for water price and weather conditions. Low-flow toilets have the greatest impact on water use, while low-flow washing machines, dishwashers, showerheads, and xeriscape have smaller but significant effects. In contrast, air conditioning systems, hot water recirculators, and rain barrels have no significant impact on water use. We also test for possible rebound effects (i.e. whether low-flow appliances become less-effective over time due to poor rates of retention or behavioral changes) and compare the cost effectiveness of each rebate using levelised-costs. We find no evidence of rebound effects and substantial variation in levelised-costs, with low-flow showerheads being the most cost-effective device under the current ABCWUA rebate program. The latter result suggests that water providers can improve the efficiency of rebate programs by targeting the most cost-effective devices. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Groundwater is widely used as a source of drinking water in North America. However, it can be contaminated by microbial or chemical agents potentially hazardous to human health. In recent decades, governments have developed better knowledge of groundwater and established measures to protect and preserve the resource. Several studies have shown that relevant information on groundwater might prove very useful for regional planning purposes. However, there is little information on how groundwater information contributes to decision making in urban and regional planning in Canada and the United States. The objective of this study is to explore the level of use of groundwater information for land use planning purposes in Canada and the United States and to identify the factors that may explain why some provinces or states are more proactive than others when it comes to using such data for groundwater protection purposes. This paper presents the results of a survey sent across North America to groundwater information producers. The resulting data from the survey were examined using descriptive analyses and multiple correspondence analysis, and illustrate how groundwater data can be integrated into land planning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The 2010 British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon oil spill highlighted long-standing questions about energy exploration and its social and environmental implications. Sociologists studying environmental disasters have documented the social impacts resulting from these events and dissatisfaction with government and industry responses. In this paper, we use data from a survey conducted during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to examine how Louisiana and Florida residents'' social backgrounds, experiences with the spill, and trust in information sources predict their perceptions of governmental and BP response efforts. We find that direct personal impacts and compensation strongly influence the evaluations of responding organizations. Age and place of residence also predict such assessments. Finally, levels of confidence in television news and BP as sources of information appear to shape Gulf Coast residents'' opinions about the work of organizations responding to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Non-market valuation research has produced value estimates for over forty threatened and endangered (T&E) species, including mammals, fish, birds, and crustaceans. Increasingly, Stated Preference Choice Experiments (SPCE) are utilized for valuation, as the format offers flexibility for policy analysis and may reduce certain types of response biases relative to the more traditional Contingent Valuation method. Additionally, SPCE formats can allow respondents to make trade-offs among multiple species, providing information on the distinctiveness of preferences for different T&E species. In this paper we present results of an SPCE involving three U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed species: the Puget Sound Chinook salmon, the Hawaiian monk seal, and the smalltooth sawfish. We estimate willingness-to-pay (WTP) values for improving each species’ ESA listing status and statistically compare these values between the three species using a method of convolutions approach. Our results suggest that respondents have distinct preferences for the three species, and that WTP estimates differ depending on the species and the level of improvement to their ESA status. Our results should be of interest to researchers and policy-makers, as we provide value estimates for three species that have limited, if any, estimates available in the economics literature, as well as new information about the way respondents make trade-offs among three taxonomically different species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Perchlorate, an anion that originates as a contaminant in ground and surface waters, is both naturally occurring and manmade. Because of its toxicity, there has been increased interest in setting drinking water safety standards and in health effects when perchlorate is present at low (parts per billion (ppb)) levels. In January 2009, the EPA issued a heath advisory to assist state and local officials in addressing local contamination of perchlorate in drinking water. The interim health advisory level of 15 micrograms per liter (μg/L), or ppb, is based on the reference dose recommended by the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). This paper describes scope and extent of contaminant issues and a legal process of setting standards for perchlorate concentration in drinking water in the United States of America. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The “cradle to grave” concept of managing chemicals and wastes has been a descriptive analogy of proper environmental stewardship since the 1970s. The concept incorporates environmentally sustainable product choices—such as metal alloys utilized steel products which civilization is dependent upon. Manganese consumption is related to the increasing production of raw steel and upgrading ferroalloys. Nonferrous applications of manganese include production of dry-cell batteries, plant fertilizer components, animal feed and colorant for bricks. The manganese ore (high grade 35% manganese) production world wide is about 6million ton/year and electrolytic manganese metal demand is about 0.7million ton/year. The total manganese demand is consumed globally by industries including construction (23%), machinery (14%), and transportation (11%). Manganese is recycled within scrap of iron and steel, a small amount is recycled within aluminum used beverage cans. Recycling rate is 37% and efficiency is estimated as 53% [Roskill Metals and Minerals Reports, January 13, 2005. Manganese Report: rapid rise in output caused by Chinese crude steel production. Available from: http://www.roskill.com/reports/manganese.]. Environmentally sustainable management choices include identifying raw material chemistry, utilizing clean production processes, minimizing waste generation, recycling materials, controlling occupational exposures, and collecting representative environmental data. This paper will discuss two electrolytically produced manganese metals, the metal production differences, and environmental impacts cited to date. The two electrolytic manganese processes differ due to the addition of sulfur dioxide or selenium dioxide. Adverse environmental impacts due to use of selenium dioxide methodology include increased water consumption and order of magnitude greater solid waste generation per ton of metal processed. The use of high grade manganese ores in the electrolytic process also reduces the quantity of solid wastes generated during processing. Secondary aluminum facilities have reported hazardous waste generation management issues due to baghouse dusts from rotary furnaces processing selenium contaminated manganese alloys. Environmental impacts resulting from industry are represented by emission inventories of chemical releases to the air, water, and soil. The U.S. metals industry releases reported to EPA Toxic Release Inventory indicate the primary metals industry is the major source of metal air toxic emissions, exceeding electric utility air toxic emissions. The nonferrous metals industry is reported to be the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) most intensive airborne and land pollution source of bioaccumulative metals. However, total waste emissions from industries in the OECD countries have declined due to improving energy consumption. Emission registers and access are improving around the world. However, environmental databases for metal particulates have low confidence ratings since the majority of air toxic emissions are not reported, not monitored, or are estimated based on worst-case emission factors. Environmental assessments including biological monitoring are necessary to validate mandated particulate metal emission reductions and control technologies during metal processing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Since the mid-1980s, sagebrush rangelands in the Great Basin of the United States have experienced more frequent and larger wildfires. These fires affect livestock forage, the sagebrush/grasses/forbs mosaic that is important for many wildlife species (e.g., the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)), post-fire flammability and fire frequency. When a sagebrush, especially a Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis (Beetle & A. Young)), dominated area largely devoid of herbaceous perennials burns, it often transitions to an annual dominated and highly flammable plant community that thereafter excludes sagebrush and native perennials. Considerable effort is devoted to revegetating rangeland following fire, but to date there has been very little analysis of the factors that lead to the success of this revegetation. This paper utilizes a revegetation monitoring dataset to examine the densities of three key types of vegetation, specifically nonnative seeded grasses, nonnative seeded forbs, and native Wyoming big sagebrush, at several points in time following seeding. We find that unlike forbs, increasing the seeding rates for grasses does not appear to increase their density (at least for the sites and seeding rates we examined). Also, seeding Wyoming big sagebrush increases its density with time since fire. Seeding of grasses and forbs is less successful at locations that were dominated primarily by annual grasses (cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.)), and devoid of shrubs, prior to wildfire. This supports the hypothesis of a “closing window of opportunity” for seeding at locations that burned sagebrush for the first time in recent history. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Traditional high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) analysis for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) can be time consuming and expensive. Consequently, alternative methods are of great interest to regulatory agencies and others characterizing contaminated sites. One factor that hinders acceptance of alternative methods is a lack of performance information that assesses the alternative method''s impacts on analytical results. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency''s Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation Monitoring and Measurement Technologies Program (EPA SITE MMT) encourages the development and implementation of innovative and alternative monitoring methods by providing performance information on site characterization technologies. This paper presents a comparison of the results obtained from laboratory-based alternative approaches for screening sediment and soil samples for dioxin toxicity equivalents (TEQD/F) to results obtained using traditional HRMS. The laboratory-based approaches included modifying the traditional HRMS analysis to make it more cost-effective (alternate 1613B), analyzing extracts that had been prepared for HRMS using low resolution mass spectrometry, and determining total organic carbon (TOC) content as an indicator of PCDD/F content. These comparisons demonstrated that TEQD/F values generated using toxicity equivalency factors proposed by the World Health Organization in 1998 applied to alternate 1613B and LRMS analyses have a strong linear correlation to the TEQD/F values derived in the same fashion from traditional HRMS analysis. These results would have placed >90% of the samples within the same concentration intervals using ranges of <0.05, 0.05–0.50, 0.50–5, and >5ngTEQ/g. Natural log transformed data for TOC had significantly weaker correlation to TEQD/F, indicating that TOC is not a reliable indicator of TEQD/F concentrations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper analyzes the United Nations Organization''s Kyoto Protocol nations to address two questions. First, what are the environmental production efficiency rankings of these nations? Second, is there a relationship between a nation''s ratification status and its environmental production efficiency ranking? Our findings suggest that the nations that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol are more likely to be environmentally production efficient as compared to the nations that have not ratified the Protocol. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Groundwater serves as the primary drinking water source for over half of the coastal populations of the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions, two of the fastest growing regions in the United States. Increased demand for this resource has exceeded sustainable yields in many areas and induced saltwater intrusion of coastal aquifers. A process associated with coastal groundwater, submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), has been documented as a source of subsurface fluids to coastal ocean environments throughout the Southeast and Gulf Coast regions and is potentially a significant contributor to nearshore water and geochemical budgets (i.e., nutrients, carbon, trace metals) in many coastal regions. The importance of groundwater as a drinking water source for coastal populations and the influences of submarine groundwater discharge to the coastal ocean warrant increased research and management of this resource. This paper highlights findings from recent SGD studies on three hydrogeologically different continental margins (Onslow Bay, NC, southern Florida, and the Louisiana margin), provides background on the common methods of assessing SGD, and suggests a regional management plan for coastal groundwater resources. Suggested strategies call for assessments of SGD in areas of potentially significant discharge, development of new monitoring networks, and the incorporation of a regional coastal groundwater resources council. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper examines and compares the management practices and regulatory approaches used by the Mid-Atlantic States of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania for improving the quality of storm-water runoff. Such practices range from simple extended detention criteria in Pennsylvania through the BMP credit system used by Maryland, to the latest “green technology” methods promoted in Delaware and the recharge, quality and peak reduction approaches of New Jersey. All practices are designed to meet EPA requirements for total suspended solids (TSS) removal, but verification of performance is not required. More sophisticated methods of evaluating TSS removal that can be used for engineering design purposes are needed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Maritime shipping has two vectors of spreading marine invasive species: ballast water inside the ship and biofouling on the hulls outside the ship. While some attention has focused on ballast water, virtually none is focused on biofouling. This paper offers a quantitative analysis of economic incentives for shippers and regulating ports to address both pollution vectors. The strategies to address the vectors are induced by incentive mechanisms involving liability, subsidies and taxes. Results show these offer ample incentives in order to truly foster abatement of both vectors. Data from North America''s Pacific coast is included in the analysis. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Until now, existing remuneration of environmental services has not sufficiently supported the goals of spending money more effectively on the environment and of motivating farmers. Only a small share of the budgets for agriculture in the EU, as well as in US and other countries, is available for buying environmental goods and services beyond the level of good farming practice (GFP). This combined with the insufficient targeting of compensation payments to areas where special measures are needed leads to an unsatisfactorily low impact of agri-environment measures compared to other driving forces that stimulate the intensification of farming. The goal of this paper is to propose a management concept that enhances the ecological and cost efficiency of agri-environment measures. Components of the concept are a comprehensive environmental information base with prioritised goals and targets (available in Germany from landscape planning) and new remuneration models, which complement conventional compensation payments that are based upon predetermined measures and cost. Comprehensive landscape planning locates and prioritises areas which require environmental action. It contains the information that authorities need to prioritise funding for environmental services and direct measures to sites which need environmental services beyond the level of GFP. Also appropriate remuneration models, which can enhance the cost efficiency of public spending and the motivation of the farmers, can be applied on the base of landscape planning. Testing of the planning methodology and of one of the remuneration models (success-oriented remuneration) in a case study area (“Fuhrberger Feld” north of Hanover, Germany) demonstrated the usability of the concept and led to proposals for future development of the methodology and its application in combination with other approaches. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study presents the results of a paper of urban spatial structure and exceedances of the 8-h national ambient air quality standard for ozone in 45 large US metropolitan regions. Through the integration of a published index of sprawl with metropolitan level data on annual ozone exceedances, precursor emissions, and regional climate over a 13-year period, the association between the extent of urban decentralization and the average number of ozone exceedances per year, while controlling for precursor emissions and temperature, is measured. The results of this analysis support the hypothesis that large metropolitan regions ranking highly on a quantitative index of sprawl experience a greater number of ozone exceedances than more spatially compact metropolitan regions. Importantly, this relationship was found to hold when controlling for population size, average ozone season temperatures, and regional emissions of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, suggesting that urban spatial structure may have effects on ozone formation that are independent of its effects on precursor emissions from transportation, industry, and power generation facilities. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper identifies factors that influence the demand for a bass fishing trip taken in the southeastern United States using a hurdle negative binomial count data model. The probability of fishing for a bass is estimated in the first stage and the fishing trip frequency is estimated in the second stage for individuals reporting bass fishing trips in the Southeast. The applied approach allows the decomposition of the effects of factors responsible for the decision to take a trip and the trip number. Calculated partial and total elasticities indicate a highly inelastic demand for the number of fishing trips as trip costs increase. However, the demand can be expected to increase if anglers experience a success measured by the number of caught fish or their size. Benefit estimates based on alternative estimation methods differ substantially, suggesting the need for testing each modeling approach applied in empirical studies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In areas of varying geology, it is difficult to infer water quality from specific conductance or electrical conductivity (EC) data without an understanding of the expected range of EC values based on local bedrock composition. This paper describes a user-friendly graphical screening method that addresses this issue by plotting the EC against concurrent alkalinity data, which correlates well with the presence of carbonate bedrock under natural conditions, and thus serves as an index of bedrock type. The upper limit of EC vs. alkalinity expected in a stream is determined using regional groundwater quality data, based on the assumption that stream chemistry reflects groundwater under baseflow conditions. Stream samples with EC/alkalinity values that consistently plot above this limit are considered impacted by anthropogenic sources. The effect of dilution and runoff on the EC vs. alkalinity plot of stream samples is considered using a simple baseflow/storm runoff-mixing model. The graphical method''s utility as a screening tool is demonstrated by application to stream chemistry data from watersheds of southeastern Pennsylvania and northwestern New Jersey conductivity in several distinct geologic settings; however the method is general and widely applicable to watersheds in humid temperate regions. Its use is intended for watershed stewards of both professional and nonprofessional qualification. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Water allocation systems are challenged by hydrologic droughts, which reduce available water supplies and can adversely affect human and environmental systems. To address this problem, drought management mechanisms have been instituted in jurisdictions around the world. Historically, these mechanisms have involved a crisis management or reactive approach. An important trend during the past decade in places such as the United States has been a shift to a more proactive approach, emphasizing drought preparedness and local involvement. Unfortunately, local capacity for drought planning is highly variable, with some local governments and organizations proving to be more capable than others of taking on new responsibilities. This paper reports on a study of drought planning and water allocation in the State of Minnesota. Factors facilitating and constraining local capacity for drought planning were identified using in-depth key informant interviews with state officials and members of two small Minnesota cities, combined with an analysis of pertinent documentation. A key factor contributing to the effectiveness of Minnesota''s system is a water allocation system with explicit priorities during shortages, and provisions for restrictions. At the same time, the requirement that water suppliers create Public Water Supply Emergency Conservation Plans (PWSECP) clarifies the roles and responsibilities of key local actors. Unfortunately, the research revealed that mandated PWSECP are not always implemented, and that awareness of drought and drought planning measures in general may be poor at the local level. From the perspective of the two cities evaluated, factors that contributed to local capacity included sound financial and human resources, and (in some cases) effective vertical and horizontal linkages. This analysis of experiences in Minnesota highlights problems that can occur when senior governments establish policy frameworks that increase responsibilities at the local level without also addressing local capacity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper develops an approach to modelling land use change that links model selection and multi-model inference with empirical models and GIS. Land use change is frequently studied, and understanding gained, through a process of modelling that is an empirical analysis of documented changes in land cover or land use patterns. The approach here is based on analysis and comparison of multiple models of land use patterns using model selection and multi-model inference. The approach is illustrated with a case study of rural housing as it has developed for part of Gallatin County, Montana, USA. A GIS contains the location of rural housing on a yearly basis from 1860 to 2000. The database also documents a variety of environmental and socio-economic conditions. A general model of settlement development describes the evolution of drivers of land use change and their impacts in the region. This model is used to develop a series of different models reflecting drivers of change at different periods in the history of the study area. These period specific models represent a series of multiple working hypotheses describing (a) the effects of spatial variables as a representation of social, economic and environmental drivers of land use change, and (b) temporal changes in the effects of the spatial variables as the drivers of change evolve over time. Logistic regression is used to calibrate and interpret these models and the models are then compared and evaluated with model selection techniques. Results show that different models are ‘best’ for the different periods. The different models for different periods demonstrate that models are not invariant over time which presents challenges for validation and testing of empirical models. The research demonstrates (i) model selection as a mechanism for rating among many plausible models that describe land cover or land use patterns, (ii) inference from a set of models rather than from a single model, (iii) that models can be developed based on hypothesised relationships based on consideration of underlying and proximate causes of change, and (iv) that models are not invariant over time. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper reviewed the provincial, territorial, and state guidelines for the retention of treed riparian buffers after timber harvest in Canada and the United States. Comparisons amongst jurisdictions were facilitated through the use of a standardized template for the classification of waterbodies. Mean buffer widths varied from 15.1 to 29.0 m for different waterbody types when both countries were combined. However, Canadian jurisdictions had wider buffers (except for intermittent streams). In part, this was due to the high percentage of Boreal jurisdictions in Canada and Southeast jurisdictions in the United States. The Boreal region had the widest buffers while Southeastern jurisdictions had the narrowest buffers. Just under half (∼44%) of the jurisdictions investigated had three or more modifying factors in the guidelines. Of these, waterbody type, shoreline slope, waterbody size, and presence of fish were the most common. Boreal and Pacific jurisdictions tended to have a more diverse set of waterbody size classes, waterbody types, and other modifying factors. Jurisdictions from the Midwest, Northeast, and Southeast maintained relatively simple ‘one-size-fits-all’ guidelines. Jurisdictions without modifying factors for slope or presence of fish applied wider baseline buffers than jurisdictions with these factors. A large percentage of jurisdictions (∼80%) allowed some selective harvest in buffers. However, these were often accompanied by relatively restrictive prescriptions. In comparison to the ecological recommendations, buffer widths for most jurisdictions were adequate to protect the aquatic biota and habitats but were, generally, less than recommended widths for terrestrial communities. In the future, two management trends are likely to continue, the shift towards more complicated guidelines and the expansion to larger-scale, watershed planning of riparian areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Water managers increasingly are faced with the challenge of building public or stakeholder support for resource management strategies. Building support requires raising stakeholder awareness of resource problems and understanding about the consequences of different policy options. One approach that can help managers communicate with stakeholders is system dynamics modeling. Used interactively in a public forum, a system dynamics model can be used to explain the resource system and illustrate the effects of strategies proposed by managers or suggested by forum participants. This article illustrates the process of building a strategic-level system dynamics model using the case of water management in Las Vegas, Nevada. The purpose of the model was to increase public understanding of the value of water conservation in Las Vegas. The effects of policies on water supply and demand in the system are not straightforward because of the structure of the system. Multiple feedback relationships lead to the somewhat counterintuitive result that reducing residential outdoor water use has a much greater effect on water demand than reducing indoor water use by the same amount. The model output shows this effect clearly. This paper describes the use of the model in research workshops and discusses the potential of this kind of interactive model to stimulate stakeholder interest in the structure of the system, engage participant interest more deeply, and build stakeholder understanding of the basis for management decisions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Hybrid institutions share features common to other ideal type organizations, but serve as an important focus of innovation, often combining features of charity, public service, and business. Where they exist, hybrid organizations are abundant, playing crucial roles in the management and governance of public goods and common pool resources. This is particularly true in the cooperative business sector, the United States (U.S.) in particular. U.S. cooperatives comprise a significant share of the agriculture, electricity, telecom, and consumer finance sectors. Yet the entrepreneurial support systems catalyzing U.S. cooperatives remains under-studied. This paper undertakes two case studies to present widely divergent forms of entrepreneurship: the institutional entrepreneurial support system of the electric cooperative sector, and; the broker's entrepreneurial role in starting The Veterinary Cooperative in support of independent veterinary clinics. The cases find that with proper support systems and actors, hybrids can not only flourish, but also provide for significant impacts with their stakeholders, as well as the broader market context. This demonstrates a need for incorporating institutional diversity vis-à-vis hybrids in environmental management, as well as the provision of the support for their growth. • Hybrid organizations are abundant, but their contributions to the management and governance of quasi-public goods are understudied despite their reach into those arenas. • The manner in which hybrid organizations startup -and their systems of entrepreneurial support- are little understood and researched, but addressed here. • One hybrid, the cooperative, is robust in key industries despite little entrepreneurial support, making them a valuable study subject for overcoming these barriers. • Two cases studies of U.S. co-ops provide insights as to how to overcome the gap in support for hybrid entrepreneurship: electric cooperatives; and The Veterinary Cooperative. • The cases demonstrate that with proper support systems and brokers for entrepreneurship, cooperatives and deliver significant economic benefit to their stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A critical reason for China-United States trade friction is that China has a huge trade balance, especially the trade balance of goods. However, this huge trade balance is based on the results of official statistics and does not reflect the real economic benefits and environmental costs embodied in China-US trade, where both refer to trade in value-added and embodied CO 2 emission costs, respectively. This paper calculates the trade in value-added and carbon emission transfer between China and the United States based on the World Input-Output Database. Results demonstrate that: (1) Gross trade statistics seriously overestimate China's benefits in China-US trade. The China-US trade surplus, based on gross trade statistics, is 20% higher than when based on trade in value-added accounting. (2) In China-US bilateral trade, China mainly adopts the trade model of importing intermediate products and exporting final products，whereas the United States mainly adopts the trade model of importing final products and exporting intermediate products. China's exports to the United States contain many of value-added in Korea, Taiwan, and Japan. (3) From 2000 through 2014, China maintained a large surplus of CO 2 emissions exports to the United States, and China paid a huge environmental cost in its trade with the United States. (4) In China-US trade, China's environmental costs per unit value-added is 3.02 times that of the United States. • Real economic benefits and environmental costs between China-US trade are accounted. • Based on trade in value-added accounting, The China-US trade surplus decrease by 20%. • China's environmental costs per unit value-added is 3.02 times that of US in China-US trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]