An architecture of government adaptation programs is presented. Components include leadership, institutional organization, stakeholder involvement, climate change information, appropriate use of decision analysis techniques, explicit consideration of barriers to adaptation, funding for adaptation, technology development and diffusion, and adaptation research. This architecture is a useful heuristic for identifying, evaluating, and reevaluating the needs of decision makers as they improve management of climate-sensitive resources in a changing environment.
Number crunchers helped D/DBP reg‐neg participants balance chronic chemical risks and acute microbial risks.
Because of the difficulties in balancing chemical and microbial risks in drinking water, a negotiated rule‐making process was used to develop the proposed Disinfectants/Disinfection Byproducts (D/DBP) Rule, the proposed Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule, and the proposed Information Collection Rule. During the process, negotiators were aided by the Technologies Working Group, which quantified the costs and benefits of various treatment alternatives. This article summarizes the technical analyses of D/DBP exposure reductions and the national compliance costs that were developed to support the negotiated rule‐making process.
This new rule's costs are likely to be outweighed by its benefits, including reduced endemic risk from exposure to Cryptosporidium and improved public health.
Like the Stage 1 Disinfectants/Disinfection By‐products Rule, the Interim Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (IESWTR) grew out of the negotiated rulemaking the US Environmental Protection Agency convened in 1992–93 under the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA). The rulemaking sought to develop a consensus approach to simultaneously addressing potential health risks posed by disinfection by‐products (DBPs) and waterborne pathogens. Even though the process was complicated by (1) the possibility of making inadvertent risk–risk tradeoffs between protection from DBPs and protection from pathogens and (2) uncertainties affecting the assessment of both risks, the regulatory‐negotiations committee was able to devise a well‐balanced, staged approach to regulation. A second FACA committee finalized the approach in 1996–97. This article summarizes the microbial side of the benefit–cost analysis and the explicit uncertainty analysis that was used to inform the stakeholders and the negotiators.
Owners and customers of small water systems are at a crossroads. They will soon face the need to make significant investments and bear much greater operating costs to comply with increasingly stringent performance requirements under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Meeting thest demands will expose additional needs to replace deteriorate infrastructurs. A piecemeal approach to coping with the new environment could become a trap if the full scope of these liabilities is not appreciated at the outset. By taking a comprehensive view, systems can either find the assurance they need to move forward confidently on their own or discover restructuring opportunities involving alternative structural or institutional arrangements. This article describes the strategy adopted by Pennsylvania to improve visibility and thereby enhance the viability of small systems.
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