Desire to Bargain and Negotiation Success: Lessons About the Need to Negotiate from Six Hydropower Disputes

/ We investigated the notion that successful negotiations require that all parties to the dispute must have a desire to bargain. This desire is most likely to be present when the dispute exhibits ripeness and each party believes a bargained solution is the most cost-effective way to resolve differences. Structured interviews of participants in six Federal Energy Regulatory Commission hydropower licensing consultations were conducted to determine the level of need to negotiate for each party. The findings indicate that a need to negotiate is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for success. Several factors were associated with a need to negotiate: a weak BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement); a salient issue; participants' sense of efficacy; a sense of inevitability; professional roles encouraging negotiation; and disputes about facts as opposed to disputes about values. Participants' need to negotiate fluctuated throughout the process and intensified when questions were ripe: i.e., critical issues were debated or the regulatory process required action.KEY WORDS: Alternative dispute resolution; Federal licenses; Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Instream flow; Environmental planning     

兰州市排污权交易制度研究

作为市场手段和环境治理结合所产生排污权交易制度,被越来越多的国家和地区证明其对缓解环境问题有着独特的、重要的作用。随着我国市场经济的深入发展、市场条件的日趋成熟,排污权交易也在国内许多省市进行深入试点,并产生了一定的效益。本文从排污权交易理论出发,结合兰州的污染现状,论证兰州市实行排污权交易的必要性和可行性。最后,在借鉴国内外排污权交易成功经验的基础上,对兰州市排污权交易制度的构建提出建议。     

On optimal audit mechanisms for environmental taxes

We consider the auditing problem of an environmental enforcement agency with fixed audit resources: How to decide which firms to audit after having observed the firms' taxable emissions reports. The goal of the agency is to implement the socially efficient emissions level. The audit mechanism is the agency's sole choice variable, while other variables such as the tax rate on emissions and the fine for non-compliance are determined by other governmental actors. The fines and budget of the agency are constrained in such a way that the common random audit mechanism fails to implement socially efficient emissions. Assuming perfect information among the firms, we derive an optimal audit mechanism capable of implementing the socially efficient emissions level. The optimal audit mechanism creates a contest exploiting the strategic interdependencies between the firms, where the probability of winning (not being audited) for each firm depends on costly efforts (their taxable emissions reports).     

Assessing the inter-annual variability of separation distances around odour sources to protect the residents from odour annoyance

In recent years, there has been a growing concern about potential impacts on public health and wellbeing due to exposure to environmental odour. Separation distances between odour-emitting sources and residential areas can be calculated using dispersion models, as a means of protecting the neighbourhood from odour annoyance. This study investigates the suitability of using one single year of meteorological input data to calculate reliable direction-dependent separation distances. Accordingly, we assessed and quantified the inter-annual variability of separation distances at two sites with different meteorological conditions, one in Brazil and the other in Austria. A 5-year dataset of hourly meteorological observations was used for each site. Two odour impact criteria set in current regulations were selected to explore their effect on the separation distances. The coefficient of variation was used as a statistical measure to characterise the amount of annual variation. Overall,for all scenarios, the separation distances had a low degree of inter-annual variability(mean coefficient of variation values from 8% to 21%). Reasonable agreements from year to year were therefore observed at the two sites under investigation, showing that one year of meteorological data is a good compromise to achieve reliable accuracy. This finding can provide a more cost-effective solution to calculate separation distances in the vicinity of odour sources.     

Safety rules: procedural freedom or action constraint?

The paper presents a partial classification of safety rules as constraints imposed from outside on the freedom of choice of individuals or companies. The classification is linked to the Reason model of skill-, rule-, and knowledge-based behaviour. The imposition of constraints is related to a number of criteria concerning the context and use of the rules to arrive at proposals for when and where to apply what type of rule. To illustrate the principles discussed an example is given of the rule from the Dutch Working Environment legislation concerning the requirement to use “current state of the art in prevention” in companies. The paper proposes providing procedural rule support to companies on how to meet the rule, in the form of a data bank of practicable solutions to health and safety problems.     

Use of experimental ecosystems in regulatory decision making

Tiered testing for the effects of chemicals on aquatic ecosystems has begun to include tests at the ecosystem level as a component in pesticide regristration. Because such tests are expensive, regulators and industry need to know what additional information they can gain from such tests relative to the costs of the simpler single-species toxicity bioassays. Requirements for ecosystem-level testing have developed because resource managers have not fully understood the implications of potential damage to resources without having evaluations of the predicted impacts under field conditions. We review approaches taken in the use of experimental ecosystems, discuss benefits and limitations of small- and large-scale ecosystem tests, and point to correlative approaches between laboratory and field toxicity testing.Laboratory experimental ecosystems (microcosms) have been successfully used to measure contaminant bioavailability, to determine routes of uptake in moderately complex aquatic systems, and to isolate factors modifying contaminant uptake into the biota. Such factors cannot be as readily studied in outdoor experimental ecosystems because direct cause-and-effect relations are often confounded and difficult to isolate. However, laboratory tests can be designed to quantify the relations among three variables: known concentrations of Stressors; specific sublethal behavioral, biochemical, and physiological effects displayed by organisms; and responses that have been observed in ecosystem-level analyses. For regulatory purposes, the specificity of test results determines how widely they can be applied. Ecotoxicological research should be directed at attempts to identify instances where single-species testing would be the appropriate level of analysis for identifying critical ecological endpoints and for clarifying relationships between ecosystem structure and function, and where it would be inadequate for a given level of analysis.     

Environmental compliance: The good, the bad, and the super green

Although many empirical studies have examined firms' decisions to participate in voluntary environmental programs, relatively few have examined why firms choose different levels of compliance with environmental regulations. This paper uses primary data to examine why some firms violate regulatory standards on water pollution, solid waste, toxic and hazardous waste, and hazardous air emissions, while others over-comply with them. The results suggest that different factors drive decisions to violate or over-comply with an environmental regulation. Some evidence was found to support the strategic behavior theory of environmental overcompliance, but no corroborating evidence was uncovered to support the green consumer theory.     

Market basket analysis of safety at active highway-railroad grade crossings

IntroductionData from the Federal Railroad Administration show high numbers of incidents at the approximately 210,446 highway-railroad grade crossings across the United States. One cause for this unsettling trend is the problem of drivers stopping within the dynamic envelope zone (DEZ) of the train while in queue. This research seeks to study DEZ stopping behavior at highway-railroad grade crossings by evaluating regulatory signage and further analyze variables that may affect this behavior. Method: A comparative safety analysis is undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of the standard “Do Not Stop on Tracks” (R8-8) sign by using percentage change calculations and chi-squared tests. The study then conducts a market basket analysis (MBA) to extrapolate on these results and to identify underlying factors associated with observed driver behavior using variables influenced by visibility, perception, and maneuverability. Results: Rather low reductions in safety violations resulted from the R8-8 installation, including a 2.2% reduction in DEZ stopping behavior and only a slight 3.7% increase in compliance. The results of the MBA identified associations that affirmed assumptions about driver behavior, while other associations were not as direct but altogether helped broaden the understanding of interactions at grade crossings. Conclusions: This study concluded that the R8-8 had a positive but minimal effect on driver behavior at the grade crossings. The MBA successfully demonstrated its value by providing further insight on the safety analysis and by increasing the number of variables that can be analyzed simultaneously. The methodology offers the scientific community an innovative approach to analyzing driver behavior. Practical Applications: The results identified important variables for developing preventive measures, which will ultimately help reduce safety violations at grade crossings. The MBA can provide practical insight for railroad safety professionals and transportation engineers when determining problematic intersections and can be used to improve the education on grade crossing interactions.     

Nontarget-plant risk assessment for pesticide registration

The approach developed by Environment Canada to assess risk to aquatic and terrestrial plants in nontarget habitats potentially exposed to pesticides evaluated for registration is described. An anonymous sample of pesticide submissions is used to illustrate the approach and to examine its merits and limitations in relation to test species, response variability, testing protocols, ecological relevance, and comparability with other regulatory agencies. Future directions are identified, particularly in relation to impending nontarget-plant testing guidelines for pesticide registration in Canada. This approach incorporates some of the latest research and developments in the field of risk assessment for plants. The novelty of this approach also lies in the use of the plant screening data routinely generated by chemical pesticide companies, which is intended to provide a maximum amount of information to evaluators at minimal increment cost to registrants. The proposed approach can serve as a basis for guideline development and modernization for other jurisdictions.     

The law and economics of reclamation bonds

It is becoming a standard practice for governments to require mining operations to post reclamation bonds. Yet, there have been few theoretical treatments examining the rationale for bonding mechanisms, and even fewer empirical treatments of the effectiveness of bonding. This paper addresses some of these holes in the literature. It begins by examining the rationale underlying reclamation bonds, and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of bonding as a tool for enforcing reclamation requirements. The role of bonding mechanisms is to help enforce standards, not necessarily yield efficient outcomes, and these mechanisms are best viewed as a complement to — not a substitute for — liability rules. The paper also examines the effectiveness of bonding by drawing on evidence from hardrock mining on public lands in the western United States.