Emissions standards and ambient environmental quality standards with stochastic environmental services

Many important environmental policies involve some combination of emission controls and ambient environmental quality standards, for instance SO₂ emissions are capped under Title IV of the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments while ambient SO₂ concentrations are limited under National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This paper examines the relative performance of emissions standards and ambient standards when the natural environment provides stochastic environmental services for assimilating pollution. For receiving media characterized by greater dispersion in the distribution of environmental services, the optimal emissions policy becomes more stringent, whereas the optimal ambient policy generally becomes more lax. In terms of economic performance, emissions policies are superior to ambient policies for relatively non-toxic pollutants, whereas ambient standards welfare dominate emissions standards for sufficiently toxic pollutants. In the case of combined policies that jointly implement emissions standards and ambient standards, we show that the optimal level of each standard relaxes relative to its counterpart in a unilateral policy, allowing for greater emissions levels and higher pollution concentrations in the environmental medium.     

Emissions standards and ambient environmental quality standards with stochastic environmental services

Many important environmental policies involve some combination of emission controls and ambient environmental quality standards, for instance SO₂ emissions are capped under Title IV of the U.S. Clean Air Act Amendments while ambient SO₂ concentrations are limited under National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This paper examines the relative performance of emissions standards and ambient standards when the natural environment provides stochastic environmental services for assimilating pollution. For receiving media characterized by greater dispersion in the distribution of environmental services, the optimal emissions policy becomes more stringent, whereas the optimal ambient policy generally becomes more lax. In terms of economic performance, emissions policies are superior to ambient policies for relatively non-toxic pollutants, whereas ambient standards welfare dominate emissions standards for sufficiently toxic pollutants. In the case of combined policies that jointly implement emissions standards and ambient standards, we show that the optimal level of each standard relaxes relative to its counterpart in a unilateral policy, allowing for greater emissions levels and higher pollution concentrations in the environmental medium.     

The effects of air pollution on work loss and morbidity

The pending revision of U.S. air standards and the analytic requirements of Executive Order 12291 will force regulators to examine closely the data showing possible human health effects from air pollution. A number of studies have investigated the relationship between air pollution and human mortality using an epidemiological approach. This study uses a data set on individuals, the Health Interview Survey, conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, to examine the relationship between air pollution and various measures of morbidity. Regressions run with the total sample and a subsample of male nonsmokers indicate a statistically significant relationship between particulates and both work loss and restricted activity days. Further analysis considering alternative functional forms also indicates that the ambient level of particulates is still significantly related to the measure of morbidity.     

Optimal pricing,use, and exploration of uncertain natural resource stocks

Units of natural resources, to be called “mines,” are assumed distributed over an unexplored territory according to a Poisson process in space. At any moment, total reserves and unexplored land are given. Society can determine the rate of consumption and the rate of exploration. Reserves are drawn down by consumption and increased by discoveries made during exploration; the amount of unexplored land is decreased by exploration. At any moment, the payoff of society is a concave function of consumption less a linear function of exploration with future payoffs discounted. Optimal policies are considered and, in particular, it is shown for a large amount of unexplored land the shadow prices of reserves and of unexplored land move in random cycles but show only a slight upward tread, thereby casting some light on the failure of mineral prices to rise at the market rate of interest.     

Interactive pollutants and joint abatement costs: Achieving water quality standards with effluent charges

This paper extends earlier work on the standards and prices approach to pollution control by considering simultaneously spatial considerations, interactive pollutants, and joint abatement costs. The form of environmental constraints appropriate to water pollution problems is discussed in detail and the implications for the standards and prices approach to water pollution control are assessed. The presence of interactive pollutants and joint abatement costs is shown to have important implications for both the theoretical properties and the implementation of the standards and prices approach.     

The relationships of urbanization to surface water quality in four lakes of Hanyang,China

By converting rural land into urban land, urbanization impacts on surface water quality, because cities produce more pollutants than farmlands, especially heavy metals. Ways to reduce urbanization impacts on water quality are now being highlighted worldwide. Considering that land use can be a source or sink in pollution runoff, an understanding of the relationship between urbanization and surface water quality, as well as effects of specific land uses on water quality, is crucial. Corresponding management and controlling steps can then be put forward towards non-point source (NPS) pollution control and urban sustainable development. China has experienced rapid urbanization, especially since the 1980s. However, the environmental impacts of this process are not fully investigated. Hanyang, Hubei Province was selected as a typical city to study the impacts of urbanization on lake water quality. Pearson's correlation analysis was performed to elucidate the correlation between different land uses and water quality indicators at both whole lake watershed and small catchment scales. The results indicated that land uses play different roles, either source or sink, in pollution flow processes. Bottomland had a negative and residential land a positive correlation to most water quality indicators, especially heavy metals. These proved to be indicative and crucial land uses in NPS pollution control. Finally, a strategy for regulating urban land uses is proposed for improving surface water quality in cities similar to Hanyang, in southern China.     

Environmentally Sensitive Productivity Analysis of the Canadian Pulp and Paper Industry, 1959-1994: An Input Distance Function Approach

This study employs a parametric input distance function that incorporates both desirable and undesirable outputs to provide a more complete representation of the production technology from which environmentally sensitive productivity and efficiency measures can be generated. This framework also generates pollution abatement cost estimates that are useful for policy making. An input-based Malmquist index of productivity growth that appropriately credits the producer not only for increases in marketable or desirable outputs but also for the production of improved environmental quality through pollution abatement activities is derived from the input distance function. The method was applied to time series data from the Canadian pulp and paper industry. Our shadow price estimates indicate that the marginal cost to producers of pollution control has been rising. The main conclusion of this study is that productivity improvement, from the social viewpoint, has been stronger than conventional measures would suggest.     

Self-reporting of pollution and the firm's behavior under imperfectly enforceable regulations

Motivated by the nature of U.S. laws, a model is developed for a firm that maximizes expected profit and faces imperfectly enforceable pollution standards with imperfectly enforceable reporting requirements. Some previous models of imperfectly enforceable standards and taxes are special cases of this general mode. When the fine for violating the pollution standard is linear in excess pollution, the form will equate the marginal cost of control to the marginal fine rate, and thus actual pollution will be insensitive to enforcement parameters related to under-reporting. The more complex comparative statics that exist when the fine is non-linear are analyzed, and comparisons with other models are made.     

Emission standards and price distortion

A simple model is presented which demonstrates that emission standards can either reduce or increase the distortions inherent in preregulatory relative prices. This model is used in conjunction with data for controlling air pollution in the St. Louis airshed under a least-cost set of emission standards. By applying a heuristic formula, it is concluded that this set of standards is distortion neutral. Although there is reason to believe that conventional emission standards are distortion reducing, it is clear that Pigouvian fees achieve technical efficiency in abatement as well as the elimination of price distortion.     

Contrasts between male relationships in wild gorilla groups

Summary This paper examines proximate and ontogenetic causes of differences between the relationships of wild gorilla males. Two pairs belonging to different reproductive groups were observed. In both, the mature male was dominant over the younger one. However, in one, the males interacted extremely rarely, while in the other, affinitive behaviour, largely initiated by the younger male, was frequent. Three factors that could have influenced the nature of the relationships are discussed. These are their ontogeny, payoffs to the partners from each other's presence, and the ability of at least one partner to alter any imbalance in payoffs. The importance of understanding such proximate causes of variation within species to consideration of differences between species is emphasised.     

Design of a water quality monitoring network in a large river system using the genetic algorithm

Despite several decades of operations and the increasing importance of water quality monitoring networks, the authorities still rely on experiential insights and subjective judgments in siting water quality monitoring stations. This study proposes an integrated technique which uses a genetic algorithm (GA) and a geographic information system (GIS) for the design of an effective water quality monitoring network in a large river system. In order to develop a design scheme, planning objectives were identified for water quality monitoring networks and corresponding fitness functions were defined using linear combinations of five selection criteria that are critical for developing a monitoring system. The criteria include the representativeness of a river system, compliance with water quality standards, supervision of water use, surveillance of pollution sources and examination of water quality changes. The fitness levels were obtained through a series of calculations of the fitness functions using GIS data. A sensitivity analysis was performed for major parameters such as the numbers of generations, population sizes and probability of crossover and mutation, in order to determine a good fitness level and convergence for optimum solutions. The proposed methodology was applied to the design of water quality monitoring networks in the Nakdong River system, in Korea. The results showed that only 35 out of 110 stations currently in operation coincide with those in the new network design, therefore indicating that the effectiveness of the current monitoring network should be carefully re-examined. From this study, it was concluded that the proposed methodology could be a useful decision support tool for the optimized design of water quality monitoring networks.     

A field investigation of scrounging in semipalmated sandpipers

Animals that forage in groups can produce their own food patches or scrounge the food discoveries of their companions. Mean tactic payoffs are expected to be the same at equilibrium for phenotypically equal foragers. Scrounging is also typically viewed as a risk-averse foraging strategy that provides a more even food intake rate over time. The occurrence of scrounging and the payoffs from different foraging modes have rarely been investigated in the field. Over two field seasons, I examined patch sharing in semipalmated sandpipers (Calidris pusilla) foraging on minute food items at the surface of the substrate. Birds could find patches on their own, a producing event, or join the food patches discovered by others, a scrounging event. I found that the average search time per patch did not differ between producing and scrounging but that the average time spent exploiting a patch was reduced nearly by half when scrounging. As a result, the proportion of time spent exploiting a patch, a measure of foraging payoffs, was significantly lower when scrounging. The variance in payoffs was similar for producing and scrounging. When producing their own patches, individuals that scrounged spent the same proportion of time exploiting a patch as those that only produced. However, within the same individuals, the search time for a scrounged patch was longer than the search time for a produced patch. The results show unequal payoffs for producing and scrounging in this system and suggest that low success in finding patches elicited scrounging.     

Uncertainty and the choice of pollution control instruments

This paper compares the relative efficiencies of pollution taxes, pollution standards, and the auctioning of pollution rights when the marginal damage function or marginal control cost are subject to uncertainty. In the first case, we find that all instruments yield the same expected social surplus. In the latter case, the choice of the optimal instrument depends, in general, on the relative elasticities of the marginal damage and marginal expected cost functions, on the way in which uncertainty enters the model, and on the distribution of the error term. Policy conclusions are derived.     

On marketable air-pollution permits: The case for a system of pollution offsets

After examining the properties of several alternative forms of marketable permit systems for the control of air pollution, this paper proposes a system of pollution offsets as the most promising approach. Under the pollution-offset scheme, sources of emissions are free to trade emissions permits subject to the constraint of no violations of the predetermined air-quality standard at any receptor point. The paper shows that the pollution-offset system has the capacity to achieve the predetermined standards of air quality at the minimum aggregate abatement cost, while making comparatively modest demands both on the sources and on the administering agency.     

Budget-Balancing Incentive Mechanisms

A. P. Xepapadeas [J. Environ. Econom. Management20, 113-26, 1991] developed a pollution abatement incentive mechanism that both reduces the information requirements of a regulator and is "budget-balancing," drawing only on the social gains from pollution abatement to encourage firm compliance. This paper demonstrates that, contrary to Xepapadeas, the budget-balancing system of random penalties cannot be used to induce compliance with the regulator′s objectives if firms are risk neutral. However, the mechanism can be successfully applied if firms are sufficiently risk averse [E. Rasmusen, RAND J. Econom.18, 428-435, 1987].     

上海市不同工业类型土壤重金属含量差异性分析

为揭示不同工业类型土壤重金属含量的差异性,研究以上海市为例,选取机械制造、化工、印染三种污染较为严重的工业类型,进行实地采样分析.结果表明,上海工业土壤重金属元素As、Cr、Cu、Pb、Zn没有超过国家土壤环境质量二级标准,但Ni的平均值达到75.23 mg·kg~(-1),是国家土壤环境质量二级标准的1.5倍;以上海市土壤背景值为评价标准,除As外,各元素单因子污染指数均大于1,由高到低依次为:Ni,Zn、Pb,Cu,Cr,As;印染企业、机械制造、化工企业综合污染指数均大于2,属于中度污染,污染程度由高到低依次为:印染企业,化工企业,机械制造,表现出明显的累积趋势.相关分析和因子分析表明,元素Pb、Cu和Zn有相似来源,Cr和Ni有相似来源,As为另一来源;前两类元素含量远高于对应元素背景值,超标率均在90%以上,来源主要受人为活动影响;As元素含量与背景值相当,来源主要与成土母质有关.通过对比分析发现,Cr、Ni来源主要与机械制造和化工等企业污染排放有关;印染企业生产过程中污染物的排放可能是Pb、Cu、Zn的主要来源;各类型企业土壤均存在多个元素累积,呈现出复合污染的趋势.     

‘Effortless Perfection:’ Do Chinese cities manipulate air pollution data?

This paper uses unique data on daily air pollution concentrations over the period 2001–2010 to test for manipulation in self-reported data by Chinese cities. First, we employ a discontinuity test to detect evidence consistent with data manipulation. Then, we propose a panel matching approach to identify the conditions under which irregularities may occur. We find that about 50% of cities reported dubious PM₁₀ pollution levels that led to a discontinuity at the cut-off. Suspicious data reporting tends to occur on days when the anomaly is least detectable. Our findings indicate that the official daily air pollution data are not well behaved, which provides suggestive evidence of manipulation.     

国外二噁污染及有关标准

文章论述了二的化学成分及主要来源 ;二的毒性 ;日本、美国、德国等国二恶英污染状况及各国制定的标准     

城市电磁辐射污染现状分析及其防治对策

首先阐述城市电磁辐射污染源,并介绍电磁辐射污染的危害,进而在分析我国城市环境电磁辐射现状及主要问题的基础上,针对电磁辐射环境管理办法与标准、电磁辐射控制技术、电磁辐射知识普及等方面提出可行性建议,旨在探索防治城市电磁辐射污染的办法,对强化城市电磁辐射环境管理,保障公众健康与环境安全,促进并规范电磁辐射应用的发展等方面具...     

天津市区域土壤Cd污染及其对农产品影响

研究了天津市土壤Cd元素区域分布特征,依据本次土壤调查背景参数特征和国家环境质量标准对农田土壤Cd污染进行了分级评价,天津市农田土壤存在不同级别的Cd污染。其中中-重度污染区面积约116km2,占调查面积的1.07%,主要集中在东丽区大毕庄、荒草坨,津南区双港,西青区邓店、楼家院等。在不同污染程度区农产品的调查结果表明,Cd在中-重度污染地区蔬菜中有富集和超标现象,应加强污染区土壤监测和治理工作。