vania-janet/multiturn-rag-retrieval-data huggingface dataset:
Environmental policy of the United States
The private - sector Council on Competitiveness ( distinct from the federal Competitiveness Policy Council ) was formed in 1989 to play the same role as the previous Task Force on Regulatory Relief that Bush had served on in the Reagan administration , which was to negotiate on behalf of the president for regulatory relief with the heads of federal agencies . This executive branch agency negotiated with EPA director Reilly , leading to industry - favorable rulings such as the redefinition of wetlands and the allowance of untreated toxic chemicals in local landfills ( this was later reversed ) . While previous regulatory - relief efforts , such as Reagan 's use of the Office of Budget Management , were subject to congressional oversight , the Council on Competitiveness was independent and was n't required to keep records of its proceedings .
Sustainability
A practical view of sustainability is closed systems that maintain processes of productivity indefinitely by replacing resources used by actions of people with resources of equal or greater value by those same people without degrading or endangering natural biotic systems . In this way , sustainability can be concretely measured in human projects if there is a transparent accounting of the resources put back into the ecosystem to replace those displaced . In nature , the accounting occurs naturally through a process of adaptation as an ecosystem returns to viability from an external disturbance . The adaptation is a multi-stage process that begins with the disturbance event ( earthquake , volcanic eruption , hurricane , tornado , flood , or thunderstorm ) , followed by absorption , utilization , or deflection of the energy or energies that the external forces created .
Cost–benefit analysis
The concept of CBA dates back to an 1848 article by Jules Dupuit and was formalized in subsequent works by Alfred Marshall . The Corps of Engineers initiated the use of CBA in the US , after the Federal Navigation Act of 1936 effectively required cost -- benefit analysis for proposed federal waterway infrastructure . The Flood Control Act of 1939 was instrumental in establishing CBA as federal policy ; it demanded that `` the benefits to whomever they accrue ( be ) in excess of the estimated costs . ''
Flint water crisis
The water disaster called attention to the problem of aging and seriously neglected water infrastructure nationwide . The Flint crisis recalled recent lead contamination crises in the tap water in various cities , such as the lead contamination in Washington , D.C. drinking water ( 2001 ) , Columbia , South Carolina ( 2005 ) ; Durham and Greenville , North Carolina ( 2006 ) ; Jackson , Mississippi ( 2015 ) ; and Sebring , Ohio ( 2015 ) . The New York Times notes , `` Although Congress banned lead water pipes 30 years ago , between 3.3 million and 10 million older ones remain , primed to leach lead into tap water by forces as simple as jostling during repairs or a change in water chemistry . '' Inadequate regulation was cited as one reason for unsafe lead levels in tap water and `` efforts to address shortcomings often encounter push - back from industries like agriculture and mining that fear cost increases , and from politicians ideologically opposed to regulation . '' The crisis called attention to a `` resource gap '' for water regulators . The annual budget of the EPA 's drinking water office declined 15 % from 2006 to 2015 , with the office losing over 10 % of employees , and the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators reported in 2013 that `` federal officials had slashed drinking - water grants , 17 states had cut drinking - water budgets by more than a fifth , and 27 had cut spending on full - time employees , '' with `` serious implications for states ' ability to protect public health . ''
Water in California
The East Bay Municipal Utility District ( EBMUD ) serves 35 communities in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties , including Berkeley and Oakland . The Mokelumne River in the central Sierra Nevada is the source for almost all of EBMUD 's water . EBMUD built the Pardee Dam across the Mokelumne in the foothills northeast of Stockton . South of Pardee is Camanche Reservoir , which regulates releases to serve downstream water rights holders . EBMUD holds almost 30,000 acres ( 120 km ) in the Mokulumne River watershed and 25,000 acres ( 100 km ) in other watersheds . EBMUD also has an American River water right that could be sent to the Mokelumne Aqueduct through the Folsom South Canal . The only time this has been done was during the drought years of 1977 -- 78 , when the water was actually pumped from the Delta . This generated controversy , as EBMUD preferred the cleaner water from the American River , but environmentalists and Sacramento had concerns about the impacts such a diversion would have on the river . The legal battle led to affirmation of EBMUD 's water right , but modifications were also negotiated . The intake point was moved downstream , to maintain minimum flows in the American River before it merges with the Sacramento .
Land lot
Local governments often pass zoning laws which control what buildings can be built on a lot and what they can be used for . For example , certain areas are zoned for residential buildings such as houses . Other areas can be commercially , agriculturally , or industrially zoned . Sometimes zoning laws establish other restrictions , such as a minimum lot area and / or frontage length for building a house or other building , maximum building size , or minimum setbacks from a lot boundary for building a structure . This is in addition to building codes which must be met . Also minimum lot sizes and separations must be met when wells and septic systems are used . In urban areas , sewers and water lines often provide service to households . There may also be restrictions based on covenants established by private parties such as the real estate developer . There may be easements for utilities to run water , sewage , electric power , or telephone lines through a lot . Vacant
Water in California
Since under the law , landowners can extract as much groundwater from their property as they can put to beneficial use , adjudication was used to determine who had the right to pump how much and to audit such usage . The courts appoint water masters to audit usage and otherwise enforce water rights , who are often management boards , the federal United States Department of the Interior , the California Department of Water Resources , or an individual .
Flint water crisis
In a post on her Facebook page , environmental activist Erin Brockovich called the water crisis a `` growing national concern '' and said that the crisis was `` likely '' connected to the Legionnaires ' disease outbreak . Brockovich called for the U.S. Environment Protection Agency to become involved in the investigation , saying that the EPA 's `` continued silence has proven deadly . ''
Water in California
The English focus on landownership differs sharply from the `` first in time , first in right '' approach 49ers , who were generally trespassing on federal land , developed to wash hills into rivers . In Lux v. Haggin ( 1886 ) the California Supreme Court resolved the conflict by finding that riparian water rights are superior even to older prior appropriations . When in 1926 the Court went so far as to find that riparian owners did not need to put their water to beneficial use , the People amended the California Constitution to reverse the decision , establishing that no water in the state may be wasted .
Sustainability
Management of human consumption of resources is an indirect approach based largely on information gained from economics . Herman Daly has suggested three broad criteria for ecological sustainability : renewable resources should provide a sustainable yield ( the rate of harvest should not exceed the rate of regeneration ) ; for non-renewable resources there should be equivalent development of renewable substitutes ; waste generation should not exceed the assimilative capacity of the environment .
Water in California
Since 2000 , another major goal for each update has been to receive broad input and support from Californians . Preparation of these new millennial Water Plan updates has been widely viewed as exceptionally transparent and collaborative as the consensus seeking process is routinely cited by other agencies and states as a model for policy planning efforts . The approach involves : interest based dialog and exchange among teams , committees and the public to develop work products ; multiple opportunities for review by different audiences ; and integration and reconciliation of feedback from a variety of perspectives .
Drinking water supply and sanitation in the United States
In its Infrastructure Report Card the American Society of Civil Engineers gave both the U.S. drinking water and wastewater infrastructure a grade of D - in 2005 , down from D in 2001 . According to the report , `` the nation 's drinking water system faces a staggering public investment need to replace aging facilities , comply with safe drinking water regulations and meet future needs . '' Investment needs are about $19 billion / year for sanitation and $14 billion / year for drinking water , totaling $33 billion / year . State and local governments invested $35.1 billion in water supply and sanitation in 2008 , including 16.3 billion for drinking water supply and 18.8 billion for sanitation .
Environmental impact of irrigation
The hundreds of tubewells installed in the state of Uttar Pradesh , India , with World Bank funding have operating periods of 1.4 to 4.7 hours / day , whereas they were designed to operate 16 hours / day In Baluchistan , Pakistan , the development of tubewell irrigation projects was at the expense of the traditional qanat or karez users Groundwater - related subsidence of the land due to mining of groundwater occurred in the United States at a rate of 1m for each 13m that the watertable was lowered Homes at Greens Bayou near Houston , Texas , where 5 to 7 feet of subsidence has occurred , were flooded during a storm in June 1989 as shown in the picture
Sustainability
One approach to this dilemma has been the attempt to `` internalize '' these `` externalities '' by using market strategies like ecotaxes and incentives , tradeable permits for carbon , and the encouragement of payment for ecosystem services . Community currencies associated with Local Exchange Trading Systems ( LETS ) , a gift economy and Time Banking have also been promoted as a way of supporting local economies and the environment . Green economics is another market - based attempt to address issues of equity and the environment . The global recession and a range of associated government policies are likely to bring the biggest annual fall in the world 's carbon dioxide emissions in 40 years .
Great Lakes
In 1998 , the Canadian company Nova Group won approval from the Province of Ontario to withdraw 158,000,000 U.S. gallons ( 600,000 m ) of Lake Superior water annually to ship by tanker to Asian countries . Public outcry forced the company to abandon the plan before it began . Since that time , the eight Great Lakes Governors and the Premiers of Ontario and Quebec have negotiated the Great Lakes - Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement and the Great Lakes - St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact that would prevent most future diversion proposals and all long - distance ones . The agreements strengthen protection against abusive water withdrawal practices within the Great Lakes basin . On December 13 , 2005 , the Governors and Premiers signed these two agreements , the first of which is between all ten jurisdictions . It is somewhat more detailed and protective , though its legal strength has not yet been tested in court . The second , the Great Lakes Compact , has been approved by the state legislatures of all eight states that border the Great Lakes as well as the U.S. Congress , and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 3 , 2008 .
Drinking water supply and sanitation in the United States
An important turning point in managing drinking water pollution in the United States occurred after passage of the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 , which required the National Academy of Sciences ( NAS ) to conduct a study of the issue . The NAS found that there really was not a lot of information available on drinking water quality . Perhaps the most important part of the study , according to senior EPA officials responsible for implementing the 1974 law , was that it described some methodologies for doing risk assessments for chemicals that were suspected carcinogens .
Flint water crisis
On January 20 , 2016 , Senator Debbie Stabenow , a Democrat , faulted the state for having `` no sense of urgency whatsoever '' despite warnings from the EPA about the contaminated water . Senator Gary Peters , also a Democrat , said , `` The water crisis in Flint is an immense failure on the part of the State of Michigan to protect the health and safety of the City 's residents , and the State must accept full responsibility for its actions that led to this catastrophe . '' Peters , along with Stabenow and Representative Dan Kildee , called upon the state to make a `` sustained financial commitment '' to assist Flint `` by establishing a ' Future Fund ' to meet the cognitive , behavioral and health challenges '' of children affected by lead poisoning . Peters also called upon the state to reimburse Flint residents for the money that was paid for contaminated water , to pay the city 's legal fees in connection with the water crisis , and to pay for the costs of reconnecting to the Detroit water system .
Flint water crisis
Several lawsuits have been filed against government officials on the issue , and several investigations have been opened . On January 5 , 2016 , the city was declared to be in a state of emergency by the Governor of Michigan , Rick Snyder , before President Barack Obama declared it to be in a federal state of emergency , authorizing additional help from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security less than two weeks later .
Environmental impact of mining
Acid rock drainage occurs naturally within some environments as part of the rock weathering process but is exacerbated by large - scale earth disturbances characteristic of mining and other large construction activities , usually within rocks containing an abundance of sulfide minerals . Areas where the earth has been disturbed ( e.g. construction sites , subdivisions , and transportation corridors ) may create acid rock drainage . In many localities , the liquid that drains from coal stocks , coal handling facilities , coal washeries , and coal waste tips can be highly acidic , and in such cases it is treated as acid rock drainage .
Hurricane Katrina
On April 5 , 2006 , months after independent investigators had demonstrated that levee failures were not caused by natural forces beyond intended design strength , Lieutenant General Carl Strock , Chief of Engineers and Commander of the Corps of Engineers , testified before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water that `` We have now concluded we had problems with the design of the structure . ''
National Flood Insurance Program
Between 1978 and year - end 2014 , the U.S. Federal Government has paid more than $51 billion in claims under the National Flood Insurance Program .
Flint water crisis
On April 20 , 2017 Stephen Estes - Smargiassi , director of planning and sustainability at the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority , told a forum on lead water contamination at the Harvard School of Public Health that a chain - reaction of failures , including those by the financial managers , allowed the water crisis to develop as long as it did . He stated `` What happened in Flint ? Well , a firestorm of things that went wrong . ( Flint ) changed ( its ) source water , did n't do a good job on corrosion control in their treatment '' , and added `` They had , about half of the homes had lead service lines . Money was more important to the emergency manager than people were . That 's pretty clear from the evidence , '' and later went on to say , `` State regulators could have picked up on this , but fell down on the job , maybe worse than that . We 'll see what happens to those who were indicted . And the federal regulators could have picked up the problem , but did n't until quite late . All of those things , that firestorm of events , resulted in really awful water quality . ''
Delaware River
In 2015 , the EPA saw the Delaware River as a concern for mass pollution especially in the Greater Philadelphia and Chester , Pennsylvania area . The EPA was involved after accusations that the river met standards made illegal by the Clean Water Act . In complying with the Clean Water Act , the EPA involved the Delaware County Regional Water Authority ( DELCORA ) where they set up a plan to spend around $200 million to help rid the waterway of about 740 million gallons of sewage and pollution . DELCORA was also fined about $1.4 million for allowing the Delaware River to have so much pollution residing in the river in the first place and for not complying with the Clean Water Act .
St. Johns River
What could have been the most serious human impact on nature in central Florida was the Cross Florida Barge Canal , an attempt to connect the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the state by channeling the Ocklawaha River , first authorized in 1933 . The canal was intended to be 171 miles ( 275 km ) long , 250 feet ( 76 m ) wide , and 30 feet ( 9.1 m ) deep . Canal construction was top among the engineering priorities in the state , and by 1964 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction on the Cross Florida Barge Canal . Flood control was the primary impetus behind its construction , though the broader reasoning and feasibility of the project remained unclear . The Army Corps of Engineers was also constructing hundreds of miles of canals in the Everglades at the same time and by the 1960s was being accused of wasting tax money through its unnecessary construction projects . In 1969 the Environmental Defense Fund filed suit in federal court to stop construction on the canal , citing irreparable harm that would be done to Florida waterways and the Floridan Aquifer , central and north Florida 's fresh water source .
Copper in architecture
While a universally accepted definition of sustainability remains elusive , the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs . Sustainability , the long - term maintenance of responsibility , requires the reconciliation of environmental , social equity and economic demands . These `` three pillars '' of sustainability encompass the responsible management of resource use . Also , it can mean that we can use a resource which wo n't cease to be abundant despite increasing intake .
Flint water crisis
On October 17 , 2016 the second phase of the program was completed on 218 homes . The project was completed by WT Stevens Construction Inc. , Johnson & Wood Mechanical , and Goyette Mechanical . By November 22 , 2016 , the total number of homes with new pipes was 460 .
MetLife Stadium
In June 2009 , the New Meadowlands Stadium Corporation and the EPA signed a memorandum of understanding that outlines plans to incorporate environmentally - friendly materials and practices into the construction and operation of MetLife Stadium . The agreement includes strategies to reduce air pollution , conserve water and energy , improve waste management , and reduce the environmental impact of construction . The goal of the agreement is to save the emission of nearly 1.68 million metric tons of carbon dioxide during the stadium 's construction and its first year of operation . Under this agreement , the stadium construction must use around 40,000 tons of recycled steel , recycle 20,000 tons of steel from Giants Stadium , install seating made from recycled plastic and scrap iron , and reduce air pollution from construction vehicles by using cleaner diesel fuel , diesel engine filters , and minimizing engine idle times . Other goals of this agreement include providing mass transit options for fans and replacing traditional concession plates , cups and carries with compostable alternatives . The New Meadowlands Stadium Corporation is to report the progress on its goals to EPA every six months . Based on the reports , the EPA has stated it will quantify the benefits of the venue 's environmental efforts .
Recycling
Both minimum recycled content mandates and utilization rates increase demand directly by forcing manufacturers to include recycling in their operations . Content mandates specify that a certain percentage of a new product must consist of recycled material . Utilization rates are a more flexible option : industries are permitted to meet the recycling targets at any point of their operation or even contract recycling out in exchange for tradeable credits . Opponents to both of these methods point to the large increase in reporting requirements they impose , and claim that they rob industry of necessary flexibility .
Flint water crisis
In an interview with the Detroit News published on January 12 , 2016 , Hedman said that `` the recommendation to DEQ ( regarding the need for corrosion controls ) occurred at higher and higher levels during this time period . And the answer kept coming back from DEQ that ' no , we are not going to make a decision until after we see more testing results . ' '' Hedman said the EPA did not go public with its concerns earlier because ( 1 ) state and local governments have primary responsibility for drinking water quality and safety ; ( 2 ) there was insufficient evidence at that point of the extent of the danger ; and ( 3 ) the EPA 's legal authority to compel the state to take action was unclear , and the EPA discussed the issue with its legal counsel , who only rendered an opinion in November . Hedman said the EPA discussed the issue with its legal counsel and urged the state to have MDHHS warn residents about the danger . On January 21 , Hedman 's resignation ( effective February 1 ) was accepted .
Flint water crisis
From 2011 to 2015 , Governor Snyder appointed four emergency managers to control Flint 's finances . After 2015 , the city continued to receive financial guidance under the lesser oversight of a Receivership Transition Advisory Board .
Recycling
Governments have used their own purchasing power to increase recycling demand through what are called `` procurement policies . '' These policies are either `` set - asides , '' which reserve a certain amount of spending solely towards recycled products , or `` price preference '' programs which provide a larger budget when recycled items are purchased . Additional regulations can target specific cases : in the United States , for example , the Environmental Protection Agency mandates the purchase of oil , paper , tires and building insulation from recycled or re-refined sources whenever possible .