TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Aquifer Storage and Recovery in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan: A Critique of the Pilot Projects and Related Plans for ASR in the Lake Okeechobee and Western Hillsboro Areas SN - DO - 10.17226/10061 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10061/aquifer-storage-and-recovery-in-the-comprehensive-everglades-restoration-plan PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is a process by which water is recharged through wells to an aquifer and extracted for beneficial use at some later time from the same wells. ASR is proposed as a major water storage component in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), developed jointly by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). The plan would use the Upper Floridan aquifer (UFA) to store as much as 1.7 billion gallons per day (gpd) (6.3 million m3/day) of excess surface water and shallow groundwater during wet periods for recovery during seasonal or longer-term dry periods, using about 333 wells. ASR represents about one-fifth of the total estimated cost of the CERP. Aquifer Storage and Recovery in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan examines pilot project from the perspective of adaptive assessment, i.e., the extent to which the pilot projects will contribute to process understanding that can improve design and implementation of restoration project components. This report is a critique of the pilot projects and related studies. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Letter Report to Review Identification and Prioritization of Radionuclide Releases from the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory DO - 10.17226/10159 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10159/letter-report-to-review-identification-and-prioritization-of-radionuclide-releases-from-the-idaho-national-engineering-and-environmental-laboratory PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Standing Operating Procedures for Developing Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Chemicals SN - DO - 10.17226/10122 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10122/standing-operating-procedures-for-developing-acute-exposure-guideline-levels-for-hazardous-chemicals PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Standing Operating Procedures for Developing Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Chemicals contains a detailed and comprehensive methodology for developing acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) for toxic substances from inhalation exposures. The book provides guidance on what documents and databases to use, toxicity endpoints that need to be evaluated, dosimetry corrections from animal to human exposures, selection of appropriate uncertainty factors to address the variability between animals and humans and within the human population, selection of modifying factors to address data deficiencies, time scaling, and quantitative cancer risk assessment. It also contains an example of a summary of a technical support document and an example of AEGL derivation. This book will be useful to persons in the derivation of levels from other exposure routes—both oral and dermal—as well as risk assessors in the government, academe, and private industry. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Review of Methods for Estimating Radiation Doses to Workers at Hanford: Letter Report DO - 10.17226/10275 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10275/review-of-methods-for-estimating-radiation-doses-to-workers-at-hanford PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions SN - DO - 10.17226/10139 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10139/climate-change-science-an-analysis-of-some-key-questions PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - The warming of the Earth has been the subject of intense debate and concern for many scientists, policy-makers, and citizens for at least the past decade. Climate Change Science: An Analysis of Some Key Questions, a new report by a committee of the National Research Council, characterizes the global warming trend over the last 100 years, and examines what may be in store for the 21st century and the extent to which warming may be attributable to human activity. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Compensating for Wetland Losses Under the Clean Water Act SN - DO - 10.17226/10134 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10134/compensating-for-wetland-losses-under-the-clean-water-act PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Recognizing the importance of wetland protection, the Bush administration in 1988 endorsed the goal of “no net loss” of wetlands. Specifically, it directed that filling of wetlands should be avoided, and minimized when it cannot be avoided. When filling is permitted, compensatory mitigation must be undertaken; that is, wetlands must be restored, created, enhanced, and, in exceptional cases, preserved, to replace the permitted loss of wetland area and function, such as water quality improvement within the watershed. After more than a dozen years, the national commitment to “no net loss” of wetlands has been evaluated. This new book explores the adequacy of science and technology for replacing wetland function and the effectiveness of the federal program of compensatory mitigation in accomplishing the nation’s goal of clean water. It examines the regulatory framework for permitting wetland filling and requiring mitigation, compares the mitigation institutions that are in use, and addresses the problems that agencies face in ensuring sustainability of mitigated wetlands over the long term. Gleaning lessons from the mixed results of mitigation efforts to date, the book offers 10 practical guidelines for establishing and monitoring mitigated wetlands. It also recommends that federal, state, and local agencies undertake specific institutional reforms. This book will be important to anyone seeking a comprehensive understanding of the “no net loss” issue: policy makers, regulators, environmental scientists, educators, and wetland advocates. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Under the Weather: Climate, Ecosystems, and Infectious Disease SN - DO - 10.17226/10025 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10025/under-the-weather-climate-ecosystems-and-infectious-disease PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Health and Medicine AB - Since the dawn of medical science, people have recognized connections between a change in the weather and the appearance of epidemic disease. With today's technology, some hope that it will be possible to build models for predicting the emergence and spread of many infectious diseases based on climate and weather forecasts. However, separating the effects of climate from other effects presents a tremendous scientific challenge. Can we use climate and weather forecasts to predict infectious disease outbreaks? Can the field of public health advance from "surveillance and response" to "prediction and prevention?" And perhaps the most important question of all: Can we predict how global warming will affect the emergence and transmission of infectious disease agents around the world? Under the Weather evaluates our current understanding of the linkages among climate, ecosystems, and infectious disease; it then goes a step further and outlines the research needed to improve our understanding of these linkages. The book also examines the potential for using climate forecasts and ecological observations to help predict infectious disease outbreaks, identifies the necessary components for an epidemic early warning system, and reviews lessons learned from the use of climate forecasts in other realms of human activity. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council A2 - Robert Pool, Ph.D. TI - Environmental Contamination, Biotechnology, and the Law: The Impact of Emerging Genomic Information: Summary of a Forum SN - DO - 10.17226/10104 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10104/environmental-contamination-biotechnology-and-the-law-the-impact-of-emerging PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Biology and Life Sciences KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - On August 16, 2000, the Board on Life Sciences held a forum on "Environmental Contamination, Biotechnology, and the Law: The Impact of Emerging Genomic Information." The purpose of the forum was to explore the legal implications of current and developing biotechnology approaches to evaluating potential human health and environmental effects caused by exposure to environmental contaminants and to cleaning up contaminated areas. The forum brought together scientists from academe, government, and industry and members of the legal community, including lawyers and judges, to discuss the interface between the use of those approaches and the legal system. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter: III. Early Research Progress SN - DO - 10.17226/10065 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10065/research-priorities-for-airborne-particulate-matter-iii-early-research-progress PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Transportation and Infrastructure AB - Regulatory standards are already on the books at the the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to address health risks posed by inhaling tiny particles from smoke, vehicle exhaust, and other sources. At the same time, Congress and EPA have initiated a multimillion dollar research effort to better understand the sources of these airborne particles, the levels of exposure to people, and the ways that these particles cause damage. To provide independent guidance to the EPA, Congress asked the National Research Council to study the relevant issues. The result is a series of four reports on the particulate-matter research program. The first two books offered a conceptual framework for a national research program, identified the 10 most critical research needs, and described the recommended timing and estimated costs of such research. This, the third volume, begins the task of assessing the progress made in implementing the research program. The National Research Council ultimately concludes that the ongoing program is appropriately addressing many of the key uncertainties. However, it also identifies a number of critical specific subjects that should be given greater attention. Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter focuses on the most current and planned research projects with an eye toward the fourth and final report, which will contain an updated assessment. ER - TY - BOOK AU - Transportation Research Board AU - National Research Council TI - Evaluating Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Programs SN - DO - 10.17226/10133 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10133/evaluating-vehicle-emissions-inspection-and-maintenance-programs PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies KW - Transportation and Infrastructure AB - Emissions inspection and maintenance (I/M) programs subject vehicles to periodic inspections of their emission control systems. Despite widespread use of these programs in air-quality management, policy makers and the public have found a number of problems associated with them. Prominent among these issues is the perception that emissions benefits and other impacts of I/M programs have not been evaluated adequately. Evaluating Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Programs assesses the effectiveness of these programs for reducing mobile source emissions. In this report, the committee evaluates the differences in the characteristics of motor vehicle emissions in areas with and without I/M programs, identifies criteria and methodologies for their evaluation, and recommends improvements to the programs. Most useful of all, this book will help summarize the observed benefits of these programs and how they can be redirected in the future to increase their effectiveness. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Enhancing NASA's Contributions to Polar Science: A Review of Polar Geophysical Data Sets SN - DO - 10.17226/10083 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10083/enhancing-nasas-contributions-to-polar-science-a-review-of-polar PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences AB - The high latitudes of the Arctic and Antarctic, together with some mountainous areas with glaciers and long-lasting snow, are sometimes called the cryosphere-defined as that portion of the planet where water is perennially or seasonally frozen as sea ice, snow cover, permafrost, ice sheets, and glaciers. Variations in the extent and characteristics of surface ice and snow in the high latitudes are of fundamental importance to global climate because of the amount of the sun's radiation that is reflected from these often white surfaces. Thus, the cryosphere is an important frontier for scientists seeking to understand past climate events, current weather, and climate variability. Obtaining the data necessary for such research requires the capability to observe and measure a variety of characteristics and processes exhibited by major ice sheets and large-scale patterns of snow and sea ice extent, and much of these data are gathered using satellites.As part of its efforts to better support the researchers studying the cryosphere and climate, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-using sophisticated satellite technology-measures a range of variables from atmospheric temperature, cloud properties, and aerosol concentration to ice sheet elevation, snow cover on land, and ocean salinity. These raw data are compiled and processed into products, or data sets, useful to scientists. These so-called "polar geophysical data sets" can then be studied and interpreted to answer questions related to atmosphere and climate, ice sheets, terrestrial systems, sea ice, ocean processes, and many other phenomena in the cryosphere. The goal of this report is to provide a brief review of the strategy, scope, and quality of existing polar geophysical data sets and help NASA find ways to make these products and future polar data sets more useful to researchers, especially those working on the global change questions that lie at the heart of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Conceptual Models of Flow and Transport in the Fractured Vadose Zone SN - DO - 10.17226/10102 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10102/conceptual-models-of-flow-and-transport-in-the-fractured-vadose-zone PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Fluid flow and solute transport within the vadose zone, the unsaturated zone between the land surface and the water table, can be the cause of expanded plumes arising from localized contaminant sources. An understanding of vadose zone processes is, therefore, an essential prerequisite for cost-effective contaminant remediation efforts. In addition, because such features are potential avenues for rapid transport of chemicals from contamination sources to the water table, the presence of fractures and other channel-like openings in the vadose zone poses a particularly significant problem, Conceptual Models of Flow and Transport in the Fractured Vadose Zone is based on the work of a panel established under the auspices of the U.S. National Committee for Rock Mechanics. It emphasizes the importance of conceptual models and goes on to review the conceptual model development, testing, and refinement processes. The book examines fluid flow and transport mechanisms, noting the difficulty of modeling solute transport, and identifies geochemical and environmental tracer data as important components of the modeling process. Finally, the book recommends several areas for continued research. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Marine Protected Areas: Tools for Sustaining Ocean Ecosystems SN - DO - 10.17226/9994 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/9994/marine-protected-areas-tools-for-sustaining-ocean-ecosystems PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Although the ocean-and the resources within-seem limitless, there is clear evidence that human impacts such as overfishing, habitat destruction, and pollution disrupt marine ecosystems and threaten the long-term productivity of the seas. Declining yields in many fisheries and decay of treasured marine habitats, such as coral reefs, has heightened interest in establishing a comprehensive system of marine protected areas (MPAs)-areas designated for special protection to enhance the management of marine resources. Therefore, there is an urgent need to evaluate how MPAs can be employed in the United States and internationally as tools to support specific conservation needs of marine and coastal waters. Marine Protected Areas compares conventional management of marine resources with proposals to augment these management strategies with a system of protected areas. The volume argues that implementation of MPAs should be incremental and adaptive, through the design of areas not only to conserve resources, but also to help us learn how to manage marine species more effectively. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Assessing the TMDL Approach to Water Quality Management SN - DO - 10.17226/10146 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10146/assessing-the-tmdl-approach-to-water-quality-management PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Over the last 30 years, water quality management in the United States has been driven by the control of point sources of pollution and the use of effluent-based water quality standards. Under this paradigm, the quality of the nation's lakes, rivers, reservoirs, groundwater, and coastal waters has generally improved as wastewater treatment plants and industrial dischargers (point sources) have responded to regulations promulgated under authority of the 1972 Clean Water Act. These regulations have required dischargers to comply with effluent-based standards for criteria pollutants, as specified in National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued by the states and approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Although successful, the NPDES program has not achieved the nation's water quality goals of "fishable and swimmable" waters largely because discharges from other unregulated nonpoint sources of pollution have not been as successfully controlled. Today, pollutants such as nutrients and sediment, which are often associated with nonpoint sources and were not considered criteria pollutants in the Clean Water Act, are jeopardizing water quality, as are habitat destruction, changes in flow regimes, and introduction of exotic species. This array of challenges has shifted the focus of water quality management from effluent-based to ambient- based water quality standards. Given the most recent lists of impaired waters submitted to EPA, there are about 21,000 polluted river segments, lakes, and estuaries making up over 300,000 river and shore miles and 5 million lake acres. The number of TMDLs required for these impaired waters is greater than 40,000. Under the 1992 EPA guidance or the terms of lawsuit settlements, most states are required to meet an 8- to 13-year deadline for completion of TMDLs. Budget requirements for the program are staggering as well, with most states claiming that they do not have the personnel and financial resources necessary to assess the condition of their waters, to list waters on 303d, and to develop TMDLs. A March 2000 report of the General Accounting Office (GAO) highlighted the pervasive lack of data at the state level available to set water quality standards, to determine what waters are impaired, and to develop TMDLs. This report represents the consensus opinion of the eight-member NRC committee assembled to complete this task. The committee met three times during a three-month period and heard the testimony of over 40 interested organizations and stakeholder groups. The NRC committee feels that the data and science have progressed sufficiently over the past 35 years to support the nation's return to ambient-based water quality management. Given reasonable expectations for data availability and the inevitable limits on our conceptual understanding of complex systems, statements about the science behind water quality management must be made with acknowledgment of uncertainties. This report explains that there are creative ways to accommodate this uncertainty while moving forward in addressing the nation's water quality challenges. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - A Climate Services Vision: First Steps Toward the Future SN - DO - 10.17226/10198 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10198/a-climate-services-vision-first-steps-toward-the-future PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - A Climate Services Vision: First Steps Toward the Future describes the types of products that should be provided through a climate service; outlines the roles of the public, private, and academic sectors in a climate service; describe fundamental principles that should be followed in the provision of climate services; and describes potential audiences and providers of climate services. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - The Impact of Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Policy on Biomedical Research in the United States SN - DO - 10.17226/10064 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10064/the-impact-of-low-level-radioactive-waste-management-policy-on-biomedical-research-in-the-united-states PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - The National Research Council's Committee on the Impact of Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Policy on Biomedical Research in the United States was called on to assess the effects of the low-level radioactive waste management policy on the current and future activities of biomedical research. This report provides an assessment of the effects of the current management policy for low-level radioactive waste (LLRW), and resulting consequences, such as higher LLRW disposal costs and onsite storage of LLRW, on the current and future activities of biomedical research. That assessment will include evaluating the effects that the lack of facilities and disposal capacity, and rules of disposal facilities, have on institutions conducting medical and biological research and on hospitals where radioisotopes are used for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Science and Technology for Environmental Cleanup at Hanford SN - DO - 10.17226/10220 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10220/science-and-technology-for-environmental-cleanup-at-hanford PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - The Hanford Site was established by the federal government in 1943 as part of the secret wartime effort to produce plutonium for nuclear weapons. The site operated for about four decades and produced roughly two thirds of the 100 metric tons of plutonium in the U.S. inventory. Millions of cubic meters of radioactive and chemically hazardous wastes, the by-product of plutonium production, were stored in tanks and ancillary facilities at the site or disposed or discharged to the subsurface, the atmosphere, or the Columbia River. In the late 1980s, the primary mission of the Hanford Site changed from plutonium production to environmental restoration. The federal government, through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), began to invest human and financial resources to stabilize and, where possible, remediate the legacy of environmental contamination created by the defense mission. During the past few years, this financial investment has exceeded $1 billion annually. DOE, which is responsible for cleanup of the entire weapons complex, estimates that the cleanup program at Hanford will last until at least 2046 and will cost U.S. taxpayers on the order of $85 billion. Science and Technology for Environmental Cleanup at Hanford provides background information on the Hanford Site and its Integration Project,discusses the System Assessment Capability, an Integration Project-developed risk assessment tool to estimate quantitative effects of contaminant releases, and reviews the technical elements of the scierovides programmatic-level recommendations. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Research Opportunities for Deactivating and Decommissioning Department of Energy Facilities SN - DO - 10.17226/10184 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10184/research-opportunities-for-deactivating-and-decommissioning-department-of-energy-facilities PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Engineering and Technology KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - When the Cold War abruptly ended, DOE halted most nuclear materials production. In 1995, Congress chartered DOE's Environmental Management Science Program (EMSP) to bring the nation's scientific infrastructure to bear on EM's most difficult, long-term cleanup challenges. The EMSP provides grants to investigators in industry, national laboratories, and universities to undertake research that may help address these cleanup challenges. On several occasions the EMSP has asked the National Academies for advice on developing its research agenda. This report resulted from a 15-month study by an Academies committee on long-term research needs for deactivation and decommissioning (D&D) at DOE sites. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Improving the Effectiveness of U.S. Climate Modeling SN - DO - 10.17226/10087 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10087/improving-the-effectiveness-of-us-climate-modeling PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Earth Sciences KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - Information derived from climate modeling has become increasingly important in recent years. More and more we understand that climate variability and change impacts society and that dealing with climate-related disasters, conflicts, and opportunities requires the best possible information about the past, present, and future of the climate system. To this end, Improving the Effectiveness of U.S. Climate Modeling describes ways to improve the efficacy of the U.S. climate modeling enterprise, given the current needs and resources. It discusses enhanced and stable resources for modeling activities, focused and centralized operational activities, how to give researchers access to the best computing facilities, the creation of a common modeling and data infrastructure, and research studies on the socioeconomic aspects of climate and climate modeling. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Carbon Management: Implications for R&D in the Chemical Sciences and Technology SN - DO - 10.17226/10153 PY - 2001 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10153/carbon-management-implications-for-rd-in-the-chemical-sciences-and PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Math, Chemistry, and Physics KW - Energy and Energy Conservation AB - Considerable international concerns exist about global climate change and its relationship to the growing use of fossil fuels. Carbon dioxide is released by chemical reactions that are employed to extract energy from fuels, and any regulatory policy limiting the amount of CO2 that could be released from sequestered sources or from energy-generating reactions will require substantial involvement of the chemical sciences and technology R&D community. Much of the public debate has been focused on the question of whether global climate change is occurring and, if so, whether it is anthropogenic, but these questions were outside the scope of the workshop, which instead focused on the question of how to respond to a possible national policy of carbon management. Previous discussion of the latter topic has focused on technological, economic, and ecological aspects and on earth science challenges, but the fundamental science has received little attention. This workshop was designed to gather information that could inform the Chemical Sciences Roundtable in its discussions of possible roles that the chemical sciences community might play in identifying and addressing underlying chemical questions. ER -