ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL
HEALTH ENGINEERING
TECHNOLOGY
Mrs. Boyd
OSH 320
ECONOMICS &
ENVIRONMENTAL
MARKET ECONOMY
• Controlled by individuals (pricing, production and
distribution)
• U.S. and Europe demonstrate this type economy
COMMAND ECONOMY
• Controlled by the government or state
• China is a good example of this type of economy
EXAMPLE: WASTE WATER PERMIT
• You are given guidelines for your industry from the City of
Murray if they do your pre-treatment (you don’t go straight into
the creek)
• Oil and Grease = not to exceed 5 mg/L
• Total Suspended Solids = not to exceed 10 mg/L
• Phosphorus= not to exceed 3 mg/L
EXAMPLE: WASTE WATER PERMIT (CONT.)
• Biochemical oxygen demand= 1 pound of BOD or less
• (Surcharge - $3/pound of BOD)
• pH = 7.8 or lower
• Your plant produces 10,000 pounds of BOD in January
• 10,000 pounds – 1 pound = 9,999 pounds X $3 =
$29,997 (surcharge)
INDUSTRY
• Industry in this example is an example of a market economy
• They are given permit guidelines from the City of Murray
• They can choose to produce more than what is required and
pay a surcharge (type of fee)
CITY OF MURRAY WASTE WATER PLANT
• City Waste Water Plant is an example of a command
economy.
• It is controlled by the state and fines will be brought against
them for being of violation of what the KY Division of Water
has told them is their permitted amount
• They are unable to just pay surcharges
CLASS ACTIVITY
• We will have 3 separate groups
• Regulators
• Ace
• Deuce Petrochemicals
REGULATORS
• Ask the industries what their abatement costs are
• Come up with 2 different theories
• Command and control route –permit and fines
• Market-based environmental policy route-limit and let them
buy and trade permits for a price beyond that limit
DEUCE AND ACE
• Once you get your limit
• Come up with abatement cost and ideas on how many extra
permits would be needed
• Present and then talk about trade with opposing company
GREEN TAXES
• Taxes levied on raw materials
• Promotes more efficient use of resources
• Automobile manufacturers
• Taxes can be used to stimulate a more efficient use of resources
• Coaling mining
• Severance tax (user tax)
FULL COST PRICING
• Cost of product includes taxing
• Electrical companies are made to pay an extra 15% for
environmental externalities when improving plants
• Full cost pricing is beneficial part of cost-benefit analysis
ECONOMIC INCENTIVES
• Money given to companies to encourage research and
development
• Government might donate land
• Government grants
• Tax breaks
• Individuals
• Installation of solar panels in the 80’s ~ tax credits
TRADABLE OR MARKETABLE PERMITS
• Companies that produce air and water pollution
• A way for the government to regulate pollution
• License that allow a certain amount of emissions
• They can be bought in sold
CLEAN AIR ACT 1990 AMENDMENT
• Marketable permits established for sulfur dioxide
• Previously state and government just set limits for sulfur
dioxide
• Companies had no incentive to produce less
MARKETABLE PERMIT-EXAMPLE
• Your company produces 3,000 tons of SO2
• Limit of releasing only 1,500 tons S02
• You will install engineering device to reduce you levels to 750
tons
• You will now have 750 emissions “credit”
FRONTIER ETHICS
• Helps promote social order
• View of the Earth as unlimited resources for human use only
• Life is short, so use resources as quickly as we can
• Relates back to the way of thinking our ancestors had
SUSTAINABLE ETHICS
• Resources are limited
• They are not exclusively for human use/ecological justice
• Not a new thought process
• Native Americans use this methodology-central to long term
survival of people
DIRECTIVE PRINCIPLES
• The Earth’s resources are limited
• Humans are a part of nature
• Key to success is cooperation
• Natural systems are essential to human welfare
5 OPERATING PRINCIPLES
• Conservation
• Recycling
• Renewable-resource use
• Restoration
• Population control
INTERGENERATIONAL EQUITY
• Fairness to future generations
• Right to benefit from the Earth
• We have an obligation to protect the Earth
• Environmental justice
• Fossil fuel users
• Do users of fossil fuels have obligations to those that do not?
BIOCENTRIC VIEWS
• Non human inhabitants to be of primary concern
• Human priorities should take a back seat
• Biodiversity is more important than human welfare
• Doesn’t take in regard to economic value of those decisions
ECOCENTRIC VIEW
• Evolution, adaptation, and nutrients cycles to be most
important
• Whole is more important than the individual
• A deer herd could be culled to protect its habitat
• This book is heavily weighted with this viewpoint