COST BEHAVIOR AND WATER SYSTEMS1

ABSTRACT: Several factors theoretically affect the cost behavior of water systems. These factors include scale, consumer density, and per capita usage. This analysis examines the several possible influences on the unit costs of water service. The statistical analyses indicate that among the factors of scale, per capita use, and consumer density, only the first two factors are important influences on water system costs. Water consumers appear to benefit from being served by large systems and being located in service areas characterized by relatively high per capita consumption. There is little statistical evidence indicating that more dense areas can be provided water service at lower costs than less dense areas.     

Ecological principles,biodiversity, and the electric utility industry

The synthetic field of conservation biology uses principles derived from many different disciplines to address biodiversity issues. Many of these principles have come from ecology, and two simple ones that seem to relate to many issues involving the utility industry are: (1) Everything is interconnected (and should usually stay that way), and (2) We can never do merely one thing. The first principle can be applied to both the biotic and physical environments that are impacted by industrial activities. Habitat fragmentation and the loss of physical and biotic connectedness that results are frequently associated with transmission rights-of-way. These problems can be reduced—or even turned into conservation benefits—by careful planning and creative management. The second principle applies to the utility industry's programs to deal with carbon released by burning fossil fuels. Ecological knowledge can allow these programs to contribute to the preservation of biodiversity in addition to addressing a pollution problem. Without careful ecological analyses, industry could easily create new problems while implementing solutions to old ones.     

Understanding the major drivers for implementation of municipal sustainable policies in underground space

Because of the expanding population in our cities with its demands for more diversified services, we cannot afford a piecemeal type of urban underground growth. Utilization of the urban street system for buried utilities has a serious adverse effect on other street functions because of the continuing necessity to perform excavations for the repair of existing lines and the installation of new ones. The excavations not only are a serious cause of traffic delay and congestion but also create noise and aesthetic disturbances, and result in excessive street maintenance requirements and in shortened overall street life. Consider the enhancing effects in quietness on abutting properties and users of the street, and the benefits become very great. Unfortunately, the lack of data and the difficulty in quantifying the intangibles have made it impossible to arrive at a reasonably accurate figure of overall negative impact on the urban environment of street cuts. However, if drivers are sufficiently strong to merit the use of utility tunnels, then sustainable municipal policies improving living quality will be implemented.     

Assessing the efficiency of Chilean water and sewerage companies accounting for uncertainty

Efficiency assessment of water and sewerage companies (WaSCs) has attracted considerable attention both for water company managers and water regulators. Within the methodological approaches that can be applied to estimate efficiency scores, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is the most widely applied technique. In spite of the positive features of DEA, it presents a major drawback which is its deterministic nature. In other words, conventional DEA models do not account for uncertainty in the data. To overcome this limitation, we assess, for the first time, the efficiency of a sample of Chilean WaSCs by using a DEA model with statistical tolerance in the data. Hence, 81 efficiency scores are estimated for each WaSC rather than a single score as with conventional DEA models. The results illustrate that outputs exhibit larger uncertainty than inputs. Moreover, WaSCs efficiency scores change significantly under the best-case and worst-case scenarios. The ranking of the WaSCs allows for the identification of which of them has the highest performance based on their efficiency scores. This information is essential to enhance efficiency and innovation in the water industry. Moreover, the introduction of uncertainty in the efficiency assessment allows for the prediction and ranking of future performance of WaSCs.     

小型都市工业园环境影响评价的研究——评价要点及技术方法的选择

分析了老工业基地城市小型都市工业园的具体情况;指出了对小型都市工业园进行环境影响评价的特殊目的;阐述了小型都市工业园进行环境影响评价应重视的要点;探索了小型都市工业园环境影响评价相应的技术方法。     

论“限期治理”的法律性质

“限期治理”是我国环境保护法的一项基本制度,文章从四个方面详尽地阐述了“限期治理”决定不是一种行政处罚行为,即“限期治理”决定不具有行政处罚的一般特征;“限期治理”决定并并未对行政管理相对人的权利作任何否定;该决定不会影响行政管理相对人固有权利义务的消长;从“环保法”法典的篇章结构安排上和行政行为的性质上分析,“限期治理”决定也不是一种行政处罚行为。正确理解“限期治理”的法律性质,可以避免对企业行     

Evaluation of the First Phase of Sulfur Dioxide and Nitrogen Oxides Provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act: A Plant-Based Approach

Electric power generating plants that use coal were among the key targets of Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act. Under the first phase of the act, 110 coal-fired electric power plants were required to reduce their sulfur dioxide emissions by 1995 and nitrogen oxide emissions by 1996. Phase 2 of the act requires even greater reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions by 2000 and nitrogen oxide emissions by 2008. This study examines whether the 107 targeted plants (three plants went off-line) have achieved the desired sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emission levels. The analysis of sulfur dioxide is based on data from 1990, 1995, and 1999. The findings show that although sulfur oxide increased by 3% from 1995 to 1999, it decreased by 45% over the 1990–1999 period at the firm level for the targeted firms. The findings also indicate that the overall reduction in sulfur dioxide was achieved by utilizing low sulfur coal and by purchasing emission allowances. So far as nitrogen oxides are concerned, there has been a reduction of 14% over the 1990–1999 period, of which 7% was achieved during the 1995–1999 period. An evaluation of emissions at the plant level indicates that several plants do not meet the emissions level for sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides. These results provide a mixed scorecard for reduction in emissions both for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Even though there is reduction in the emissions on an overall basis at the firm level, several plants that have not been able to reduce emissions deserve special attention to meet the goals of the act in reducing emissions.     

电算化会计信息系统内部控制

会计信息系统电算化为单位带来效益的同时,也带来了与信息系统的安全性、可靠性相关的风险.因此,对系统实施严格的内部控制十分必要.电算化会计信息系统内部控制分为一般控制和应用控制.一般控制着重于系统的安全控制,应用控制着重于具体设计的过程控制.随着电子技术的飞速发展和电算化会计信息系统普及运用,内控制度中的难题不断出现,需要我们对其更加深入研究.     

公用事业民营化及其环境行为政府管制的研究

公用事业民营化的目的是在公用事业行业引入民间资本和市场竞争模式,提高公共产品服务的产出质量和效率。以电力行业的民营化为例,电力市场对于民营企业的开放能够在很大程度上提高我国电力生产水平．解决当前电力供求关系紧张的问题。但是,大量民营企业介入电力生产,由于其技术落后而导致的资源浪费以及污染物的无序排放给我国的环境保护带来了新的困扰。我们应该在科学发展观和构建社会主义和谐社会的目标指引下,加强政府对于电力企业等公用事业民营化企业生产经营活动的法律管制,同时加强和完善相关的环境立法,达到公用事业积极发展和环境保护目标实现的双赢目标。     

限期治理法律制度若干问题研究

以环境管理法律制度的可适用性和可操作性为立足点,从制度完善和创新的角度出发,对现行限期治理制度中存在的法律问题和现实障碍进行了系统的分析和论证.同时,结合实际工作,针对性地提出立法建议,通过将限期治理权限赋予环保部门,进一步明确限期治理的条件,完善限期治理的程序和形式,规定限期治理期间排污单位应承担的义务,以促进限期治理制度功能的发挥,提高环境管理能力.