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Costs for changing pollution criteria in Florida waters likely to exceed EPA estimatesPublic release date: 6-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lauren Rugani news@nas.edu 202-334-2138 National Academy of Sciences
WASHINGTON The costs to switch to numeric criteria for limiting nutrient pollutants in Florida waters are expected to exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates, says a new National Research Council report. The committee that wrote the report questioned the validity of several assumptions in the EPA cost analysis and found that EPA did not adequately report on the uncertainties that could affect the cost of the rule change.
In 2009 EPA decided that numeric limits on the concentration of pollutants in water, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, were necessary in Florida to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act. These numeric criteria would replace existing state "narrative" criteria, which use words to describe water pollution limits. For example, the Florida narrative standard refers to not causing a population imbalance in aquatic flora and fauna, while the numeric standard would express specific allowable concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in water.
In its economic analysis, EPA calculated the cost differential of switching from the narrative to numeric criteria. It considered only those waters that would be newly listed as "impaired" under the numeric criteria and estimated mitigation costs for a variety of sources of pollution that would affect these waters.
The committee concluded that EPA was correct in its approach to calculating the cost of the rule change. However, the agency underestimated both the number of newly impaired waters and the mitigation costs for the stormwater, agricultural, septic system, and government sectors. Furthermore, there was significant uncertainty in the estimates for the municipal and industrial wastewater sectors, making it difficult to know whether the EPA underestimated or overestimated those costs, the report says. The committee also found that the costs of the rule change would be small relative to the total costs that will ultimately be required to restore Florida's waters.
Future cost analyses of rule changes would be improved if they explicitly described how a rule would be implemented over time and its impact on costs, the report says. If EPA had conducted such an analysis, it would have found that point sources -- such as municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities -- will face increased costs sooner under the numeric nutrient criteria than under the narrative process.
The report describes a more comprehensive approach for conducting these analyses and summarizes the differences between the narrative rule, numeric rule, and a proposed Florida rule that incorporates aspects of both narrative and numeric criteria. The committee did not produce its own cost estimate for implementing numeric nutrient criteria. It also did not assess the numeric criteria themselves or address the environmental or indirect economic effects of implementing the criteria.
The committee found that discrepancies in cost estimates by EPA and other stakeholders could be traced to different assumptions about how the rules would affect actions taken during the water quality management cycle, from listing water as impaired and establishing target nutrient concentrations to determining when the criteria have been met. If assumptions can be agreed upon, the new framework for future cost analyses could narrow the discrepancies in estimates, the report says.
###
The report was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are independent, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under an 1863 congressional charter. Committee members, who serve pro bono as volunteers, are chosen by the Academies for each study based on their expertise and experience and must satisfy the Academies' conflict-of-interest standards. The resulting consensus reports undergo external peer review before completion. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org/studycommitteprocess.pdf.
Contacts:
Lauren Rugani, Media Relations Officer
Luwam Yeibio, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
Pre-publication copies of Review of EPA's Economic Analysis of Final Water Quality Standards for Nutrients for Lakes and Flowing Waters in Florida are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Water Science and Technology Board
Committee to Review EPA's Economic Analysis of Final Water Quality Standards for Nutrients for Lakes and Flowing Waters in Florida
Glen T. Daigger* (chair)
Senior Vice President, Technical Fellow, and
Chief Wastewater Process Engineer
CH2M Hill Inc.
Englewood, Colo.
Otto C. Doering (vice chair)
Professor
Department of Agricultural Economics
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Ind.
Leonard A. Shabman (vice chair)
Resident Scholar
Resources for the Future
Washington, D.C.
Walter L. Baker
Director
Division of Water Quality
State of Utah
Salt Lake City
Allen P. Davis
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Maryland
College Park
K.William Easter
Professor
Department of Economics
University of Minnesota
St. Paul
Wendy D. Graham
Carl S. Swisher Eminent Scholar in Water Resources, and
Director
University of Florida Water Institute
Gainesville
Arturo A. Keller
Professor
Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
University of California
Santa Barbara
David J. Mulla
W.E. Larson Chair and Professor
Department of Soil, Water, and Climate
University of Minnesota
St. Paul
Kevin M. Sherman
Director of Engineering
Quanics Inc.
Crestwood, Ky.
Kurt Stephenson
Associate Professor of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg
Michael Tate
Section Chief
Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Topeka
Alan H. Vicory
Principal
Stantec Consulting
Cincinnati
LaJuana S. Wilcher
Partner
English, Lucas, Priest, and Owsley LLP
Bowling Green, Ky.
STAFF
Laura J. Ehlers
Study Director
* Member, National Academy of Engineering
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Costs for changing pollution criteria in Florida waters likely to exceed EPA estimatesPublic release date: 6-Mar-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Lauren Rugani news@nas.edu 202-334-2138 National Academy of Sciences
WASHINGTON The costs to switch to numeric criteria for limiting nutrient pollutants in Florida waters are expected to exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates, says a new National Research Council report. The committee that wrote the report questioned the validity of several assumptions in the EPA cost analysis and found that EPA did not adequately report on the uncertainties that could affect the cost of the rule change.
In 2009 EPA decided that numeric limits on the concentration of pollutants in water, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, were necessary in Florida to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act. These numeric criteria would replace existing state "narrative" criteria, which use words to describe water pollution limits. For example, the Florida narrative standard refers to not causing a population imbalance in aquatic flora and fauna, while the numeric standard would express specific allowable concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in water.
In its economic analysis, EPA calculated the cost differential of switching from the narrative to numeric criteria. It considered only those waters that would be newly listed as "impaired" under the numeric criteria and estimated mitigation costs for a variety of sources of pollution that would affect these waters.
The committee concluded that EPA was correct in its approach to calculating the cost of the rule change. However, the agency underestimated both the number of newly impaired waters and the mitigation costs for the stormwater, agricultural, septic system, and government sectors. Furthermore, there was significant uncertainty in the estimates for the municipal and industrial wastewater sectors, making it difficult to know whether the EPA underestimated or overestimated those costs, the report says. The committee also found that the costs of the rule change would be small relative to the total costs that will ultimately be required to restore Florida's waters.
Future cost analyses of rule changes would be improved if they explicitly described how a rule would be implemented over time and its impact on costs, the report says. If EPA had conducted such an analysis, it would have found that point sources -- such as municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities -- will face increased costs sooner under the numeric nutrient criteria than under the narrative process.
The report describes a more comprehensive approach for conducting these analyses and summarizes the differences between the narrative rule, numeric rule, and a proposed Florida rule that incorporates aspects of both narrative and numeric criteria. The committee did not produce its own cost estimate for implementing numeric nutrient criteria. It also did not assess the numeric criteria themselves or address the environmental or indirect economic effects of implementing the criteria.
The committee found that discrepancies in cost estimates by EPA and other stakeholders could be traced to different assumptions about how the rules would affect actions taken during the water quality management cycle, from listing water as impaired and establishing target nutrient concentrations to determining when the criteria have been met. If assumptions can be agreed upon, the new framework for future cost analyses could narrow the discrepancies in estimates, the report says.
###
The report was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are independent, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under an 1863 congressional charter. Committee members, who serve pro bono as volunteers, are chosen by the Academies for each study based on their expertise and experience and must satisfy the Academies' conflict-of-interest standards. The resulting consensus reports undergo external peer review before completion. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org/studycommitteprocess.pdf.
Contacts:
Lauren Rugani, Media Relations Officer
Luwam Yeibio, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
Pre-publication copies of Review of EPA's Economic Analysis of Final Water Quality Standards for Nutrients for Lakes and Flowing Waters in Florida are available from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Division on Earth and Life Studies
Water Science and Technology Board
Committee to Review EPA's Economic Analysis of Final Water Quality Standards for Nutrients for Lakes and Flowing Waters in Florida
Glen T. Daigger* (chair)
Senior Vice President, Technical Fellow, and
Chief Wastewater Process Engineer
CH2M Hill Inc.
Englewood, Colo.
Otto C. Doering (vice chair)
Professor
Department of Agricultural Economics
Purdue University
West Lafayette, Ind.
Leonard A. Shabman (vice chair)
Resident Scholar
Resources for the Future
Washington, D.C.
Walter L. Baker
Director
Division of Water Quality
State of Utah
Salt Lake City
Allen P. Davis
Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Maryland
College Park
K.William Easter
Professor
Department of Economics
University of Minnesota
St. Paul
Wendy D. Graham
Carl S. Swisher Eminent Scholar in Water Resources, and
Director
University of Florida Water Institute
Gainesville
Arturo A. Keller
Professor
Bren School of Environmental Science and Management
University of California
Santa Barbara
David J. Mulla
W.E. Larson Chair and Professor
Department of Soil, Water, and Climate
University of Minnesota
St. Paul
Kevin M. Sherman
Director of Engineering
Quanics Inc.
Crestwood, Ky.
Kurt Stephenson
Associate Professor of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Blacksburg
Michael Tate
Section Chief
Kansas Department of Health and Environment
Topeka
Alan H. Vicory
Principal
Stantec Consulting
Cincinnati
LaJuana S. Wilcher
Partner
English, Lucas, Priest, and Owsley LLP
Bowling Green, Ky.
STAFF
Laura J. Ehlers
Study Director
* Member, National Academy of Engineering
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Vladimir Putin overwhelmingly wins a third term presidency amid massive street protests and allegations of fraud. NBC's Jim Maceda reports.?
By Reuters
MOSCOW -- Vladimir Putin claimed victory in Russia's presidential election and, tears rolling down his cheeks, said it was a historical turning point that had prevented the country from falling into the hands of enemies trying to usurp power.
His opponents, however, called the vote full of fraud and vowed new protests?starting on?Monday.
"The social base of the protest is going to grow and Putin with his team did everything wrong to make this happen. He really helped us," said journalist Sergei Parkhomenko, one of the leaders of the opposition protest movement.
"He is forcing things to breaking point. He is declaring war on us. As a result the base of aversion to him is growing."
The former KGB spy?was triumphant, and unusually emotional, after exit polls and partial results suggested he would win about 60 percent of the vote and return to the Kremlin after four years as prime minister.
"I promised you we would win. We have won. Glory to Russia," Putin, flanked by outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev, told tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters late in the evening at a victory rally meters from the red walls of the Kremlin. Hundreds of buses that brought them to the capital in a well organized show of force stood by.
It was a defiant and angry speech in which Putin, 59, sounded a clear warning to the mainly middle-class protesters in Moscow and other big cities who have staged huge rallies since a disputed parliamentary poll on Dec. 4.
A teary Vladimir Putin, flanked by President Dmitry Medvedev, addresses supporters at Manezh Square outside the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Sunday.
His nearest rival, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, fell short of 20 percent in both exit polls. Zyuganov said his party would not recognize the official results of the election, calling it "illegitimate, dishonest and untransparent."
Putin's swiftly dismissed fraud allegations, which will be repeated at opposition protests starting on Monday.
Official results are not expected from most polling stations until Monday.?International observers monitoring the vote have yet to make a statement.
Rock Center Correspondent Harry Smith journeyed to Moscow where he met blogger Alexei Navalny, a vocal opponent of Vladimir Putin.
"We do not consider these elections legitimate," said Vladimir Ryzhkov, a leader of the opposition protesters, who plan a new rally against Putin in Moscow for Monday.
Despite the growing opposition, mainly among well-educated and relatively well-off young professionals in big cities, Putin's support remains high in the provinces and his victory had not been in doubt.
The main challenge for the man credited by many Russians credit with rebuilding the country's image and overseeing an economic boom, was to win outright in the first round.
This he achieved by a clear margin. The exit polls put Zyuganov on target to win about 18 percent, and nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky, ex-parliamentary speaker Sergei Mironov and billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov were all under 10 percent.
Some voters said Putin, who has portrayed himself as a man of action and guardian of stability, was the tough national leader the world's biggest country and energy producer needed.
"I voted for Putin because he was a good president (from 2000-08) and our children were looked after and that's all. That's how I feel," said Maria Fedotova, a 92-year-old grandmother in fur coat and hat, flanked by relatives.
Putin has remained Russia's dominant leader and its most popular politician since stepping aside in 2008 to make way for his ally, Dmitry Medvedev, because he was barred from a third straight term by the constitution.
But some voters are tired of his macho antics, such as horse riding bare-chested, and a system that concentrates power in his hands. They fear he could win another term in six years and rule until 2024 - almost as long as Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.
"They are stealing our votes," said Valentin Gorshun, a patient in Moscow hospital number 19, where more than 90 percent of votes went to United Russia party in December.
"It is probably the same at all hospitals," he said. "I think they are preparing a huge falsification. Emperor Putin has decided everything."
Vote monitors from the opposition and bloggers posted allegations of election rigging across the country of 143 million. Golos, an independent monitoring group, said it had registered at least 3,100 reports of violations nationwide.
An Interior Ministry spokesman denied there had been any major violations. Election officials also dismissed reports of widespread fraud in a parliamentary election on Dec. 4, which triggered the opposition protests.
The opposition protests were sparked by the disputed Dec. 4 election, but anger was focused at Putin, who bungled the Sept. 24 announcement of his presidential bid by appearing simply to inform Russians that he would rule for another six years.
Putin, who will not formally take office until early May, now faces huge economic and political challenges.
"It's a watershed -- Russia faces decline and stagnation unless they really kick-start reforms, and push forward an ambitious reform agenda," said Tim Ash, head of emerging markets research at the Royal Bank of Scotland in London.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
MTN Satellite Communications, the global provider of communications, connectivity and content services to remote locations around the world, today announced the addition of two key executives to its management team in support of the company's momentum and aggressive growth plans; including the company's impending launch of its At once Generation Network. This Network will solve the capacity, price and performance constrains the industry is facing today, across market segments, delivering the highest quality of products and services clients want. Robert Wise, earlier an engineering vice president in HP's public cloud computing effort, will serve in the newly created position of Chief Technology Officer, and former Head of Intelsat General, Susan Miller will serve as Executive Vice President of Strategy & Corporate Development.
The new additions to the MTN senior leadership team, followed by the recent appointments of Errol Olivier to President and Chief Executive Officer, Joe Wright as Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Margaret E. Grayson as CFO, furthermore solidifies MTN's leadership strategy and better supports the company's ability to launch its Then Generation Network. This strategic effort positions MTN as an innovator that can meet customer demands, today and henceforth, with innovation and research that has but to be utilized in the satellite space across market segments.? ?
"MTN is leading a new revolution on how companies purchase and utilize bandwidth around the world; from the pipe to the solutions that will be optimized for the new gigabyte model," said Mr. Olivier. "MTN is a nimble organization and we are able to quickly change and innovate for our clients today without compromising the high level of service and responsiveness our clients have come to expect. At MTN we are moving far beyond what the industry expects and we recognize speaking of megabits will shortly be old news. The new team will continue to deliver on the "Customer Intimacy" roots that have propelled us to where we are today as it shapes the industry into the at once generation of satellite network, delivery, service and price."
Mr. Wise joins MTN from HP, where he was an engineering vice president in HP's public cloud computing effort. He opened HP's Seattle cloud computing office and was instrumental in HP's adoption of OpenStack. Mr. Wise led the engineering team for HP's mobile/cloud-based music project, and came to that position via HP's acquisition of Melodeo. He spent much of his early career building high performance and high reliability distributed systems in the telecommunications industry, most notably as VP Engineering for VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)/Softswitch pioneer Vsys.?
"MTN is focused on specific areas of rampant industry technology including cloud computing and mobile applications, for the world of satellite communications," said Mr. Wise. "Communities served primarily by satellite links have not seen the same pace of research, and we are going to change that."
Ms. Miller is a senior business leader with over 20 years within the satellite industry and spent the majority of her career focused on implementing strategic business development initiatives, cost control projects, and played a vital role in completing strategic acquisitions. Earlier, Ms. Miller served as Chief Executive Officer with Spacenet Integrated Government Solutions where she was focused on developing strategic acquisition and organic development plans. Other so then-known organizations Ms. Miller worked with include LightSquared, Intelsat, Lockheed Martin and Hughes Aircraft Corporation.
About MTN Satellite CommunicationsMTN Satellite Communications, the first company to offer a stabilized Very Small Aperture Terminal satellite solution for ships at sea, has contributed to the evolution of the satellite industry over the past three decades, delivering communications solutions that address the needs of people moving around the world.? Through MTN's reliable global satellite network and expertise, the company continues to deliver solutions across various markets during addressing the in a class by itself challenges and needs for each. Today, MTN offers services and solutions to cruise lines, commercial shipping, oil and gas, mega yachts, government entities and aviation markets.? With sales and service offices, teleport gateways, Points of Presence and spare parts depots located in all corners of the globe, MTN's global footprint allows them to successfully serve more than 600 vessels sailing around the world and to U.S. government and commercial aircraft on transatlantic routes. To boot to bandwidth management, MTN delivers and supports a broad array of integrated turnkey services, including remote access for Internet, VoIP, voice services, remote IT management, global vessel tracking, bandwidth optimization, real-time video capabilities, crew calling solutions, and other enterprise solutions. For more information, visit www.mtnsat.com.
If you are going to advertise your small business on-line and your developers have completed their career then you will now assume about internet hosting your website. You have to knowledgeable about all the internet hosting types ahead of selecting a internet hosting plan like shared internet hosting, no cost internet hosting, dedicated internet hosting, VPS internet hosting etc. If you are a novice in this trade then you should just take a trial of any internet hosting ahead of investing for extensive time. Most of all the internet hosting company delivers give the facility of cash back if the consumer is not adobe reader pobierz fulfill with their company.
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Using these simple online marketing strategies that work in your home business can jump start your online presence and at the same time jump start sales or sign ups for your business.
There are several online marketing strategies that work out there but much to your surprise a lot of them are actually very simple. Online social networking is a crucial component to any internet business owner. There are many online social networking venues out there on the internet that can bring success to your business and assist in branding yourself online as a professional marketer.
Some great places you can get your start. They takes just a few simple steps and you are online and available to the rest of the internet world. Some great places to check out to get started are Facebook, Flickr, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn and Nexopia. In may seem like a lot when you look at it but is very simple to get set up and it?s free.
There are many things you have to think about when you start mingling in the online social networking venues.
First of all there are hundreds or thousands of marketers out there doing some of the same things that you are. Remember do not be pushy. That is first and foremost. They are claiming their stake in the online real estate out there. If someone sent you a message saying try this, it?s the best new thing ever you would probably hit delete. Think about what you would want to receive and remember that when you are marketing.
The second thing you want to remember in online social networking is be cautious. I am not saying do not try to mingle and ?meet? people online, but do not put every little bit of personal information you have out on the internet for everyone to see. You are able on most of the sites I mentioned to set your security information for your web page to what you feel comfortable with. Doesn?t that sound a lot easier than tracking down people at your local gas station and buying lunches and dinners to have a meeting with a prospect?
Another one of my favorite online marketing strategies that work is blogging. Blogging is very simple, easy and can be one of the most important part of your week for online social marketing. Now this type of social marketing is a little different. When you are blogging you are not immediately talking to a prospect like you may be on some other online social networking sites, but you result can be exactly the same. You are attracting prospects. The most important thing to remember about blogging is consistency. Blogging each day, every other day, even once a week. Whatever works best for your schedule. The most you update your blog the more you blog will be seen as having fresh content and have a faster presence on the internet.
The most important thing to consider for any of the online marketing strategies that work out there are links, links and more links. The search engines love websites that show up in various places and will definitely get your website to the top of the search engines much faster. When you are blogging, setting up your personal pages in these social networking sites be sure you post your website link. I can promise you these are all online marketing strategies that work and are very simple and easy to use. If you start using some of these simple strategies you will start to gain financial freedom in your home business right away.
Karen Pore teaches online marketing through his FREE 7 Day Online Success Boot Camp. You can learn more about Karen and take her online boot camp here: http://www.OnlineMarketingSuccessBootcamp.net/
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