Jonathan Davidson

Bio: Jonathan Davidson is an academic researcher from University of California, Riverside. The author has contributed to research in topics: Clean Air Act & Air quality index. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 6 publications receiving 67 citations.

1 – Introduction and Overview

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter introduces the adaptive administrative and technological responses leading to the current framework for air pollution control policy. The United States Clean Air Act of 1970 (Clean Air Act) raised unprecedented implementation challenges for governments and affected industries. Nationally, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) established health-based quality standards and directed states to implement control plans subject to federal certification. States responded with program initiatives to attain these levels within designated time frames. The Clean Air Act, as amended in 1970 and 1990, continues to reframe relationships among governments and industries. It assigns a federal role to develop ambient air quality standards with authority to guide, certify, and sanction state implementation programs. They have primary responsibilities for regulating emissions to meet their implementation plan goals. States may develop stricter standards provided that they can be supported by health impact research. State programs have comparably expanded their primary implementation roles to meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). State implementation plans (SIPs) are revised continually to ensure ongoing abatement in nonattainment areas and sustaining air quality in areas that meet current criteria. In addition to the health-based quality standards for ambient air quality, the EPA has established rules designating acceptable technologies and practices for facilities that emit toxic air pollutants. These directives are formulated in conjunction with representatives for impacted source emitters.

An Interactive History of the Clean Air Act: Scientific and Policy Perspectives

Abstract: The Clean Air Act of 1970 set out for the United States a basic, yet ambitious, objective to reduce pollution to levels that protect health and welfare. The Act set out state and federal regulations to limit emissions and the Environmental Protection Agency was established to help enforce the regulations. The Act has since had several amendments, notably in 1977 and 1990, and has successfully helped to increase air quality. This book reviews the history of the Clean Air Act of 1970 including the political, business, and scientific elements that went into establishing the Act, emphasizing the importance that scientific evidence played in shaping policy. The analysis then extends to examine the effects of the Act over the past forty years including the Environmental Protection Agency's evolving role and the role of states and industry in shaping and implementing policy. Finally, the book offers best practices to guide allocation of respective government and industry roles to guide sustainable development. The history and analysis of the Clean Air Act presented in this book illustrates the centrality of scientific analysis and technological capacity in driving environmental policy development. It would be useful for policy makers, environmental scientists, and anyone interested in gaining a clearer understand of the interaction of science and policy. This title offers an overview of the 1970 Clean Air Act and its subsequent effects. It highlights the relationship between policy and scientific discovery. It extracts lessons from the United States to apply to other policy and national contexts.

Federal Leadership in Clean Air Act Implementation: The Role of the Environmental Protection Agency

Abstract: Chapter 3 traces the role of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Clean Air Act implementation. Within months of its establishment in December 1970, the agency had established National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) along with guidelines and a submission schedule for State Implementation Plans. Early threshold decisions led to significant litigation in federal courts. Through case precedent and negotiated settlements, the EPA added rules to prohibit states from attaining NAAQS by allowing air quality to deteriorate in already compliant areas. Supreme Court rulings also affirmed that states could not be swayed by current economic or technological capacities in regulating emission sources.

Collaborative Regional Planning in California: Potential Models for Sustainable Governance

Abstract: In this report, we analyze five recent initiatives widely considered to be characteristic of collaborative regional planning as it is practiced in California. We chose cases in newgrowth regions such as the counties of Merced and Riverside and in more mature growth regions such as San Diego County and the Sacramento metropolitan area. We find several elements for successful efforts at collaborative planning, including the use of computer graphic technology, innovations in stakeholder outreach, and early recognition of environmental impacts. Thus, while prior efforts are helpful in collaborative regional planning, there are several innovations to help create new precedents for successful planning.

An Expanding Federal Presence in Air Quality Controls

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter presents structural frameworks for evolving stakeholder interactions, focusing on the adaptations by government administrators, and by industries with their respective trade associations, in relation to federal Clean Air Act legislation. The 1970 Clean Air Act amendments changed the national emphasis from facilitating state programs to establishing and enforcing National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). This element directed the newly formed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to identify pollutants and their sources, and to establish criteria for levels that ensure public health and welfare. While continuing to delegate primary implementation to states, the 1970 amendments required each to submit a timely implementation plan to the EPA directed toward meeting federal criteria. Another element acknowledged that existing control technologies could be inadequate to meet federally established standards. If so, industries would need to develop pollution control technologies for both stationary and mobile sources. The political compromise leading to the 1970 Clean Air Act amendments brought agreement on “science-based air quality standards that could force development of emission control technologies” while allowing the EPA Administrator to grant limited extensions. Current policy dynamics in Clean Air Act implementation intertwine EPA, state, industry, and other stakeholders. The EPA maintains formal relationships with states on State implementation plan (SIP) review and for toxic emission regulations. Industry trade associations represent their sectors as advocates and collaborators in policy processes.

Mitigation costs in a globalized world: climate policy analysis with REMIND-R.

Abstract: Within this paper, we present the novel hybrid model REMIND-R and its application in a climate policy context based on the EU target to avoid a warming of the Earth’s atmosphere by more than 2°C compared to the pre-industrial level. This paper aims to identify necessary long-term changes in the energy system and the magnitude of costs to attain such a climate protection target under different designs of the post-2012 climate policy regime. The regional specification of mitigation costs is analyzed in the context of globalization where regions are linked by global markets for emission permits, goods, and several resources. From simulation experiments with REMIND-R, it turns out that quite different strategies of restructuring the energy system are pursued by the regions. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the variance of mitigation costs is higher across regions than across policy regimes. First-order impacts, in particular, reduced rents from trade in fossil resources, prevail regardless of the design of the policy regime.

Therapy for naming difficulties in bilingual aphasia: which language benefits?

Abstract: Background: The majority of the world's population is bilingual. Yet, therapy studies involving bilingual people with aphasia are rare and have produced conflicting results. One recent study suggested that therapy can assist word retrieval in bilingual aphasia, with effects generalising to related words in the untreated language. However, this cross-linguistic generalisation only occurred into the person's stronger language (L1). While indicative, these findings were derived from just three participants, and only one received therapy in both languages. Aims: This study addressed the following questions. Do bilingual people with aphasia respond to naming therapy techniques developed for the monolingual population? Do languages respond differently to therapy and, if so, are gains influenced by language dominance? Does cross-linguistic generalisation occur and does this depend on the therapy approach? Is cross-linguistic generalisation more likely following treatment in L2 or L1? Methods & Procedures: The study involved five aphasic participants who were bilingual in English and Bengali. Testing showed that their severity and dominance patterns varied, so the study adopted a case series rather than a group design. Each person received two phases of naming therapy, one in Bengali and one in English. Each phase treated two groups of words with semantic and phonological tasks, respectively. The effects of therapy were measured with a picture-naming task involving both treated and untreated (control) items. This was administered in both languages on four occasions: two pre-therapy, one immediately post-therapy and one 4 weeks after therapy had ceased. Testing and therapy in Bengali was administered by bilingual co-workers. Outcomes & Results: Four of the five participants made significant gains from at least one episode of therapy. Benefits arose in both languages and from both semantic and phonological tasks. There were three instances of cross-linguistic generalisation, which occurred when items had been treated in the person's dominant language using semantic tasks. Conclusions & Implications: This study suggests that ‘typical’ naming treatments can be effective for some bilingual people with aphasia, with both L1 and L2 benefiting. It offers evidence of cross-linguistic generalisation, and suggests that this is most likely to arise from semantic therapy approaches. In contrast to some results in the academic literature, the direction of generalisation was from LI to L2. The theoretical implications of these findings are considered. Finally, the results support the use of bilingual co-workers in therapy delivery.

On the Determinants of Fiscal Non-Compliance: An Empirical Analysis of Spain's Regions

Abstract: This paper proposes an empirical framework that distinguishes between voluntary and involuntary compliance with fiscal deficit targets on the basis of economic, institutional and political factors. The framework is applied to Spain’s Autonomous Communities (regions) over the period 2002-2015. Fiscal non-compliance among Spain’s regions has proven persistent. It increases with the size of growth forecasting errors and the extent to which fiscal targets are tightened, factors not fully under the control of regional governments. Non-compliance also tends to increase during election years, when vertical fiscal imbalances become accentuated, and market financing costs subside. Strong fiscal rules have not shown any significant impact on containing fiscal noncompliance. Reducing fiscal non-compliance in multi-level governance systems such as Spain’s requires a comprehensive assessment of inter-governmental fiscal arrangements that looks beyond rules-based frameworks by ensuring enforcement procedures are politically credible.

The Marginal Abatement Cost of Carbon Emissions in China

Abstract: There is an emerging literature estimating the marginal cost of carbon mitigation in China using distance function approaches; however, empirical estimates vary widely in magnitude and variation, which undermines support for policies to curb carbon emission. Applying three commonly used distance functions to China's provincial data from 2001 to 2010, we show that the variability can be partially explained by the difference in the input/output coverage and whether the estimated marginal abatement cost (MAC) is conditional on the abatement of other correlated pollutants. We also argue that the substantial heterogeneity in abatement cost estimates could be related to an economic interpretation that radial measures reflect the short-run MACs while non-radial measures reflect the long run MACs. Our mean short-run MAC for carbon is 20 US$ per tonne, an amount that is very close to the carbon prices observed in China's recently launched pilot markets.

Using turn taking to achieve intertemporal cooperation and symmetry in infinitely repeated 2 × 2 games

Abstract: Turn taking is observed in many field and laboratory settings captured by various widely studied 2 ×2 games. This article develops a repeated game model that allows us to systematically investigate turn-taking behavior in many 2 × 2 games, including the battle of the sexes, the game of chicken, the game of common-pool- resources assignment, and a particular version of the prisoners' dilemma. We consider the"turntakingwithindependent randomizations"(TTIR)strategythatachievesthree objectives:(a)helpingtheplayersreachtheturn-takingpath,(b)resolvingthequestion of who takes the good turn first, and (c) deterring defection. We determine conditions under which there exists a unique TTIR strategy profile that can be supported as a subgame-perfect equilibrium. We also show that there exist conditions under which an increase in the "degree of conflict" of the stage game leads to a decrease in the expected number of periods in reaching the turn-taking path.