One of the difficulties associated with Superfund-- the federal government's program for cleaning up toxic waste sites in the United States--is the poor understanding we have about who is actually bearing the cost. In this book, the authors develop information on who pays the costs and who bears the burden and what are the short-term financial implications of changes in liability and taxes on key sectors affected by Superfund.

As a contribution to public policy and to help educate students about natural resource issues, this book identifies the likely "hot spots" of environmental policy and presents alternative and often opposing points of view on the major controversies that are likely to be with us well into the next century. Among the topics covered are comparative risk assessment; market incentives in environmental regulation; environmental justice; public versus private management of public lands; international trade and sustainable development; and the relationship between national security and environmental protection.

The budgetary squeeze of the 1990s has made it obvious that the government cannot address every possible environmental problem. Comparative risk assessment (CRA) is increasingly advanced as the means for setting realistic priorities. RFF's Center for Risk Management commissioned background papers from leading experts on CRA for a meeting with federal regulatory officials. Comparing Environmental Risks presents the revised papers of this workshop. Representing the state of the art on programmatic CRA, its methodological analyses and practical recommendations will be invaluable to government officials, independent analysts, and anyone studying environmental policy.

In this concise, engaging, and provocative work, Richard Porter introduces readers to the economic tools that can be applied to problems involved in handling a diverse range of waste products from business and households. Emphasizing the impossibility of achieving a zero-risk environment, Porter focuses on the choices that apply in real world decisions about waste. Acknowledging that effective waste policy integrates knowledge from several disciplines, Porter focuses on the use of economic analysis to reveal the costs of different policies and therefore how much can be done to meet goals to protect human health and the environment. With abundant examples, he considers subjects such as landfills, incineration, and illegal disposal. He discusses the international trade in waste, the costs and benefits of recycling, and special topics such as hazardous materials, Superfund, and nuclear waste. While making clear his belief that not every form of waste presents the same amount of risk, Porter stresses the need for open-minded approaches to developing new policies. For students, policymakers, and general readers, he provides insight and accessibility to a subject that others might leave out-of-sight, out-of-mind, or buried under an impenetrable prose of statistics and jargon.

Within a federal system, government agencies and regulatory policies can be fractured -- even at odds with each other. National actors share power with their counterparts in states and localities, as do presidents with Congressional leaders, and bureaucrats with judges. Understanding the broad economic and political contexts of environmental policymaking illuminates the motivations behind policy choices of various interested parties, from the National Park Service and the EPA to environmental activists and members of Congress. Rothenberg utilizes basic economic ideas to provide, not only a fresh look at how the U.S. deals with environmental ills, but a way of thinking about policy making in general.