Dispersing blackbirds and starlings from objectionable roost sites

Frightening devices and other methods of dispersing roosting blackbirds and starlings are described along with the techniques for their proper application. In a study in the southeastern United States, exploding shotgun shells and noise bombs were used to disperse roosts of up to 1 million birds. Five roosts containing up to 1 million blackbirds and starlings were 96 to 100% dispersed by two to five people during three to eight evenings of harassment. Dispersal cost between $80 and$535 per roost

Indonesia's palm oil subsector

Debate on Indonesia's palm oil policy was stimulated by a sharp increase in cooking oil prices in 1994-95 and a resulting increase in the export tax rate on crude palm oil. Palm oil has been one of the fastest growing subsectors in Indonesia. Using a quantitative model, the author analyzes the effect of government policies, including the export tax, buffer stock operations by the BULOG (the national logistics agency), and directed sales from public estates. The author acknowledges the export tax's effectiveness in lowering domestic prices, but observes that its impact on inflation and consumer welfare is minimal. The tax has also had the unintended effect of transferring income from oil palm growers located primarily off Java. The structure of the tax discourages local processing by squeezing processing margins. And determining tax rates on palm oil products independent from the underlying crude palm oil price creates uncertainty about marketing margins for processors. The author recommends repealing the tax and discontinuing buffer stock operations and directed sales from public estates. The author concludes with recommendations on investment policy. Direct incentives to private investors have been used to overcome investment risks and uncertainties, but investors should no longer need those incentives. Instead, Indonesia's government should focus more on alleviating obstacles to private investment. The Bank might be of assistance in this area.Markets and Market Access,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Payment Systems&Infrastructure,Consumption,Economic Theory&Research,Consumption,Environmental Economics&Policies,Markets and Market Access,Access to Markets

Seasonal and temporal changes in the vertical profiles of polar stratospheric ozone: 1978-1986

The long-term changes in stratospheric ozone in both Antarctic and Arctic regions during the period November 1978 to October 1986 exhibit significant interhemispheric differences in terms of time of onset, altitude, latitude, longitude, and phase. The 8-year data set of stratospheric ozone derived from observations with the Nimbus 7 Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SBUV) spectrometer instrument were deseasonalized by subtracting monthly deviations from 6-year monthly means for 10 degree bands centered at latitudes 80 S-80 N and the 64x64 standard NMC grid at standard pressure levels in the atmosphere. Linear trends are derived from the linear regression of monthly deviations from long term monthly means in terms of annual and monthly trends for the latitude region 55 to 81 degrees in both hemispheres. An assessment has been made of the SBUV instrument drift from analyses of annual deviations from long term annual means of stratospheric ozone in north temperate regions from 25 N-55 N with corresponding Umkehr observations from 5 stations at latitudes from 36 N-52 N which have been corrected for stratospheric aerosols derived from 5 lidar stations (DeLuisi and Mateer, 1988)

Estimation of the Return on Capital in Municipal Water Systems

The shadow return on capital in 75 small municipal water systems is estimated using a gamma frontier variable cost function. The estimated Social Cost of capital exceeds the shadow return by an average ratio of 4.37:1, with a median capital stock inefficiency of $70, 500 per year per system owing to overinvestment in public water supply capital. In addition, actual production costs exceed minimum costs by 36 percent, with a median inefficiency of$24,300 per system. Combining both types of inefficiency and extrapolating to the seven thousand comparable systems nationwide suggests economic waste of more than $663 million per year.

Overview of the Federal Tax System

The major sources of federal tax revenue are individual income taxes, Social Security and other payroll taxes, corporate income taxes, excise taxes, and estate and gift taxes. This report describes the federal tax structure, provides some statistics on the tax system as a whole, and presents analysis of selected tax concepts

Space Station Freedom solar array panels plasma interaction test facility

The Space Station Freedom Power System will make extensive use of photovoltaic (PV) power generation. The phase 1 power system consists of two PV power modules each capable of delivering 37.5 KW of conditioned power to the user. Each PV module consists of two solar arrays. Each solar array is made up of two solar blankets. Each solar blanket contains 82 PV panels. The PV power modules provide a 160 V nominal operating voltage. Previous research has shown that there are electrical interactions between a plasma environment and a photovoltaic power source. The interactions take two forms: parasitic current loss (occurs when the currect produced by the PV panel leaves at a high potential point and travels through the plasma to a lower potential point, effectively shorting that portion of the PV panel); and arcing (occurs when the PV panel electrically discharges into the plasma). The PV solar array panel plasma interaction test was conceived to evaluate the effects of these interactions on the Space Station Freedom type PV panels as well as to conduct further research. The test article consists of two active solar array panels in series. Each panel consists of two hundred 8 cm x 8 cm silicon solar cells. The test requirements dictated specifications in the following areas: plasma environment/plasma sheath; outgassing; thermal requirements; solar simulation; and data collection requirements

Atmospheric Research and Monitoring Study of Hazardous Substances

Hazardous Waste Research and Information Center Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources

Related laws on exotic and native wild animals

This paper is submitted in an effort to acquaint the personnel of allied State agencies with related laws which control the public and private possession of live exotic and native wild animals. The need for this common knowledge of related laws by agencies with law enforcement responsibility is readily apparent when the annual number and related problems from imported or resident wild animals in California are examined. In addition to resident wild animal populations, millions of fish and thousands of mammals, birds, and reptiles enter California each year through the utilization of most methods of transportation. Most of these imported animals are exotic species from foreign lands which cannot be readily identified and pose various degrees of potential and actual threat to native wildlife, agriculture, and public health if they are introduced into the wilds of this State. For the purpose of this report, a general picture of imported exotic animals is presented in an introduction, and specific animals with related laws are treated individually under the headings of current laws and future regulations