Disaster Waste Law : An analysis of the implications of existing legislation on disaster waste management in New Zealand

In the recovery following a disaster, disaster waste managers are restricted by existing legislation. In many cases, emergency legislation is available to waive peace-time requirements to reduce threats to life, property and the environment. But disaster waste management sits in a grey area between an immediate hazard and a longer term threat to the economic, social and environmental recovery of a disaster struck area. Emergency laws are not often written with disaster recovery in mind. Legal waivers were used effectively and ineffectively during the waste management processes following both Hurricane Katrina, 2005 and the Victorian Bushfires, 2009. In both these examples it was clear that the main driver behind use of the legal waivers was to expedite the clean-up process. New Zealand law applicable to disaster waste is complex with a plethora of legislations and regulatory authorities associated with it. In general, current laws have adequate provisions to cope with the likely needs of disaster waste management, however, the complexity of responsibilities, stakeholders and unclear statutory precedence may result in slow or ineffectual decision-making. One potential bottle neck identified is the restrictions on transportation of hazardous goods by road and by sea. Complex licencing and permitting structures may be extremely restrictive. The consultative, effects based nature of the Resource Management Act in New Zealand is also a potential hurdle to long-term disaster waste management. While there are effective emergency mechanisms to commence activities quickly, medium to long-term continuation of activities will be dependent on resource consent approval. The uncertainties associated with consent approvals may dis-empower the decision-maker. A pre-established, regulatory approved, assessment process which balances social restoration and environmental protection would be a useful tool to support the decision maker.I n general, disaster waste management laws needs to: allow for flexibility for adaptation to any situation; be bounded enough to provide support and confidence in outcomes for decision-makers; be effectively communicated with the public both pre and post disaster; and provide stream-lining of waste management organisational structures including decision-making authority

Should waste management be considered a lifeline in New Zealand?

Called Resilient Organisations Research Report 2010/01 at http://www.resorgs.org.nz/pubs/Resilient%20Organisations%20Lifeline%20report_250110.pdfExecutive Summary Lifelines (also referred to as Critical Infrastructure) provide the essential services that support the life of our community. Maintaining provision of these services in an emergency response situation is critical to the recovery of a community. In New Zealand regional lifeline groups have been established to promote planning, resource sharing and coordination between lifeline service providers. In addition to this, New Zealand emergency law has provision for certain designated Lifeline Utilities to act as necessary to restore services in an emergency situation. However, solid waste management is not included in either the planning process nor is it provided for under the emergency legislation. A qualitative assessment of the importance of waste management to a community recovery effort and semi quantitative assessment on the impact of waste management on other lifeline provisions has been carried out. In a recovery, it is shown that waste management has the potential to pose health and safety hazards such as disease and environmental pollution. Waste management is also shown to be important to the provision of many lifelines. Given this importance and dependence, great benefit would be gained from including waste management activities in lifeline planning and coordination to facilitate more effective resource planning and prioritisation. From a legal perspective, the complexity of the waste management system would make it difficult to legislate as a Lifeline Utility. Not only are there multiple components to a solid waste system (disposal, treatment, recycling and collection), pre-disaster solid waste capacities would need to be significantly augmented to cater for the disaster generated waste and often this would entail the operation of organisations not normally involved in solid waste management. However, there would be benefits in providing legislation to require and give regulatory flexibility to pre-disaster solid waste operators and facilities to restore pre-disaster services following a disaster. This allowance would facilitate the first stage of the clean-up effort before an integrated disaster waste management system could be implemented

Reducing the Impact of Organisational Silos on Resilience: A Report on the impact of silos on resilience and how the impacts might be reduced

Organisations need to perform effectively if they are to meet societal goals and expectations. This is especially important when adverse events arise, whatever the cause. Silos are organisational units where there is a breakdown in communication, co-operation and co-ordination with external parties. Silos can arise within organisations, a result of silo mentality. Or organisations themselves can become siloed if they unduly limit their connections with other organisations. Silos are often detrimental to the resilience of organisations and communities. Two definitions of resilience are suggested; one based on New Zealand research undertaken within the Resilient Organisations Research Programme (www.resorgs.org.nz) and another from the UK that addresses resilience at both organisational and national levels. There is a need to improve the way that we manage silos in the interests of organisational and community resilience. How silos arise and what can be done about them to promote resilience is the topic of this report. Good internal management practices, together with bridge-building between organisations to improve collaboration, appear to be particular needs. Specific steps need to be taken where private incentives fall short of delivering all of the community’s resilience requirements. This report concludes by suggesting some points that need to be recognised to reduce the impact of silos on resilience

Extreme Events Decision Making in Transport Networks: A Holistic Approach Using Emergency Scenarios and Decision Making Theory

This paper proposes a novel method to analyse decision-making during extreme events. The method is based on Decision-making Theory and aims at understanding how emergency managers make decisions during disasters. A data collection framework and an analysis method were conceptualized to capture participant’s behaviour, perception and understanding throughout a game-board simulation exercise, which emulates an earthquake disaster scenario affecting transport systems. The method evaluates the participant’s actions in order to identify decision-making patterns, strengths and weaknesses. A set of case studies has shown two typical patterns, namely: a) Support immediate rescue; b) Support lifelines recovery. Good decision-making practices regard to objective-oriented decision making, understanding of conflicting priorities and appropriate resource management. Weaknesses are associated with comprehending relationships between community/environment and projecting future scenarios. Overall, the case study’s results demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed method to analyse decision making during disasters

Resilience Management: A Framework for Assessing and Improving the Resilience of Organisations

Resilient Organisations Research Report 2007/01Organisations today are increasingly aware of the need to prepare for the unexpected. High profile international events of the last decade, such as the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the emerging threat of a pandemic all serve to remind organisations that the unimaginable can and does happen. Stories emerge from these events of organisations that survived or failed; at first glance there does not appear to be a particular pattern. Some survivors had excellent disaster response plans in place; others had none, surviving purely on the merits of strong leadership and the commitment and determination of staff. Many organisations that are devastated simply never reopen again; others evolve so radically that they are hard to recognise from their pre-crisis form. This research project seeks to explore what it is that makes some organisations more able to survive a major crisis than others, and suggests a framework for both evaluating and improving the resilience of individual organisations

Organisational resilience following the Darfield earthquake of 2010

This paper presents the preliminary findings of a study on the resilience and recovery of organisations following the Darfield earthquake in New Zealand on 4 September 2010. Sampling included organisations proximal and distal to the fault trace, organisations located within central business districts, and organisations from seven diverse industry sectors. The research captured information on the challenges to, the impacts on, and the reflections of the organisations in the first months of recovery. Organisations in central business districts and in the hospitality sector were most likely to close while organisations that had perishable stock and livestock were more heavily reliant on critical services. Staff well-being, cash flow, and customer loss were major concerns for organisations across all sectors. For all organisations, the most helpful factors in mitigating the effects of the earthquake to be their relationship with staff, the design and type of buildings, and critical service continuity or swift reinstatement of services

TetAB46, a predicted heterodimeric ABC transporter conferring tetracycline resistance in Streptococcus australis isolated from the oral cavity.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the genes responsible for tetracycline resistance in a strain of Streptococcus australis isolated from pooled saliva from healthy volunteers in France. S. australis is a viridans Streptococcus, originally isolated from the oral cavity of children in Australia, and subsequently reported in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients and as a cause of invasive disease in an elderly patient. METHODS: Agar containing 2 mg/L tetracycline was used for the isolation of tetracycline-resistant organisms. A genomic library in Escherichia coli was used to isolate the tetracycline resistance determinant. In-frame deletions and chromosomal repair were used to confirm function. Antibiotic susceptibility was determined by agar dilution and disc diffusion assay. RESULTS: The tetracycline resistance determinant from S. australis FRStet12 was isolated from a genomic library in E. coli and DNA sequencing showed two open reading frames predicted to encode proteins with similarity to multidrug resistance-type ABC transporters. Both genes were required for tetracycline resistance (to both the naturally occurring and semi-synthetic tetracyclines) and they were designated tetAB(46). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first report of a predicted ABC transporter conferring tetracycline resistance in a member of the oral microbiota