Chapter 14
risk management -based on the social sciences - law, economics, politics, and ethics
1) control options: alternative methods for reducing most risks 2) legal considerations: environmental laws may be more or less specific about risk reduction required and the methods of achieving it 3) economic and social factors: technical data, public opinion, and cost-benefit studies can all define options
criticisms of cost-benefit analysis
1) fixing precise values of costs and benefits is difficult and controversial ( they must be quantified and monetized in a common metric to be compared, which cannot be done to all variables) --contingent valuation: a method for assigning a price to ecological goods or services that are not traded in markets --value of a statistical life: the dollar amount that people exposed to a risk are willing to pay to reduce the risk of premature death (EPA values at $7 million) 2) they compromise ecosystems deserving absolute, not conditional, protection 3) the benefits and costs of a program often fall to separate parties
advantages of cost-benefit analysis
1) forces methodical consideration of each impact of a policy on social welfare 2) injects rational calculation into emotional arguments 3) reveals marginal abatement costs helps regulators find the most efficient level of regulation the ideal level of regulation is at point R, where benefits most exceed costs (B minus C)
range of actions for environmental management systems
1) precautionary action - when industrial activity poses a risk to human health or ecosystems, if that risk is poorly understood, the prudence calls for restraint 2) pollution prevention - the modification of industrial processes to eliminate contaminants before they are created 3) product analysis - products can be examined to reduce adverse environmental impact 4) environmental marketing - markets exist that sell products to reduce/control pollution 5) environmental metrics - measuring pollutant creating activities in your business and claiming to reduce them
risk assessment
2) dose-response assessment: a quantitative estimate of how toxic a substance is to humans or animals at varying exposure levels - public exposures to toxic substances are usually well below the exposures of workers. and the exposures of both workers and public are far lower than the extreme exposures of animals in high-dose tests extrapolation: to infer the value of an unknown state from the value of another state that is known linear dose-response rate: a relationship in which adverse health affects increase proportionately with the amount of exposure to a toxic substance threshold - an exposure point greater than zero at which a substance begins to pose a health risk. until this point, or threshold, is reached, exposure to the substance poses no health risk environmentalists favor the linear model industry favors the sub-linear and threshold models
risk assessment
3) exposure assessment: the study of how much of a substance humans absorb through inhalation, ingestion, or skin absorption to make these assessments, researchers measure activities that bring individuals in contact with toxic substances, link how much water people drink -because movements and activities differ among people, two estimates are made 1) central estimate of the average person's exposure 2) upper-end estimate for the most highly exposed person
risk assessment
4) risk characterization: a written statement about a substance summarizing the evidence from prior stages of the risk assessment process to reach an overall conclusion about its risk. it includes discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of data and, if the data support it, a quantitative estimate of risk -such quantitative risk estimates help to decide what level of abatement should be required of industry. there is no celestial law about how high a risk should be before regulators must act to reduce it -goal of regulation is to reduce risks to 1 in a million or lower criticisms -the alternative to accepting pollution risks between 1 in 10,000 and 1 in 1 million is to decide that virtually no level of risk is acceptable
The process of assigning a price to ecological goods or services that are not traded in markets is called: A) contingent valuation. B) hedonic valuation. C) risk assessment. D) cost-benefit analysis.
A) contingent valuation
Risk assessment attempts to use _____, while risk management tries to base decisions on: A) natural sciences; social sciences. B) social sciences; formal sciences. C) physical sciences; formal sciences. D) formal sciences; natural sciences.
A) natural sciences; social sciences.
The process of deciding which regulatory action to take (or not take) to protect the public from the risk posed by a pollutant is known as: A) risk management. B) dose-response assessment. C) hazard identification. D) risk assessment.
A) risk management.
_____ assessment is a quantitative estimate of how toxic a substance is to humans at increasing levels of exposure. A) Exposure B) Dose-response C) Source D) Hazard
B) Dose-response
The practice of regulating by setting uniform standards, strictly enforcing rules, and using penalties to force compliance is called: A) flexible enforcement. B) required disclosure. C) command-and-control regulation. D) market incentive regulation
C) command-and-control regulation
When proactive companies set up methods for aligning corporate strategies, policies, and operations with principles that protect ecosystems, they are said to be implementing a(n): A) environmental tax reform. B) command-and-control program. C) environmental management system. D) market incentive program
C) environmental management system
The study of how much of a substance people absorb through inhalation, ingestion, or skin is known as: A) control assessment. B) hazard assessment. C) exposure assessment. D) dose-response assessment
C) exposure assessment.
Extrapolation is the process of: A) observing and recording tasks whilst something is happening. B) establishing a link between a substance, such as a chemical, and human disease. C) inferring the value of an unknown state from the value of another state that is known. D) estimating the value within the range of the data used for analyzing several variables.
C) inferring the value of an unknown state from the value of another state that is known.
A relationship in which adverse health affects increase or decrease proportionately with the amount of exposure to a toxic substance is known as: A) dualism. B) environmental management system. C) linear dose-response rate. D) deep ecology.
C) linear dose-response rate.
The scientific process of discovering and weighing the dangers posed by a pollutant is known as: A) risk management. B) hazard identification. C) epidemiological study. D) risk assessment.
D) risk assessment.
environmental management system
a set of methods and procedures for aligning corporate strategies, policies, and operations with principles that protect ecosystems ISO 14001: a standard for an environmental management system created by an international standard setting body. certification in this standard allows companies to claim state of the art ecological resonsibility
risk assessment 1) hazard assessment 2) dose-response assessment 3) exposure assessment 4)
four basic assessments used by EPA 1) hazard assessment: process of establishing a link between a substance, such as a chemical, and human disease. the link is established primarily by animal tests and epidemiological studies a) animal testing --1) scientists rely heaving on strains of rats and mice genetically disposed to high rates of tumor production --2) in animals exposed to large amount of a chemical, tumors can arise from tissue irritation rather than normal carcinogensesis --3) animal physiology can be so different from that of humans that disease processes are unique b) epidemiological study: a statistical survey designed to show the relationship between human mortality and morbidity(sickness) and environmental factors such as chemicals or radiation --have low statistical power and uncertainties --studies may not detect harm done by recent exposures --past exposures are hard to identify carcinogen - an agent capable of initiating cancer. there are 58 known human carcinogens and another 188 suspected human carcinogens
information disclosure
harnesses market forces by affecting consumer perceptions and equity prices -toxics release inventory (TRI): an EPA program that requires facilities handling any of 650 hazardous chemicals to disclose amounts each year that are released or transferred. info is made public
control options
left to right: CONTROL -command and control -flexible enforcement -market incentives -required disclosure -voluntary compliance FREEDOM
voluntary regulation
regulation without legal compulsion or sanctions -main focus in reducing global warming emissions climate leaders umbrella -corporations that join become "partners" -they inventory their emissions of the six major gases to create a baseline, set an 5-10 year emission reduction goal of at least 10% better that industry average, and report annual progress to EPA -companies with high reductions receive awards and favorable publicity from the EPA
Risk assessment
risk - a probability existing somewhere between zero and 100% that a harm will occur risk assessments can be made and studied scientifically so regulators and politicians can decide what should be done to lessen it risks are often overstated to ensure public health is protected within a margin of safety
market incentive regulation
the practice of harnessing market forces to motivate compliance with regulatory goals 1) environmental taxes: -taxes imposed on polluting emissions, fuels, or products - taxes can be combined with incentives -pro: effective in changing corporate behavior -con: potential for hurting the competitiveness of a nation's firms in global markets -environmental tax reform: the substitution of revenues from tradex on pollution for revenues from taxes on productivity 2) emissions trading (cap and trade): a market-based pollution abatement scheme in which emissions are capped and sources must hold tradeable permits equal to the amount of their discharges -carbon offsets - projects that compensate for all or part of a company's greenhouse gas emissions by eliminating the CO2 equivalent of those emissions from another source (planting trees, preserving forests, paying farmers not to till soil) -clean development mechanism - a carbon offset program set up under Kyoto Protocol. it allows developed countries to meet greenhouse gas reproduction pledges by paying for carbon offset projects in developing nations cap and trade open three ways to meet carbon reduction goals: 1) reduce emissions 2) pay for emissions with credits bough on carbon markets 3) meet emissions goals using carbon offsets -pro: unlike a carbon tax, it can actually reduce overall emissions as the cap is lowered -con: raises costs for companies under the cap, putting them at a competitive disadvantage when foreign competitors are outside the cap
command and control
the practice of regulating by setting uniform standards, strictly enforcing rules, and using penalties to force compliance -enforces predictable and uniform standards -but is inefficient and increases costs without commensurate increases in benefits
cost-benefit analysis
the systematic identification, quantification, and monetization of social costs and social benefits so they can be directly compared -costs: reductions in human welfare -benefits: increases in human welfare
analyzing human health risks
two circles: 1) risk assessment: the largely scientific process of discovering and weighing dangers posed by a pollutant 2) risk management: the process of deciding which regulatory action to take or not take to protect the public from the risk posed by a pollutant