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ESP 179 Environmental Impact Analysis Professor Quinn

ESP 179 Environmental Impact Analysis Professor Quinn. Spring 2007 Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:40 166 Chem. Course Formalities. Proposed revisions under review Name change to “Environmental Impact Analysis” Change from 3 to 4 credits

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ESP 179 Environmental Impact Analysis Professor Quinn

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  1. ESP 179Environmental Impact AnalysisProfessor Quinn Spring 2007 Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:40 166 Chem

  2. Course Formalities • Proposed revisions under review • Name change to “Environmental Impact Analysis” • Change from 3 to 4 credits • Look for e-mail from Kim Mahoney on an accompanying ESP 198 course. • Environmental Science & Policy Dept. • 2134 Wickson Hall • ph.   530-752-7183 • kcmahoney@ucdavis.edu

  3. Teaching AssistantChristina Liang2120 Wicksonctliang@ucdavis.edu

  4. Discussion Sections • Wednesdays at 1:10, 4:10, and 5:10 • 1137 PES (GIS teaching lab) • Sections will cover material (especially environmental data sources) not covered in lecture • You may attend any section, but clear it with the TA • Participation and homework assignments will be 20% of the grade

  5. Grading • Midterm (20%) • Two on-line projects – one data, one policy analysis (20%) • Discussion and homework (20%) • Final -- June 12 (40%)

  6. Reading No textbook. We are going to try to use entirely on-line materials (including on-line journals at the library).

  7. e-mail Jim Quinn • jfquinn@ucdavis.edu Class list • esp179quinn-s07@ucdavis.edu (If you aren’t enrolled or don’t use your official UCD address, let me know.)

  8. Approach • This is intended to be a practical class • Less law, more science than in the past • Exposure to the major activities and professional responsibilities of (real) agency and consulting company analysts • Case studies

  9. Topics – The Legal Setting • The Big 4 national laws • Endangered Species Act (ESA) • Clean Air Act • Clean Water Act • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) • State and local laws – CEQA, CESA, etc. • Regulation vs. transparency and public comment

  10. The Policy Setting • Standing and accountability • Addressing uncertainty • Policy instruments • Case studies

  11. Formal Environmental Impact Analysis • NEPA and CEQA -- EIRs, EISs, Neg. Decs., and FONSIs • Stakeholders and public comments • Who makes the decision? (Who avoids the decision?) • Records of Decision • Mitigation, monitoring, and adaptive management • Equivalent procedures under many other authorities

  12. Identifying vulnerable resources – Public goods and social benefits • Rare and endangered species and habitats (NDDB, CWHR) • Watershed and water quality impacts (TMDLs, wetland impacts, drinking water safety) • Working landscapes – agriculture, forestry, fisheries, recreation • Cultural and archeological resources

  13. Living with Crummy Data • Agency responsibility for “Best Available Science” • Peer Review • Science Consistency Checks • Conceptual Models • Models -- Scenarios and extrapolations

  14. Identifying potential impacts • Transportation and urban expansion • Pollutants • Fires, floods, landslides, and earthquakes • Economic impacts

  15. Policy Instruments – How decisions are actually made • Multiple authorities may exist for a particular actions • Example – Protecting threatened salmon under the Clean Water Act • Example -- Water Pollution • Basin plans, impairment, and TMDLs • Interaction with CEQA • Stakeholder Negotiations • Watershed Plans

  16. Possible Case Studies • The Federal Highway Act, Blueprints, and sprawl in the San Joaquin Valley • The Sierra Nevada Framework • Disaster Assessment – Oil Spill Response and valuing fish • Pallid Sturgeon and the Missouri River • Chaparral and Fire in Southern California

  17. Take Home Messages

  18. Environmental protection, properly done, responds to consumer demand, creates economic benefits, promotes economic growth. • Clean air or a new DVD player? • Which creates more jobs? • Demand must be aggregated (Public Markets) • Private markets fail to maximize economic value to the public because of externalities

  19. Mechanisms for expressing public demand • Exactions • Top-down regulation • Typically based on perceived rights • Typically loosely connected to economic values • Political controls • Litigation over science • Transparency and negotiation • Often results in negotiations based on economic preferences • Political and economic controls • Litigation over process

  20. Market-like mechanisms • Transfer Payments • Examples • Central Valley water rights • Rice burning • Insurance-like mechanisms • Providing regulatory certainty • NCCPs, Safe Harbor agreements • Cap and trade • Successful markets require transparency!

  21. “CEQA is your friend” -- Steve Blum • Disclosure forces stakeholders and agencies to address uncertainty • Disclosure creates accountability • Conflict Resolution -- Disclosure may help shift arguments from rights-based to economics-based • economic arguments can often be solved without litigation • Good Science may even result in better policy

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