Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Engineering Standards In Highway Design Litigation, Michael Lewyn

Michael E Lewyn

Review Of Managing Disasters And Disasters And The American State, Daniel P. Aldrich

Daniel P Aldrich

These two new books tackle the topic of disaster management and response from very different angles but share a focus on the role of public- and private-sector institutions in managing crises. Both works suggest that the United States should attempt a more optimal balance among private, public, and local actors than can be found in current disaster management systems.

Impacts Of Pay-As-You-Throw And Other Residential Solid Waste Policy Options: Southern Maine 2007–2013, Travis Blackmer, George Criner

George K. Criner

Municipal solid waste management in the U.S. began a transformation in the 1980s as a result of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulation requiring the closure of municipal “dumps.” This legislation, coupled with increasing total and per capita waste, resulted in waste management receiving national attention. Maine and other states began broad efforts to reduce and wisely manage their municipal solid wastes. Many states established solid waste goals, with Maine targeting a waste diversion rate of 50 percent. Four common residential waste management programs in Maine include curbside trash collection, curbside recyclable collection, single-stream recycling, and pay-as-you-throw programs. This article …

Solid Waste Management In Local Municipalities, George K. Criner

George K. Criner

For most of the era since 1960, when environmental policy and resource policy have been central public issues, the focus of public debates on those policies was at the federal and state levels. Now, more and more of the decisions and policies that will determine the quality of life for citizens are being made at the local level. Issues that have historically been local prerogatives are increasingly identified as crucial for effective environmental policy and for insuring "quality of life." Those local decisions are often constrained by a wide variety of state and federal policies on environmental policy and resource …

Solid Waste Management Options For Maine: The Economics Of Pay-By-The-Bag Systems, Stephanie Seguino, George Criner, Margarita Suarez

George K. Criner

State and federal environmental mandates during the last three decades have changed the nature of the debate over solid waste disposal, but not the basic question: What do we do about the garbage we produce? Unlike years past, however, disposal options are now fewer and more costly. This has resulted in a shift in focus away from solutions that simply try to deal with the output of the disposal process—the trash—to those that focus on inputs—reducing the volume of materials going into the waste stream. Among the volume reduction strategies are recycling, which focuses on specific input materials, and volume-based …

Government Institutions And Infrastructure Skills Development, Michael Regan, Jim Smith, Peter Love

Michael Regan

The capacity of state institutions is central to the efficient delivery and management of infrastructure. The paper examines two models for improving the skills of managers in central and line agencies of government for infrastructure procurement and management in emerging economies. The first examines the role of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) unit, a specialist agency equipped with the technical capabilities, transactional experience and budget to provide training and assistance to line agencies for the effective delivery of infrastructure projects. Integrated into this model, and used by several nations, is the use of trained relationship managers to manage service contracts …

Assessing Risk In Infrastructure Public Private Partnerships, Michael Regan, Jim Smith, Peter Love

Michael Regan

Public private partnerships are a method for the delivery of social and economic infrastructure services in over 80 countries worldwide. PPPs are a contractual arrangement between public and private entities through which the skills, assets and/or financial resources of both sectors are allocated in such a manner that provides optimal service delivery and good value to society. Central to the operation of public private partnerships is the systematic evaluation of the procurement options available to government, an output specification to encourage private design, risk transfer, construction and operational innovation, the detailed analysis of projects over their operational life-cycle, a rigorous …

Value For Money In International Infrastructure Public Private Partnership Policies: Survey Of African States, Michael Regan, Jim Smith, Peter Love

Michael Regan

The international evidence suggests that public private partnership (PPP) procurement methods using value for money evaluation criteria are delivering better infrastructure services at lower cost than traditional procurement methods. Central to the operation of public private partnerships is the systematic evaluation of the procurement options available to government, as well as an output specification to encourage private design, risk transfer, construction and operational innovation, the detailed analysis of projects over their operational life cycle, a rigorous and competitive bid process, and the selection of proposals that deliver value for money. Value for money is a measure that takes into account …

Value For Money In International Infrastructure Public Private Partnership Policies: Survey Of African States, Michael Regan, Jim Smith, Peter Love

Jim Smith

The international evidence suggests that public private partnership (PPP) procurement methods using value for money evaluation criteria are delivering better infrastructure services at lower cost than traditional procurement methods. Central to the operation of public private partnerships is the systematic evaluation of the procurement options available to government, as well as an output specification to encourage private design, risk transfer, construction and operational innovation, the detailed analysis of projects over their operational life cycle, a rigorous and competitive bid process, and the selection of proposals that deliver value for money. Value for money is a measure that takes into account …

Project Finance: Transactional Evidence From Australia (Revised Version 2013), Michael Regan

Michael Regan

The international project finance market is experiencing a period of significant change. The new Basel III capital adequacy rules will make it harder for banks to provide long-term project finance, and alternative sources of finance such as the shadow banking sector, fund managers, sovereign wealth funds, and institutional investors will take time to bridge the financing gap. In the meantime, it is difficult to source project finance for tenors beyond seven years, risk premiums are higher, and finance is difficult to source. Recent innovations in the form of the European Investment Bank’s Project Bond Initiative, and the ASEAN Infrastructure Fund …

Infrastructure Financing Modalities In The Asia Pacific: Strengths And Weaknesses, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

Scope of the Presentation: 1. A review of 10 methods presently used to finance infrastructure investment in the Asia Pacific 2. Identify respective strengths and weaknesses 3. Describe trends in recent investment performance and specifically, the continued development of the PPP procurement option 4. List of reference sources used in this presentation.

Value For Money In Project Procurement, Michael Regan

Michael Regan

Extract: Public private partnerships are a method for the delivery of social and economic infrastructure services in over 80 countries worldwide. PPPs are a contractual arrangement between public and private entities through which the skills, assets and/or financial resources of both sectors are allocated in such a manner that provides optimal service delivery and good value to society. The international evidence suggests that public private partnership procurement methods using value for money evaluation criteria are delivering better infrastructure services at lower cost than traditional procurement methods.

Public Actors In Private Markets: Toward A Developmental Finance State, Robert Hockett, Saule Omarova

Saule T. Omarova

The recent financial crisis brought into sharp relief fundamental questions about the social function and purpose of the financial system, including its relation to the “real” economy. This Article argues that, to answer these questions, we must recapture a distinctively American view of the proper relations among state, financial market, and development. This programmatic vision – captured in what we call a “developmental finance state” – is based on three key propositions: (1) that economic and social development is not an “end-state” but a continuing national policy priority; (2) that the modalities of finance are the most potent means of …

Results Of 2013 Greenbelt User Survey, Jaap Vos

Jacobus J. "Jaap" Vos

The Greenbelt survey was administered at four different locations on the greenbelt on Tuesday, September 17, and Saturday, September 21, 2013. There were a little over 1000 usable surveys and we also received detailed information about the amount of people on the Greenbelt from a traffic count that was performed by the Ada County Highway District (ACHD). The general results are very similar from last year. Users are unanimously happy about the Greenbelt and see the Greenbelt as an important asset for the community. People feel safe and almost 75 percent of the people that were surveyed use the Greenbelt …

Tablero De Control Para La Gestión Por Objetivos Y Resultados En La Provincia De Buenos Aires: Anteproyecto Para El Organismo De Control Del Agua De Buenos Aires (Ocaba), Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

El Organismo De Control Del Agua De Buenos Aires: Funcionamiento Y Organización Territorial En Perspectiva De La Regionalización Bonaerense, Federico Del Giorgio Solfa, Alfonso Roberto González

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

Jonathan G. Cooper

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Based on review of climate projections for the …

Climate Change Adaptation Chapter: Marshfield, Massachusetts, Joshua H. Chase, Jonathan G. Cooper, Rory Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Filipe Antunes Lima, Sally R. Miller, Toni Marie Pignatelli

Sally Miller

Climate change, understood as a statistically significant variation in the mean state of the climate or its variability, is the greatest environmental challenge of this generation (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Marshfield is already being affected by changes in the climate that will have a profound effect on the town’s economy, public health, coastal resources, natural features, water systems, and public and private infrastructure. Adaptation strategies have been widely recognized as playing an important role in improving a community’s ability to respond to climate stressors by resisting damage and recovering quickly. Based on review of climate projections for the …

El Organismo Provincial Para El Desarrollo Sostenible (Opds) Y Los Municipios En El Marco De La Ley De Radicación Industrial: Delegación Y Descentralización En La Regionalización Provincial, Federico Del Giorgio Solfa, Luciana Mercedes Girotto

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

Emp And Geomagnetic Storm Protection Of Critical Infrastructure, George H. Baker Iii

George H Baker

EMP and solar storm wide geographic coverage and ubiquitous system effects beg the question of “Where to begin?” with protection efforts. Thus, in addressing these “wide area electromagnetic (EM) effects,” we must be clever in deciding where to invest limited resources. Based on simple risk analysis, the electric power and communication infrastructures emerge as the highest priority for EM protection. Programs focused on these highest risk infrastructures will go a long way in lessoning societal impact. Given the national scope of the effects, such programs must be coordinated at the national level but implemented at local level. Because wide-area EM …

El Funcionamiento Del Organismo De Control Del Agua De Buenos Aires (Ocaba) Y Su Organización Territorial, Federico Del Giorgio Solfa, Alfonso Roberto González

Federico Del Giorgio Solfa

Mother Earth "Speaks": Change Yourself, Change The World, Use The Archetypal Energy "Harmony" As A Guide, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

In relation to the Cosmos, we all, as human beings, live on this tiny planet we call Earth, a planet that supports and sustains life, as we know it. There are many different kinds of people, plants, and animals functioning in harmony with soil, air, and water--all linked to one another in a complex web of life to form one Earth community. Unfortunately, we often take this miracle and ecosystem of life for granted. When, however, we take the ecosystem of life too much for granted, Mother Earth "speaks," reflecting imbalances and dis-harmonies. When Mother Earth "speaks," her message is …

Making The Case For Community-Based Laboratories, Earthea Nance

Earthea Nance, PhD (Stanford University, 2004)

No abstract provided.

Responding To Risk: The Making Of Hazard Mitigation Strategy In Post-Katrina New Orleans, Earthea Nance

Earthea Nance, PhD (Stanford University, 2004)

No abstract provided.