NRE 381 Exam 1

● What is a total maximum daily load (TMDL)? How is it relevant to the Chesapeake Bay Program?

A section of the 1972 Clean Water Act that requires the EPA and states to enforce total maximum daily loads of pollutants entering the nation's waterways

● How did the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and other groups alter their policy approaches subsequent to the Chesapeake 2000 agreement?

Evaluation of progress since 2000 found that urban sprawl development and climate variability were causing increasing levels of pollution that cancelled out any nutrient reductions being made. The presence of underwater grasses varied due to the climate variability, but overall declined. The dead zones or oxygen-depleted water in the bay were the largest ever recorded in the bay. The relatively consistent failures of the Chesapeake Bay Program to reach its goals through a collaborative, voluntary process eventually caused pressure for reform. William C. Baker, the president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, questioned this method that the Foundation itself was built on. The bay foundation took a more aggressive approach and decided to file a lawsuit against the EPA.

What is a policy window? What are the factors that influence when such a window occurs?

Major policy changes are likely to occur only when a window of opportunity opens for advocates to promote their pet solutions. In environmental policymaking, such a policy window may open as the result of a legal decision that forces legislators or administrators to reexamine a policy.

○ Donald McNeil

New York Times reporter - transformed a local issue into a national one - escalated passions and tensions Hooker = villain; residents = innocent victims

Major events: policy-making process (short version)

Nixon and Muskie both recognized popular support of environmentalism - Muskie tried to one-up Nixon with more stringent bill - final result of both CAA and CWA resulted in bill that resembled Senate's version (Muskie's)

● How was the plight of the Love Canal residents finally resolved? What this outcome satisfactory to everyone? Why or why not?

mostly evacuated, and very slowly resettled even after massive restoration out of fear 2004: taken off EPA's National Priorities List 2015: 15 new lawsuits filed reporting toxic pollutants continued to seep from the dumpsite causing health problems

What does the term salience mean? Why is it important in the environmental policy debate? How do advocates try to influence perceptions of salience?

the quality of being particularly noticeable or important; prominence.

State/Local Decision Makers

(1) Role (2) Motivations (3) Constraints

Legislators

(1) Role: President + members of Congress, First paragraph? (12) Formulate legislation, policy (2) Motivations: rallies, phoning, letters, emails, social media (3) Constraints: Creating the perception that an issue is salient (rallies, phoning, letters, emails, social media) is not a one-way street that runs from the public to politicians. Legislators who want to promote a particular policy shape their constituents' views using language that is crafted to generate public support

Judiciary

(1) Role: authority to review agency decisions to determine whether they are consistent with congressional intent and, in this way, can circumscribe an agency's ability to pursue environmentally protective (or permissive) policies ---- Administrative Procedures Act allows courts to invalidate decisions that lack "substantial evidence" or are "arbitrary and capricious" ---- Many environmental statutes allow the courts to strike down an agency decision if they cannot discern a reasonable connection between the chosen course of action and the supporting record (2) Motivations: ?? Congress encouraged environmentalists' use of the courts by inserting provisions in environmental laws explicitly granting citizens and citizen organizations the right to sue not only polluters that violate the law but also agencies that fail to implement or enforce their statutory mandates with sufficient zeal (3) Constraints: they must base their reasoning on precedent, as well as on the actual wording and legislative history of a statute... As a result, litigation has become "an especially potent resource for making transparent the values, biases, and social assumptions that are embedded in many expert claims about physical and natural phenomena"

Administrators (Executive)

(1) Role: implement the laws passed by Congress (2) Motivations: administrators have substantial discretion to modify policy goals (3) Constraints: the agency's mission and organizational culture (Agency's mission = its original mandate; organizational culture = norms + operating procedures that have evolved over time) ---- The preferences of a federal agency's organized clientele, the nature and extent of its congressional oversight, and the direction given by the president and his political appointees

What are the primary types of actors or decision-makers within government?

(1) What function or role does each play in the formal policy-making process? (2) What are the typical motivations of each type? (3) What institutional constraints does each face?

○ Michael Brown

(1977) a reporter from the Niagara Gazette - became interested in Love Canal, became clear to him that both the city manager and the mayor of Niagara Falls were stonewalling residents who tried to contact them or to speak up in city council meetings - the DEC, Calspan, and the EPA all investigated to find disturbing results - Michael Brown was shocked by these reports and disturbed by the unwillingness of local officials to acknowledge the seriousness of the problem, undertook his own investigation - Brown published stories in the Niagara Gazette surveying the alarming ailments in the area and connecting it to the toxic waste - caused some alarm among local people

What is cost-benefit analysis? What are some of the issues (pro and con) surrounding its use in policy-making?

(8-9)

Which of the following best describes the Chesapeake Bay Program? (a) A voluntary partnership of the EPA, state governments, and other stakeholders addressing water pollution in the Chesapeake Bay (b) A regulatory program mandated by the federal government under the requirements of the Clean Water Act (c) A sophisticated computer program that models the growth and movement of human populations near the Chesapeake Bay (d) A new regulatory model for addressing water pollution nationwide, named after the approaches successfully employed in the Chesapeake Bay (e) An alliance of business leaders devoted to promoting tourism and recreation in the Chesapeake Bay area

(a) A voluntary partnership of the EPA, state governments, and other stakeholders addressing water pollution in the Chesapeake Bay

With which of the following statements about environmental policy debates would Layzer most likely agree? (a) Policy debates are seldom framed as a difference in values, and more often framed as a debate over science, economics, and risk. (b) The disparity in values between environmentalists and cornucopians matters little for how easily the conflict over policy can be resolved. (c) Environmental policymaking is typically a straightforward matter of recognizing a problem and devising an appropriate solution. (d) Activists on both sides primarily attempt to persuade each other, rather than trying to gain the support of uncommitted members of the public. (e) Environmental policy debates are usually resolved when both sides reach consensus on the economic costs and benefits, even when scientific uncertainty remains.

(a) Policy debates are seldom framed as a difference in values, and more often framed as a debate over science, economics, and risk.

Which of the following best describes the resolution of the Love Canal crisis? (a) The federal and state governments paid to evacuate the area's residents, buy out their homes, and clean up the site. (b) The residents were left to deal with the crisis on their own, with no assistance from local, state, or federal government. (c) Hooker Chemical voluntarily assumed full responsibility for cleaning up the contamination and compensating the residents for their health problems and decreased property values. (d) The municipal government followed its plan to evacuate and clean up the site, with no assistance from the state or federal governments. (e) Scientific investigation revealed conclusively that the hazardous waste did not produce any harm to human health, and thus the evacuation plans were canceled.

(a) The federal and state governments paid to evacuate the area's residents, buy out their homes, and clean up the site.

Which of the following best defines a total maximum daily load (TMDL)? (a) The maximum amount of sewage that can be processed per day at a municipal sewage treatment plant (b) An analysis of an impaired waterway identifying the sources of pollution and the limits needed to achieve water quality standards (c) The maximum volume of precipitation that a storm sewer system can handle without losing structural integrity (d) The highest volume of water that can flow through a waterway without causing flooding (e) The number of daily page-views of the EPA's website at the times of peak traffic

(b) An analysis of an impaired waterway identifying the sources of pollution and the limits needed to achieve water quality standards

Which of the following best describes the environmental problem in the Love Canal crisis? (a) A damaged ship was leaking a dangerous mixture of chemicals into the waters of the canal, affecting people downstream. (b) Hazardous substances buried underground contaminated the groundwater, affecting people living near the dump. (c) Smoke and fumes from the operations of a chemical processing plant created a toxic smog that afflicted people living downwind. (d) Heavy use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers in an agricultural area contaminated the food chain of nearby wildlife, disrupting ecosystems. (e) Erosion related to urban development threatened irreversible damage to the picturesque waterfall known as Niagara Falls.

(b) Hazardous substances buried underground contaminated the groundwater, affecting people living near the dump.

Which of the following best describes the conservationist form of environmentalism? (a) Large sections of wilderness should be left undisturbed, as a source of spiritual renewal. (b) Natural resources should be managed wisely, to ensure sustainable long-term supply. (c) Biological diversity should be maintained because all living things, including humans, are interconnected. (d) Plants and animals should be treated as morally and ethically equivalent to humans, with similar rights to flourish. (e) Due to system dynamics and feedback loops, the earth can support population and economic growth rates well in excess of current levels.

(b) Natural resources should be managed wisely, to ensure sustainable long-term supply.

Which of the following best defines ecosystem-based management (EBM)? (a) A set of strict regulatory standards applied uniformly at a national level (b) A law with the goal of protecting ecosystems via taxes on various forms of pollution (c) A collaboration with stakeholders to manage adaptively at a landscape scale (d) Lawsuits filed by environmental groups to stop industrial activities that harm natural resources (e) Policies that help urban residents prepare for natural disasters, such as hurricanes

(c) A collaboration with stakeholders to manage adaptively at a landscape scale

Which of the following best describes the initial response by local officials to the complaints of the Love Canal area's residents? (a) The municipal government cooperated with state and federal officials to devise a quick and effective joint response to the crisis. (b) The municipal government filed a lawsuit against Hooker Chemical, ordering it to shut down the dump's operations. (c) City officials made few attempts to clean up the pollution or even acknowledge the severity of the problem. (d) City officials evacuated residents and then quarantined the site by building a stone wall around it. (e) City officials immediately began a program to clean up the contamination, despite the objections of the EPA.

(c) City officials made few attempts to clean up the pollution or even acknowledge the severity of the problem.

Which of the following best describes a function of policy entrepreneurs in promoting changes in environmental policy? (a) They develop new businesses that capitalize on opportunities created by changes in regulation and other policies. (b) They cause policy windows to close, thereby maintaining the status quo bias. (c) They spread familiarity and build consensus for policy ideas while waiting for an opportunity for implementation. (d) They encourage venture capitalists to invest in companies provide solutions to environmental problems, such as renewable energy. (e) They stake out extreme policy positions, so that the bandwagon effect does not occur.

(c) They spread familiarity and build consensus for policy ideas while waiting for an opportunity for implementation.

Which of the following quotations best captures the idea of technological optimism? (a) "[The world is] an interconnected web of relations in which there are no absolutely discrete entities and no absolute dividing lines between ...the human and the nonhuman." (b) "[D]ecent material conditions must be provided for all [people] before there can be long-term assurance of protection for [animals and plants]." (c) "[C]ausal stories are essential political instruments for shaping alliances and for settling the distribution of benefits and costs." (d) "We are confident that the nature of the physical world permits continued improvement in humankind's economic lot in the long run, indefinitely." (e) "The outcome of every conflict is determined by the extent to which the audience becomes involved in it."

(d) "We are confident that the nature of the physical world permits continued improvement in humankind's economic lot in the long run, indefinitely."

Which of the following statements about the Superfund law is true? (a) The law passed by only a slim majority in both houses of Congress, due to opposition by chemical manufacturers. (b) The law holds future hazardous-waste-dumping companies liable for cleanup costs, but it does not apply retroactively to Hooker Chemical's actions decades earlier. (c) Congress repealed the law in 1990, after the EPA failed to find any significant number of hazardous waste sites requiring cleanup. (d) The law authorizes the EPA to respond quickly to clean up hazardous waste, and also imposes liability on companies that dispose of such waste. (e) The law directs state governments to provide the funds for cleaning up hazardous waste contamination, with no provision for repayment by any other party.

(d) The law authorizes the EPA to respond quickly to clean up hazardous waste, and also imposes liability on companies that dispose of such waste.

Which of the following was not a source of water pollution targeted by policy actions described in the Chesapeake Bay case study? (a) Discharges from municipal sewage treatment plants (b) Runoff contaminated by fertilizer and manure from agricultural operations (c) Urban and suburban development near the shores of the Bay (d) Phosphorous from the use of detergents (e) Acid rain from power plants' emissions of sulfur dioxide

(e) Acid rain from power plants' emissions of sulfur dioxide

Which of the following best describes media coverage and its effects during the Love Canal crisis? (a) Media coverage of the crisis created saliency for the broad public, far beyond the residents of the Love Canal area. (b) Local news coverage raised residents' awareness of the problem and spurred them to join together in calling for government action. (c) Media coverage encouraged state and federal officials to take action to aid the Love Canal residents. (d) The media coverage tended to exacerbate the tensions between Love Canal residents and government officials. (e) All of the above

(e) All of the above

Which of the following best describes the availability heuristic? (a) People generally take all available precautions to mitigate the risks they encounter in everyday life. (b) People tend to disregard sensational news stories in favor of more objective evidence from scientific experts. (c) People are more concerned with avoiding losses than they are with acquiring benefits of similar magnitudes. (d) People rationally review the available scientific evidence to make statistically accurate assessments of risk. (e) People tend to overestimate the risks associated with spectacular events and underestimate the risks associated with mundane or ordinary events.

(e) People tend to overestimate the risks associated with spectacular events and underestimate the risks associated with mundane or ordinary events.

Postwar environmentalism

- "More concerned with fighting pollution and protecting biological diversity than with preserving pristine natural areas or managing natural resources efficiently" - Aldo Leopold: Sand County Almanac - Limits-to-growth thesis, Donella Meadows et all 1972; recognized importance of relationships and feedback loops in complex systems ---- Human population is outrunning the earth's capacity to support it

Conservationism (early 1900s)

- "advocated the prudent use of natural resources" - Federal government set aside forest reserves - 1905: created U.S. Forest Service

What are adversarial and collaborative policy processes?

- Adversarial process: a problem is never really solved; each decision is simply one more step in a never-ending contest - Collaborative process:

What are the primary types of actors outside of government? What role does each play in influencing the policy-making process?

- Advocacy Organizations: - Experts: advocates rely on experts and the research they generate to buttress their claims about the causes and consequences of an environmental problem - The Media

Why is scientific evidence important in environmental policy debates? What are some of the issues related to scientific uncertainty?

- The primary battleground in any environmental controversy is the scientific depiction of the cause, consequences, and magnitude of a problem. Scientific claims carry particular weight because science has enormous cultural authority in the United States - Rather than providing a clear and authoritative explanation, however, science leaves considerable latitude for framing because, as a general rule, the scientific understanding of an environmental problem is *uncertain*. ---- Most scientific research on natural systems involves practitioners in multiple disciplines, many of which are relatively new, working at the frontiers of scientific knowledge. ---- Scientists' ability to measure the causes and consequences of environmental phenomena is limited, both technologically and financially, and, in the case of human health effects, by ethical considerations ---- Few environmental problems can be simulated in laboratory experiments: they involve complex interactions among factors for which it is difficult or impossible to control. In the early stages of research, therefore, a wide range of uncertainty surrounds explanations of a problem's causes, consequences, and magnitude.

Major events: What were the key steps in the formal policy-making process that shaped the CAA and CWA?

- After the Nixon administration established the EPA, the agency was soon focused on implementing the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1970. The Nixon administration's proposal fared well in the House of Representatives, but it received a less welcome response in the Senate where Nixon's rival, Senator Muskie, had dominated the environmental area. - The Senate unanimously supported Muskie's version of the clean air bill. A lengthy House-Senate conference was held over a three-month period. Both chambers debated and passed the conference report, and President Nixon signed the Clean Air Act of 1970 into law. - Nixon directed the EPA by executive order to implement an enforcement strategy in an attempt to control industrial pollution of waterways, which failed to illicit compliance and support. - Nixon then endorsed a proposal to strengthen a bill he had submitted to Congress the previous year. Just as he did with air quality, Muskie competed with more stringent legislation. Despite the Nixon administration's reservations about Muskie's Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments, the Senate passed the bill. - The House then reported a bill similar to the one proposed by the White House, resulting in a consensus after overcoming differences. Nixon vetoed this Clean Water Act because he believed it was too stringent and unattainable, especially economically; however, Congress responded with an override and the Clean Water Act became law.

Major events: Briefly describe how pollution was regulated before the CAA and CWA.

- Before the CAA and CWA, the federal government essentially did not regulate pollution. - The first responses to air pollution were inspired by the smoke emitted by factories. Several cities began enacting the nation's first clean air laws, with Chicago and Cincinnati leading the way in 1881. - Incidences involving air-quality related deaths such as toxic smog in Donora, Pennsylvania in 1948 shifted public perceptions of air pollution from a nuisance to a public health hazard. Congress authorized the Public Health Service to conduct air pollution research and tackle this issue in 1955. Congress passed several laws related to water quality in the early 1900s including the Rivers and Harbors Act, the Public Health Service Act, and the Federal Oil Pollution Act; however, these national laws were largely ineffectual, so by the 1940s every state had established its own water pollution agency. - Congress passed the Federal Water Pollution Control Act in 1948 in an effort to create a more coherent water pollution policy. After working through some issues, Congress enacted the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1961 to redirect and strengthen HEW's efforts.

Deep ecology

- Ecocentric: treat the world as "an intrinsically dynamic, inter-connected web of relations in which there are no absolutely discrete entities and no absolute dividing lines between the living and the nonliving, the animate and the inanimate, or the human and the nonhuman - Tests on the premise of "biospherical egalitarianism" - the inherent and equal value of all living things - Human quality of life depends on maintaining a deep connection to, rather than simply a respectful relationship with, other forms of life

Preservationism (1830-1911)

- George Catlin, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir - "celebrated wild nature as a source of spiritual renewal" (2) - Wilderness Preservation Act (1964), the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (1968), and the National Trails Act (1968).

What does the term heuristics mean? What are some of the heuristics that are important in framing how the public perceives the risks of action or inaction?

- Heuristics: inferential rules, "habits of the mind" - "availability" heuristic: people judge an event as likely or frequent if instances of it are easy to recall; they overestimate the risk of dramatic and sensational events such as airplane crashes, which tend to get abundant media coverage, while underestimating the risk of unspectacular events like car accidents - Other factors besides expected damages: whether the risk is taken voluntarily, its immediacy, its familiarity, the extent of control one has over the risky situation, the severity of the possible consequences, and the level of dread the risk evokes

What is Kingdon's "three streams" model of policy making?

- In the first stream, people in and around government concentrate on a set of problems; - in the second, policy communities made up of experts, journalists, and bureaucrats initiate and refine proposals; - and in the third, political events, such as a change of administration or an interest group campaign, occur

Environmental Problem: Summarize the state of air and water pollution in the US before the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Clean Water Act (CWA) were enacted.

- The enactment of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act was not necessarily inspired by a sudden change in air and water pollution. Although certain kinds of pollution were increasing in the late 1960s, other kinds were fading in the face of garbage burning bans and the diminished use of coal as a heating fuel.

● What focusing events contributed to the development of policy to protect the Chesapeake Bay?

- The first event to shift the public's view of the bay was tropical storm Agnes in June 1972 which caused record flooding and a decline in underwater grasses in the bay. - A year after, the Army Corps of Engineers released a study that identified nitrogen and phosphorus as the primary nutrients causing the decline of the bay. - This study caused Sen. Charles Mathias to eventually acquire funding for the EPA to complete a study of the bay over the course of five years. The EPA's subsequent report, "Chesapeake Bay: A Framework for Action," identified improper farming practices, inadequate treatment of sewage, and run-off from development as the main sources of the excessive amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus. Additionally, the report highlighted the increase in dead zone as a result of these excessive nutrients. - The EPA's report was released in December 1983 at a regional summit which resulted in the states of Maryland and Virginia, D.C., and the EPA forming the Chesapeake Bay Program, a voluntary and cooperative partnership. The Chesapeake Bay Agreement set the tangible goal of reducing nutrient inputs (nitrogen and phosphorus) in the bay by 40% by the year 2000.

Individual liberty

- The freedom to do as one wishes without interference - Criticize environmental regulations not only for limiting individual freedom but also for taking out of the economy resources that would otherwise be used productively

What are some policy issues on which there are relatively small differences in the values of environmentalists and cornucopians? On what issues are the differences in values relatively large?

- The schism between environmentalists and cornucopians arises out of different worldviews - Environmentalists range from those who believe that all life has value to those who yearn for simpler, less harried times to those with practical concerns about the impact of pollution on human health or quality of life - Similar variation among cornucopians: some place a higher value on economic growth than they do on the aesthetic or moral importance of the natural world; others are avid outdoor enthusiasts who simply have more faith in individuals' than in government's ability to protect natural amenities.

Free-market environmentalism

- They propose that the best way to protect the environment is to ensure that individuals can pursue material prosperity - The role of government is to assign property rights in the earth's resources and let the market dictate allocations of the goods and services that flow from these resources

Major events: What events created salience and the policy window to enact the CAA and CWA?

- air-quality related deaths such as toxic smog in Donora, Pennsylvania in 1948 shifted public perceptions of air pollution from a nuisance to a public health hazard (river fire) - The redefining or reframing of an environmental issue increased its salience. The main example for this in the text was Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring which is often credited for sparking the modern environmental movement. - Additionally, the tradition of celebrating Earth Day began in 1970, instigating a mass social movement in the United States, and ultimately the creation of a policy window.

● What is the history behind the hazardous waste crisis at Love Canal in New York?

- late 1800s: William T. Love received permission from the New York State Legislature to build a canal that would divert the Niagara River away from the falls for about seven miles, dropping nearly 300 feet before it reconnected to the river. The canal was the centerpiece of Love's scheme to construct a vast industrial city fueled by cheap and abundant hydropower - Love dug a trench and then built a factory and a few homes alongside it - financial depression in mid-1890s caused investors to withdraw their support - 1906: Congress passed law barring Love from diverting water from Niagara to preserve falls - 1910: advent of alternating current, which allowed power to be transported over long distances, reduced the need to locate an industrial city near its power source - abandoned canal became popular fishing, swimming, picnicking spot for residents - 1920: sold at public auction and became a municipal waste-disposal site - 1942: Niagara Power and Development Corporation gave Hooker Chemical and Plastics Corporation permission to dispose of wastes in the abandoned canal - 1947: sold canal and surrounding land to Hooker; proceeded to dump toxic waste in abandoned canal (1942-1952) 1952: Hooker and city of Niagara Falls covered dumpsite with protective clay cap and earth 1953: Hooker sold land for $1 to Board of Education for a school - children got burns, people reported odors, odd afflictions (rashes, respiratory problems)

○ State governments

- the states of Maryland and Virginia, D.C., and the EPA forming the Chesapeake Bay Program, a voluntary and cooperative partnership. The Chesapeake Bay Agreement set the tangible goal of reducing nutrient inputs (nitrogen and phosphorus) in the bay by 40% by the year 2000. - The Chesapeake Bay Program instigated several types of policy actions including scientific studies, sewage treatment, agricultural pollution reduction, and shoreline development restrictions. The Chesapeake Research Consortium produced studies in an effort to better understand the bay. One of these studies found that one-fourth of the bay's nutrients originated from point sources, and more than one-half of it originated from nonpoint sources. - The Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was a cooperative scientific effort to consistently monitor the bay's conditions. Additionally, engineers created watershed-scale computer models (Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model and Water Quality Model) for policymakers to utilize. Some criticism arose towards the scientific actions taken by the Chesapeake Bay Program. Researchers emphasized a disconnect between the models created by engineers and essential scientific insights, which renders the models useless. - In certain concentrated urban areas, sewage treatment plants are the main source of nutrients in the bay. Maryland and D.C. provided incentives to encourage sewage treatment improvements (biological nutrient removal). Virginia was more reluctant to provide incentives as soon as the other locations, introducing a cost-share program in the late 1990s. The most cost-effective measure taken during this time was a phosphate detergent ban implemented by Maryland, and then D.C., Virginia, and Pennsylvania. - Agriculture is the single main source of nutrients in the bay, and the most controversial factor to combat. Maryland created a Nutrient Management Program to assist voluntary farmers in reducing their nutrient run-off. The program was granted few funds, resulting in low participation. However, the outbreak of a toxic microbe that resulted from the excessive nutrients in the water caused millions of fish to die and some people to get sick. This incident propelled the Water Quality Improvement Act into action which enforced nutrient management practices. Unfortunately, the enforcement of this law was rather lax. Pennsylvania's Nutrient Management Act saw a similar fate. - Like agriculture, curbing shoreline development was a difficult and controversial issue to control. Maryland gave the first effort by passing the Maryland Critical Area Law in 1984 which defined protective boundaries and land-use policies. Enforcement of the law proved difficult as developers devised loopholes. In 1988, Virginia passed the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act which held similar goals as the Maryland Critical Area Law, and unfortunately resulted in issues with loopholes and enforcement as well.

How are each of the following three attributes (Scientific understanding of the problem, Economic costs and benefits of proposed solutions, Risks associated with action or inaction) used by advocates on either side of the policy debate to define environmental problems?

Advocates can choose assessments and projections that are most consistent with their values. They then frame that information - using symbolic language and numbers, as well as strategically crafted casual stories - to emphasize either environmental or economic risk, depending on their policy objectives (7)

○ What is popular epidemiology? How was it used during the Love Canal crisis?

After Hugh Carey promised help for residents of the inner ring, the outer ring was enraged, feeling that they were ignored - LCHA undertook one of the earliest efforts to do popular epidemiology -- a telephone survey to ascertain the pattern of illnesses in the historically wet drainage areas around the canal - when the results were published, the researcher was dismissed by the DOH, saying that the study was manginess because it was put together by a "bunch of housewives with an interest in the outcome of the study"

○ Agriculture

Agriculture is the single main source of nutrients in the bay, and the most controversial factor to combat. Maryland created a Nutrient Management Program to assist voluntary farmers in reducing their nutrient run-off. The program was granted few funds, resulting in low participation. However, the outbreak of a toxic microbe that resulted from the excessive nutrients in the water caused millions of fish to die and some people to get sick. This incident propelled the Water Quality Improvement Act into action which enforced nutrient management practices. Unfortunately, the enforcement of this law was rather lax. Pennsylvania's Nutrient Management Act saw a similar fate.

Problem definitions: How did the framing of the problem (science, economics, and risks) affect the form of the CAA and CWA statutes, as well as their later implementation (i.e., EPA regulations)?

Air and water pollution was framed primarily as a public health risk, which resulted in a mass mobilization of US citizens. However, the widespread urgency felt for this subject resulted in lack of attention to the economic aspect of the issue despite warnings from policy actors like President Nixon. This oversight resulted in several difficulties for the EPA when it came to implementation. The stringent nature of the CAA and CWA was found to be economically unreasonable in some instances, resulting in the amendments in 1977.

Technological optimism

Cornucopians have boundless confidence in humans' ability to devise technological solutions to resource shortages (Julian Simon, Herman Kahn)

What does Layzer mean by the term problem definition? Why is establishing the dominant problem definition an important objective for advocates on either side of an environmental policy conflict?

Because the values of activists on both sides are entrenched, environmental politics consists largely of trying to gain the support of the unaware or undecided rather than trying to convert the already committed (6)

● What are the key environmental problems facing Chesapeake Bay? What are the sources of those problems?

Before the arrival of the colonists, the Chesapeake Bay remained in a relatively peaceful ecological equilibrium. - Captain John Smith planted the seed of industrialization and development in 1607 with the establishment of Jamestown, Virginia. The population growth of the watershed resulted in the depletion of resources like forests and fisheries. Once industrialization really took root in the 1900s, industrial areas began polluting the bay with raw sewage. - Despite the continuous abuse, the bay was able to withstand it until around the 1960s and 1970s when development began to accelerate. Advancements in agriculture, the implementation of dams, interstate highway expansions, adoption of the personal automobile and the accompanying air pollution, and invasive development all contributed to the deterioration of the bay. - The Chesapeake Bay Foundation was formed in 1967 in response to all of these issues with the goal of raising awareness for the bay's current state. - In 1972, the Foundation gained some tangible leverage with the implementation of the Clean Water Act and the Coastal Zone Management Act. However, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay both opted for collaboration and peaceful agreement, as opposed to more aggressive tactics.

What is the bandwagon effect in policy-making? Why does it occur?

In a traditional decision-making process participants in a policy debate typically begin by staking out an extreme position and holding fast to it. At this point, bargaining and persuasion commence, and participants try to build a winning coalition by accommodating as many interests as possible. Once it become apparent that one side is going to prevail, even the holdouts recognize that, if they do not join in, they will have no say in the final decision. This creates a bandwagon effect: as Kingdon explains, "Once an issue seems to be moving, everybody with an interest in the subject leaps in, out of fear that they will be left out."

● What was the Chesapeake 2000 agreement? How did it alter policies for the Chesapeake Bay? How successful were these policies?

In the year 2000, the Chesapeake Bay Program set five new goals and committed to several actions as they signed Chesapeake 2000 with the added company of Delaware, New York, and West Virginia. Some of the goals of Chesapeake 2000 included water quality, increasing oyster population, reducing the rate of urban sprawl development, restoring underwater grasses, and achieving the previously failed 40% nutrient-reduction goal from 1987. Maryland passed a "flush tax" to limit sewage problems, Virginia and Pennsylvania both invested in sewage treatment plant improvements, and all six watershed states utilized a new EPA policy that allowed permits to include nutrient limits. In an effort to combat the agriculture problem, Pennsylvania tried implementing a credit system which would provide an economic incentive to reduce pollution. Urban-suburban run-off was a rising source of pollution in the early 2000s, so the bay states sought to combat the issue with green architecture and infrastructure which prevent stormwater run-off problems.

What are policy entrepreneurs? What functions do they serve in the policy-making process?

Individuals willing to invest their political resources - time, energy, reputation, money - in linking a problem to a solution and forging alliances among disparate actors to build a majority coalition - Must be adept at discovering "unfilled needs" and linking them to solutions, willing to bear the risks of investing in activities with uncertain consequences, and skilled at coordinating the activities of individuals and groups - Must be ready to "ride the wave" when a policy window opens - Must have lines up political allies, prepared arguments, and generated favorable public sentiment in preparation for the moment a decision-making opportunity presents itself - "softening up" policy solutions, both in the expert communities whose endorsement is so important to the credibility of a policy and among the larger public; involves getting people used to a new idea and building acceptance for it - results in phenomenon called "tipping"

○ Development

Like agriculture, curbing shoreline development was a difficult and controversial issue to control. Maryland gave the first effort by passing the Maryland Critical Area Law in 1984 which defined protective boundaries and land-use policies. Enforcement of the law proved difficult as developers devised loopholes. In 1988, Virginia passed the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act which held similar goals as the Maryland Critical Area Law, and unfortunately resulted in issues with loopholes and enforcement as well.

What does the author mean by the statement "Nearly all environmental policy disputes are, at heart, contests over values"?

Policy disputes attempt to balance out how we are to morally interact with the natural world. "...in fact, almost all of them involve a fundamental disagreement over how humans ought to interact with the natural world" (2).

Major actors: Who are the major policy actors representing environmentalist values? What are their motivations?

President Nixon and Senator Muskie were the major policy actors representing environmentalist values. They were both motivated by political interests to create superior environmental legislation.

Major actors: Who are the major policy actors representing cornucopian values? What are their motivations?

President Reagan and appointed EPA administrator Anne Gorsuch were major policy actors representing cornucopian values. They were both motivated as anti-environmental regulation advocates.

Major events: What were the reactions to the CAA and CWA? How have they evolved?

The CAA and CWA received some early criticism due to their strict and sometimes unrealistic nature. In response, Congress relaxed the stringent provisions in the 1977 Clean Air Act Amendments and Clean Water Act Amendments. Both the CAA and the CWA have survived over time.

○ Sewage

The Chesapeake Bay Monitoring Program was a cooperative scientific effort to consistently monitor the bay's conditions. Additionally, engineers created watershed-scale computer models (Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model and Water Quality Model) for policymakers to utilize. Some criticism arose towards the scientific actions taken by the Chesapeake Bay Program. Researchers emphasized a disconnect between the models created by engineers and essential scientific insights, which renders the models useless.

● How was scientific evidence and research used in the Chesapeake Bay Program? How did the science contribute to policy actions?

Scientific research was consistently used in administering and assessing the performance of the Chesapeake Bay Program. The program utilized studies to gauge the health of the bay, to further understand the bay, to identify the sources of nutrient outputs, and to evaluate the effectiveness of their efforts. Scientific research proved beneficial for increasing public awareness and creating interesting stories. However, critics argued that too much economic value (time and resources) were devoted to research instead of action, resulting in an overall economic cost. The Chesapeake Bay Program embraced ecosystem-based management (EBM). EBM is a method of creating landscape-scale plans with the help of stakeholders. EBM utilizes adaptive management in order to implement flexible management practices that can be adjusted in response to results of previous interventions. EBM finds a happy medium between local solutions and national regulations because EBM solutions are more comprehensive than local ones, and they are more adaptive than national regulations. EBM solutions also promote collaboration rather than the top-down approach to planning. As the Chesapeake Bay Case proves over time, EBM has many weaknesses. Even though it holds a romanticized view of voluntary participation, this method does not produce acceptable results. Mike Hirshfield pointed out that the comprehensive approach tackles the environmental problem too broadly in an effort to be holistic. Instead, he suggests focusing on the main source of nutrients: agriculture.

● How did the Chesapeake Bay policy environment change when the Obama administration began?

The EPA under the Obama administration relented to the new approach, releasing the newly set goal of 2025 on May 12, 2010. In September 2012, it was announced that polluters were meeting their 2009-2011 milestones, indicating that they were finally up to speed with cleanup goals under the new regulatory approach. Nitrogen and phosphorus emissions were significantly reduced; however overall water quality still failed produce encouraging trends.

How do state and local politicians respond to environmental dangers?

The early history of Love Canal is more indicative of American's general faith in technology and complacency about chemical wastes during the postwar years than of venality on the part of municipal officials. Even in the 1970s, however, when it became apparent that there were potentially serious problems at the site, local officials continued to ignore them or tried to deal with them quietly, fearing not only the costs of cleanup but also the consequences of antagonizing a major employer and source of tax revenue. Addressing the possible hazards in the area threatened to inflict economic consequences and tarnish the city's image. Only when the media began to pay attention to the issue, in turn prompting residents to mobilize and demand a solution, did elected official respond.

○ Chesapeake Bay Foundation

The relatively consistent failures of the Chesapeake Bay Program to reach its goals through a collaborative, voluntary process eventually caused pressure for reform. William C. Baker, the president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, questioned this method that the Foundation itself was built on. The bay foundation took a more aggressive approach and decided to file a lawsuit against the EPA.

Problem definitions: Summarize the important characteristics of the resulting policies (CAA and CWA) in this case study.

The resulting policies of this case study, the CAA and CWA, were overall an attempt at implementing environmental regulations on a national level. The CWA retained fishable, swimmable, and zero-discharge goals in an effort to combat industrial pollution of waterways. The CAA seeks to control air pollution in the face of large-scale pollutants such as industrial factories.

● What is the current state of the Chesapeake Bay Program? What policy approaches are being used and/or seem likely to be used in the future?

despite encouraging results in terms of nutrients reductions, water quality monitoring continued to reveal disturbing trends

Layzer notes that "a large majority of Americans profess their support for the goals of the environmental movement." Do you think that this statement is true? What do you think it means about the values held by Americans, in relation to the environmentalist and cornucopian perspectives? How has this broad support for environmental protection affected the advocacy tactics of cornucopians?

They must define environmental problems in ways that make their points in a subtle and indirect manner, rather than overtly denying the importance of environmental problems (exception: climate change)

● What lessons can we draw from the Chesapeake Bay Program? What are the strengths and weaknesses of its approach?

This case demonstrates the lesson that even though certain methods might sound excellent in theory, results are not guaranteed. The comprehensive, voluntary method of the bay program proved over the course of 25 years that this method simply is not effective when compared to regulatory methods. The future of the Chesapeake Bay is going to be complicated, regardless of what method is implemented. When economic interest is involved in an environmental problem, there always seems to be a hostile stalemate. My suggestion for the future would be to continue with the regulatory method, even though I like the idea of EBM. However, I would advise retaining elements of EBM. I think it would be beneficial to have strict regulations, but to also devote resources to educating the people involved and encouraging them to reach above and beyond the expectations.

What values and beliefs characterize the cornucopian perspective?

Unlike environmentalists, cornucopians place a preeminent value on economic growth; suggests abundance, even limitlessness. Believe that environmental restrictions threaten their economic well-being or the economic health of their community. Also fear that such restrictions entail unacceptable limits by government on individual freedom.

○ Ultimately, who paid for the evacuation and remediation of the site?

despite ongoing controversy over health studies, the sympathetic media portrait pushed a national political response: in September 1980, President Carter signed an agreement to lend the state of New York $7.5 million and provide a grant of another $7.5 million to purchase the homes of the relocated residents

● How does the Superfund law (CERCLA), enacted in the aftermath of the Love Canal crisis, reflect the events of that crisis and its portrayal in the media?

ambitious new law that established a system for identifying and neutralizing hazardous waste dumpsites

● What is ecosystem-based management (EBM)? How does it differ from more traditional regulatory approaches (such as those discussed in Ch. 2 - Clean Air and Clean Water Acts)?

entails devising landscape-scale plans in collaboration with stakeholders; it also involves adaptive management - that is, designing interventions with the intent of learning about the system's response and then adjusting management practices in response to new information

○ How has this law and its implementation evolved over time?

faced underfunding starting in 2008

○ Lois Gibbs

resident of the area since 1972 - Gibbs's son, Michael, began kindergarten at the 99th Street School and developed epilepsy soon after - tried to transfer, but school administrators resisted - started door-to-door petition - founded the Love Canal Homeowners Association (LCHA)

○ LCHA

solution: evacuation of and compensation for all the families in the area

○ What are some of the issues with the use of scientific evidence?

study by Picciano was controversial because of fallout with former employer Dow Chemical and lack of control group in experiment - someone leaked the study and went viral essentially, even though it was basically incomplete/flawed - EPA scrambled to control damage - the impact of the media coverage forced federal officials to provide relocation - spawning a feud between Governor Carey and the White House for who would pay for it

○ Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay

the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay both opted for collaboration and peaceful agreement, as opposed to more aggressive tactics.

○ Hugh Carey

the governor of New York - facing election in November 1978 when media coverage of residents' plight was popular - felt compelled to respond - after Jimmy Carter declared an emergency there and approved federal relief funds for the area, Carey visited and pledged to relocate the inner ring families and purchase their homes --- remediation plan