A comparison of definitions of affordability for flood risk adaption measures: a case study of current and future risk-based flood insurance premiums in Europe

Risk-based insurance is a commonly proposed and discussed flood risk adaptation mechanism in policy debates across the world such as in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. However, both risk-based premiums and growing risk pose increasing difficulties for insurance to remain affordable. An empirical concept of affordability is required as the affordability of adaption strategies is an important concern for policymakers, yet such a concept is not often examined. Therefore, a robust metric with a commonly acceptable affordability threshold is required. A robust metric allows for a previously normative concept to be quantified in monetary terms, and in this way, the metric is rendered more suitable for integration into public policy debates. This paper investigates the degree to which risk-based flood insurance premiums are unaffordable in Europe. In addition, this paper compares the outcomes generated by three different definitions of unaffordability in order to investigate the most robust definition. In doing so, the residual income definition was found to be the least sensitive to changes in the threshold. While this paper focuses on Europe, the selected definition can be employed elsewhere in the world and across adaption measures in order to develop a common metric for indicating the potential unaffordability problem.     

Framework for improved confidence in modeled nitrous oxide estimates for biofuel regulatory standards

Biofuels vary greatly in their carbon intensity, depending on the specifics of how they are produced. Policy frameworks are needed to ensure that biofuels actually achieve intended reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. Current approaches do not account for important variables during cultivation that influence emissions. Estimating emissions based on biogeochemical models would allow accounting of farm-specific conditions, which in turn provides an incentive for producers to adopt low emissions practices. However, there are substantial uncertainties in the application of biogeochemical models. This paper proposes a policy framework that manages this uncertainty while retaining the ability of the models to account for (and hence incentivize) low emissions practices. The proposed framework is demonstrated on nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions from the cultivation of winter barley. The framework aggregates uncertainties over time, which (1) avoids penalizing producers for uncertainty in weather, (2) allows for a high degree of confidence in the emissions reductions achieved, and (3) attenuates the uncertainty penalties borne by producers within a timescale of several years. Results indicate that with effective management, N₂O emissions from feedstock cultivation may be <?5% of the carbon intensity of gasoline, whereas the existing policy approach estimates emissions >?20% of the carbon intensity of gasoline. If these emissions reductions are monetized, the framework can provide up to $0.002 per liter credits (0.8 cents per gallon) to fuel producers, which could incentivize emissions mitigation practices by biofuel feedstock suppliers, such as avoiding fall N application on silty clay loam soils. The conservatism in the current approach fails to incentivize the adoption of biofuels, while the lack of specificity fails to incentivize site-level mitigation practices. Improved uncertainty accounting and consideration of farm-level practices will incentivize mitigation efforts at landscape to global scales.     

You want me to do what? Two daily diary studies of illegitimate tasks and employee well‐being

Illegitimate tasks, a recently introduced occupational stressor, are tasks that violate norms about what an employee can reasonably be expected to do. Because they are considered a threat to one's professional identity, we expected that the daily experience of illegitimate tasks would be linked to a drop in self‐esteem and to impaired well‐being. We report results of two daily diary studies, one in which 57 Swiss employees were assessed twice/day and one in which 90 Americans were assessed three times/day. Both studies showed that illegitimate tasks were associated with lowered state self‐esteem. Study 1 demonstrated that high trait self‐esteem mitigated that relationship. Study 2 showed that illegitimate tasks were associated with not only lowered state self‐esteem but also lower job satisfaction and higher anger and depressive mood, but not anger or job satisfaction remained elevated until the following morning. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Protective clothing for pesticide operators: part II – data analysis of fabric characteristics

Development of objective measurements is an important requirement for establishing performance-based standards for protective clothing used while handling pesticide. This study, the second in a two-part series, reports on the work completed to evaluate the performance of approximately 100 fabrics that are either used or have the potential to be used for garments worn by operators while applying pesticides. Part I, published separately, provides an overview of these issues and describes research undertaken to select a test chemical for use in subsequent studies. The goals of this study were first to develop a comprehensive approach to evaluate the performance of garments currently being used by pesticide operators, and second, to use the laboratory and field data in the development of performance specifications.     

Effect of Wastewater Treatment Facility Closure on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in a Coastal Plain Stream

Wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) closures are rare environmental remediation events; offering unique insight into contaminant persistence, long‐term wastewater impacts, and ecosystem recovery processes. The U.S. Geological Survey assessed the fate of select endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) in surface water and streambed sediment one year before and one year after closure of a long‐term WWTF located within the Spirit Creek watershed at Fort Gordon, Georgia. Sample sites included a WWTF‐effluent control located upstream from the outfall, three downstream effluent‐impacted sites located between the outfall and Spirit Lake, and one downstream from the lake's outfall. Prior to closure, the 2.2‐km stream segment downstream from the WWTF outfall was characterized by EDC concentrations significantly higher (α = 0.05) than at the control site; indicating substantial downstream transport and limited in‐stream attenuation of EDC, including pharmaceuticals, estrogens, alkylphenol ethoxylate (APE) metabolites, and organophosphate flame retardants (OPFR). Wastewater‐derived pharmaceutical, APE metabolites, and OPFR compounds were also detected in the outflow of Spirit Lake, indicating the potential for EDC transport to aquatic ecosystems downstream of Fort Gordon under effluent discharge conditions. After the WWTF closure, no significant differences in concentrations or numbers of detected EDC compounds were observed between control and downstream locations. The results indicated EDC pseudo‐persistence under preclosure, continuous supply conditions, with rapid attenuation following WWTF closure. Low concentrations of EDC at the control site throughout the study and comparable concentrations in downstream locations after WWTF closure indicated additional, continuing, upstream contaminant sources within the Spirit Creek watershed. ©2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Analysis of bus collision and non-collision incidents using transit ITS and other archived operations data

Introduction

This paper analyzes factors contributing to bus operations safety incidents at TriMet, the transit provider for the Portland Oregon metropolitan region.

Method

The analysis focuses on 4,631 collision and non-collision incidents that occurred between 2006 and 2009. Empirical analysis of these incidents draws on a wide array of operator-level data recovered by transit ITS technologies in combination with information from TriMet's human resources, scheduling, and customer relations databases. Incident frequencies are estimated in relation to operators' demographic characteristics, employment status, assigned work characteristics, service delivery and performance indicators, temporal factors, and customer information.

Results

Apart from identifying factors that are empirically related to the frequency of safety incidents, the findings offer insights into operations policies and practices that hold promise for improving safety.

Impact on Industry

Potential for safety improvement based on analysis of archived operations and human resource data.     

Effectiveness of dust dispersion in the 20-L Siwek chamber

The Siwek 20-L chamber is widely used throughout the world to evaluate the explosibility of dusts. This research evaluated the quality of dust dispersion in the Siwek 20-L chamber using Pittsburgh coal, Gilsonite, and purple K dusts. A Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (PRL) optical dust probe was used to measure optical transmittance through the dust cloud at various locations within the chamber. A total of 540 tests were performed, with triplicate tests at five nominal dust concentrations and six locations. The two standard dispersion nozzles (rebound and perforated annular nozzle) were compared. The transmissions corresponding to the normal ignition delay period were used to: (a) determine variations in spatial uniformity of dispersion obtained with both nozzles; (b) make comparisons between the experimental transmission data and those calculated from theory for the three dusts; and (c) make comparisons with transmission data measured in the PRL 20-L and Fike 1-m³ dust explosion chambers.The uniformity of dispersion for the three dusts was similar with both nozzles, despite the differences in nozzle geometry and mode of operation. Transmission data of the three dusts were all significantly lower than those calculated from theory. This was discovered to be, in part, due to significant reduction in particle size that occurred during dispersion. By measuring particle sizes before and after dispersion, values of 60%, 50%, and 20% reduction in particle size (based on the surface-weighted mean diameter) were obtained for Pittsburgh coal, Gilsonite, and purple K, respectively. Transmission data from the PRL 20-L, Fike 1-m³ and the Siwek 20-L chambers indicated comparable results in terms of uniformity of dispersion. However, transmission data from the Siwek 20-L chamber were significantly lower than those of the PRL and Fike chambers. Again, this was attributed, in part, to the significant reduction in particle size that occurred during dispersion in the Siwek chamber. The design of the outlet (dispersion) valve of the Siwek 20-L apparatus charge vessel was largely responsible for the particle break-up. The contribution to particle break-up by the dispersion nozzles and the high level of turbulence in the chamber were found to be minimal. This is a significant finding in that the dust particle size tested for explosibility in the Siwek chamber is considerably smaller than the original dust sample.