Refining the Use of Habitat Equivalency Analysis

When natural resources are injured or destroyed in violation of certain U.S. federal or state statutes, government agencies have the responsibility to ensure the public is compensated through ecological restoration for the loss of the natural resources and services they provide. Habitat equivalency analysis is a service-to-service approach to scaling restoration commonly used in natural resource damage assessments. Calculation of the present value of resource services lost due to injury and gained from compensatory restoration projects is complicated by assumptions concerning the within-time period crediting of losses and gains. Conventional beginning-of-period accounting leads to an underestimate of the loss due to injury and an overestimate of the gains from compensatory projects in cases with linear recovery projections. The resulting compensatory requirement is often insufficient to offset the true loss suffered by the public. Two algebraic equations are offered to correct for these estimation inaccuracies, and a numerical example is used to illustrate the magnitude of error for a typical, though hypothetical, injury scenario.     

生态环境损害惩罚性赔偿规则的检视与适用

生态环境损害的惩罚性赔偿规则首次在《民法典》侵权责任编中确立。针对这项制度创新,本文梳理了惩罚性赔偿规则在不同法律制度中适用范围和适用条件的差异性,并进一步分析惩罚性赔偿在生态环境损害救济体系中所具有的特殊规则和功能定位。在缺乏生态环境领域部门法配套的情况下,《民法典》中惩罚性赔偿规则的适用应基于生态环境的公益性而适当扩大请求权主体范围,基于严格法定性而明确举证责任负担和证明标准,基于生态环境要素的特殊性而完善多样化的赔偿内容和计算方法。     

Economic growth,national income and the blocked choices for the environment

Summary This paper explains why the identification of the increase of national income (or GNP) with economic growth, increase in welfare and economic success is theoretically wrong. This incorrect use of terms strengthens the one-sided orientation of economic policy on the growth of production, often at the expense of the environment. Two examples are given of how this course of affairs is blocking the social choices regarding a fundamental solution of the environmental problem. An overview is given of the possibilities of correcting the Gross National Product (GNP) figures for environmental losses. None of these are perfect, since shadow prices for environmental functions directly comparable with the market prices of goods produced can be construed only in exceptional cases. The conclusion is that the only way to arrive at national income figures corrected for environmental losses is to supplement the corrections for expenditures on preventive, restoratory and compensatory measures (defensive expenditures) with the estimated expenditures on measures required to meet physical standards, based on health and a sustainable economic development.Dr Roefie Hueting is Head of the Department of Environment Statistics at the Netherlands Central Bureau of Statistics and a Visiting Fellow at the International Institute for Environment and Society (IIUG). He is a previous contributor toThe Environmentalist (1985, pp.253–262). Dr Christian Leipert is a staff member at IIUG.     

Associating Ecosystem Service Losses with Indicators of Toxicity in Habitat Equivalency Analysis

Habitat equivalency analysis (HEA) was developed as a tool to scale mitigation or restoration when habitat is contaminated by hazardous substances or has been otherwise harmed by anthropogenic activities. Applying HEA involves balancing reductions in habitat quality against gains from restoration actions, and quantifying changes in habitat quality in terms of ecological services. We propose a framework for developing ecological service definitions and measures that incorporate knowledge about the impacts of chemical contaminants on biota. We describe a general model for integrating multiple lines of evidence about the toxicity of hazardous substances to allow mapping of toxicological inputs to ecological service losses. We provide an example of how this framework might be used in a HEA that quantifies ecological services provided by estuarine sediments contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.     

Effectiveness of Fish Habitat Compensation in Canada in Achieving No Net Loss

Fish habitat loss has been prevalent over the last century in Canada. To prevent further erosion of the resource base and ensure sustainable development, Fisheries and Oceans Canada enacted the habitat provisions of the Fisheries Act in 1976. In 1986, this was articulated by a policy that a “harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction to fish habitat” (HADD) cannot occur unless authorised with legally binding compensatory habitat to offset the HADD. Despite Canada’s progressive conservation policies, the effectiveness of compensation habitat in replicating ecosystem function has never been tested on a national scale. The effectiveness of habitat compensation projects in achieving no net loss of habitat productivity (NNL) was evaluated at 16 sites across Canada. Periphyton biomass, invertebrate density, fish biomass, and riparian vegetation density were used as indicators of habitat productivity. Approximately 63% of projects resulted in net losses in habitat productivity. These projects were characterised by mean compensation ratios (area gain:area loss) of 0.7:1. Twenty-five percent of projects achieved NNL and 12% of projects achieved a net gain in habitat productivity. These projects were characterised by mean ratios of 1.1:1 and 4.8:1, respectively. We demonstrated that artificially increasing ratios to 2:1 was not sufficient to achieve NNL for all projects. The ability to replicate ecosystem function is clearly limited. Improvements in both compensation science and institutional approaches are recommended to achieve Canada’s conservation goal.     

Compliance with Canada’s Fisheries Act: A Field Audit of Habitat Compensation Projects

Loss of fish habitat in North America has occurred at an unprecedented rate through the last century. In response, the Canadian Parliament enacted the habitat provisions of the Fisheries Act. Under these provisions, a “harmful alteration, disruption, or destruction to fish habitat” (HADD) cannot occur unless authorised by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), with legally binding compensatory habitat to offset the HADD. The guiding principle to DFO’s conservation goal is “no net loss of the productive capacity of fish habitats” (NNL). However, performance in achieving NNL has never been evaluated on a national scale. We investigated 52 habitat compensation projects across Canada to determine compliance with physical, biological, and chemical requirements of Section 35(2) Fisheries Act authorisations. Biological requirements had the lowest compliance (58%) and chemical requirements the highest (100%). Compliance with biological requirements differed among habitat categories and was poorest (19% compliance) in riparian habitats. Approximately 86% of authorisations had larger HADD and/or smaller compensation areas than authorised. The largest noncompliance in terms of habitat area occurred in riverine habitat in which HADDs were, on average, 343% larger than initially authorised. In total, 67% of compensation projects resulted in net losses of habitat area, 2% resulted in no net loss, and 31% achieved a net gain in habitat area. Interestingly, probable violations of the Fisheries Act were prevalent at half of the projects. Analyses indicated that the frequency of probable Fisheries Act violations differed among provinces. Habitat compensation to achieve NNL, as currently implemented in Canada, is at best only slowing the rate of habitat loss. In all likelihood, increasing the amount of authorised compensatory habitat in the absence of institutional changes will not reverse this trend. Improvements in monitoring and enforcement are necessary to move towards achieving Canada’s conservation goals.     

Calculating resource restoration for an oil discharge in Lake Barre,Louisiana, USA

Under the United States Oil Pollution Act of 1990, natural resource trustees are charged with assessing natural resource impacts due to an oil spill and determining the type and amount of natural resource restoration that will compensate the public for the impacts. Habitat equivalency analysis is a technique through which the impacts due to the spill and the benefits of restoration are quantified; both are quantified as habitat resources and associated ecological services. The goal of the analysis is to determine the amount of restoration such that the services lost are offset by services provided by restoration. In this paper, we first describe the habitat equivalency analysis framework. We then present an oil spill case from coastal Louisiana, USA, where the framework was applied to quantify resource impacts and determine the scale of restoration. In the Louisiana case, the trustees assessed impacts for oiled salt marsh and direct mortality to finfish, shellfish, and birds. The restoration project required planting salt-marsh vegetation in dredge material that was deposited on a barrier island. Using the habitat equivalency analysis framework, it was determined that 7.5 ha of the dredge platform should be planted as salt marsh. The planted hectares will benefit another 15.9 ha through vegetative spreading resulting in a total of 23.4 ha that will be enhanced or restored as compensation for the natural resource impacts.     

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT MITIGATION UNDER THE CLEAN WATER ACT AND THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT: THE CASE OF TWO FORKS DAM1

ABSTRACT: The role of environmental mitigation in permitting decisions under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act is examined, addressing the extent to which compensatory mitigation is acceptable. The role of mitigation is examined both generically and specifically: first in the requirements of the Clean Water Act and NEPA, and then in the case study of the proposed Two Forks Dam. In both cases, the paper describes dual purposes of environmental protection legislation and mitigation: to protect the biophysical environment and maintain associated human values. Mitigation is found to be sometimes necessary and acceptable as compensation for unavoidable impacts of project development. However, the Two Forks case exemplifies that compensatory mitigation has also been employed as a mechanism to facilitate project development when practicable alternatives entailing less environmental impact are available. Acceptance of compensatory mitigation in such cases violates both the Guidelines of the Clean Water Act and the intent of that Act and NEPA to protect the biophysical environment and human welfare. A recent memorandum of agreement between the Corps and the EPA clarifies this policy, and suggests that permit applications which rely on compensatory mitigation when impacts are available may be denied.     

Preventing land loss in coastal Louisiana: estimates of WTP and WTA

A dichotomous-choice contingent-valuation survey was conducted in the State of Louisiana (USA) to estimate compensating surplus (CS) and equivalent surplus (ES) welfare measures for the prevention of future coastal wetland losses in Louisiana. Valuations were elicited using both willingness to pay (WTP) and willingness to accept compensation (WTA) payment vehicles. Mean CS (WTP) estimates based on a probit model using a Box-Cox specification on income was $825 per household annually, and mean ES (WTA) was estimated at $4444 per household annually. Regression results indicate that the major factors influencing support for land-loss prevention were income (positive, WTP model only), perceived hurricane protection benefits (positive), environmental and recreation protection (positive), distrust of government (negative), age (positive, WTA model only), and race (positive for whites).     

Crop damage and livestock depredation by wildlife: a case study from Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve,India

The success of conserving biological resources in any Biosphere Reserve or protected area depends on the extent of support and positive attitudes and perceptions of local people have towards such establishments. Ignoring the dependence of the local people for their subsistence needs on resources of such areas leads to conflicts between protected area managers and the local inhabitants. Crop yield losses and livestock depredation were serious problems observed in most buffer zone villages of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve. In the present study 10 villages situated in the buffer zone of Nanada Devi Biosphere Reserve (1612 km2 area) in Chamoli district of Uttaranchal, India were studied during 1996-97 using a questionnaire survey of each household (419 = households; 2253 = total population in 1991; 273 ha = cultivated area). Estimates of crop yield losses were made using paired plots technique in four representative villages for each crop species. The magnitude of crop yield losses varied significantly with the distance of agricultural field from forest boundary. The total crop yield losses were high for wheat and potato in all the villages. The spatial distribution of total crop yield losses in any village indicated that they were highest in the area near to forest and least in the area near to village for all crops. Losses from areas near to forest contributed to more than 50% of total losses for each crop in all villages. However, in Lata, Peng and Tolma villages, the losses are high for kidney bean and chemmi (local variety of kidney bean) which varied between 18.5% to 30% of total losses in those villages. Potato alone represents 43.6% of total crop yield loss due to wildlife in Dronagiri village in monetary terms. Among the crops, the monetary value of yield losses are least for amaranth and highest for kidney bean. The projected total value of crop yield losses due to wildlife damage for buffer zone villages located in Garhwal Himalaya is about Rs. 538,620 (US$ 15,389). Besides food grains, horticultural crops i.e. apple, also suffered maximum damage. Major wildlife agents responsible for crop damage were wild boar, bear, porcupine, monkey, musk deer and partridge (chokor). Monkey and wild boar alone accounted for about 50% to 60% of total crop damage in the study villages. Goat and sheep are the major livestock killed by leopard. The total value of livestock losses at prevailing market rates is about Rs. 1,024,520 (US$ 29,272) in the study villages. Due to existing conservation policies and laxity in implementation of preventive measures, the problems for local inhabitants are increasing. Potential solutions discussed emphasize the need to undertake suitable and appropriate protective measures to minimize the crop losses. Change in cropping and crop composition, particularly cultivation of medicinal plants (high value low volume crops), were also suggested. Besides, fair and quick disbursement of compensation for crop loss and livestock killing need to be adopted. Local people of the buffer zone area already have a negative attitude towards park/reserve establishment due to socio-political changes inducing major economic losses and this attitude may lead to clashes and confrontations if proper ameliorative measures are not taken immediately.     

Integrated landscape planning and remuneration of agri-environmental services. Results of a case study in the Fuhrberg region of Germany

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.     

Living Amidst Large Wildlife: Livestock and Crop Depredation by Large Mammals in the Interior Villages of Bhadra Tiger Reserve,South India

Conflict with humans over livestock and crops seriously undermines the conservation prospects of India's large and potentially dangerous mammals such as the tiger (Panthera tigris) and elephant (Elephas maximus). This study, carried out in Bhadra Tiger Reserve in south India, estimates the extent of material and monetary loss incurred by resident villagers between 1996 and 1999 in conflicts with large felines and elephants, describes the spatiotemporal patterns of animal damage, and evaluates the success of compensation schemes that have formed the mainstay of loss-alleviation measures. Annually each household lost an estimated 12% (0.9 head) of their total holding to large felines, and approximately 11% of their annual grain production (0.82 tonnes per family) to elephants. Compensations awarded offset only 5% of the livestock loss and 14% of crop losses and were accompanied by protracted delays in the processing of claims. Although the compensation scheme has largely failed to achieve its objective of alleviating loss, its implementation requires urgent improvement if reprisal against large wild mammals is to be minimized. Furthermore, innovative schemes of livestock and crop insurance need to be tested as alternatives to compensations.     

Compensating aboriginal cultural losses: An alternative approach to assessing environmental damages

We first identify six primary problems with conventional practice: lack of context, inadequate participation from aboriginal communities, exclusion of important losses, reliance on market-based measures, neglect of uncertainty, and inadequate treatment of time. We then propose a different approach to compensation, based on insights from the decision sciences and structured decision making. Using case-study examples, we discuss how the proposed approach might address common sources of cultural loss and, in a concluding section, summarize some of the implications for compensation agreements and for environmental management practices.     

生态环境损害赔偿诉讼：定义与定位矫正

面对生态环境损害赔偿诉讼这一新型诉讼形式,准确把握其定义和定位至关重要。现有生态环境损害赔偿诉讼按国家自然资源所有权私权化路径进行制度构建,其现行定义为特殊私益诉讼,现行定位为环境行政替代工具。这种定义与定位导致其与环境公益诉讼割裂,运行序位上优先于环境民事公益诉讼,引起国家机关角色错位。生态环境损害赔偿诉讼与环境民事公益诉讼的诉讼标的相同,救济和保护的利益均为环境公益,其定义应回归公益诉讼本位;政府在环境公益保护上有着广泛的职权和手段,是环境公共治理的优先主体,仅在少数行政不能的情形下才有借助司法的必要性和合理性,其在定位上应作为环境行政执法的补充机制在有限范围内发挥作用。据此,生态环境损害赔偿诉讼在制度体系上应与既有环境民事公益诉讼置于同一诉讼系属统筹立法,在诉讼序位上应让位于社会组织提起的环境民事公益诉讼。     

环境损害鉴定评估领域难点探讨

近年来,随着原环境保护部《关于开展环境污染损害鉴定评估工作的若干意见》以及中共中央办公厅、国务院办公厅《生态环境损害赔偿制度改革方案》的陆续发布,环境损害鉴定评估已经成为环境科学、技术经济、环境法、环境经济等相关学科领域的研究热点。本文对环境损害鉴定评估的环境损害调查、环境损害基线确定、环境损害因果关系判定、环境价值评估等所面临的难点进行了探讨,提出了初步解决思路,以期为环境损害鉴定评估的政策制定者和鉴定评估人员提供参考。     

Biodiversity Offsets: Two New Zealand Case Studies and an Assessment Framework

Biodiversity offsets are increasingly being used for securing biodiversity conservation outcomes as part of sustainable economic development to compensate for the residual unavoidable impacts of projects. Two recent New Zealand examples of biodiversity offsets are reviewed—while both are positive for biodiversity conservation, the process by which they were developed and approved was based more on the precautionary principal than on any formal framework. Based on this review and the broader offset literature, an environmental framework for developing and approving biodiversity offsets, comprising six principles, is outlined: (1) biodiversity offsets should only be used as part of an hierarchy of actions that first seeks to avoid impacts and then minimizes the impacts that do occur; (2) a guarantee is provided that the offset proposed will occur; (3) biodiversity offsets are inappropriate for certain ecosystem (or habitat) types because of their rarity or the presence of threatened species within them; (4) offsets most often involve the creation of new habitat, but can include protection of existing habitat where there is currently no protection; (5) a clear currency is required that allows transparent quantification of values to be lost and gained in order to ensure ecological equivalency between cleared and offset areas; (6) offsets must take into account both the uncertainty involved in obtaining the desired outcome for the offset area and the time-lag that is involved in reaching that point.     

生态环境损害赔偿:概念界定、理论基础与制度框架

生态环境损害不同于环境污染或生态破坏导致的人身、财产损害,是环境污染或生态破坏行为引发的区域环境质量下降或生态功能退化等重大不利改变,其实质是个体经济利益对公共环境利益的侵蚀所造成的"外部不经济性"。生态环境损害赔偿是使"外部不经济性内部化"的过程,需采用公法手段综合利用政府、市场和社会三种方式使责任者承担修复或赔偿相应修复费用的责任。生态环境损害赔偿的核心在于赋予特定主体代表公共环境利益进行索赔的权利,并以此为逻辑起点构建生态环境损害赔偿的制度框架。生态环境损害赔偿制度框架由本体与配套制度构成,本体制度包括生态环境损害赔偿的内容与范围、索赔主体、生态环境损害赔偿的协商与诉讼程序,配套制度包括生态环境损害评估、社会化责任分担机制,以及生态环境损害赔偿的公众参与制度。     

Using local knowledge to model asymmetric preference formation in willingness to pay for environmental services

This paper describes an approach to account for asymmetric preference formation in discrete choice models used for environmental valuation. The paper draws on data from a case study on preferences for environmental change resulting from a hypothetical rural development and conservation programme in Indonesia. Local knowledge on the current state of the environment was used to define an individual-specific status quo that consistently frames changes in a range of environmental services as gains or losses matching the perceptions of the local population living in the vicinity of a National Park. I estimated choice models that included separate parameters for increases and decreases in attribute levels for the environmental services and derived the indicators of local willingness to pay (WTP) corresponding to the bidirectional changes relative to the individual-specific status quo option. I found clear evidence of an asymmetric response to increase and decrease in attribute levels relative to the status quo. Ignoring asymmetric preference formation can therefore result in biased estimates of WTP indicators and welfare measures of change in cases where the outcomes of environmental programmes can plausibly result in both an increase and a decrease relative to a reference option. Compared to a symmetrical modelling approach, the combination of simultaneously accounting for asymmetric preference formation and preference heterogeneity in the choice model yielded additional insights that may be used to inform the development of local strategies towards biodiversity conservation.     

Tasmanian landowner preferences for conservation incentive programs: a latent class approach

An empirical model of landowners' conservation incentive program choice is developed in which information about landowners' socio-economic and property characteristics and their attitudes, is combined with incentive program attributes. In a Choice survey landowners were presented with the choice of two incentive programs modelled as 'bundles of attributes' mimicking a voluntary choice scenario. Landowner behaviour and decision and the type of conditions and regulations they preferred were analyzed. Based on choice survey data, landowner heterogeneity was accounted for using a latent class approach to estimate the preference parameters. Three latent classes of landowners with different attitudes to the role and outcome of establishing conservation reserves on private land were identified: multi-objective owners; environment owners; and production owners. Only a small proportion of landowners, mostly environment owners, would voluntarily join a program. Although compensation funding contributed to voluntary program choice for multi-objective owners and environment owners, welfare losses were around 4000 AUD per hectare, which is less than the average agricultural land value in Tasmania. Landowners for whom compensation funding contributed to voluntary program choice were also most likely to set aside land for conservation without payment. This raises the possibility that the government's compensation expenditure could potentially be either reduced or re-allocated to landowners who will not voluntarily take conservation action. Increasing participation in conservation incentive programs and minimizing the welfare losses associated with meeting conservation targets may be best achieved by offering programs that allow flexibility in terms of legal arrangements and other program attributes.     

Simulating Direct and Indirect Damages to Commercial Fisheries from Marine Sand Mining: A Case Study in Korea

Rapid growth in marine sand mining for construction and other uses poses environmental challenges to coastal nations virtually worldwide. Yet the development of management policies, such as a system of fees imposed on operators for damage caused by mining, has been frustrated by a lack of studies to support such measures. Adapting a Beverton-Holt bioeconomic model, this paper attempts to contribute to the estimation of external costs to commercial fisheries due to marine mining. Using the major mining area of Ongjin in Korea as a case study, we estimate economic losses in use value of commercial fisheries through the time to recovery of the injured resource stocks. Present value of lost catch over a 1-year period from mining to resource recovery is estimated at $38,851 for a single “prototype” mining site. Estimated cumulative damages due to recurring mining for 5 and 10 years are $1.5 million and $2.2 million, respectively, at 20 mining sites. Sensitivity analyses are used to examine the effects of alternative assumptions to assess the many sources of uncertainty. Using a form of meta-analysis, dose-response information is used to assess the excess mortality the mining sediment plume has on eggs and larvae and, ultimately, on the value of lost catch ($841). Also addressed is the importance of specifying the appropriate “premining” conditions against which to assess environmental losses at the mining site. Damages estimated with premining fish populations are $23,066 higher than is the case using postmining conditions. Overall, the illustrative results suggest the variety of complex conditions which influence damage to fisheries from mining and which can benefit from further study to improve management guidelines. An erratum to this article can be found at