When is a life too costly to save? : evidence from U.S. environmental regulations

Except for two relatively minor statutes, U.S. environmental laws do not permit the balancing of costs and benefits in setting environmental standards. The Clean Air Act, for example, prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from considering costs in setting ambient air quality standards. Similarly, the Clean Water Act does not allow consideration of benefits in setting effluent standards. When the EPA is allowed to balance benefits against costs, it has considerable discretion in defining"balancing."The authors ask two questions: Whether allowed to or not, has the EPA balanced costs and benefits in setting environmental standards? Where has the EPA drawn the line in deciding how much to spend to save a statistical life? Their answers are based on data about the costs and benefits of regulations involving three classes of pollutants: cancer-causing pesticides usedon food crops (1975-89); carcinogenic air pollutants (1975-90); and all uses of asbestos regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act. The following are their findings. The EPA behaved as though it were balancing costs and benefits in its regulation of pesticides under Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and of asbestos under Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), the two so-called balancing statutes. The higher the cost of the ban, the less likely the EPA was to ban the use of these products. The greater the number of lives saved, the more likely the EPA was to ban their use. But the amount the EPA was (implicitly) willing to spend to save a life was high: $52 million to prevent cancer among pesticide applicators, and$49 million to avoid cancer through exposure to asbestos. The value the EPA attached to saving a life was higher for workers than for consumers. The value attached to avoiding a case of cancer through exposure to pesticide resides on food was less than $100,000, in contrast with the$52 million value of preventing cancer among pesticide applicators - perhaps because workers are exposed to higher levels of pollution than consumers. After 1987, when the Natural Resources Defense Council sued the EPA for considering costs in setting emissions standards for vinyl chloride, the EPA considered costs in setting emissions standards only after an acceptable level of risk was achieved. Ironically, before the vinyl chloride decision, the value per cancer case avoided was only $15 million. The amount the EPA was willing to spend to save a life was thus less under the Clean Air Act than under the balancing statutes. But after this decision, the EPA did not consider costs at all if the risk of cancer to the maximally exposed individual was above one in 10,000.Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Economic Theory&Research,Health Economics&Finance,Montreal Protocol

The value of superfund cleanups : evidence from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency decisions

Under the Superfund law, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for inspecting hazardous waste sites and for putting those with the most serious contamination problems on a national priorities list. The EPA then oversees the cleanup of these sites, suing potentially responsible parties for the costs of cleanup when possible, and funding the cleanup of"orphaned"sites out of the Superfund, money raised taxing chemical and petroleum products. The Superfund program is controversial. Cleanups are costly and it is unclear whether the benefits of cleanup, especially the relative benefits of more permanent clenanup, are worth the costs. At many sites, imminent danger of exposure to contaminants can be removed at low cost. What raises the cost of cleanup is the decision to clean up the site for future generations - to incinerate contaminated soil, for example, or to pump and treat an aquifer for 30 years. To shed light on this debate, the authors infer the EPA's willingness to pay (or have others pay) for more permanent cleanups at Superfund sites. They do so by analyzing cleanup decisions for contaminated soils at 110 Superfund sites. They find that, other things being equal, the EPA was more likely to choose less expensive cleanup options. But, holding costs constant, the EPA was more likely to select more permanent options, such as incinerating the soil instead of capping it or putting it in a landfill. The EPA was willing to pay at least twice as much for onsite incineration of contaminated soil as it was for capping the soil. Has the EPA chosen more permanent Superfund cleanups in areas where residents are predominantly white and have high incomes? The authors find no evidence that the percentage of minority residents near a site influences the choice of cleanup selected. But offsite treatment was more likely at sites with higher incomes.General Technology,Environmental Governance,Sanitation and Sewerage,TF030632-DANISH CTF - FY05 (DAC PART COUNTRIES GNP PER CAPITA BELOW USD 2,500/AL,Environmental Economics&Policies

Meeting the problems and needs of resident advisory groups

ii, 74 l. 28 cm

Pecan pest management : insects and diseases (1995)

New June 1995

Facilitating Coherence across Qualitative Research Papers

Bringing the various elements of qualitative research papers into coherent textual patterns presents challenges for authors and editors alike. Although individual sections such as presentation of the problem, review of the literature, methodology, results, and discussion may each be constructed in a sound logical and structural sense, the alignment of these parts into a coherent mosaic may be lacking in many qualitative research manuscripts. In this paper, four editors of The Qualitative Report present how they collaborate with authors to facilitate improvement papers\u27 coherence in such areas as co-relating title, abstract, and the paper proper; coordinating the method presented with method employed; and calibrating the exuberance of implications with the essence of the findings. The editors share exercises, templates, and exemplary articles they use to help mentor authors to create coherent texts

Improving scenario methodology:theory and practice introduction to the special issue

In this Introduction, we review the logic that underpinned our earlier call for papers and compare and contrast the papers selected with those selected for a similarly-themed special issue of this journal that was published in 2013. We demonstrate changing research emphases and concerns and then go on to review the contents of the eighteen selected papers that comprise the current special issue

Clinical Presentations of AIDS and HIV Infection in State Psychiatric Facilities

The epidemiologic, neuropsychiatric, and medical data on AIDS and HIV infection that are relevant to state psychiatric facilities are reviewed. The epidemiologic data suggest that a larger than expected number of AIDS patients may be seen in these facilities. Patients who are severely disturbed and psychotic may present to state hospitals with HIV encephalopathy. In patients who are chronically and severely ill, physical symptoms, including oral and cutaneous conditions, the HIV wasting syndrome, and lymphadenopathy, may provide early clues to HIV infection. The early neuropsychiatric and medical findings in HIV infection are discussed, and a clinical case is presented

TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE: A CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT DIMENSION IN MAINTAINING CUSTOMER LOYALTY

With intense competition among hotels, the study sought to assess the influence of technology infrastructure on customer loyalty as a strategy in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in the hotel industry in Kenya. The study used the non-experimental cross-sectional survey design. A total of 147 hotels listed in the Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers (KAHC) guide 2014 were studied. A census sampling technique was used. The respondents comprised of 147 customer relationship managers or equivalent. Semi structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that the hotel industry had effective technology infrastructure and that technology facilities were a key determinant of customer loyalty. The study concluded that technology infrastructure in the hotel sub sector in Kenya were key determinants to customer loyalty. The study recommends that the hotel management ensures that the hotels are International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management, United Kingdom Licensed under Creative Common Page 89 upgraded with the technological changes taking place in the whole world; the management conducts a market survey of the technological facilities in use in other hotels so as to minimize high competition from the competition

Role of Customer Orientation on Customer Loyalty in the Hotel Industry in Kenya

The purpose of the study was to establish the role of customer orientation on customer loyalty in the hotel industry in Kenya. The study used the non-experimental cross-sectional survey design. A total of 147 hotels listed in the Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers (KAHC) guide 2014 were studied. A census sampling technique was used. The respondents comprised of 147 customer relationship managers or equivalent. Semi structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to analyze the data. Qualitative and quantitative techniques were used to analyse the data. Quantitative techniques were used to analyze the data. The study findings showed that customer orientation has contributed to customer loyalty in the hotel industry in Kenya. The study concludes that employees were easily accessible, empowered to take initiative and their knowledge of hotel procedures was recommendable. Stakeholders in the hospitality industry should be aware that a loyal customer does not only engage in repeat patronage but also provides positive word-of-mouth to other people, thereby increasing the revenue of the hotel. The implication of this,therefore, is that a customer’s change of patronage would have an impact in the long-term revenue of the hotel. Delivering quality service to customers is a must for success and survival in today’s competitive hospitality industry

Quantifying Wicking in Functionlized Surfaces

Wicking remains the enigmatic key factor in many research areas. From boiling in power plants, to anti-icing on plane wings, to medical instruments, to heat pipes, efficiency and safety depend on how quickly a surface becomes wet. Yet wicking remains difficult to quantify and define as a property of the surface. This experiment strives to measure the wicking property by examining the rate that a liquid can be pulled out of a container. A superhydrophilic surface is placed in contact with the liquid at the bottom of a tube so that the volume flow rate across the surface can be monitored by a camera. By tracking the liquid level in the tube as a function of time, the wicking property of the surface can be quantified. Different tube sizes were compared to ensure that a property of the surface was being accurately measured