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2003
Addressing
Community Concerns: How Environmental Justice Relates to Land
Use Planning and Zoning
This is the Panel's third report on environmental
justice. It will help local, state and federal officials better
understand how local land use planning and zoning laws can
be used to resolve current environmental justice concerns
now and prevent them in the future. The report recommends
that local governments make full use of their land use planning
and zoning authorities to solve environmental problems. It
urges local, state and federal environmental, planning and
zoning agencies to launch meaningful environmental justice
initiatives and integrate those efforts into the implementation
of their core programs.
A
Breath of Fresh Air: Reviving the New Source Review Program
Summary
Report
The Congressionally commissioned study
concludes that the NSR program is effective in controlling
air pollution from newly built industrial facilities, but
performs poorly in reducing pollution from the nation's oldest
and dirtiest factories and power plants. The report also finds
that NSR for existing sources is poorly compatible with facilities
in industries which short product cycles and frequent process
changes. The study urges Congress to retain NSR for newly
built sources and details a performance-based system to reform
NSR where it applies to existing sources and grandfathered
sources.
2002
Academy
Panel Finds States Need More Funds to Manage Growing Water
Quality Program Workloads
State water quality programs are facing
an annual nationwide shortfall of $700 to $900 million, an
Academy Panel has found. The Panel confirmed the reliability
of this estimate produced by a joint state-EPA effort to collect
information on how much states spend and what resources they
need to adequately manage water quality programs. After a
detailed review of the tools, methodologies, and interim results
used, the Academy's Panel concluded that this national estimate
is reasonable and defensible.
Models
for Change: Efforts by Four States to Address Environmental
Justice
In its second report on environmental justice, the Academy
panel provides information on the legislation, policy, procedures,
and tools that four states have used to address the widely
recognized fact that some low-income and people-of-color communities
are exposed to significantly greater environmental and public
health hazards than other communities. The Academy's report
recommends that states articulate a clear commitment to environmental
justice, conduct a comprehensive examination of applicable
state constitutional provisions, eliminate backlogs for permit
renewals, identify and reduce environmental hazards in communities
with high exposure levels, and enhance public participation
by training state staff to value and utilize local knowledge.
2001
Environmental
Justice in EPA Permitting: Reducing Polution in High-Risk
Communities is Integral to the Agency's Mission
The first report conducted by the environmental justice
panel concluded that EPA must work more proactively to integrate
environmental justice into its core mission. The report is
designed to help those in low-income and people-of-color communities
gain a better understanding of how they can more effectively
bring environmental justice concerns to the attention of EPA's
permitting programs. The Academy panel found that EPA can
serve as a model to demonstrate how environmental justice
concerns can be addressed through permits at individual facilities
and through more proactive initiatives to reduce pollution
and eliminate health risks in already over-burdened communities.
Evaluating
Environmental Progress: How EPA and the States Can Improve
the Quality of Enforcement and Compliance Information
The congressionally commissioned study found that thirty years'
reliance on enforcement activity data to gauge environmental
progress has been misplaced. The Academy also found that both
EPA and the states need to invest in better monitoring so
they can collect information on actual environmental conditions
and compliance with environmental laws. Current enforcement
data are not adequate to track performance because they usually
count activities - such as permits, inspections, and cases
filed - rather than measuring results on the ground. The study
concluded that what counts as "enforcement" varies
enormously from state to state, making it impossible for EPA
or the public to draw meaningful comparisons among states.
Policies
to Prevent Erosion in Atlanta's Watersheds: Accelerating the
Transition to Performance (DIRT II)
This report focuses on the geography around metro Atlanta
and the impact of development on the ponds and tributaries
of the Chattahoochee. The paper discusses four key points:
1) The costs of sedimentation and erosion, and then links
them to the policy decisions necessary for changing development
and construction processes; 2) Recently developed regulatory
tools that may create the legal and financial incentives necessary
for effective erosion control and reductions in sedimentation;
3) The integration of erosion-control systems into developments,
by project-owners and contractors which can significantly
reduce erosion at nominal additional expenses; and 4) A requirement
that new approaches towards development be available and implemented,
not just by developers and state and local regulators, but
also by landowners, business leaders, community groups, environmental
activists and individuals.
Third
Party Auditing of Environmental Management Systems: U.S. Registration
Practices for ISO 14001
This report evaluates the ISO 14001 registration process in
the United States and the conflicting expectations of this
process on the part of businesses, government regulators,
environmental groups, and the public. The report points out
some of the unresolved issues with interpreting requirements
of the ISO 14001 standard, as well as the challenges that
surround its use both as a confidential management audit and
as a public certification of the effectiveness of an organization's
environmental management procedures. Recommendations are offered
for improving EMS registration, auditing, and accreditation
in order to assure adequate and consistent minimum standards
of EMS performance across ISO-certified organizations, and
to increase public confidence in the registration and auditing
system.
2000
Environment.gov:
Transforming Environmental Protection for the 21st Century
This report provides analysis and recommendations for innovative
ways that EPA, the states, Congress and others can strive
to protect our environment and address emerging environmental
problems. It outlines how the next EPA administrator can tackle
major environmental problems, invest in information and assessment,
hold states accountable for results and performance, and use
all the tools available to change management cultures and
practices to focus on achieving critical environmental goals.
The report also identifies the need for state regulators and
legislatures to work with EPA, Congress, and one another to
transform environmental governance. Finally, the report urges
business leaders, NGO's, and foundations to embrace more effective
and efficient policies for environmental protection, and to
help build a national data system for gathering, disseminating,
and using more accurate, timely environmental information.
Environment.gov: Transforming
Environmental Protection for the 21st Century (Research Papers
Vols. I-III)
These research papers formed the basis for "Environment.gov",
the Academy's study on how EPA, the states, Congress and others
can address emerging environmental problems and to ultimately
better protect and manage our environment.
Protecting
Our National Marine Sanctuaries
This report marks the first independent assessment of the
National Marine Sanctuary Program, based on field research
at all 12 sanctuaries and at the headquarters of the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The report recommends
that the sanctuary program focus its attention on results
rather than process, and outlines the steps that the sanctuary
programs must take in order to guarantee the protection of
marine resources more effectively.
1999
Remembering
the Future: Applying Foresight Techniques to Research Planning
at EPA
An exploration of ways in which EPA's Office of Research and
Development can strengthen its capacity to commission research
aimed at emerging environmental problems. Included also is
an extensive introduction to foresight methods and how various
public and private institutions have used them in research
planning.
Dredged
Material Management and State Coastal Management Programs
This report stems from a workshop sponsored by the National
Dredging Team, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's
Office of Ocean and Coastal Management, and the Coastal States
Organization. The two main goals of the workshop were: "to
clarify dredging and coastal management requirements, and
to stimulate better communication among federal, state, and
local agencies on these issues."
1998
Managing
NEPA at the Department of Energy
Evaluating the impact of a policy announced in 1994 by then-secretary
Hazel O'Leary to change the way DOE
manages its implementation of the National Environmental Policy
Act. This publication is not for sale. It is available only
at this web site.
Building
Stronger Communities and Regions: Can the Federal Government
Help?
A review of federal policies and attitudes to regional affairs,
as well as recommendations for more effective relationships
with regions of all sizes.
1997
Ensuring
Worker Safety and Health Across the DOE Complex
Recommendations for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
in assuming regulatory responsibility for worker safety and
health at the Department of Energy's nuclear weapons complex.
Principles
for Federal Managers of Community-Based Programs
A manual for federal managers of programs that seek community
involvement and public support.
Resolving
the Paradox of Environmental Protection: An Agenda for Congress,
EPA, & the States
An in-depth assessment of the Environmental Protection Agency's
progress in improving the nation's environmental protection
system. This report examines the responses of EPA and Congress
to the Academy's 1995 report Setting Priorities on
EPA and offers concrete recommendations to bolster and institutionalize
EPA's reform efforts, which it says "occurred at the
margins of EPA's programs." The measures advocated in
the report help address the "paradox" of environmental
protection--reconciling national standards with responsiveness
to state and local conditions.
1995
Setting
Priorities, Getting Results: A New Direction for EPA
The House and Senate Appropriations Committees asked NAPA
to assess the EPA's efforts in setting environmental priorities
and allocating resources. A NAPA-convened panel found that
the changing nature of environmental problems and the continued
progress in environmental protection require significant changes
in EPA's statutes and management structure.
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