Assessing Ecological Resources for Remediation and Future Land Uses on Contaminated Lands

Increasingly, the public and governmental agencies are concerned about remediating and reclaiming contaminated sites. Understanding the ecological resources on-site and valuing those resources in terms of future uses is important for determining suitable future land uses. In this article, we suggest the major categories of natural resource information required by managers, policy makers, and the general public for making initial future land-use determinations. We then use a dataset of 25 Department of Energy (DOE) sites slated for remediation to explore whether such data are readily available and whether the data can be used to assess natural resource value. Although information is available for almost all sites on federally endangered and threatened species, this information is less available for state-listed species. Biodiversity information is available only for some sites for birds (N = 17), mammals (N = 15), reptiles (N = 14), amphibians (N = 13), and plants (N = 11) and is almost nonexistent for invertebrates (N = 2). Some information is available for invasive species (N = 9). The number of available habitats is directly related to total acres and nonindustrial acres. Biodiversity of birds, mammals, and reptiles (but not amphibians) is directly related to both total acres and total nonindustrial acres of sites. These data suggest that even over a wide geographical area (from eastern to western United States), biodiversity relates to habitat size and number of habitats available. This information will be useful not only to DOE managers but also to natural resource trustees, ecologists, state and federal regulators, and the general public in the discourse over future uses of these lands.*Published online Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; Joanna Burger     

A general framework for a collaborative water quality knowledge and information network

Increasing knowledge about the environment has brought about a better understanding of the complexity of the issues, and more information publicly available has resulted into a steady shift from centralized decision making to increasing levels of participatory processes. The management of that information, in turn, is becoming more complex. One of the ways to deal with the complexity is the development of tools that would allow all players, including managers, researchers, educators, stakeholders and the civil society, to be able to contribute to the information system, in any level they are inclined to do so. In this project, a search for the available technology for collaboration, methods of community filtering, and community-based review was performed and the possible implementation of these tools to create a general framework for a collaborative ??Water Quality Knowledge and Information Network?? was evaluated. The main goals of the network are to advance water quality education and knowledge; encourage distribution and access to data; provide networking opportunities; allow public perceptions and concerns to be collected; promote exchange of ideas; and, give general, open, and free access to information. A reference implementation was made available online and received positive feedback from the community, which also suggested some possible improvements.     

Factors influencing private and public environmental protection behaviors: results from a survey of residents in Shaanxi, China

Currently one of the largest and most rapidly developing countries, China also has some of the world's most severe environmental problems. China will most likely need to use all of the potential major strategies currently available to solve the country's huge environmental challenges, including promoting individual conservation behavior through educational campaigns and encouraging public environmental advocacy. This paper summarized the findings of a survey of 347 residents of Shaanxi province on environmental attitudes and behaviors. The survey found generally high levels of environmental knowledge and high recognition of the seriousness of environmental issues, moderate levels of individual actions supporting environmental resource conservation and low levels of public environmental behaviors, particularly for organized public advocacy. Further analysis indicated that the perceived importance of environmental protection is the most important factor influencing individual environmental resource conservation, but not public advocacy behaviors. Implications for environmental campaigns are discussed.     

Environmental impact assessment: An international evaluation

Experiences with environmental impact assessment (EIA) in a number of countries are discussed in the light of both explicit and implicit goals and objectives. Adequate environmental information is not always available to decision makers because of failure to apply EIA to all relevant decisions, the continuing inadequacies of prediction and evaluation techniques, the failure to consider alternatives adequately, and the bias of some EISs. EIA frequently results in changes to proposals and may result in stricter environmental management conditions in some cases, but some people regard it as a failure because it has not stopped development. Generally, EIA leads to better integration of environmental factors into project planning. Open procedures and freedom of information encourage responsiveness to EIA procedures, which can be weakened by discretionary powers and lack of access to the courts by public interest groups. However, legal standing may have side effects that offset its advantages. EIA can encourage cooperation and coordination between agencies but does not ensure them. Similarly, it can have a limited role in coordinating interstate and international policies. In the long term, the success of EIA depends on adequate monitoring, reassessment, and enforcement over the life of the project. EIA has generally opened up new opportunities for public participation, and may help to reduce conflict. EIA procedures need to be integrated with other environmental protection and development control programs, and various means exist for reducing its cost to developers and the public.     

Multi-level discrepancies with sharing data on protected areas: what we have and what we need for the global village

Protected areas present a global heritage. Assessing conservation achievements in protected areas is of crucial importance with respect to the on-time delivery of international biodiversity conservation targets. However, monitoring data from publicly accessible databases for comparative studies of conservation achievements in the protected areas of the world are very scarce, if not non-existent. At first glance this is surprising because, with regards to protected areas, at least according to well established protected area management guidelines and widely accepted public mandates, a great deal of monitoring work and data gathering is to be conducted. This would imply that data on changes of biodiversity in protected areas could be expected to exist, and the constant progress in information technologies and Web tools engenders hope that some of it might even be available online for the global public. This review article presents the results of an extensive online search and review of existing monitoring data from freely accessible online databases for its use in an assessment of conservation achievements in a larger sample of protected areas. Results show two contrary sides to the status quo of accessible data from the World Wide Web for conservation science: data overkill and data scarcity with poor metadata provision. While ever more research is, in fact, based on open-access online data, such as extrapolations of species ranges used in conservation management and planning, it remains almost impossible to obtain a basic set of information for an assessment of conservation achievements within a larger number of protected areas. This awareness has triggered a detailed discussion about the discrepancies in sharing data at the level of protected areas; mismatching relationships between expected activities in protected areas and the capacity for delivering these requirements are certainly among the main challenges. In addition, the fear of data misuse potentially resulting in harm for nature, careers, and competencies still seems to be a critical barrier strictly controlling the willingness to share data. Various initiatives aimed at tackling technical and cultural obstacles are introduced and discussed to reach the goal of a modern resource management based on adaptive management using digital opportunities of the new millennium for a sustainable global village.     

Policy formulation for the management of hazardous pollutants

Hazardous pollutants pose a number of distinct problems for the public policy maker, most notably because of the uncertainty surrounding the effects of such pollutants and the potentially serious or irreversible outcomes of hazardous pollution damage. Policy approaches to the problem have generally used some kind of balancing approach—between costs and benefits, or between risks and benefits. Direct controls such as standards or bans are the most commonly used policy instruments in dealing with hazardous pollutants due to the certainty of outcome which they provide. However, many more regulatory options are available to the public policy maker, for example, economic incentives and legal procedures.     

An Integrated WebGIS Framework for Volunteered Geographic Information and Social Media in Soil and Water Conservation

Volunteered geographic information and social networking in a WebGIS has the potential to increase public participation in soil and water conservation, promote environmental awareness and change, and provide timely data that may be otherwise unavailable to policymakers in soil and water conservation management. The objectives of this study were: (1) to develop a framework for combining current technologies, computing advances, data sources, and social media; and (2) develop and test an online web mapping interface. The mapping interface integrates Microsoft Silverlight, Bing Maps, ArcGIS Server, Google Picasa Web Albums Data API, RSS, Google Analytics, and Facebook to create a rich user experience. The website allows the public to upload photos and attributes of their own subdivisions or sites they have identified and explore other submissions. The website was made available to the public in early February 2011 at and evaluated for its potential long-term success in a pilot study.     

Ecosystem Manipulation Experimentation as a Means of Testing a Biogeochemical Model

2 concentration, and global or regional temperature change. Such model projections are frequently used as the basis or justification for public policy decisions and legislation. A substantial need has therefore arisen to test and substantiate the veracity of mathematical model projections. Unfortunately, environmental models can never be truly validated because natural systems are never closed and model solutions are always nonunique. Partial model confirmation is possible, however, and entails demonstration of agreement between prediction and observation. Experimental ecosystem manipulation provides one of the best, and in many cases only, available basis for model confirmation. The use and potential misuse of data from experimental ecosystem manipulations for model testing is explored using examples drawn from the application of an acid–base chemistry model, MAGIC. As model projections provide an increasingly important basis for public policy decisions, and as both the scientific questions and the models become increasingly complex, it will become critical to provide data from a suite of well-designed ecosystem manipulation experiments in order to evaluate the quality and uncertainty of those model projections and the models upon which they are based.     

PLANNING AND SELECTING MULTIOBJECTIVE PROJECTS BY GOAL PROGRAMMING1

ABSTRACT. A multiple goal planning approach is proposed as a solution to the public water resources project selection problem. The goal programming technique enables a comprehensive water resources model. The model considers both economic and environmental objectives and may be implemented with data which are available to project planners.     

Science, Policy, Stakeholders, and Fish Consumption Advisories: Developing a Fish Fact Sheet for the Savannah River

In recent years there has been a startling rise in the issuance of fish consumption advisories. Unfortunately, compliance by the public is often low. Low compliance can be due to a number of factors, including confusion over the meaning of advisories, conflicting advisories issued by different agencies, controversies involving health benefits versus the risks from consuming fish, and an unwillingness to act on the advisories because of personal beliefs. In some places, such as along the Savannah River, one state (South Carolina) had issued a consumption advisory while the other (Georgia) had not, although at present, both states now issue consumption advisories for the Savannah River. Herein we report on the development of a fish fact sheet to address the confusing and conflicting information available to the public about consuming fish from the Savannah River. The process involved interviewing fishers to ascertain fishing and consumption patterns, evaluating contaminant levels and exposure pathways, discussing common grounds for the provision of information, and consensus-building among different regulatory agencies (US Environmental Protection Agency, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Georgia Department of Natural Resources) and the Department of Energy. Consensus, a key ingredient in solving many different types of “commons” problems, was aided by an outside organization, the Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation (CRESP). The initial role for CRESP was to offer scientific data as a basis for groups with different assumptions about risks to reach agreement on a regulatory response action. The process was an example of how credible science can be used to implement management and policies and provide a basis for consensus-building on difficult risk communication issues. The paper provides several lessons for improving the risk process from stakeholder conflicts, through risk assessment, to risk management. It also suggests that consensus-building and risk communication are continuing processes that involve assimilation of new information on contaminants and food-chain processes, state and federal law, public policy, and public response.     

Private sector participation in urban water and sanitation: Realising social and environmental objectives in developing countries

There has been a large increase in private sector participation (PSP) in the urban water supply and sanitation (WSS) sector in recent years. However, even with increased PSP, public authorities will still have to: ensure that the service providers do not use their market power to exploit customers; internalise public health and environmental externalities; provide mechanisms whereby water consumption is sustainable and allocated efficiently between alternative uses; and stand as a guarantor of a level of service provision that is consistent with a basic standard of living. While there is considerable literature addressing the first of these four issues, the latter three are rather less adequately addressed. Through a review of a number of case studies (Abidjan, Buenos Aires/Cordoba, Mexico City and Manila), this paper provides an overview of the issues involved and some of the mechanisms available to the authorities responsible for the regulation of the sector.     

The Ythan Project: A Case Study on Improving Catchment Management through Community Involvement

Increased participation in resource management decisions by a wide range of stakeholders has been widely advocated, and has recently been formally incorporated into the European Water Framework Directive. However, achieving such participation has generally proved to be problematical. In response to locally perceived needs, a project was set up in the Ythan catchment in northeast Scotland, to undertake catchment management actions with increased public involvement. This paper outlines the methods used to increase public participation in such actions, and some preliminary assessments of the effectiveness of these. The experience of the project and the lessons learnt, including some of the difficulties of ensuring fully representative stakeholder involvement, are discussed in relation to published criteria for public participation in resource management.     

PREDICTING INSTANTANEOUS PEAK DEMAND IN RURAL DOMESTIC WATER SUPPLY SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT: Many rural areas of the United States still have no public domestic water systems. Typical land use patterns in these areas may require 1/2 mile or more of pipe per farm connection. Public systems serving these areas are economically feasible only if realistic short-term peak demand standards are available for their design. The lack of reliable data upon which to establish such criteria has resulted in a large variation in criteria among state and federal agencies involved in financing and in approving construction of these systems. During the summer of 1975 three distribution laterals of a rural system in Utah were master metered and instantaneous peak flows were recorded for 4 months. The metered lines served 4, 12, and 22 farm houses each. The frequency distribution of peak flows has been analyzed and compared with that developed during similar research in Mississippi and with the existing design standards of the Farmers Home Administration and the State of Utah.     

Implementing ecological opportunity assessments: NJTAP's ECŌ·PA program for process safety and risk management

Chemical mishaps, in some cases leading to fires and explosions, may pose a threat to workers in the manufacturing industry, the general public, and to the environment in general. In response to this concern, the New Jersey Technical Assistance Program (NJTAP) for Industrial Pollution Prevention, in conjunction with the Chemical Industry Council and the Responsible Care® Initiative, has launched a new program called ECO¯·PA, an Ecological Opportunity Assessment for Process Safety and Risk Management. Environmental and safety regulations have become more complex, and since small businesses typically have fewer resources available to interpret these regulations, they may have trouble complying despite their good faith efforts. ECO¯·PA addresses this need for compliance. Now that the program is available, how does one contact and provide this assistance to appropriate clients? NJTAP has created an algorithm for targeting clients which may be useful for other nonprofit organizations.     

Maintaining quality focus with critical data

Total Quality Management measurement tools are often the very tools necessary to ensure compliance with the rapidly growing regulatory demand for data. At the same time, interest in the environment by average citizens, environmental groups, and regulatory agencies has put increasing pressure on environmental managers for “zero defects.” Violations and exceedances are actively pursued and are, at a minimum, made public to produce incentive for companies to comply. Even companies in compliance face pressure to further improve their performance. No business can afford the lost legal, operational, and public relations costs of noncompliance. There is no room for error. This article discusses the basic tools used at IBM Rochester to better manage and control some key environmental operations and shows how these basic control steps work in an actual wastewater treatment process at the facility.     

Carbon Stocks and Projections on Public Forestlands in the United States, 1952–2040

Approximately 37% of forestlands in the conterminous United States are publicly owned; they represent a substantial area of potential carbon sequestration in US forests and in forest products. However, large areas of public forestlands traditionally have been less intensively inventoried than privately owned forests. Thus, less information is available about their role as carbon sinks. We present estimates of carbon budgets on public forestlands of the 48 conterminous states, along with a discussion of the assumptions necessary to make such estimates. The forest carbon budget simulation model, FORCARB2, makes estimates for US forests primarily based on inventory data. We discuss methods to develop consistent carbon budget estimates from inventory data at varying levels of detail. Total carbon stored on public forestlands in the conterminous US increased from 16.3 Gt in 1953 to the present total of 19.5 Gt, while area increased from 87.1 million hactares to 92.1 million hactares. At the same time the proportion of carbon on public forestlands relative to all forests increased from 35% to 37%. Projections for the next 40 years depend on scenarios of management influences on growth and harvest.This article was written and prepared by US Government employees on official time, and it is therefore in the public domain and not subject to copyright.     

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN WATERSHED MANAGEMENT DECISION MAKING1

ABSTRACT: Watershed management decision making is a complex process. Cooperation and communication among federal, state, and local stakeholders is required while balancing biophysical and socioeconomic concerns. The public is taking part in environmental decisions, and the need for technology transfer from public agencies to stakeholders is increasing. Information technology has had a profound influence on watershed management over the past decade. Advances in data acquisition through remote sensing, data utilization through geographic information systems (GIS), and data sharing through the Internet have provided watershed managers access to more information for management decisions. In the future, applications incorporating hydrologic simulation models, GIS, and decision support systems will be deployed through the Internet. In addition to challenges in making complex modeling technology available to diverse audiences, new information technology issues, such as interoperability, Internet access, and security, are introduced when GIS, simulation models, and decision support systems are integrated in an Internet environment. This paper presents a review of current use of information technology in watershed management decision making and a discussion of issues created when developing Internet based, integrated watershed management decision support systems. A prototype spatial decision support system (SDSS) for rangeland watershed management was developed using web services, which are components that communicate using text based messages, thus eliminating proprietary protocols. This new framework provides an extensible, accessible, and interoperable approach for SDSS.     

ARE WE READY FOR A CLOSED SYSTEM OF WATER SUPPLY TREATMENT,AND REUSE - TECHNOLOGY VS. PSYCHOLOGY?1

ABSTRACT: Up to date there are still not many instances that can be found on the practice of a totally closed system of water supply, treatment, and reuse. In the United States, this is partly because the Public Health Service has discouraged such a practice. However, are there sound scientific reasons to support such a decision or is it purely a matter of psychological reason? Are the treatment technologies available today able to achieve the integrated closed system at a reasonable cost, yet without risking the public health? Are there some extra precautions that must be taken in practicing the direct reuse for the drinking purpose? These questions are discussed in this article. Current available technologies for advanced waste treatment are briefly reviewed and the treated effluent qualities obtained by the authors and others are used as a focal point of discussion on the feasibility of practicing the closed system. For this purpose, the treated effluent qualities are compared to the “Ranges of Promulgated Standards for Raw Water Sources of Domestic Water Supply” which have been used by the Public Health Service and several state regulatory agencies.     

Food Supply Chain Governance And Public Health Externalities: Upstream Policy Interventions And The UK State

Contemporary food supply chains are generating externalities with high economic and social costs, notably in public health terms through the rise in diet-related non-communicable disease. The UK State is developing policy strategies to tackle these public health problems alongside intergovernmental responses. However, the governance of food supply chains is conducted by, and across, both private and public spheres and within a multilevel framework. The realities of contemporary food governance are that private interests are key drivers of food supply chains and have institutionalized a great deal of standards-setting and quality, notably from their locations in the downstream and midstream sectors. The UK State is designing some downstream and some midstream interventions to ameliorate the public health impacts of current food consumption patterns in England. The UK State has not addressed upstream interventions towards public health diet at the primary food production and processing stages, although traditionally it has shaped agricultural policy. Within the realities of contemporary multilevel governance, the UK State must act within the contexts set by the international regimes of the Common Agricultural Policy and the World Trade Organization agreements, notably on agriculture. The potential for further upstream agricultural policy reform is considered as part of a wider policy approach to address the public health externalities issuing from contemporary food supply chains within this multilevel governance context.     

MEETING FUTURE PUBLIC WATER SUPPLY NEEDS: A SOUTHWEST PERSPECTIVE1

ABSTRACT: Most southwestern cities were founded along rivers or in areas having springs or readily available ground water. Because of the generally sparse precipitation, the renewable fresh water supply in the Southwest is smaller than most other areas of the United States. Despite the arid climate, water use has increased rapidly, first in the form of irrigation, and more recently the use in cities. This has caused extensive development of local water resources and overdraft of ground water basins in some areas. It is difficult to implement new local supplies and importation projects due to a myriad of environmental and legal constraints and a general shortage of public funds. Various opportunities and plans for water management, both on the demand and supply sides, are discussed. Evolving water strategies in four metropolitan areas - El Paso, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, and Phoenix - and issues regarding the Central Arizona Project are presented.