Data Needs to Assess Environmental Quality Issues Related to Agriculture and Rural Areas

Abstract

The assessment of environmental quality problems and the design and economic evaluation of alternative federal, state, and local policy strategies to address environmental issues require complex analyses which must address the underlying physical, biological, social, and economic processes. The study of environmental problems is thus inherently multidisciplinary and should involve the physical, biological, and social sciences. Unfortunately, the multidisciplinary nature of environmental issues has caused problems with the quality and general availability of the data necessary for appropriate analyses. While data have been collected in many areas to address discipline-specific problems, there has been little regard for the eventual need to coordinate analyses across disciplinary lines. As Portney points out, this lack of coordination in data collection is reflected in the often Bal-