Pollution Control Policies and Natural Resource Dynamics: A Theoretical Analysis

Policies for the management of natural resources and the resources themselves interact to form complex systems. In this paper, we present a highly simplified model that can be used to study the general features of those systems. The model has three state variables, the abundance of the resource, environmental pollution, and the capital devoted to pollution control. We analyse it graphically using the singular perturbation approach. Two modes of behavior are possible; stationary and cyclic. When the abundance of the resources varies cyclically, the length of the period of resource scarcity depends on population size, economic activity, pollution per unit of output, and policy constraints. We distinguish between two classes of policies, one in which decision-makers base their investments in pollution control capital on the abundance of the resource, and another in which those decisions depend on the amount of pollution. We show that policies based on the observation of pollution are safer than those based on resource abundance, because in the latter case, small changes in policy variables can lead much more easily to a collapse of the resource. Increases in population size, even when accompanied by an equiproportional increase in the pollution control budget can lead to a change from stationary to cyclic behavior, especially where policies are based on resource abundance.     

WATER TREATMENT PLANT STAGING POLICY1

Economics of treatment plant staging or capacity expansions is governed by the initial water demand rate, Q₀; the anticipated demand growth rate, G; the discount rate, D; the cost of operation, maintenance, and repair (OMR); the useful plant life, T, as a function of the quality of design, construction, and OMR; the treatment plant load factor, L_f; the salvage value of the plant at the end of the project period; the efficiency of the plant-staging design, eta; and the length of the project period, T_s. Various staging policies are investigated to find an optimal policy. The desirability of adopting a staging policy is governed by the magnitude of percent savings that can be achieved by adopting this policy instead of a no-staging policy. A detailed analysis of the problem shows that the percent savings because of staging increase with an increase in Q, G, D, T, and eta;. A reduction in the plant load factor increases the total costs. Information about the effect of variation in the parameters should help the planner and designer to work out an economical schedule of treatment plant capacity expansions.     

The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990: A Policy Whose Time Has Come or Symbolic Legislation?

/ In 1990, the United States officially entered the era of pollution prevention with passage of the Pollution Prevention Act. This paper analyzes EPA's implementation of the Pollution Prevention Act from its passage in 1990 to the present. It examines the barriers EPA must overcome if it is to effectively integrate pollution prevention into its existing regulatory structure, including impediments created by statutory and organizational structure, the existing relationship between EPA and the groups it regulates, the fragmented implementation scheme of national environmental regulation, the balancing of conflicting demands advanced by powerful interests, industry's economic and technical concerns, and institutional inertia. It also examines issues such as industry commitment, the limits of prevention, and measurement concerns. The findings suggest that EPA's efforts at shifting to a pollution prevention regulatory ethic that holds primacy over pollution control are mixed. Its organizational structure, statutory authority, and incentives system still reflect a single-medium pollution control focus, appropriations for pollution prevention programs and activities are paltry compared to traditional pollution control programs, and participation in the program is voluntary. Yet, the findings also point to some promising programs that are working to institutionalize a pollution prevention regulatory ethic, and many states appear very committed to the concept.KEY WORDS: Pollution prevention; Source reduction; Pollution control; Alternative regulatory design; Barriers to implementation     

THE CASE FOR DIRECT MEASUREMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE TO HAZARDOUS MATERIALS1

ABSTRACT: Direct measurement of response thresholds of complex biological systems to toxic chemicals is now possible using microcosms and other simulation techniques. Extrapolation to no-observable response using application factors and data from single species toxicity tests is less precise than direct measurements.     

A MERGE Model with Endogenous Technological Progress

We have developed a new version of the MERGE model, called MERGE-ETL, to analyse the dynamics of endogenous technological learning (ETL) in the energy system. This paper describes the basic formulation of MERGE-ETL, the solving techniques used for this model and some first numerical results in the context of policies designed to mitigate global climate changes.     

环境政策法律的经济分析和程序设计

本文对环境政策法律经济分析的对象、目的、作用机制进行了分析,对环境政策法律经济影响经济分析的角度、内容和方法进行了研究.其中包括供给-需求和产业结构角度的分析评价,以及环境政策法律经济影响的分析方法.给出了环境政策法律经济分析程序设计的基本思路.     

Ethics in the Societal Debate on Genetically Modified Organisms: A (Re)Quest for Sense and Sensibility

Via a historical reconstruction, this paper primarily demonstrates how the societal debate on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) gradually extended in terms of actors involved and concerns reflected. It is argued that the implementation of recombinant DNA technology out of the laboratory and into civil society entailed a “complex of concerns.” In this complex, distinctions between environmental, agricultural, socio-economic, and ethical issues proved to be blurred. This fueled the confusion between the wider debate on genetic modification and the risk assessment of transgenic crops in the European Union. In this paper, the lasting skeptical and/or ambivalent attitude of Europeans towards agro-food biotechnology is interpreted as signaling an ongoing social request – and even a quest – for an evaluation of biotechnology with Sense and Sensibility. In this (re)quest, a broader-than-scientific dimension is sought for that allows addressing the GMO debate in a more “sensible” way, whilst making “sense” of the different stances taken in it. Here, the restyling of the European regulatory frame on transgenic agro-food products and of science communication models are discussed and taken to be indicative of the (re)quest to move from a merely scientific evaluation and risk-based policy towards a socially more robust evaluation that takes the “non-scientific” concerns at stake in the GMO debate seriously.     

Water protection against pollution

Science-policy integration is one of the many complex challenges that scientific and policy-making communities are facing. It involves knowledge sharing and exchanges among a wide range of disciplines and actors. In many instances, the lack of proper communication and of a coordination mechanism leads to research outputs not being used or simply known by policy-makers, and to policy research needs not being communicated to the scientific communities in a timely fashion. This paper discusses the integration of scientific and technological progress into the policy-making and implementation process, with emphasis on water policies. It highlights the need and complexity of developing a knowledge-based approach which would enable to lead to an operational science-policy interface linked to WISE (Water Information System for Europe), including the newly developed WISERTD webportal (). The views expressed in this paper are purely those of the author and do not in any circumstances reflect an official position of the European Commission.     

美国环境产业相关政策及启示

本文将美国的环境产业发展过程划分为三个阶段，并对后两个阶段的政策特点进行了分析。最后，借鉴美国环境产业相关的政篆并结合我国国情，提出了针对我国环境产业发展的建议。     

有机食品发展与生态保护政策相关性分析

通过对有机食品发展与“三农“问题、生物多样性保护、生态省建设、清洁生产、食品安全等国家生态保护政策之间的相关性进行了分析.在我国积极发展有机食品,是在农业领域内贯彻国家生态保护政策的具体体现.