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Identifying sources of pollutants in watersheds is critical to accurately predicting stormwater quality. Many existing software used to model stormwater quality rely on decades-old data sets which may not represent current runoff quality in the United States. Because of environmental regulations promulgated at the federal level over previous decades, there is a need to understand long-term trends (and potential shifts) in runoff quality to better parameterize models. Pollutant event mean concentrations (EMCs) from the National Stormwater Quality Database (NSQD) were combined with those from recent sources to understand if untreated stormwater quality has changed over the past 40 years. A significant decreasing monotonic trend (i.e., continually decreasing in a nonuniform fashion) was observed for total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), total copper (Cu), total lead (Pb), and total zinc (Zn) in the resultant database, suggesting that runoff quality has become less polluted with time. Median EMCs decreased from 99.2 to 42 mg/L, 0.34 to 0.26 mg/L, 1.27 to 1.03 mg/L, 40 to 6.8 µg/L, 110 to 3.7 µg/L, and 375 to 53.3 µg/L for TSS, TP, TN, Cu, Pb, and Zn, respectively, from the 1980s to the 2010s. These significant reductions often aligned temporally with advancements in clean manufacturing, amendments of the Clean Air Act, and other source control efforts which impact pollutant bioavailability and atmospheric deposition. Results suggest environmental regulations not specifically targeting stormwater management have had a positive impact on stormwater quality and that temporal fluctuations should be considered in modeling., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The article offers information on the significance of the California's Vessel Fuel Rules (VFR) and Dormant Commerce Clause under the judgment of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Pacific Merchant II case, whose ruling affects the relationship between the environmental law and commercial policy. It informs that the collaboration of the competing interests between business law and environmental law is much needed to maintain the balance among business groups and environmental regulations.

Abstract: The global decline in trade barriers means that environmental regulations now potentially play an increasingly important role in shaping a country''s comparative advantage. This raises the possibility that pollution intensive industries will relocate from high regulation countries to developing regions where environmental regulations may be less stringent. We assess the evidence for this possibility by examining the USA''s revealed comparative advantage (RCA) and other measures of specialization. We demonstrate that US specialization in pollution intensive sectors is neither lower, nor falling more rapidly (or rising more slowly) than in any other manufacturing sector. We offer an explanation for this finding. Our analysis suggests that pollution intensive industries have certain characteristics – specifically they are intensive in the use of physical and human capital – that makes developing countries less attractive as a target for relocation. We demonstrate econometrically the economic and statistical significance of these factors and illustrate how they appear to oppose the effects of environmental regulations as determinants of US specialization. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Companies in many countries complain of the unfairness of having to compete against foreign rivals facing more lenient environmental regulations. In this article I examine the competitive conditions for firms in such a position. I outline the development of a new pollution-reduction paradigm centered on lowering costs by reducing pollution and, using twelve scenarios of international differences in environmental regulatory regimes faced by first movers and imitators, make propositions on which factors are important to the maintainability of these advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past twenty years, the environmental regulation of landfills has become increasingly restrictive both at the federal and state levels. Using a panel dataset of Ohio landfills, we developed a theoretical framework to explain the landfill operators’ responses to regulatory actions, and then estimate an empirical model of changes in industry structure. Because not all Ohio counties have landfill operations, we hypothesize that there is self-selection in the location of landfills, which is accounted for with an appropriate econometric model. The study finds that environmental regulations had significant impact both on the location of landfill operations and concentration of the industry during the time period studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the health tradeoffs associated with the historical expansion in coal-fired electricity generation in the United States. We combine newly digitized data on all major coal-fired power plants for the period 1938–1962 with two complementary difference-in-differences strategies. Coal-fired plants imposed large negative health externalities that were partially offset by the benefits of local electricity generation. The health impacts varied widely according to initial electricity access and evolved as the stock of generating capacity expanded over the sample period. These findings highlight the importance of accounting for both current and future payoffs when designing environmental regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manure generated by livestock operations can cause negative impacts on the environment if there is no control of its storage, transport or application. Manure emits greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and micro and macro nutrients accumulate in soil and bodies of surface water. Today, in the USA specific legislation exists for management and deposition of animal excreta that impact bodies of water, the soil and the atmosphere, which is supervised and certified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In Canada the regulations for management and deposition of animal manure are no less rigorous. In Argentina, Chile, Colombia and México regulation and government vigilance of the use and management of animal mature is scarce and confusing, specifying only certain norms for discharges of pollutants into water, while giving less importance to emissions into the atmosphere and soil, and there are no clear specifications related to animal manure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

California's struggles with air pollution are well known, particularly in the South Coast Air Basin. Since the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles-- both located in the Basin--handle 40 percent of the nation's imports, the shipping industiy contributes heavily to the pollution in the South Coast Air Basin. Specifically, the shipping industry is the heaviest emitter of sulfur dioxide and fifth-largest emitter of nitrogen dioxide in the area. To combat the shipping industry's contribution to the area's air pollution problems, in 2008 the California Air Resources Board enacted Vessel Fuel Rules requiring ships to use low-sulfur fuels while within twenty-four miles of California's coast and when stopping at California ports. The Vessel Fuel Rules were challenged as preempted by the Submerged Lands Act in Pacific Merchant Shipping Association v. Goldstene (Pacific Merchant 11/ The Ninth Circuit upheld the Vessel Fuel Rules against the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association's motion for summary judgment by, in part, applying a presumption against preemption. The Ninth Circuit held that application of a presumption against preemption was appropriate because the Vessel Fuel Rules fell under an area of traditional state control by targeting the prevention of air pollution. Although applied in Pacific Merchant II, the presumption against preemption doctrine is unclear and the application of the presumption appears inconsistent at best. This Note uses the circumstances in Pacific Merchant II to illustrate that, in determining whether a presumption against preemption applies, courts should examine the strength of the state's interests, whether subsequent legislation has further explained the relative weight of federal interests in the area, whether federal regulations are insufficiently protective and only serve as a regulatory floor, and whether the level of decision making enforces political accountability. In the environmental law context, these factors will show that applying a strong presumption against preemption is favorable and will serve to protect state implementation of environmental protections that are necessary to protect the health and safety of the state's residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing environmental externalities is traditionally seen as hinging on effective state regulation. It is argued in this article that it is not just the material facts of regulations, such as their stringency and timing, that explain the extent to which firms internalise environmental externalities. The extent to which they do this is better explained by institutional aspects of regulations: how rules are made. This is because the institutional basis on which rules are made is a key factor in their effectiveness. This proposition is examined with reference to the car industry and the regulation of passenger motor vehicle carbon dioxide emissions in the industry's three hubs of the European Union, United States and Japan. The conclusion reached is that although different regulations in each territory have affected firms' behaviour, it is not the material facts of these regulations alone that explain differences in the industry's compliance with, or response to, them, but the institutional contexts in which the regulations were developed. Furthermore, as car firms are multinational corporations these different institutional contexts have implications beyond their home territories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the United States, 'fenceline communities' next to petrochemical facilities have been conducting and advocating for air monitoring since the 1990s, highlighting gaps in U.S. environmental regulators' monitoring programs. Citizen science is imagined to be valuable as a source of data for filling such gaps. But fenceline communities' air monitoring activities also underscore regulators' hermeneutic ignorance, namely their lack of appropriate concepts, categories, and metrics for understanding the temporality of air pollution as experienced by marginalized communities. Citizen science could play a valuable role in addressing hermeneutic ignorance, by providing more adequate epistemic resources for understanding the environmental harms. In the case of community monitoring programs, these have included epistemic resources for understanding the immediacy of air pollution and the chronic nature of unpredictable spikes in pollution. However, regulators confronted with community-led monitoring have acknowledged neither citizen scientists' contributions to epistemic resources nor their own hermeneutic ignorance, limiting the potential for citizen science to address institutionalized ignorance. Recognizing hermeneutic ignorance shows the important role that epistemic resources play in institutionalizing ignorance, and points to reforms necessary if citizen science is to make robust contributions to environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have suggested that environmental regulations may deter the entry of firms into industries, and their assertions imply that an advantage is thereby conferred on incumbent firms. Empirical analysis showed that environmental regulations inhibited new firm entry in a variety of manufacturing industries. Implications for affected firms and future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently enacted Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) includes a number of incentive-based programs (e.g., tax credits) designed to motivate firms to develop new clean technologies for fighting climate change. However, the IRA also includes a fee firms incur for excessive methane emissions. This represents the first time the United States government has ever levied a fee on greenhouse gas emissions, and it raises an interesting research question—how should a budget-constrained regulator balance the use of both incentive and penalty-based levers for stimulating investment in clean technology development? In this paper, we examine a regulator's optimal penalty and subsidy decisions for motivating firms to invest in clean technology development. We illustrate how the level of competitive intensity in the market can influence a budget-constrained regulator with multiple competing objectives—the environment, firm profits, and consumer welfare. We find that a subsidy is always beneficial, irrespective of the regulator's objective. While imposing a firm penalty always benefits the environment, it always negatively impacts the sum of firm profits and consumer welfare. However, depending on the level of competition in the market, instances can occur where imposing a high penalty actually benefits total firm profits or consumer welfare (separately). Interestingly, a regulator that cares about all three dimensions of its objective equally, should always set the penalty to either its minimum or maximum value, depending on whether the environmental cost of the harmful product is high or low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, a growing number of firms utilize corporate lobbying to advocate for more environmentally friendly policies and regulations, deviating from the traditional lobbying mainly used to minimize regulatory burdens. In this study, we investigate what motivates firms to engage in such an unusual type of lobbying—environmental lobbying. Focusing on the product strategy of firms, we suggest that firms with greater green product intensity are more likely to engage in environmental lobbying. When environmental lobbying raises environmental hurdles in the market, firms with an intensive focus on green products can bear adjustment costs with little effort, leaving other "less green" firms relatively disadvantaged under the newly regulated market conditions. Moreover, those firms can address demand-side issues more easily by lobbying the government to provide greater incentives for purchasing green products or to request subsidies that can be used to improve their cost structure. Our analyses based on the US light vehicle market indicate that, indeed, the more electric vehicles automakers sell relative to their total sale volumes, the more they will engage in environmental lobbying. We also find that this relationship becomes more salient when a firm has greater market share or originally comes from a foreign country with more stringent environmental regulations than the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

United States environmental regulations, intended to protect human health, generally fail to address major sources of pollutants that endanger human health. These sources are surprisingly close to us and within our control, such as consumer products and building materials that we use within our homes, workplaces, schools, and other indoor environments. Even though these indoor sources account for nearly 90% of our pollutant exposure, they are virtually unregulated by existing laws. Even pollutant levels found in typical homes, if found outdoors, would often violate federal environmental standards. This article examines the importance of human exposure as a way to understand and reduce effects of pollutants on human health. Results from exposure studies challenge traditional thinking about pollutant hazards, and reveal deficiencies in our patchwork of laws. And results from epidemiological studies, showing increases in exposure-related diseases, underscore the need for new protections. Because we cannot rely solely on regulations to protect us, and because health effects from exposures can develop insidiously, greater efforts are needed to reduce and prevent significant exposures before they occur. Recommendations include the development and use of safer alternatives to common products, public education on ways to reduce exposure, systematic monitoring of human exposure to pollutants, and a precautionary approach in decision-making. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Health and safety issues associated with the antigenic/allergenic proteins inherent in natural-rubber latex continue to affect government policy and practice. Although many of the issues associated with Hevea brasiliensis natural-rubber latex are well documented and understood, industrial society's magnificent exploitation and comfortable dependence on such a material continues to stress human health. Agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Centers for Disease Control continue to develop and implement regulations, policies, and procedures for Hevea brasiliensis natural rubber. Government agencies that have been emboldened to guide health and safety have shown contradictions in policy with regard to Hevea brasiliensis natural-rubber latex. In the prevention of chronic disease and mental health disorders, we should question whether such agencies should be in the business of the proliferation of Hevea brasiliensis natural-rubber latex without regard for the antigenic/allergenic proteins therein. Finally, the increased incidence of allergic disease in industrialized societies presents the ultimate challenge for the environmental regulation of Hevea brasiliensis natural-rubber latex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses four examples of risk regulations in the United States, namely vehicle emissions, appliance efficiency, chemical safety, and the labeling of genetically modified food. In each example, consumer or environmental regulations were initiated at the state level despite business opposition. But when faced with a multiplicity of state product regulations, the affected firms decided to support the expansion of federal regulations. They were willing to accept stronger federal standards in order to preempt individual states from enacting more stringent standards than the federal government. This, in turn, led to a conflict between firms who wanted federal preemption of state restrictions and states who wanted to be able to enact regulations more stringent than those of the federal government. The outcomes of each of these conflicts over the scope of federal preemption had important impacts on each multilevel governance regulatory regime. The ability of both levels of the American government to enact more innovative risk regulations – often referred to as dynamic federalism – has made it more likely that they will be strengthened. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several noteworthy stability failures occurred at landfills in the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s, a timeframe coinciding with the promulgation of modern US environmental regulations. These failures were extensively studied, and lessons were learned. A state-of-practice developed to enable the design of waste fills to be stable throughout their construction, operation, and closure periods. However, a survey of landfill performance in the United States in the 2010–2019 timeframe shows that waste fill stability failures continue to occur. This paper, an expansion of the 2018 Terzaghi Lecture given by the first author, presents a brief review of several waste fill failures from the 1980s and 1990s and the lessons learned during that period. Several more recent waste fill failures are then reviewed, from which it is concluded that 20–30 years after the earlier failures, facility operators and design engineers are relearning the earlier lessons, as well as new lessons related to evolving waste streams and operating practices. The paper concludes with a discussion of the current standard-of-care for the design of US waste fills and suggests that this standard can be improved through application of the lessons described herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author reflects on the editorials concerning environmental regulations in the U.S., such as one on job versus regulations and another on the reasons for creation of environmental regulations. The author says that cost-benefit analysis has provided benefits in the development of the regulations. He adds that sustainability should be considered as another factor to be added in the creation of environmental regulations.

Several noteworthy stability failures occurred at landfills in the United States in the 1980s and early 1990s, a timeframe coinciding with the promulgation of modern US environmental regulations. These failures were extensively studied, and lessons were learned. A state-of-practice developed to enable the design of waste fills to be stable throughout their construction, operation, and closure periods. However, a survey of landfill performance in the United States in the 2010–2019 timeframe shows that waste fill stability failures continue to occur. This paper, an expansion of the 2018 Terzaghi Lecture given by the first author, presents a brief review of several waste fill failures from the 1980s and 1990s and the lessons learned during that period. Several more recent waste fill failures are then reviewed, from which it is concluded that 20–30 years after the earlier failures, facility operators and design engineers are relearning the earlier lessons, as well as new lessons related to evolving waste streams and operating practices. The paper concludes with a discussion of the current standard-of-care for the design of US waste fills and suggests that this standard can be improved through application of the lessons described herein. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Donald Trump ran his campaign on an anti-federalist agenda. He asserted that the federal government was too large and that regulation was the key problem choking the economy. A large portion of the country agreed. Apparently, Trump's arguments especially resonated with voters in Republican led states. Polling did not accurately predict Trump's success in the 2016 Electoral College. To many, Donald Trump's election as President came as a great surprise. Traditional polling reported in the press did not predict Trump's electoral victory. Patterns in public response to some of President Obama's second term environmental health regulation more accurately predicted the electoral map. As the second term Obama EPA proposed additional regulation, resistance in the central United States grew. This Article tracks the legal reaction of states across the country to Obama second term regulations governing shale oil and gas extraction (what the public calls "fracking"), the rule revising the definition of "Waters of the United States," and the "Clean Power Plan."2 The Article demonstrates that with each new regulation, opposition to the Obama environmental plan grew. The map of state reaction to the Clean Power Plan (the final rule in the suite of rules examined) shows a map that resembles, if not mirrors, the November 2016 electoral map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simulation model of the U.S. electricity market to examine the impact of natural gas prices and future electricity demand growth on the electricity industry suggests that recent downward adjustments in natural gas prices and electricity demand projections have a substantially larger impact on electricity prices and generation mix than do the new EPA regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the effect of social value of job loss due to environmental regulation in the U.S. Topics discussed include response of local labor markets to job changes, social value of job losses and gains in labor markets, impact of job growth shock on unemployment and labor participation and summary on use of local labor market model for simulating present value of job changes.

US environmental controls for industry include numerous regulations that rely on the regulated community to self-identify, monitor, report, or complete other requirements on their own recognizance. These include state- and federal-issued general permits for stormwater discharges associated with industrial activities, effective in 1992, with known incomplete compliance by 2004. Results demonstrate highly incomplete compliance with variation in effectiveness among studied states and urbanized regions. Texas and Oklahoma, administered by US EPA during the research period, have attained higher compliance rates than California, administered by a state agency, or Florida, also administered by US EPA. Specific program designs and implementation strategies employed by states are evaluated for impacts on states' compliance effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Occasionally during his presidency, Donald Trump has suggested that he cares deeply about clean air and water, even as he expresses deep skepticism about climate change. But the specifics of Trump's deregulatory approach tell a dijferent story. The Trump administration has undertaken a series of regulatory moves to weaken the analytical foundation for clean air and water regulations. These moves seek to eliminate or undercut precisely those regulations that bring the biggest health benefits. The clean air regulations under the Clean Air Act, which account for the overwhelming majority of all quantifed and monetized benefits of allfederal regulation, are under significant threat. Four specific analytical moves are particularly troubling: first. shifting focus to costs and ignoring benefits oj regulation; second, erasing public health science; third, reviving discredited scientific models; and jourth, eliminating indirect benejits from regulatory impact analysis. Individually, each Of these four strategies, ifjully implemented, would significantly harm the health and welfare of Americans. Together, they threaten afundamental reshaping of environmental and public health protection in the United States. These four moves-manifested in rules currently proposed or already promulgated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies-represent a concerted attack on rational economic analysis Of regulation that has received little comprehensive academic discussion. When put together, these disparate deregulatory measures paint a picture of a truly monumental assault on rational policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The potential economic effects of environmental regulations are often a concern when discussing policy initiatives. This study employs a regression discontinuity (RD) design to test effects of ozone nonattainment status and the accompanying regulations on economic conditions in US counties from 2004 through 2011. Comparing ozone nonattainment counties to similarly polluted attainment counties, the results estimate roughly 24% lower employment in polluting industries in nonattainment areas and a negative though statistically insignificant effect on the number of polluting-industry establishments in nonattainment areas. When using total county employment as the dependent variable, the analysis finds no statistically significant evidence of nonattainment status effects. Overall, the estimated effects in this analysis imply that any economic impacts of nonattainment status are predominantly felt in those industries most directly affected by ozone regulation. This could lead to changes in local industrial composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

United States environmental regulations often vary by operation size, with larger facilities facing more regulatory stringency. However, such legislative structure may have unintended consequences if operations downsize, slow their growth, or enter at a smaller scale in order to avoid regulation. In this study we use a regression-discontinuity framework and exploit the size threshold of federal and state rules targeting large-scale livestock operations to examine whether facilities adjust size to avoid regulation. We find statistical evidence of avoidance, primarily by operations entering at sizes just below the threshold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of economic and social factors have created attractive opportunities for U.S.-based businesses to compete in foreign markets. Although foreign environmental regulations are increasingly complex and demanding, there are many resources available to help ensure compliance. Beyond compliance, progressive environmental regulations in foreign countries will create opportunities for American businesses to compete effectively with advanced technology, management competence, and experience in operating in the highly regulated climate in the U.S. Packaging and packaging waste regulation in the European Community exemplifies both the regulatory complexity as well as the competitive opportunities of competing in foreign markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses the role of the animal scientist in keeping science in environmental regulations in the U.S. Activities concerning environmental regulations for the livestock industry; Environmental challenges faced by the industry; Conclusions.

Reservoir sedimentation management has become an important topic for large dams in the United States due to their historical design, current age, and increased environmental regulation. Less attention has been paid to small dams (hydraulic size < 0.01) in remote mountains with urgent sedimentation problems. In drier climates, such reservoirs may be frequently drained and trans-catchment flows routed over their sediment deposits heading from one mountain tunnel to another. This study asked an unexplored scientific question focusing on this special setting: how do different amounts of water transfers interact with different reservoir stages to affect sediment erosion and its redistribution in the backwater zone? Mindful timing and magnitude adjustment of water transfer, involving water diverted across watersheds by tunnels, through a reservoir were hypothesized to strategically redistribute sediment erosion for sites with water transfer/diversion facilities in the main channel. For a study site in the north-central Sierra Mountains of California, 2D hydrodynamic modeling revealed that sediment erosion within the backwater zone increased by > 100% when water transfer was maximized, involving a flow 12 times higher than mean annual discharge. With reservoir stage drawdown, the increment of sediment erosion was further increased by > 50% compared with water-transfer-only scenarios. The natural upstream inflow with daily flow occurrence of 5–25% was the optimal water transfer to avoid disturbing sediment. These results indicated that water transfer and stage drawdown optimization is a promising strategy to promote or abate redistribution of deposited sediment through a smaller reservoir. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relative stringency of risk regulation across countries may have significant implications for public health and environmental outcomes, as well as for economic and trade impacts. In this study, we build on prior literature—which has often employed qualitative case studies, and has often focused on comparing the United States and Europe—by using a quantitative evidential reasoning approach to compare the relative stringency of federal/central level written rules for 45 randomly selected environmental risks in the United States and China. We find that, on average, in this sample of 45 environmental risks, the written rules for environmental risk regulation were more stringent in the United States than in China. Within this sample, we find that relative stringency was selective, leaning in both directions, as the United States and China each regulated some risks more stringently than the other; for example, the US written rules were more stringent for risks of toxic chemicals and most air pollutants, whereas China's written rules were more stringent for risks in agriculture. We also observe nuanced differences in relative regulatory stringency within sectors and risks; even where one country regulated one risk more stringently, the other country may regulate certain aspects of that risk more stringently. We comment on possible explanations for the patterns we observe. Our methods and findings may contribute to better understanding of comparative risk regulation across the United States and China, and worldwide. We also recognize that in addition to the written rules studied here, countries may also vary in their implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, states should inspect each of their major water polluters at least once a year. However, studies have shown that the frequency and stringency of inspections depend on factors such as state budgets, state employee costs, and Congressional voting patterns and committee memberships. This paper adds to this literature by examining the effect of gubernatorial political party affiliation on Clean Water Act monitoring and enforcement. Using a regression discontinuity design approach, we find evidence that states with Democratic governors inspect a smaller percentage of their major water polluters, and that they inspect less stringently, compared to states with Republican governors; enforcement actions, however, are similar across states. We find no evidence that these differences in inspections lead to differences in compliance, suggesting that Democratic and Republican governors use different methods to generate compliance with the Clean Water Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study extends previous research on motivations for compliance with environmental regulations. It addresses contexts where regulatees have primarily sporadic short term interests, where costs of compliance are modest, and where costs of non-compliance are low. The behavior studied is the movement of firewood for camping, a principal cause for the spread of the emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis), one of several invasive species plaguing the eastern United States. Based on a three-wave mail survey that produced 495 usable returns (64% response rate), findings suggest that motivations are influential in these contexts. Calculated motivations exert the greatest influence—especially when related to firewood price and convenience, while normative motivations (civic duty based) exert less influence, as does ability to comply. These findings have important implications, not only for controlling the spread of forest diseases and invasive pests, but also for regulating natural resources in general. They suggest that national, state, and local governments can manage natural resources to encourage user compliance with environmental rules, and develop communication strategies that leverage pro-environment norms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We analyze the effects of the New Source Review (NSR) environmental regulations on coal-fired electric power plants. Regulations that grew out of the Clean Air Act of 1970 required new electric generating plants to install costly pollution control equipment but exempted existing plants. Plants lost their exemptions if they made “major modifications.” We examine whether this caused firms to invest less in grandfathered plants, possibly leading to lower efficiency and higher emissions. We find evidence that heightened NSR enforcement reduced capital investment at vulnerable plants. However, we find no discernible effect on other inputs or emissions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses the automobile production policies of U.S. and German car makers under the influence of environmental regulations in the period 1960-1980. The auto sales problems of General Motors' European subsidiaries are traced to a Continental trend away from Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) popular in the U.S. toward "green" cars smaller in size, more fuel efficient, and powered by hybrid or electrical engines. Also discussed are the impact of oil prices and environmental consciousness of CO2 emissions on consumer car purchasing behavior.

In the past, there was a constant strain between industry and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Industry, with its relentless pursuit of profitability, would spare no expense--environment included--to achieve its objectives. EPA, on the other hand, often levied hefty fines on industry in order to ensure compliance with environmental regulations. In recent years, however, many companies have taken a more proactive approach toward environmental compliance. While some companies use an image of environmental responsibility only in their marketing campaigns, others have realized that it is cheaper to take preventive action than be forced to pay for remediation. The new paradigm of environmental law recognizes that industry makes a better partner than adversary. This Note discusses the attempts of Texas Instruments, Inc. to transfer ownership of a state-of-the-art waste water treatment plant to an industrial redevelopment company. The plan would create an industrial park, create hundreds of jobs, and allow small industrial companies to discharge their hazardous waste to an on-site facility at a greatly reduced cost. However, because of a narrow reading of the exceptions to the extensive permitting requirements of the Resource, Conservation, and Recovery Act (RCRA), the plant is currently unable to treat hazardous waste. This Note examines several of the relevant RCRA exceptions and argues that it benefits all parties for this plant to operate at full capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses how the U.S. federal government can effectively implement environmental laws and policies to ensure foreign companies produce their products in environmentally-friendly ways. Other topics include the U.S.-China manufacturing relationship, the impact of China's lack of environmental regulations and pollution data to the U.S., and the Porter Hypothesis economic theory.

Oil frequently plays a crucial role in modern industrial economies. It is a very costly natural resource for those countries that do not have it, but very profitable for those that do. Yet, developing oil resources and transporting them to market has its own costs, not only in terms of production but also in terms of impacts on other valuable natural resources such as clean water. Not surprisingly, governments can have strict environmental regulations concerning oil transport. However, such regulations can be complicated, especially in countries like the United States where many different government agencies claim jurisdiction, especially at differing spatial scales. Consequently, conflict can result from competing interests, pitting those developing oil resources against those already using resources such as clean water. This paper explores the complicated geographies of environmental regulations and how competing entities pursue and protect their interests through environmental ligation. In doing so, this study uses the example of the Dakota Access Pipeline (the DAPL) because the conflict surrounding it garnered considerable national and international attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1974, the major economic variables — the consumer price index, the unemployment rate and the real GNP — were all heading in the wrong direction. With such severe economic problems, both top Administration officials and leading business executives questioned whether the federal government's environmental regulations so burdened the economy that they should be relaxed. In light of the numerous books and articles published in the past decade by environmental economists, to say nothing of all the reports churned out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in its five years of existence, one might ask why such a debate over the economic impact of environmental regulations even exists. Actually, so much of the work of economists was designed to justify the use of effluent charges or to develop models of the interactions among the environment energy and the economy, that little had been done on the actual expenditures and their past and anticipated effects. To help resolve the debate, the Joint Economic Committee of Congress conducted three: days of hearings on the problem in November 1974, inviting testimony from leading government officials concerned with the environment and from executives of three major industries which have been heavily impacted by environmental regulations.

The article presents an analysis of the role of environmental regulations in the U.S. economy. Studies have revealed that the environmental regulations had an adverse economic effect on the market economy as there was slow productivity rate, inflation and widespread unemployment. The role of the environmental regulations has also been explained with the help of charts, diagrams and equations. It is stated that such regulations not only affect the current functioning of the firm but also influence its future business prospects.

Manufactured nanomaterials entered the marketplace of consumer goods in the mid-1990s. With the exception of pending reporting requirements in Canada, no new regulatory requirements have been imposed on the manufacture or use of nanomaterials or their commercial products, although in the past three years governments, industry, and nongovernmental organizations have questioned the need for new regulatory approaches. The debate hinges on whether current scientific information is sufficient for making risk-based decisions, if nanomaterial effects differ from macroscale products, and how much knowledge about potential risk governments should require before products are brought to market. The debate over when and how to regulate manufactured nanomaterials opens the door for a renewed discussion on regulatory environmental policy and suggests that the public may be demanding increased precaution and assurances from government. How government, in concert with industry and the open market, responds will set the bar for future regulations of emerging technologies.

Efforts to communicate risk reduction policies must consider how target audiences will respond to the source of the message. This study investigates how modifying the message source enhances or diminishes psychological reactance against a policy designed to curb a wildlife disease. In an experimental study, we attributed a press release announcing this policy to different sources. We found that the source had an indirect effect on reactance, which subsequently affected attitudes toward the policy and behavioral intentions. Specifically, the more similar and trustworthy participants perceived the source, the less likely the source was to induce freedom threat or reactance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental economics literature has for a long time been occupied with the relationships between environmental regulations, technical efficiency, and productivity growth. This paper extends this discussion by taking up environmental regulations' implications for allocative efficiency. It establishes a model framework that allows disentangling managerial and regulatory induced allocative efficiencies, and utilizes Data Envelopment Analysis to a sample of 67 coal-to-gas substituting power plants observed from 2002 to 2008 to calculate Nerlovian profit efficiencies and their technical and allocative efficiency components. The empirical results illustrate that failing to control for environmental regulations leads to overestimation of managerial allocative efficiencies by ignoring compliance costs. Marginal abatement cost estimates that are in line with allowance prices for NO and SO are further obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with issues concerning the cost estimation of environmental regulations in the United States. Information on the cost overestimation involving reductions of sulfur dioxide emissions; How to evaluate cost estimates; Ways in which inaccurate prediction of reductions can occur.

There is a widely held view that in the period since the early 1990s the European Union (EU) has overtaken the United States (US) as the leader with the most advanced or demanding environmental regulations. However, it is striking that there are very few robust comparative evaluations of the outcomes of environmental regulations or of levels of industrial environmental performance in the EU and US. This paper seeks to address this by comparing the standards and levels of performance achieved based on a case study of the regulation of a classic air pollutant (benzene) from a widespread industrial sector that has been heavily regulated in both settings for many years (oil refineries). Contrary to expectations, we find that on average normalised levels of emissions from EU refineries are three times higher than those from US refineries, and whilst outcomes in the US show marked convergence towards the best standards, there continue to be wide variations in the outcomes achieved in different EU Member States, despite the rhetoric of harmonisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]