American Carbon Registry Initiates Approval of ... Carbon Offset Methodology for Deltaic Wetland Restoration ... to unlock carbon finance potential for wetland restoration activities

http://is.gd/koCRHH

American Carbon Registry (ACR), a nonprofit enterprise of Winrock International, announces an open public comment period for a ... carbon offset methodology that will both quantify how wetland restoration work can combat climate change and provide a way to help pay for rebuilding the Gulf of Mexico’s disappearing coastal wetland. The methodology, Restoration of Degraded Deltaic Wetlands of the Mississippi Delta, was funded by Entergy Corporation and developed by Dr. Sarah K. Mack of New Orleans-based Tierra Resources LLC, with contributions from Dr. Robert R. Lane, Dr. John W. Day and Tiffany M. Potter.

The new wetland offset methodology is unique not only because it is the first carbon offset methodology to target deltaic wetland restoration, but also because it uses a modular format, which provides flexibility for numerous types of wetland restoration techniques and facilitates methodology expansion. Another key innovation of the methodology is the incorporation of hydrologic management of nutrient-rich waters as a restoration technique, including options for diversion of river water into wetland, introduction of nonpoint source runoff into wetlands and discharge of treated municipal effluent into wetlands. Avoided loss and afforestation are also included wetland restoration techniques.

The primary hurdle to implement Mississippi Delta restoration is the price tag, estimated between $10 billion for near-term restoration to $150 billion for broader restoration and protection measures. Louisiana’s Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast recently estimated that between $20 billion and $50 billion will realistically be available for funding over the next 50 years, but acknowledged a budget up to five times that size could be needed. Under the new methodology, carbon credits created by restoring wetlands can be registered and sold to help finance additional wetland restoration, Dr. Mack said.

...

A ... study .. published [September 14, 2011] by Restore America’s Estuaries, “Jobs & Dollars: Big Returns from Coastal Habitat Restoration,” [and available at http://www.estuaries.org/images/81103-RAE_17_FINAL_web.pdf] confirms that investments in coastal habitat restoration produce jobs at a higher rate than many other sectors -- including oil & gas, road infrastructure and green building retrofit projects. This study coincides with further efforts by Entergy to explore solutions to the environmental and economic impacts facing coastal wetland. In an open dialog to address mitigation of coastal stressors such as hurricanes, coastal erosion and rising sea levels, Entergy’s 2010 study “Building a Resilient Energy Gulf Coast,” produced in cooperation with America’s Energy Coast and America’s Wetland Foundation, presents a picture of what the Gulf coast will look like environmentally as well as economically by the year 2030 if no mitigation or remediation activity is undertaken.

Louisiana boasts 40 percent of the country’s coastal wetland - more than 4 million acres. Of total U.S. coastal wetland loss, 80 percent has occurred in the Mississippi Delta. An estimated 90 percent of current loss occurs in Louisiana -- the equivalent of losing one football field of wetlands every hour. The loss of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands has major national environmental and economic implications. Not only is the Mississippi Delta one of the world’s most unique and diverse ecosystems, but its wetlands and waterways contribute tens of billions of dollars to the national economy every year and support millions of jobs. Much of the U.S. depends on sustaining the navigation, flood control, energy production, and seafood production functions of the Mississippi Delta and river system. Each of those functions is currently at severe risk due to coastal wetland loss.

As a first step toward achieving the massive global GHG mitigation potential from wetland restoration, the methodology is expected to be expanded in the future for wetland restoration in other regions and other wetland restoration practices. The ACR approval process for the methodology, which includes public comment and scientific peer review, is targeted to be complete this spring.

...

The “Jobs & Dollars: Big Returns from Coastal Habitat Restoration,” report (at http://www.estuaries.org/images/81103-RAE_17_FINAL_web.pdf) found:

• Restoring our coasts can create more than 30 jobs for each million dollars invested. That’s more than twice as many jobs as the oil and gas and road construction industries combined.
• During 2010, restoration efforts for the Chesapeake Bay, Great Lakes, and Everglades contributed $427 million in economic output and supported more than 3,200 jobs.
• The $72-million Central Wetlands Unit restoration project in New Orleans is on track to create 280 direct jobs and 400 indirect and induced jobs, for a total of 680 jobs over the project’s life.
• The restoration of Florida’s Everglades is a 4:1 return on investment.

Restoration improves coastal habitats and helps local economies by creating three different types of jobs: direct, indirect, and induced.

• Direct Jobs: People using their skills to restore damaged wetlands, shellfish beds, coral reefs and fish passages.
• Indirect Jobs: Jobs in industries that supply materials for restoration projects, such as lumber, concrete and nursery plants.
• Induced Jobs: Jobs in businesses that provide local goods and services, such as clothing and food, to people working on restoration projects.

American Carbon Registry www.AmericanCarbonRegistry.or

Press Release dated Jan. 18, 2012
Hap Tip/See also http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/calculating-the-carbon-value-of-a-swamp/?src=recg

Process analysis and economics of drinking water production from coastal aquifers containing chromophoric dissolved organic matter and bromide using nanofiltration and ozonation

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479711003422

Abstract: In regions characterized by water scarcity, such as coastal Southern California, groundwater containing chromophoric dissolved organic matter is a viable source of water supply. In the coastal aquifer of Orange County in California, seawater intrusion driven by coastal groundwater pumping increased the concentration of bromide in extracted groundwater from 0.4 mg l−1 in 2000 to over 0.8 mg l−1 in 2004. Bromide, a precursor to bromate formation is regulated by USEPA and the California Department of Health as a potential carcinogen and therefore must be reduced to a level below 10 μg l−1. This paper compares two processes for treatment of highly coloured groundwater: nanofiltration and ozone injection coupled with biologically activated carbon. The requirement for bromate removal decreased the water production in the ozonation process to compensate for increased maintenance requirements, and required the adoption of catalytic carbon with associated increase in capital and operating costs per unit volume. However, due to the absence of oxidant addition in nanofiltration processes, this process is not affected by bromide. We performed a process analysis and a comparative economic analysis of capital and operating costs for both technologies. Our results show that for the case studied in coastal Southern California, nanofiltration has higher throughput and lower specific capital and operating cost, when compared to ozone injection with biologically activate carbon. Ozone injection with biologically activated carbon, compared to nanofiltration, has 14% higher capital cost and 12% higher operating costs per unit water produced while operating at the initial throughput. Due to reduced ozone concentration required to accommodate for bromate reduction, the ozonation process throughput is reduced and the actual cost increase (per unit water produced) is 68% higher for capital cost and 30% higher for operations.

Highlights:
► Southern California’s coastal aquifer has Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter.
► We analysed two processes for CDOM removal, nanofiltration and ozonation.
► The ozonation process must be amended to reduce bromate by-products.
► The effect of bromate formation is an increased cost for ozonation.
► Overall, nanofiltration has lower operating cost, for the case studied.

by R. Sobhani 1, R. McVicker 2, C. Spangenberg 3 and D. Rosso 4
1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2175, USA
2. Mesa Consolidated Water District, Costa Mesa, CA 92627, USA
3. Irvine Ranch Water District, Irvine, CA 92618, USA
4. Urban Water Research Center, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697-2175, USA
Journal of Environmental Management via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com
Volume 93, Issue 1; January, 2012; Pages 209–217

Keywords: Chromophoric dissolved organic matter; Nanofiltration; Ozonation; Economic analysis; Seawater intrusion; Bromate

Taxpayer and Environmental Groups: Corps of Engineers Uses New Recipe to Cook the Books – Again – To Push Wasteful Delaware River Deepening Project - Report Released on Updated Economic Analysis

http://taxpayer.net/resources.php?category=&type=Project&proj_id=5058

Responding to renewed economic claims for Deepening the Delaware River, a coalition of taxpayer, community, and environmental organizations issued a new independent analysis they say proves once again that the deepening project is an economic loser. The groups issued the analysis and an accompanying report titled “Army Corps Cooks the Books Again,” in response to a May 2011 analysis issued by the Army Corps of Engineers.

“The Army Corps once again tried to mislead Congress and the public about the deepening project – a renewed analysis by Dr. Bob Stearns clearly demonstrates how the Army Corps manipulated their calculations so as to present a false picture for the project,” said Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper. “The inappropriate calculation was not hard to find. The Corps’ own report provides the analysis and numbers. Without deepening, shippers will use the feeder port approach which is far cheaper than trucking, and when all matters are considered, is also cheaper than deepening. The Corps’ assessment pretends that without deepening, shippers would use the far more expensive trucking option to get goods to the Philadelphia area markets. But the Corps’ own practices and procedures make clear that the shipping alternative is the best alternative and the one that would be selected, thereby supporting and encouraging port jobs without the need for a nearly $300 million, environmentally devastating deepening project.”

According to the new Cooked the Books report, correction of the shipping vs trucking error alone reduces the benefit-cost ratio for the project to, at best 1.1 (or to below 1 to 1, depending on a shipping diversion assumption) -- far below the 1.64 claimed by the Army Corps’ May 2011 report. Supplemental information in the report provided by the coalition of organizations identifies a number of additional errors they say, when included in the calculation, revive the GAO finding that deepening would provide less than a dollar of benefit for every $1 of cost paid for by the taxpayers.

“The Corps’ economic analysis deserves to be on a Chinese menu under twice-cooked pork. The errors were too obvious and too basic to be a mistake” says Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “But more importantly, the new report is being used to justify renewed funding for a project that doesn’t meet the Federal Government’s basic criteria for ensuring tax dollars are invested only in those projects that will generate clear economic value for the country.”

“This new economic analysis makes it clear that the Delaware River Deepening project is an economic looser, which poses substantial environmental risks. The Army Corps needs to take a hard look at its project review practices if projects like this, that don’t meet the Corps’ own basic economic standards, are getting the green light,” asserts George Sorvalis, Coordinator with the Water Protection Network.

In a report issued in April, 2010, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its third challenge to the reliability and accuracy of the Army Corps economic claims for deepening (the first GAO report being issued in 2002, the second challenge in the form of Congressional testimony given in 2006).

The Army Corps 2011 report was issued in apparent response to the less than glowing, GAO 2010 report. The May 2011 Army Corps analysis was its 8th economic analysis of the deepening. “But no one ever learned of this report or got an opportunity to review it until we secured the report through a Freedom of Information Act request,” says van Rossum. “As soon as we received a copy we pursued an independent review of its claims. We think our findings clearly demonstrate why the Army Corps felt the need to keep this newest analysis an apparent secret – because it’s clear that once again they cooked the books, a practice far too common with the Army Corps and one that demeans the entire federal government.”

Application of the WFD cost proportionality principle to diffuse pollution mitigation: A case study for Scottish Lochs

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479711003963

Abstract: The Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims to deliver good ecological status (GES) for Europe’s waters. It prescribes the use of economic principles, such as derogation from GES on grounds of disproportionate costs of mitigation. This paper proposes an application of the proportionality principle to mitigation of phosphorus (P) pollution of 544 Scottish lochs at national and local water body scales. P loading estimates were derived from a national diffuse pollution screening tool. For 293 of these lochs (31% of the loch area), GES already occurred. Mitigation cost-effectiveness was assessed using combined mitigation cost curves for managed grassland, rough grazing, arable land, sewage and septic tank sources. These provided sufficient mitigation (92% of national P load) for GES to be achieved on another 31% of loch area at annualised cost of £2.09 m/y. Mitigation of the residual P loading preventing other lochs achieving GES was considered by using a “mop-up” cost of £200/kg P (assumed cost effectiveness of removal of P directly from lochs), leading to a total cost of £189 m/y. Lochs were ranked by mitigation costs per loch area to give a national scale marginal mitigation cost curve. A published choice experiment valuation of WFD targets for Scottish lochs was used to estimate marginal benefits at national scale and combined with the marginal cost curve. This gave proportionate costs of £5.7 m/y leading to GES in 72% of loch area. Using national mean marginal benefits with a scheme to estimate changes in individual loch value with P loading gave proportionate costs of £25.6 m/y leading to GES in 77% of loch area (491 lochs).

Highlights:
► The costs and effectiveness of methods to mitigate P pollution of Scottish lochs are examined.
► A national scale study valuing restoration of Scottish lochs to good ecological status is described.
► Proportionate mitigation cost £5.7 m/y leading to good status in 72% of the national loch area.
► A proposed loch scale approach gives proportionate mitigation in 77% of national loch area.

by A.J.A. Vinten 1, J. Martin-Ortega 1, K. Glenk 2, P. Booth 1, B.B. Balana 1, M. MacLeod 2, M. Lago 3, D. Moran 2, M. Jones 1
1. The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, UK; Tel.: +44(0)1224 395165; fax: +44(0)1224 31156
2. Land Economy and Environment Group, SAC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH6 5AT, UK
3. Ecologic Institute, Pfalzburger Strasse 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany
Journal of Environmental Management via Elsevier Science Direct www.sciencedirect.com
Volume 97; 30 April 2012; Pages 28-37
Keywords: Water Framework Directive; Disproportionality; Phosphorus pollution; Lochs; Screening tool; Scotland

New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Proposes Enhanced On-Site Stormwater Controls for New Construction Projects to Improve Harbor Water Quality

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/11-91pr.shtml
On September 29, 2011 Environmental Protection Commissioner Carter Strickland proposed a rule requiring new construction and major building alteration projects to capture more stormwater runoff, provide additional capacity in the combined sewer system and reduce street flooding. New York City, like other older urban areas, is largely serviced by a combined sewer system where stormwater and wastewater are carried through a single pipe. During heavy storms, the system can exceed its capacity and must discharge a mix of stormwater and wastewater — called a combined sewer overflow, or CSO — into New York Harbor. Enhancing an already existing requirement, the rule will employ a wide range of on-site stormwater control techniques to all new development, redevelopment and major alterations in combined sewer areas. For a typical site over 5,000 square feet, DEP estimates that the rule will limit stormwater discharge to 10% of its present permitted flow to the combined sewer system using cost-effective detention, infiltration, and conservation techniques. This rule will lead to on-site control systems that are projected to reduce combined sewer overflows by as much as 800 million gallons over the next 20 years based on historic development trends. No existing homes or developments will be impacted by the new rule. The rule delivers a key component of the NYC Green Infrastructure Plan announced by Mayor Bloomberg last September.

"Combined sewer overflows remain one of the greatest challenges to water quality in New York Harbor," said Commissioner Strickland. "Our Green Infrastructure Plan seeks to control water at the source to keep it out of our sewers while balancing compliance costs. Through several years of outreach to the real estate, development and environmental communities, we have received many comments to adopt innovative and cost-effective techniques, and the final rule allows additional opportunities to use infiltration and recycling systems to meet control requirements."

The new proposed rule will reduce the amount of stormwater runoff discharged from new development projects as part of DEP's existing permitting processes. The current rule is based on a number of different factors such as existing sewer design criteria, property type, size, and drainage area of the lot. The new rule will reduce current limits for runoff to 10% of present permitted flows through the use of innovative control systems, such as blue roofs, green roofs, or subsurface gravel beds and stormwater chambers. For example, a typical one-acre site currently allowed to release 2.5 cubic feet per second under existing standards, will now be required to detain and release runoff at 0.25 cubic feet per second through some combination of on-site stormwater control systems. The cost impact of the new standard on a project's development is estimated to be an additional 0.3% to 1.5% of total costs.

The rule was developed through several task force meetings DEP conducted with the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability and its partners across city agencies. Over the past two years, DEP has received input from building industry which includes real estate, development and professional applicants, and environmental organizations, including the Real Estate Board of New York, the Regional Planning Association, American Institute of Architects, Buildings Sustainability Board, Citizens for Affordable Housing, US Green Buildings Council and the Green Infrastructure Steering Committee. Based on extensive feedback, the rule credits infiltration into soil and recycling for on-site use, which can reduce the size of stormwater control systems.

To assist with the implementation of the new rule, DEP will release a companion document, Guidelines for the Design and Construction of Stormwater Management Systems, offering guidance to the development community and applicants with the selection, planning, design and construction of on-site stormwater detention systems. The manual was developed in consultation with the Department of Buildings, and will feature guidance on siting, design and construction considerations for various stormwater control systems, as well as operation and maintenance recommendations. The guidelines will be continually updated to reflect the latest technology and best practices.

New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) www.nyc.gov/dep

September 29, 2011

Report: "Public Lands Near Grand County Play Vital Economic Role, Tourism & Recreation Businesses Account for 44% of Private Jobs", Includes Recommendations for How Leaders Can Maximize Long-Term Returns from Nearby Public Lands

A new report shows that public lands near Grand County, Utah play a major economic role in the region, with tourism and recreation businesses accounting for 44 percent of private employment in the county; and that more than one-third of local households have a member that works in a tourism and recreation business related to public lands, while nearly two-thirds of county residents indicate that public lands are “extremely important” to their vocation.

“A significant reason for the county’s economic success stems from the diversity found today within Grand County’s tourism and recreation economy,” said Ben Alexander, the report’s author. “Moving forward, public lands will continue to play an important role for the region, and finding ways to sustain and develop new activities that appeal to a wide mixture of visitors and residents is paramount to the county’s long-term economic health.”

To conduct the report, (available at http://headwaterseconomics.org/land/reports/economic-grand-county/) Headwaters Economics, a non-profit research group based in Bozeman, examined a wide range of public lands uses, including mining and agriculture, but focused on recreation because this type of use represents the largest, most complex, and least well understood activity on public lands in the county.

The full report contains detailed analysis of Grand County employment, trends, and government revenues. For example, the study analyzed the employment impact of federal public lands, and an IMPLAN analysis shows that area BLM lands supported 2,447 direct jobs in 2007. For the National Park Service, the Money Generation Model (MGM2) shows that area national parks supported 2,181 direct jobs in 2009. (These data should not be added together.) To put this in perspective, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that in 2007 there were 6,724 total jobs in Grand County and in 2009 there were 6,687 total jobs.

The report was created after a local steering committee—including representatives from Trail Mix, Ride with Respect, Red Rock Four Wheelers, Moab Lodging Association, Moab Trail Alliance, Moab Chamber of Commerce, and local officials—asked the Grand County Council to support a study on the economic and fiscal role of public lands in the county that could be the basis for informed discussions about how to develop, protect, and manage nearby public lands so that they benefit businesses, the county, and diverse users into the future.
...
Within the wide variety of public lands uses, BLM surveys show that hiking is the most common activity on its lands, followed by biking and nature viewing. Using a tailored spending profile, IMPLAN analysis shows that hiking on BLM lands has the largest economic impact, followed by nature viewing, biking, and motor vehicle use. In addition to the economic benefits of tourism and recreation, Grand County’s picturesque and high-profile public lands and the environmental and recreational amenities they provide are closely linked to economic growth. The county, for example, has had some success attracting new residents who find the communities and surrounding public lands in the area compelling—almost a third of net population growth in the last decade resulted from in-migration. The county also has seen increases in non-labor sources of personal income, especially retirement-related income, which has boosted per capita income and added stability to the local economy.

Despite past success, future growth in Grand County cannot be taken for granted. The boom years of the 1990s when the county’s economy grew by seven percent annually have yielded to the 2000s when the economic growth rate slowed to two percent annually.

This deceleration should lead to discussion on how Grand County can best utilize public lands to remain economically competitive as its tourism and recreation economy matures. Specific issues include:

• Whether different users are crowding each other out and diminishing one another’s experience;
• The continued quality of the landscape and uniqueness of the outdoor offerings; and
• The area’s ability to compete with rivals in the outdoor recreation market that have constructed new signature trail systems or are benefiting from newly created and high profile public lands protections.

The report also includes recommendations to help ensure Grand County’s future economic health:

• Educate the public to understand better the important economic role that public lands play in Grand County, including a periodic update on the county’s economic health and trends, especially focused on tourism and recreation;
• Partner closely with public land managers on planning and decisions that impact public lands in Grand County, including supplemental work and funding to maximize the protection and return of public lands assets;
• Ensure the continued diversity of recreation options and the capacity for public lands to support a wide variety of user activities. In addition, make sure that recreation uses do not directly conflict and drive away visitors or create the impression that the county favors one form of recreation; and
• Utilize the national and international visibility created by public lands recreation—such as national parks, mountain biking, jeep events, and the Colorado River—to attract visitors or retirees with the potential to relocate and bring new businesses and wealth to the region.

“Grand County enjoys many benefits from nearby public lands,” noted Alexander. “To continue to capitalize on the competitive advantage that these lands provide, the county and local groups should work collaboratively with state and federal officials to implement policies that sustain existing uses and also anticipate future development and protection needs.”

In fiscal year 2009, area national park visitor spending contributed to an estimated $44.7 million in labor income while NPS payroll contributed another $8.8 million in labor income, resulting in $53.5 million in total labor income. To put this in perspective, total labor earnings in Grand County for 2009 were $192 million.
...
Visitors spend money on a variety of items, including hotels, restaurants, bars, sporting goods stores, gasoline, and other goods and services. Based on responses to the survey, a “spending profile” was developed for each type of recreation user of BLM lands and the economic impact on their spending was calculated. In fiscal year 2007, the economic impact of non-local BLM visitor spending was $177 million in local output and more than $64 million in labor income for Grand County.
...
A number of studies have been conducted to measure the impact of mountain biking in the Moab area. One  1998 study calculated the “consumer surplus,” which is a measure of the difference between the maximum  price a consumer is willing to pay and the actual price they do pay. They concluded that the bike trails in the Moab area “produce a high consumer surplus to the users,” amounting to between $197 to $205 per trip. The consumer surplus for the Slickrock trail alone was $8,422,800 to $8,770,300 in 1998. One of the  implications of the study is that annual visitor rates are not sensitive to fees because users believe they are getting a good deal (i.e., a high “consumer “surplus”) and an entrance fee (e.g., to the Slickrock trail) is a  small part of overall trip costs.

Another 1998 study found that the average “willingness to pay” (WTP) by a mountain biker is $1,483 (WTP is the maximum amount a person would be willing to pay for a good). The total annual use value of mountain biking in the Moab area was estimated to be $1.33 million. The authors concluded: “This value suggests that this recreation has a higher value than most other activities in the area and that public lands managers should be aware of the relative value of mountain biking as they make allocation decisions.”
...
Following the release of this and other reports on November 30, 2011 Headwarters organized more than 100 economists and academics in related fields from across the country that sent a letter to President Obama urging him to “create jobs and support businesses by investing in our public lands infrastructure and establishing new protected areas such as parks, wilderness, and monuments.” The letter, which includes three Nobel laureates, states that federal protected public lands are essential to the West’s economic future, attracting innovative companies and workers, and contributing a vital component of the region’s competitive advantage.

Additional information:

• Letter to the President and Signers
• News Release
• Summary of Analysis on Economic Impact of Protected Lands
• Annotated Bibliography of Related Peer-Reviewed Research
• Short video of Dr. Ray Rasker discussing the letter to President Obama.

Headwaters Economics http://headwaterseconomics.org/.
Press Releases dated October 31, 2011 and November 30, 2011

Metalliferous sediments in the Atlantis II Deep—Assessing the geological and economic resource potential and legal constraints

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301420711000559
Abstract: Projected increases in demand and thus increasing metal prices have brought the exploration and exploitation of marine mineral resources back into focus. The Atlantis II Deep, located in the central Red Sea between Saudi Arabia and Sudan, is one of the largest marine sulfide deposits known, with high concentrations of metals such as zinc, copper, silver and gold. However, little is known about the economic potential of marine minerals as well as the legal constraints. Our geological assessment shows that the deep is similar in grades and scale to large land-based deposits. Its economic potential is far from negligible. The total present value of possible gross revenues for the four metals zinc, copper, silver and gold ranges from 3.03 to 5.29 billion US$, depending on the assumptions made concerning future price development, mass calculation and discount rate. From a legal perspective, a general duty to cooperate in the exploration and exploitation of non-living resources located in disputed maritime areas is identified in both customary international law and in UNCLOS. It is submitted that a joint development agreement is one means of ensuring compliance with this duty in general and in the case of the Atlantis II Deep in particular.

Highlights:
► We calculate the masses of Zn, Cu, Mn and Ag in A2D in depth slices down to 14 m.
► Mass calculations are based on 480 cores from the Saudi-Sudanese Red Sea Commission.
► The PV of possible gross revenues of A2D resources ranges from 3.03 to 5.29 bn US$.
► JDA as a useful way to ensure the legal duty to cooperate in resource use is upheld.

by Christine Bertram 1, Anna Krätschell 2, Killian O’Brien 3, Warner Brückmann 2, Alexander Proelss 4, Katrin Rehdanz 1 and, 5
Resources Policy via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com Volume 36, Issue 4; December, 2011; Pages 315-329
1. Kiel Institute for the World Economy, (IfW) Hindenburgufer 66, D-24105 Kiel, Germany; Tel.: +49 431 8814 261.
2. IFM-GEOMAR, Leibniz Institute of Marine Sciences, Kiel, Germany
3. Academy of European Law (ERA), Trier, Germany
4. Department of Law, University of Trier, Trier, Germany
5. Department of Economics, Christian-Albrechts-University at Kiel, Kiel, Germany
Keywords: Atlantis II Deep; Deep-sea mining; Joint development scheme; Metalliferous sediments; Resource potential; Saudi-Sudanese Red Sea Commission

Offset markets for nutrient and sediment discharges in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: Policy tradeoffs and potential steps forward

http://yosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eed.nsf/WPNumber/2011-05
Abstract: Considerable interest has been expressed recently in prospects for water quality trading markets between nutrient sources in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. Allowing such flexibility in response to the terms of recently announced total maximum daily load (TMDL) restrictions might considerably decrease costs of compliance with the TMDLs. Before an effective and efficient market for offsets can be established, however, certain preconditions must be met. In particular, there must be means by which nutrients can be measured, allowances can be assigned, and limits on nutrient discharges enforced. In this paper we consider some factors that may affect the realization of these preconditions. A recurrent theme is that there are tradeoffs in policy design. A regime that imposes tight restrictions on those who are eligible to trade may also limit the cost savings that might be realized from trading. On the other hand, a regime that maximizes market participation might fail fully to achieve the environmental goals of an offset or trading policy. We conclude with some recommendations for steps that might be taken to initiate limited markets in nutrient and sediment discharges. These markets might then be expanded as experience is gained and methods developed to assure improved market performance.

by Andrew Manale, Cynthia Morgan, Glenn Sheriff and David Simpson
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) www.EPA.gov National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) http://yosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eed.nsf/webpages/homepage
Working Paper Number: 2011-05; August 15, 2011
Keywords: water quality trading; offsets; transaction costs; adverse selection; leakage; additionality; monitoring; Chesapeake Bay; nutrients