Quark Masses: An Environmental Impact Statement

We investigate worlds that lie on a slice through the parameter space of the Standard Model over which quark masses vary. We allow as many as three quarks to participate in nuclei, while fixing the mass of the electron and the average mass of the lightest baryon flavor multiplet. We classify as "congenial" worlds that satisfy the environmental constraint that the quark masses allow for stable nuclei with charges one, six, and eight, making organic chemistry possible. Whether a congenial world actually produces observers depends on a multitude of historical contingencies, beginning with primordial nucleosynthesis, which we do not explore. Such constraints may be independently superimposed on our results. Environmental constraints such as the ones we study may be combined with information about the a priori distribution of quark masses over the landscape of possible universes to determine whether the measured values of the quark masses are determined environmentally, but our analysis is independent of such an anthropic approach. We estimate baryon masses as functions of quark masses and nuclear masses as functions of baryon masses. We check for the stability of nuclei against fission, strong particle emission, and weak nucleon emission. For two light quarks with charges 2/3 and -1/3, we find a band of congeniality roughly 29 MeV wide in their mass difference. We also find another, less robust region of congeniality with one light, charge -1/3 quark, and two heavier, approximately degenerate charge -1/3 and 2/3 quarks. No other assignment of light quark charges yields congenial worlds with two baryons participating in nuclei. We identify and discuss the region in quark-mass space where nuclei would be made from three or more baryon species.Comment: 40 pages, 16 figures (in color), 4 tables. See paper for a more detailed abstract. v4: Cleaning up minor typo

Case Note: Environmental Law - Harlem Valley Transportation Association v. Stafford, 500 F.2d 328 (2d Cir. 1974)

This Case Note analyzes the Second Circuit\u27s decision in Harlem Valley Transportation Association v. Stafford, which held that the interstate commerce commission, as the responsible agency, must make the threshold determination of whether an environmental impact statement is required under NEPA. The court further held that if the statement is required, the commission staff must prepare and circulate a draft impact statement prior to a hearing before an administrative judge

Soft systems methodology analysis for scoping in environmental impact statement in Israel

The current working paper will focus on Soft System Methodology (SSM) analysis of the process of issuing guidelines for Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) to developers in the Israeli context. The paper’s goal is to make the reader familiar with the terminology and the concepts of SSM, while serving as a case study for practising SSM. The paper starts with a “crash” introduction to SSM, followed by a general description of the process in the centre of the discussion - the Israeli EIS process. After these two introductory sections, the paper turns to the main issue - a SSM analysis of the problem situation - the creation of guidelines for EIS in the Israeli context. This specific case study have been selected due to the author’s familiarity with it (is served as the main research field for his MA thesis). Also the author has the shorthand transcripts from a series workshops that were held as part of an evaluation study that the environmental planning department in the ministry of environment (EPD-MoE) have commissioned on the Israeli EIS system. Unless stated otherwise, the sources for SSM are “Information Systems Development: Methodologies, Techniques and Tools” (Avison and Fitzgerald, 1995), “Practical Soft Systems Analysis” (Patching, 1990), on-line lecture notes for the UCL “System Analysis and Design” course (Sasse and Fultun, 1997) and “Soft Systems Methodology: An Alternative Approach to Knowledge Elicitation in Complex and Poorly Defined Systems” (Finegan, 1994)

Regulation of Glyphosate-Resistant Sugar Beets: Challenges and Uncertainty

Roundup Ready Sugar Beets, Regulation, Deregulation, Environmental Impact Statement, Environmental Assessment, Uncertainty, Agricultural and Food Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Q18, Q55, Q58,

Looking for Trickledown Under the Peace Bridge: A Critique of the Public Bridge Authority\u27s Economic Impact Claims

The Public Bridge Authority’s economic impact analysis, presented in its environmental impact statement for the Peace Bridge Expansion Project, offers a grossly exaggerated impression of the project’s benefits. The Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority has proposed a significant expansion to the operations of the international crossing between Buffalo and Fort Erie known as the Peace Bridge. The plans presented to the public in 2007 would radically alter a five block area in Buffalo adjacent to the existing bridge plaza and further destroy the views and amenities in the historic, Olmsted-designed Front Park

Applicability of NEPA to Federal Energy Market Restructuring

In furtherance of its goal of creating a more competitive electricity market, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has proposed the creation of a Standard Market Design. While the proposal has been hotly debated, the focus has largely been on the economics rather than on environmental issues. FERC should fully study potential environmental impacts resulting from the implementation of such a proposal. Specifically, FERC should conduct a full environmental impact statement rather than rely on an environmental assessment and previous environmental impact statements prepared for earlier orders.This Note discusses when an environmental impact statement is required and argues that the Standard Market Design proposal is the type of agency action requiring such a study

Integrating EJ into Federal Policies and Programs: Examining the Role of Regulatory Impact Analyses and Environmental Impact Statements

Following Executive Order 12898 in 1994, federal agencies have taken a variety of steps to incorporate environmental justice (EJ) into their programs and practices. Two scales at which these efforts are critical are regulatory design and enforcement. This study evaluates Regulatory Impact Analyses (RIAs) and Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) across three federal agencies (the Department of Energy, the Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency) to compare the extent to which EJ is addressed at these two scales, across agencies, and over time. By searching agency documents for key EJ variables, such as site, population, and impact characteristics, we develop a framework to determine if RIAs and EISs include sufficient information to identify disproportionate impacts of proposed regulations or projects on minority and low-income communities. Results of this analysis reveal that EJ issues are noted more frequently in all three agencies’ EISs over time, but few RIAs or EISs contain enough data to assess whether EJ impacts are significant.environmental justice, Regulatory Impact Analysis, RIA, Environmental Impact Statement, EIS, content analysis, program evaluation

The Procedural Impact of an Environmental Impact Statement on Judicial Review

On a sunny summer day in 2014, Drakes Bay Oyster Company closed its doors to the public, admitting defeat in a years-long fight with the Department of the Interior over the renewal of its operating permit. The Secretary of the Interior believed that the region’s designation as “potential wilderness” under the Point Reyes Wilderness Act, along with public policy considerations, obligated him to decline renewal of the permit. In producing an Environmental Impact Statement regarding the impact of closing the farm, the Secretary procedurally insulated his agency decision from later judicial review in Drakes Bay Oyster Company v. Jewell

Village of Ossining v. the Planning Board of the Town of Ossining: When SEQRA Leaves No Alternative but to Study the Alternative

A recent New York decision underscores the importance of the consideration of alternatives in an environmental impact statement (EIS). The author explores the significance of this decision for land use decision makers and for environmental protection of watershed lands in New York State