Federal Environmental Regulations Research Articles

Politics center stage as GOP touts a brighter shade of green

In an attempt to counter recent Clinton Administration attacks on the environmental record of Republicans, House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) has been making sure that everybody knows that Republicans want a clean, healthy environment as much as anyone else, but that current command-and-control federal environmental regulations not the way to go. He believes it is necessary to get the message out that Republicans are serious about running an intelligent, rational environmental policy. Speaking late last month at a Washington, D.C., fundraiser for the Denver-based Coalition of Republican Environmental Activists (CREA), Gingrich was determined to counter the bad publicity Republican candidates encountered during the 1996 congressional elections by giving a more palatable rendition of what it means to be a Republican environmentalist. And Republicans with less than pristine records have something to worry about. In 1996, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) launched its first Dirty Dozen campaign, ...

Contemporary Western Rural USA Economic Composition: Potential Implications for Environmental Policy and Research

/ The rural West of the United States is considered strongly antienvironment. The traditional economic reliance of the area on natural resources has long explained this antienvironment stance. The region consistently elects federal officials who as a group consistently vote against environmental bills and seek to undo existing federal environmental regulation. These politicians defend their antienvironment actions based on their perception of the economic composition and interests of the region. Recent studies, however, have suggested that rural residents are increasingly concerned about environmental issues. These studies, however, lack a consistent theoretical basis. This article uses an alternative economic typing system to examine the economic composition of rural Idaho and suggests that the results found using the alternative typing system might provide a theoretical basis to explain why some studies are finding increased rural environmental support. The results show that rural Idaho is much more economically diverse using this alternative typing methodology compared to the outcomes of traditional USDA economic methodologies. The policy and research implications of these findings are examined.KEY WORDS: Rural; Environmental policy; Economic composition

An Expert Infobase System for Tracing Hazardous Materials in Engineering Documents and System Requirements for Materials Information Standardization

Abstract The Hazardous Waste Minimization (HAZMIN) Infobase has a Navy Aviation Depot's maintenance directives and processing procedures in digitized text and graphics files. It is important that all chemicals that are restricted in some manner by state and federal environmental and safety regulations are identified in the materials that are specified within the processing documents, by shop (work area), and to the level of the ingredients that make up the materials in use. Described will be how, by using the HyGEN Expert Infobase System technology and appropriate methodology, an audit trail for state and federal safety- and environmentally-restricted materials can be established against engineering and material documentations. The Expert Infobase system is an integration of infobase, database, and rule-based expert systems. HyGEN software can synergistically integrate a select set of off-the-shelf PC software and can provide the system with relational capabilities such as database to text and vice versa, in addition to the common database to database. Also, there are database or text to graphics cross-relating capabilities. The system can possess similar properties as those of the object-oriented programming technology. These capabilities can furthermore be synergized to successfully design and automatically manage complex information structures such as with repeating data groups nesting within another level of repeating data group. Also described will be the organizing approaches for viewing information from several perspectives yet using the same basic information set.

96/01152 SECONS '94: Strategy and economics in the North Sea oil and gas industry

In recent years, cases in which state governments chose to override federal environmental regulation with tighter regulations of their own have become increasingly common, even for pollutants that have substantial spillovers across states. This paper argues that this change arose at least in part because of a shift in the type of regulation used at the federal level, from command-and-control regulation toward more incentive-based regulation. Under an incentive-based federal regulation, a state imposing a tighter regulation will bear only part of the additional cost, and thus has more incentive to tighten regulation than it does under federal command-and-control. This difference helps to explain observed patterns of regulation. In addition, it has implications for the choice of regulatory instruments. For a pollutant that causes both local and spillover damage, a federal pollution tax is likely to yield a more efficient outcome than federal command-and-control policy or a federal system of tradable permits.

What We Know About Opportunities for Intergovernmental Institutional Innovation: Policy Issues for an Industrializing Animal Agriculture Sector

Textbook wisdom would suggest that the Congress and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are taking an appropriate approach to policies regarding environmental risks associated with animal agriculture in the United States. Relevant federal environmental regulations are based on performance standards, which are preferred on economic efficiency grounds over technology-based regulation (Baumol and Oates). Furthermore, the states are given the opportunity to implement these standards-based federal regulations, a feature that allows for policy customization in accordance with unique environmental attributes of each state. Pressure from environmental regulation, in combination with the increased mobility of large vertically integrated livestock production units (Abdalla, Lanyon, and Hallberg) should, in theory, act to optimally allocate concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in areas of the country that have low environmental vulnerability to the byproducts of animal agriculture, and, thus, have lower costs of compliance. Smaller and land-extensive livestock operations that are not so readily mobile would remain in locations where, because of lower and different environmental risk

Economic Analysis of Nitrogen Sources and Placement Methods in No-Tillage Corn

No-tillage production reduces the effects of declining soil productivity and water quality where severe erosion is a concern. Proposed federal environmental regulations may restrict N fertilizer applications, thereby reducing no-tillage yields. Soil injected N is more effective than broadcast N, although costs of labor, equipment, and energy are higher for injection than for broadcasting. This study compares the levels of N required to achieve specified no-tillage corn (Zea mays L.) yields from injection vs. broadcast applications. The costs of achieving the specified yields also are compared. Data from field experiments conducted at the Milan, TN, Experiment Station in 1983, 1984, and 1985 are used to estimate corn yield response functions for injected and surface applied N. Results suggest that injecting requires 31% to 59% less N per acre than broadcasting to achieve average field experiment yields for 1983, 1984, and 1985. Even though machinery and labor costs are higher, costs of achieving 1983, 1984, and 1985 average experimental yields are $12, $8.76, and $9.63/acre lower for injecting urea-ammonium nitrate (UAN) than for the least costly broadcast alternative. Similar reductions in cost for injected anhydrous ammonia (AA) compared with the least costly broadcast alternative are $16.99, $15.50, and $16.16/acre for 1983, 1984, and 1985, respectively. Results suggest that achieving average experimental yields through injection rather than broadcasting can reduce N use by at least 30% while reducing costs of fertilizer N and its application by as much as 50%.

Achieving Leadership in Environmental R&D

Protection of the environment is one of today's clearest societal imperatives. School children are learning about the dangers to the environment, activists are pushing for greater environmental protection, and legislators are creating increasingly tougher controls to reduce environmental damage. The R&D management community is clearly serious about rising to the environmental challenge. In money terms, estimates suggest that over $10 billion is being spent annually in the U.S. on industrial R&D related to environmental issues (1). Reviews of environment-related R&D initiatives of several companies have appeared in the literature (1, 2). The Industrial Research Institute is conducting a multiorganizational research project to identify best practices in organizing and conducting strategic management of environmental R&D. A working group convened by the European Industrial Research Management Association (EIRMA) has concluded that R&D focus is clearly shifting from clean-up technologies to fundamentally cleaner and safer products and processes (3). However, review of the published literature and discussions with numerous R&D directors suggest a significant company-to-company variation in how R&D is approaching environmental considerations. Some are struggling with basic compliance requirements for the R&D laboratories while others are exploring environment-driven innovation opportunities or even leading their corporations to new strategic horizons. Some are focusing their attention solely on clean-up technologies while others are developing new, cleaner alternatives. Five Steps to Take The progression of an R&D laboratory from compliance management to strategic leadership on environmental matters can be described as a five-step evolution: 1. Reactive.--R&D organizations operating on this first level simply develop and implement basic management systems and processes to digest and address the multitude of federal and state environmental regulations specific to R&D facilities. Environmental management is treated as an administrative burden and delegated to a safety and environment manager. The R&D staff is told what to do and what not to do with respect to regulatory requirements. An environmental policy has not yet been developed, or if developed, not widely disseminated. 2. Participative.--At the next stage of evolution, the R&D management and staff are aware of the need to collectively manage the environmental well-being of the facility. Teams are in place to plan and implement such good citizenship programs as waste reduction and recycling, energy management and green alternatives, through facility-wide participation. Awareness and training initiatives are underway to sustain the momentum of the participative efforts. 3. Active.--R&D organizations at this third stage have moved on to establishing an environmental analysis and planning framework for their R&D projects. The management and staff routinely examine the environmental dimensions of all proposed R&D projects before they are undertaken, and regularly review the results from ongoing projects against original assumptions. Management systems such as environmental checklists and stage-gate analyses are in place to institutionalize the planning and review processes. 4. Innovative.--At this advanced stage of progression, the R&D organization is actively seeking out innovation opportunities in environmentally-friendly products, processes and services. Unlike the organizations in the active stage, those in the innovative stage place high priority on generating promising, environmentally-driven R&D project ideas. The R&D director has the explicit or implicit support n of some business unit managers for this opportunity search. The staff is knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the potential for such contributions. 5. Leadership. …

Estimated Economic Impacts of Environmental Regulations on Southern Softwood Stumpage Markets

Abstract We estimated the economic effects on southern softwood timber producers and buyers of reduced western federal timber harvests and of reduced southern private harvests caused by federal, state, and local environmental regulations. Estimates were computed using applied welfare analysis and current stumpage market conditions. A range of likely changes in southern softwood stumpage markets were analyzed. The combined effects of the environmental regulations and western set-asides are expected to result in higher stumpage prices with little significant change in available quantity supplied. The results indicated that in the short run, timber producers in aggregate (although not necessarily individually) are expected to be the initial overall beneficiaries. Timber producers would realize a net gain (in producer surplus) of about 4.8% in the pulpwood stumpage market and 2.0% in the solidwood stumpage market, while stumpage buyers would realize a net loss (in consumer surplus) of about 4.9% in each market. The estimates provide means of valuing some of the tradeoffs that must be made between protecting the environment and growing timber. South. J. Appl. For. 18(4):156-162.

State versus federal environmental regulation in a non-cooperative monopoly screening model

A multiple principal, monopoly screening model is presented in which two regulators act as rivals when setting a menu of contracts composed of a two-part pricing scheme and design standard. State and federal environmental regulation are modeled. We show that the firm prefers federal environmental regulation because the design standards are more stringent. This preference for stricter control occurs because higher standards generate higher information rents for the firm.

Dealing with environmental regulations and agencies: An industry perspective

O nce upon a time life was simple. Environmental laws and regulations were short and issued infrequently. Environmental departments at plant sites consisted of only one person, and that person usually ran the department on a part-time basis while holding down a regular staff assignment. All managers needed to do to comply with the law was to sit back and wait for regulations to be issued, Then, after reading and understanding the laws, they simply told plant engineers what to install and how to do so within regulations. They could then attend to the other business of keeping the production units operating. If managers wanted to build or expand a unit, they simply told their engineers to design it and reminded them to keep safety in mind. After the engineers built the unit, the public looked upon new construction as a source of jobs and income for the community. Today the environmental climate is different. Laws and regulations are incredibly long and complex. In fact, the newly amended Federal Clean Air Act is 355 pages long--299 pages longer than the 1970 Act. Legal interpretation is required to correctly follow the regulations; they no longer lend themselves to plain readings by managers or engineers. Environmental department and operating department permit files now often fill entire rooms; liquid waste is defined as solid waste; and hammers are now drop-dead dates---companies must comply by a certain date or they will cease to operate. Plant environmental departments now need numerous employees to run air, solid waste, and water departments, to clean old sites, and to maintain data bases and waste minimization programs. Inspectors visit plant sites frequently to check control devices and permit records, it now can take months to obtain a permit to construct or operate assuming the firm has survived the public notice and comment period for proposed construction and that there are no demonstrations at the front gates. Coping with all the new federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations now requires a new approach. No longer is it Environmental awareness and regulation mean that firms must be proacfive,

The politics of efficiencies, the efficiencies of politics: States vs. markets in environmental protection

In The Political Limits of Environmental Regulation: Tracking the Unicorn, Bruce Yandle identifies some of the key weaknesses of federal environmental regulation, including its regressive effects, its tendency to better serve selected political interests than the cause of environmental protection, and the EPA's failure to follow sensible priorities. Additional problems may also be cited, including the tendency to exclude citizens’ voices from deliberations regarding the degree of pollution control. But Yandle's conclusion regarding the likely superiority of decentralized and market‐sensitive alternatives to centralized regulation is overstated. Any such alternatives necessarily will continue to be grounded in relatively uniform national standards. Moreover, in the context of American political economy, market‐based controls would continue to deny many citizens real voice and choice. The quest continues to be for the combination of controls that best preserves both the environment and liberty.

Will Federal Environmental Regulation be Permitted to Infringe on State Vested Water Rights?

Will Federal Environmental Regulation be Permitted to Infringe on State Vested Water Rights?

Environmental Regulations and Agricultural Lending

sponsive to the enactment of the Comprehensive Environmental Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). Nor were they moved into action by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA). However, the attention of many lenders was attracted by a series of court decisions which imposed upon lenders liability for the cost of cleaning environmentally damaged or contaminated property once belonging to their borrowers. (See Olexa, this issue, for a discussion of this series of cases.) Contemporaneously, countless additional state and federal environmental regulations have been enacted to control and/or repair environmental damage (Olexa 1990, Bock et al.). The purpose of this paper is to describe lenders' responses to environmental regulations and case law, and the potential effect of these regulations on loan demand from the perspective of institutional management. First, the issues are identified and briefly discussed. Next is an examination of the reactions of various lenders and

Legal incentives for minimizing waste

Waste minimization, or pollution prevention, has become an integral component of federal and state environmental regulation. Minimizing waste offers many economic and public relations benefits. In addition, waste minimization efforts can also dramatically reduce potential criminal requirements. This paper addresses the legal incentives for minimizing waste under current and proposed environmental laws and regulations.

Measuring Damages to Marine Natural Resources from Pollution Incidents under CERCLA: Applications of an Integrated Ocean Systems/Economic Model

Several pieces of federal environmental regulation establish strict liability for damages from spills of oil and hazardous substances. This paper discusses the Natural Resource Damage Assessment Model for Coastal and Marine Environments (NRDAM/CME), which is to be used for assessing damages from spills of oil or hazardous substances in coastal and marine environments under CERCLA and the Clean Water Act, as amended. The approach employs an integrated ocean systems/economic model to simulate the physical fates and biological effects of a spill and to measure the resulting economic damages. To illustrate application of the model, selected results are presented for hypothetical spills of a number of substances in a variety of environments. The results show that the damage function depends on the physical and chemical properties of the substance spilled, the season, and the environment in which the spill occurs.

GRESHAM'S LAW: THE REGULATORY ANALOGY

The authors argue that delegation of discretion over environmental regulation to the states may trigger a process analogous to Gresham's Law in which lax regulation in one state drives out stringent regulation in neighboring states. This devolution to regulatory laxity is illustrated by the lax pesticide regulations in five Midwestern “agricultural” states. Questions are raised about the effects of the Reagan Administration's commitment to reduce the stringency of federal environmental regulations and delegate more regulatory discretion to the states.

Self-Interest, Ideology, and Logrolling in Congressional Voting

LAWS may be passed because of self-interest or because of ideology. All national laws are ultimately passed by Congress; therefore, an analysis of the factors which determine the way in which congressmen vote can be used to determine the extent to which each of these factors is involved in passage of legislation. Because of the development of statistical tools such as logit analysis, which enable the analyst to handle situations in which the dependent variable is dichotomous, determinants of voting have recently been examined using roll-call voting data. The basic technique in this work has been to define the vote by a congressman on a bill as the dichotomous dependent variable and to use economic factors associated with the district as independent variables. But if this research is to proceed, it is necessary to separate out the factors-self-interest, logrolling, and ideology-which actually determine voting. This separation is the purpose of this paper. Kau and Rubin' and Silberman and Durden2 have analyzed voting on minimum wages; Danielsen and Rubin3 have examined voting on energy issues; Davis and Jackson4 have examined voting on income redistribution; and Kau and Rubins have examined the effect of public-interest lobbies such as Common Cause on the legislative process. Thus, statistical analysis of roll-call voting has been, and is likely to continue to be, a useful tool. This work in economics has differed somewhat from related work by political

A Small Price to Pay

According to an analysis done by the EPA, the costs of pollution control had forced the closing of plants employing about 20,000 people by 1976. However, other studies showed that air and water pollution control investments forced by local, state, and Federal regulation had also created 600,000 jobs. According to a study done by Chase Econometric Associates for the US Council on Environmental Quality for the period 1970--1983, Federal pollution control requirements would cause an average annual increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 0.3 to 0.4%, with the 1978 figure estimated at 0.5%. These figures are in line with those of the US Council on Wage and Price Stability which estimates that the inflationary impact of all Federal regulatory efforts adds 0.7% to the CPI. Thus, any realistic modification of Federal environmental regulations would produce no significant reduction in the overall CPI. If the inflationary impact of these requirements could be reduced by 20%, the increase in the CPI would be restrained by only 0.1%.

U.S. NAVY R&D EFFORTS IN SUPPORT OF OIL POLLUTION ABATEMENT STRATEGIES

ABSTRACT During the past few years the Navy has become increasingly concerned with the detrimental environmental effects which may result from the oily waste discharges and oil spills from its ships and shore facilities. Thus, it is not surprising to find that the Navy has been embarked on a vigorous oil pollution abatement program designed to permit its ships and shore facilities to at least meet existing federal, state, and local environmental regulations.1 The basic strategy of the program has been to institute measures that will reduce the amount of oil being discharged into the environment wherever possible, before implementing oily waste treatment techniques. In implementing the oil pollution abatement program it became apparent in many instances that commercially available off-the-shelf systems were not suitable for direct Navy use. Strict space, weight, reliability and maintainability requirements associated with operational Navy units precluded, in many instances, the use of existing oil pollution abatement equipment. For these reasons, an extensive research and development program was initiated. Numerous in-house laboratories and private contractors have been actively involved in the development of a technology base required to support oil pollution abatement strategies. They have been instrumental in identifying the causes and magnitude of the problem, developing operational changes, and providing techniques and hardware to combat oil pollution. The most salient contributions of the program are shipboard oil/water separators for contaminated bilge and ballast wastes, real time oil-in-water monitors, and effluent oil spill containment and cleanup equipment.

Impact of Environmental Controls on Highways

New federal and state environmental legislation and regulations have directly affected operations of highway departments and the ability of highway agencies to plan, design, and construct new public works facilities. A brief summary of environmental regulations analyzing environmental controls is presented. An illustrative example describes an analysis for comparing highway alternatives on the basis of road user and nonuser, social, economic, and environmental factors. The impact on the decision-making process is considered from the viewpoint of the multiplicity of approvals by different governmental agencies that are required in highway location and design. Interactions between land development and transportation are examined and the need for community involvement in the early stages of the decision-making process are stressed, particularly at that point in time when land development decisions that generate new travel demands are made. A series of questions are raised that appear to require answers regarding the impact of environmental controls on the organization and management of highway agencies.