The Brownfield Bargain: Negotiating Site Cleanup Policies in Wisconsin

In this paper, the first part of our three-part study on the development of brownfields policy in Wisconsin, we examine the regulatory history of the brownfields policy. We start with the 1978 Hazardous Substance Spill Law, the antecedent to the brownfields regulatory reform of the 1990s, and examine the interaction of policy entrepreneurs in both the public and the private sectors that has led to innovation. We follow this by exploring the response of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to reform efforts, looking at both how it anticipated and led some of the efforts and how it addressed demands placed on it by the state legislature and executive. We then discuss the central role that the state’s Brownfields Study Group has played in moving brownfields cleanup and redevelopment objectives into legislation and the field. We base our work on interviews with nearly 70 individuals from public, private for-profit, private nonprofit, and tribal organizations.brownfields, policy innovation, regulatory history

Brownfields Redevelopment in Wisconsin: Program, Citywide, and Site-Level Studies

In this paper, the second installment of our three-part study on the development of brownfields policy in the state of Wisconsin, we use case studies to explore the implementation of the policy at three scales: 1) two statewide initiatives, the Voluntary Party Liability Exemption process and the Sustainable Urban Development Zone program; 2) the efforts of two Wisconsin cities, West Allis and Wausau, to promote brownfields redevelopment across their neighborhoods; and 3) project-specific uses of institutional, regulatory, and financial innovations to encourage the revitalization of specific areas. Throughout the paper, we focus on the role of economic incentives, regulatory flexibility, regulatory structure, and the behavioral culture of brownfields stakeholders. We base our work on interviews of nearly 70 individuals from public, private-for-profit, private-nonprofit, and tribal organizations.Brownfields, contamination, hazardous waste, regulatory reform, Wisconsin

Accidents Waiting to Happen: Liability Policy and Toxic Pollution Releases

Proponents of environmental policies based on liability assert that strict liability imposed on polluters induces firms to handle hazardous wastes properly. We run regressions relating unintended pollution releases to strict liability imposed on polluters, exploiting variation across states and over time in the liability provisions of state mini-Superfund laws. Strict liability reduces the frequency and severity of pollution releases, provided it is modeled endogenously with the latter. Its effects vary with firm size. Partially sheltered from liability, small firms may have specialized in riskier production processes, but their number has not necessarily grown in response to the states’ liability policy.strict liability, negligence, hazardous waste, state environmental policy, endogenous policy adoption

Accidents Waiting to Happen: Liability Policy and Toxic Pollution Releases

Proponents of environmental policies based on liability assert that strict liability imposed on the polluter will induce firms to handle hazardous wastes properly and to avoid disposing them into the environment. Economic theory and a few well-publicized cases, however, suggest that a number of factors may dilute the incentives posed by strict liability. In this paper, the authors run regressions relating unintended releases of pollution into the environment (aggregated at the state level, and followed over nine years from 1987 to 1995) to the imposition of strict liability on the polluter, exploiting variation across states in the liability provisions of their mini-Superfund laws, and in the years these were adopted. The authors experiment with instrumental variable estimation, fixed effects, and endogenous switching, and find that only after they explicitly model the endogeneity of states' liability laws is strict liability seen as reducing the seriousness of spills and releases. They also find evidence consistent with the notion that under strict liability, firms may spin off into, or delegate riskier production processes to, smaller firms, which are partially sheltered from liability. This tendency appears to be widespread.strict liability, negligence, hazardous waste, state environmental policy, endogenous policy adoption

Global Compensation for Oil Pollution Damages: The Innovations of the American Oil Pollution Act

Via technology and operations standards, U.S. regulation exerts an important influence over worldwide marine safety standards. But in addition, several other aspects of U.S. law deserve wider international consideration and adoption. First, the Oil Pollution Act’s natural resource damage provisions are an innovative and effective way to deter marine pollution and provide for the restoration of injured ecological resources. Second, the relatively strict financial requirements imposed on marine transporters help ensure that polluters, rather than the public, pay if damage is caused. Liability and financial responsibility rules are not unknown in other countries. But the United States has a longer history with implementation and applies its rules more expansively. As both environmental concerns and global marine trade flows increase, U.S. experience with these rules will be instructive to other nations contemplating oil pollution reforms.Oil Pollution Act, Natural Resource Damages, Environmental Liability, Financial Assurance, Financial Responsibility, Valuation

Financial Assurance Rules and Natural Resource Damage Liability: A Working Marriage?

The study explores challenges associated with, and the feasibility of, financial assurance requirements for liabilities arising under U.S. environmental statutes, with a particular emphasis on liabilities associated with natural resource damages (NRDs). The overlap between federal NRD liability and financial assurance arises in the context of two financial assurance rules: one for waterborne vessels that carry oil or hazardous substances, and one for offshore facilities used for oil exploration, drilling, production, or transport. The report addresses the rules’ history, their role as a complement to other forms of environmental regulation, and their impact on the regulated community and providers of coverage. Despite numerous difficulties and over objections from the regulated community, the rules have been implemented with success and without significant shortfalls in coverage availability.financial assurance, financial responsibility, natural resource damages, liability

A review of oil spill history and management on the North Slope of Alaska

Master's Project (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2013Alaska has an abundance of natural resources including oil, natural gas and coal. It is critical to minimize the occurrence of oil spills to ensure protection of Alaska's people and the environment. The objective of this project is twofold. One is to provide a quantification of the number of spills on the North Slope (NS) as well as the number of contaminated sites that are generated, describe the regulatory requirements for the Arctic zone, and discuss cleanup methods. Second is to describe the ADEC regulations as they pertain to terrestrial oil spills. The region of study begins north of Alyeska's Pump Station 4 at the Dalton Highway milepost 270, TAPS 144, north to the Beaufort Sea, encompassing all oil related operations. This review excludes spills at villages (not related to oil field operations), and releases to the atmosphere (e.g., halon, propane). Additionally, spills at formally used defense sites (FUDS) and long range radar sites are also excluded from this study. Spills that result in long term monitoring and cleanup are managed as contaminated sites. The data reveals that the majority of contaminated sites have been cleaned up with no institutional controls in place. The number of spills on the North Slope is consistent with activity. The time during the peak oil is when there are a higher number of spills. Over time, as the oil production and activity decline, so do the number of spills with a few exceptions. The decline in oil production has limited activity and growth on the NS

Impacts of Land use Laws and Policies Massachusetts State Superfund Program

The reason for this report was to examine the Massachusetts state Superfund law, and the statutory remedies that Massachusetts relies on to recover the cost associated with the cleanup of oil and hazardous materials released into the environment

Proceedings of the Workshop on Government Oil Spill Modeling

Oil spill model users and modelers were brought together for the purpose of fostering joint communication and increasing understanding of mutual problems. The workshop concentrated on defining user needs, presentations on ongoing modeling programs, and discussions of supporting research for these modeling efforts. Specific user recommendations include the development of an oil spill model user library which identifies and describes available models. The development of models for the long-term fate and effect of spilled oil was examined