Digital Commons Network^™

Navigating Murky Waters: State-Level Strategies For Wetland Preservation And Tile Drainage Regulation After Sackett V. Epa, Caleb M. Swanson

Honors Thesis

Wetlands are some of the world’s most valuable ecosystems, serving as provisioners of species habitat, carbon sequestration, flood mitigation, water quality purification, and other ecosystem services. Human development has resulted in substantial wetland loss the world over. In the 1970s, the United States Congress passed the Clean Water Act, giving the EPA broad authority over wetland protection. However, in the summer of 2023, the United States Supreme Court decided Sackett v. EPA, limiting the EPA’s jurisdiction over wetlands to those indistinguishably connected to generally recognized “Waters of the United States” and removing federal protection for millions of acres of wetlands, …

Provincial Cannabis Legislation, Regulation, And Licensing: Its Effectiveness And Impacts On Municipalities In Ontario, Rami Farag

Major Papers

The legalization of cannabis has been a controversial topic within the last two decades in many developed states. The legalization brought medicinal benefits, economic opportunity, and a projected decrease in organized crime. It has, however, also prompted new challenges for different levels of government. In Canada, legalization was a federal decision that was then regulated by provincial governments. However, local governments were on the receiving end of both federal and provincial legislation and regulations that often restricted municipal autonomy with respect to cannabis.

This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the legal and regulatory framework of retail cannabis …

Enforcing Higher Standards For Flood Hazard Mitigation In Vermont, Tamsin Flanders

Masters Theses

The state of Vermont faces increasing risk of costly damage from catastrophic flooding events as climate change increases the frequency of heavy rains and cumulative precipitation. In addition to increasing flood inundation risk, extreme precipitation events are leading to high rates damage from fluvial erosion—erosion caused by the force of floodwater and the materials it carries. As in all U.S. states, flood hazard governance in Vermont is shared by multiple levels of government and involves a complex compliance model that relies on local governments to regulate private property owners to achieve community, state, or federal goals.

To encourage municipalities to …

Mindfulness And The Need To Minimize The Risk Of Harm: A Proposal To Implement And Enforce Standards For Secular Mindfulness Practice, Michael Falick

Mindfulness Studies Theses

While Western mindfulness practice is indeed beneficial for many participants, the research now clearly demonstrates that for some meditators, there are attendant potential risks. These potential risks to practitioners require a level of care from those individuals (and corporations) that disseminate mindfulness practice. Historically, in traditional Buddhist practice, mindfulness was but one of the eight factors on the Noble Eightfold Path. An important component of traditional practice strongly relies on ethics in the delivery of the practice. A formalized standard of care for modern, secular mindfulness practices, and a method to implement and enforce that standard, will greatly enhance safety …

Smoke And Mirrors: Policy Solutions For Deterring Adolescent Use Of Nicotine Electronic Cigarettes, Austin Davis Fiala

Honors Theses

In recent years, there has been a dramatic spike in the number of adolescents that regularly use nicotine electronic cigarettes. As recently as 2019, a large outbreak of e- cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injuries was observed in adolescents, leading many to question the safety of these devices, particularly when use by adolescents. By way of a literature review, this thesis will examine the history of nicotine and electronic cigarettes in the United States, as well as existing data on the nature of nicotine electronic cigarettes and the ways in which they are marketed.

From these findings, it is …

Understanding Stakeholder Interests In Rulemaking Through The Lens Of Private-Interest Institutionalism, Walter Lewis Koski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

State regulators have the task of promulgating regulations for multiple heavily regulated industries, but there is a dearth of research to help public policy makers better understand how rulemaking processes are perceived by stakeholders in those processes. Regulators who promulgated rules for the legalization of marijuana in Colorado used both required and discretionary methods of participation in rulemaking to involve stakeholders with multiple competing interests. This qualitative research study was based on a phenomenological approach and interview data from 10 stakeholders who participated in the Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division's rulemaking processes between 2013 and 2016. The purpose of this study …

Telecommunications Regulation In The Uae: The Interconnectedness Of Better Governance And Regulatory Performance, Mahra Abdullah Ali Alghawi

Political Science Theses

This research focuses on the Telecommunications Regulation in the UAE and studies the interrelationship of ‘better public governance’ and ‘performance’ of telecommunications regulation in the UAE. The work is a reexamination of the thesis that “Countries with better (governance) institutions have better telecom regulators”, and, “Private regulated firms achieve the same public interest goals as state-owned firms”. The study analyzes public governance in the UAE using six internationally recognized criteria: ‘voice accountability’, ‘political stability’, ‘government effectiveness’, ‘regulatory quality’, ‘rule of law’ and ‘control of corruption’. It analyzes the quality of regulatory governance by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) in the …

Repellant Beauty: A Rational Inquiry Into 21St Century Patented Lode Mine Use, John Gaeddert

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Rationalistic, incentive-based redevelopment objectives must comply with regulatory entitlement requirements that enmesh broader community goals. These community goals include site reclamation, environmental protection, and smart growth land use development measures. The focus of this dissertation is to better understand both the economic and community factors affecting the use of approximately 3,500,000 acres of patented lode mine (PLM) lands in the West. Study methods use a unique dataset compiled from BLM land patent documents, Idaho property assessment records, USGS mineral resource data, and GIS-derived surface estate measures to analyze effects of a set of jurisdictional, mineral estate, surface estate, and control …

How Public Transit Agencies Maintain Regulatory Compliance While Using Transportation Network Companies, Aaron Vogel

Master's Projects

The recent rise of Transportation Network Companies (TNC) has prompted some public transit agencies to collaborate with them to enhance their mobility options. Agencies around the country in cities like Pinellas Park, Fla., Boston, Mass., Dallas, TX and Livermore, Calif. are using TNCs as a part of their service delivery model to offer paratransit services, first and last mile solutions and general transit. This research focuses on the following questions:

1. How do public transit agencies adhere to regulatory requirements when implementing TNCs into their service plan?
2. Have agencies been challenged by any state or federal regulatory agencies on non-compliance by …

The State And Future Of Autonomous Vehicle Regulation In The United States, Nikolay Nyashin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Autonomous vehicle technology is poised to revolutionize transit around the world. There are currently tens of private companies either testing or building autonomous vehicles, including industry juggernauts like Ford and Google. This new mode of transportation falls into a regulatory grey area. Once cars reach full autonomy, governments will have to decide what entities will regulate them, where they will be allowed to drive, who will be responsible for them and a host of other issues. In some municipalities like San Francisco and Phoenix, autonomous vehicles (AVs) are being tested on public streets in real life conditions. Meanwhile, in 2017, …

Reducing Arsenic Exposure From Private Well Water In The United States: The Use, Effect, And Potential Of Testing Requirements, Sara Flanagan

Dissertations and Theses

Over 45 million Americans drink from unregulated private well water of unknown quality. Arsenic is the most concerning groundwater contaminant for health because of its toxicity and widespread natural occurrence. Most residential wells in arsenic-affected areas have not been tested for arsenic; the success of community programs and efforts to motivate testing is limited by a range of psychological, situational, and socioeconomic barriers. However, testing only acts as screening and does not reduce exposure without effective and consistent actions to follow. Given the limitations in relying on individual well owners to be aware, willing, and capable of testing their water, …

Government Rule Compliance, Safety, And The Influence Of Regulation On Railroad Trainmen, Carlos Mendoza, Phd

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Operational testing of railroad trainmen on federal government safety rules is a daily occurrence on every railroad in the United States. This constant testing and resulting discipline distracts trainmen from the task at hand, causing a loss of focus which could lead to injury or accidents. Using the social construction framework, this research sought to gain an understanding of trainmen's perception on how operational testing impacts their workplace safety, as well as how they perceive the U.S. federal government influences regulation and discipline. This phenomenological study investigated a segment of railroad employees, the trainmen, because they are operationally tested more …

The Transatlantic Oarsmen Cooperative: Doubling Down On A Transatlantic Financial Regulatory Regime, Joselyn Muhleisen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project argues that, in the wake of the 2007-09 financial crisis, the United States (US) and European Union (EU) are doubling down on finance-led domestic growth strategies and that this is their goal in constructing a transatlantic financial regulatory regime. The regime’s goal privileges the input of industry actors over other civil society actors. The construction of this regime is in response to pressure from emerging markets and to service domestic industry actors after the financial crisis. The regime is intended to allow the US and EU to maintain their dominance within the international financial regulatory regime and continue …

Professional Discretion And The Law: Impact Of Actuaries On The Underfunding And Decline Of Private Sector Single Employer Defined Benefit Pensions In Canada: How Many "Post Nortel" Pension Fiascos Are Brewing In Canada?, Paul Charles Walker

LLM Theses

Considering that private sector single employer defined benefit pension plans must be fully funded by law, the legal issue emanating from their systemic underfunding is whether or not actuaries have been using their discretion in a manner which is within a reasonable interpretation of the margin of manoeuvre contemplated by the legislature, in accordance with the principles of the rule of law. This thesis discusses the merits of potential legal remedies to arrest the underfunding and decline in the number of private sector single employer defined benefit pensions in Canada, including the introduction of single employer target benefit plans, increasing …

Potentiality Of A Shipbuilding Industry In South Africa: Regulation Or No Regulation, Khethukuphila Sabelo Ngubane

World Maritime University Dissertations

The shipbuilding industry is undoubtedly critical for the economic growth with the offshore market still proving to be the increasingly important market segment of the industry. The industry is labour and capital intensive. The shipbuilding’s ability to contribute towards economic growth enables developing nations to create new job opportunities for local citizens, and as a result reducing poverty. South Africa is a developing nation that is faced with a high unemployment rate of 25%, and has identified the ocean economy as a potential driver to stimulate and sustain economic growth through the marine transport manufacturing industry. However, recent figures in …

Regulation Through Accreditation In Argentine Graduate Education : Regulatory Actions And Organizational Responses, Dante Javier Salto

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Most countries, developing as well as developed, have adopted some type of quality assurance mechanism. Argentina is neither an island nor an outlier in higher education reforms in general, and it not when it comes to graduate program accreditation in particular. This study explores the way higher education institutions, as examples of autonomous organizations, respond to a new set of regulatory policies. My specific core interest is to discover what types of responses graduate programs give to compulsory accreditation. The study incorporates analysis from the regulatory and the higher education literature, theories and findings.

The Federal Banking Regulators: Agency Capture, Regulatory Failure, And Industry Collapse During The 2008 Financial Crisis, Justin Rex

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation examines the process of agency capture at four federal bank regulatory agencies leading up to the 2008 financial crisis: the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve, The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and The Office of Thrift Supervision. Though public administration and policy scholars have moved away from capture theory toward a more pluralistic understanding of agency policymaking, recent events like the Gulf oil spill, coal mining disasters, and the 2008 financial crisis have renewed attention to the role lax regulation plays in disasters and crises. As such, I set out to explore whether banks …

Do Political Contributions Purchase Regulatory Discretion In Mining Inspections?, Neil K. Malani

CMC Senior Theses

A vast literature acknowledges the corruptibility of regulators; however, empirical tests on the matter have been limited to two-agent models examining the rulemaking process and price regulation of natural monopolies. It remains an open question whether political contributions, by driving legislative pressure, can entice laxity from regulators in their application of the rules. To remedy this issue, I observe the highly-regulated coal mining industry for which there exists several points for inspector discretion. By comparing the outcomes with Congressional coal mining contribution levels, I am able to ascertain capture across several dimensions. Specifically, I find that contributions are associated with …

State Policy Change: Revenue Decoupling In The Electricity Market, Kytson Mcneil

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT
The study seeks to answer the question, why are states adopting revenue decoupling in the electricity market, by investigating the relationship between policy adoption and attributes of the electricity market, the structure of the state utility commissions, and the political climate of the state. The study examines the period 1978-2008. Two econometric models, the marginal risk set model and the conditional risk set model, are estimated to predict the influence of covariates on the probability of the state adopting revenue decoupling in the electricity market. The models are both variants of the Cox proportional hazard model and use different …

Energy Storage: Technology For A More Efficient Grid, Noah Proser

CMC Senior Theses

Energy storage technologies have the potential to revolutionize the electric grid by allowing for the integration of renewable generation while increasing the utilization and efficiency of current grid assets. These technologies include pumped hydroelectric storage, compressed air energy storage (CAES), flywheels, batteries, thermal energy storage (TES), super capacitors, and superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES). While energy storage has been implemented in some areas, its benefits are greatly undervalued by current regulatory frameworks leading to suboptimal outcomes for grid operators, utilities, and ratepayers. Large-scale adoption of storage technologies will require regulatory frameworks that recognize the benefits of grid-scale storage across generation, …

Stakeholder, Organizational And Environmental Influences On Nursing Home Regulatory Enforcement : A New Perspective, Tamika R. Black

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This dissertation proposes a conceptual framework that integrates stakeholder and compliance theory and employs a multi-method approach to examine the influence of stakeholders, bureaucratic discretion and external environment on nursing home inspections and enforcement. Negative binomial regression analysis was conducted on a population of 655 nursing homes in New York to identify determinants of variation in compliance and enforcement (as measured by deficiency citations). As hypothesized, organizational characteristics (i.e., nursing home bed capacity, sponsorship, occupancy rates and Medicaid revenue) were significant predictors of regulatory compliance and quality of care. Nursing home complaints, the presence of family councils, political party of …

Controlling Adult Oriented Businesses In Norfolk, Virginia, 1943–1998: A Descriptive Case Study, Janet Gail Nicula

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Management

The purpose of this case study is to analyze methods used in the city of Norfolk, Virginia to control adult oriented businesses (AOBs). Evidence is derived from several sources: interviews, analysis of government records, documents, historical photographs, and current observations.

The research examines approaches taken by the city to control AOBs in three locations: Main Street-Granby Street, the north end of Hampton Boulevard, and Little Creek Road-Shore Drive. Research questions addressed (1) how AOBs in Norfolk were controlled, (2) what or who instigated the process, (3) the Navy's role in the process, (4) role of Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, …

Public Utility Control And Regulation In Maine, Vance Gerald Springer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although there sprang up a widespread movement for the establishment of commissions by the states, the movement did not make a great deal of headway until about 1905. Due to the depression of 1873 all the earlier commissions were repealed except that of Illinois. With the establishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission in 1887 the movement for state commissions was resumed, and by means of new laws and successive amendments to old laws, the movement for a strong type of commission continued unabated.

About 1905 another reform and expansion movement set in in the movement for a strong public utilities …