Environmental Policy Program¹
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The Environmental Policy Program is a major research and training center that has the objective of enhancing the quality of environmental policy in the state, the nation and throughout the world. Engaged in scholarly research projects focused on water resources conservation and environmental natural resources management, the Program has provided policy advice to the government and private sectors since 1993.

The program has established collaborative relationships with many other universities and organizations. Examples of collaborative partnerships include those established between the Program and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, as well as the University of New Mexico. A new collaboration was established in the fall of this year between Georgia Southern University and GSU with the inauguration of the Coastal Rivers Water Planning & Policy Center. The venture included the creation of a new Graduate Program in Water Resources Management and Policy at Georgia Southern. The Center joins the Environmental Policy Program's water center, the North Georgia Metropolitan Water Planning and Policy Center, and the Flint River Water Planning & Policy Center as part of a consortium of Albany State, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern universities, forming an objective statewide institution of water resource think tanks (Georgia Water Planning & Policy Center) to assist in leading the State's water planning, research and education efforts.

Other activities of the Environmental Policy Program include the Experimental Economics Laboratory, an air quality program and a pollution prevention program. It maintains a field of experimental economics for graduate students. Ronald Cummings is the Program's Director, and Laura Taylor is Associate Director.

In This Page

• Programs
• Projects
• The Environmental and Experimental Economics Laboratory
• Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center

Programs

The Water Resources Center: North Georgia Metropolitan Water Planning & Policy Center. This year's focus was directed towards the continued development of collaborative water centers to serve Georgia's complex needs in water resource management. As a consortium member of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center Organization, the center provides research and policy analysis on issues facing Atlanta and North Georgia for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division, policy makers, businesses and stakeholders. Through its collaborative and broad based effort with its sister institutions at Albany State University and Georgia Southern University, some of Georgia's most difficult water management issues are addressed. For example, the effect urban growth has upon water quality and quantity; irrigation and cropping for Georgia's agribusiness sector under drought conditions; the preservation of endangered mussels in the Flint River; and factors that affect the preservation of the Floridan Aquifer.

Pollution Prevention Program. The Brownfields Project assists policymakers with new ideas in the economic management of revitalizing toxic industrial sites. The project uses a unique database of commercial and industrial properties in Atlanta to quantify the reduced economic potential of brownfields and their possible spillover effects onto surrounding properties in the most comprehensive manner possible, and to disseminate this information in a manner that is accessible to policy makers, community leaders, and all stakeholders.

Joint Research with Georgia Southern University. Development of new graduate and certificate programs in Water and Natural Resources Management with newly established Coastal Rivers Water Planning and Policy Center in the School of Regional Economic Development (formerly Bureau of Business and Economic Development).

Joint Research with Albany State University. Continuation of development of graduate and certificate training programs in Water and Natural Resources Management.

Joint Research with Oak Ridge National Laboratory. On going experimental economics research in investment strategies and compliance behaviors with Adjunct Professor David J. Bjornstad.

Joint Research with the Centers For Disease Control, Atlanta. Support for information exchange and partnering initiatives with the Chemical Demilitarization Branch of the National Center for Environmental Health.

Sponsored Projects

Agricultural Water Policy Research Center. Ronald G. Cummings. Research and development for water planning center in southeast Georgia to assist farmers and stakeholders who rely upon the Floridan Aquifer. ($341,822)

Innovative Water Policies. Ronald G. Cummings. Provide research and leadership in the development of processes for assessing water use preparing and implementing basin water plans for regional water planning with the Flint River Water Planning & Policy Center and throughout the state. ($187,400)

Auction Mechanisms. Susan Laury. Research and design of new mechanisms for water auctions during drought conditions. Georgia Department of Natural Resources. ($156,903)

Resources in the Flint River Basin. Ronald G. Cummings. Research to identify strategies and programs that might be adopted by the Flint River Regional Water Council, Inc., to reduce threats that may occur during drought periods, thereby enhancing the quality of environmental and ecological resources in the Basin. ($161,192)

E-Commerce. Ronald G. Cummings. Experimental Laboratory design for potential markets in internet commerce. Georgia Research Alliance. ($85,000)

Game Theory and Social Interaction. Susan Laury. A "virtual collaborotory" to study game theory using web-based economics experiments. National Science Foundation. ($200,348, 2001-2006)

Research Support for the Flint River Policy Center. Georgia Research Alliance. Ronald G. Cummings. Conduct the research necessary to develop expertise in the design and administration of water policies relevant for the conditions of water scarcity that exist in Georgia. ($275,000)

Meeting Georgia's Needs for Expertise in Water Policy. Albany State University. Ronald G. Cummings. Support for the development of a center of excellence with relevant expertise that can serve as the nucleus for expanding programs of teaching and research in water policy for Georgia. A collaborative program with the agricultural community in the Flint River Basin, Albany State University Graduate School and Georgia State University. ($550,000)

POWRE Program. Susan Laury. An experimental economics study on charitable giving. National Science Foundation. ($23,800)

Intergovernmental Personnel Agreement with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ronald G. Cummings. Fosters cooperation and the free exchange of ideas between the Chemical Demilitarization Branch of the National Center for Environmental Health and Georgia State University on issues relating to federal and state environmental programs, partnering initiatives, and public outreach issues. ($72,108)

Software and Data Library for Experiments, Simulations, and Archiving. Ronald G. Cummings. National Science Foundation Subcontract with the University of South Carolina to build, maintain and evaluate a new kind of digital library, a "Web-Lab Library," to link experimental economists and experimental sociologists into a single knowledge network. ($72,900)

Comprehensive Plan to Manage Environmental Information (AEPI). Ronald G. Cummings. Department of Defense and Army Environmental Policy Institute. Communications analysis for support of developing community and university partnerships in examining Army Policy. ($109,860)

Estimation of Economic Impacts of Brownfields in Urban Areas. Laura Taylor. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. ($93,000)

Development for new and continued funding:

Continuation of Year Two pending for the Agricultural Water Policy Research Center, support for Coastal Rivers Water Planning & Policy Center U.S. Department of Agriculture. ($561,800)

Continuation of Year Two pending for Innovative Water Policies, Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission. ($400,000)

Publications

Environmental Policy Working Paper Series:

The Environmental and Experimental Economics Laboratory

With support from the Georgia Research Alliance, The Environmental & Experimental Economics Laboratory is a state of the art facility unique to the Southeast. It functions as a research center to assist in determining valuations for environmental damages, assessing market values for non-renewable resources and projecting future economic resource needs. Its primary use is for studies that focus on critical behavioral relationships between policy rules, individual perceptions of the incentives associated with these rules, and outcomes. Ronald Cummings is the Director of the Environmental & Experimental Economics Laboratory.

The lab provides a facility for research and teaching in the areas of environmental regulation compliance, non-market valuation, transition to the use of markets, and collective decisions in the management of environmental resources. Critical policy questions concern the response of individuals to proposed policy initiatives. Through the laboratory, users gain insights into the impact of the use of markets for the trading of emissions and the extent of compliance with environmental regulations. The laboratory also allows evaluation of methods of obtaining individual valuation of environmental resources. For example, in the area of Fiscal Policy, it provides a means of testing the behavioral aspects of various programs designed to enhance tax compliance and of investigating the conditions under which voluntary contributions will be successful in providing collective goods.

The Portable Environmental and Experimental Economics Laboratory

The Portable Laboratory consists of 30 Pentium notebook subject stations, a notebook server and portable hubs. With travel cases designed specifically to transport the facility, staff can easily conduct laboratory experiments at sites throughout the world. The Lab traveled this year to the University of New Mexico, Albany State University, and Georgia Southern University.

Economic Experiments

• Researchers working with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division, March 17, 2001 marked the first voluntary water permit auction held in Georgia, also the first of its kind in the U.S., whereby participating farmers could voluntarily sell back their irrigation permits to the EPD in an effort to preserve water in the Flint River during the 4th year of Georgia's severe drought.
• A series of cross-cultural economic experiments were initiated in conjunction with the University of New Mexico with the portable lab during August.

Environmental & Experimental Economics Forum
2001 Seminar Series

Activities and Visitors

Virgil J. Norton, Visiting Faculty from Albany State University and Director of the Flint River Water Planning & Policy Center.

Mark D. Morrison, Visiting Faculty from Charles Sturt University, New South Wales, Australia. With expertise in water resources and environmental valuation, Morrison will assist in setting the research agenda for the North Georgia Metropolitan Water Planning & Policy Center.

Mitch King, Visiting Research Scholar. As part of an executive training program with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, Mitch King, Assistant Regional Director, Region IV, chose to work with the Environmental Policy Program because of its multifaceted state and federal research projects. Mr. King's area of interest is in the support of the Endangered Species Act and in policies that protect Georgia's natural resources. He assisted the Environmental Policy Program in the research and formulation of water policies for the Flint River Water Planning and Policy Center in Albany Georgia and created a model program with the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation commission to assist the farmers in irrigation efficiency practices.

Charles Holt, Visiting Scholar, University of Virginia. Holt co-authored the book Experimental Economics (with Doug Davis) and is a founding co-editor of the new journal Experimental Economics. Research deals with both game theory and experimental tests of these theories, and his recent work has applied bounded rationality and introspection models to a range of games including coordination, public goods, and the traveller's dilemma.

Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center

The mission of the Georgia Water Planning & Policy Center is to provide leadership in the design and implementation of policies affecting water use throughout Georgia. It is composed of three regional centers of academic expertise in Water Policy, Planning, and Research: the Flint River Water Planning & Policy Center at Albany State University, the North Georgia Metropolitan Water Planning & Policy Center at Georgia State University, and the Coastal Rivers Water Planning & Policy Center at Georgia Southern University. William G. (Jerry) Usry is the Center Coordinator, and Ronald Cummings is Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar.

Publications

The Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center inaugurated its first edition of Water Talk, December 2001. Water Talk is published periodically in response to questions arising from ongoing debates related to the future shape of water policy in the state. Its primary purpose is to address questions in a manner that contributes to the clarification of issues that are of interest to stakeholders in the state. A question-answer format is used for these purposes. Staff at the Flint River Water Planning & Policy Center coordinated the December publication.

Water Policy Working Paper Series

Flint River Water Planning & Policy Center

The mission of the Flint River Regional Water Planning and Policy Center is to provide leadership in the design and implementation of policies affecting water use in the Flint River Basin. Research and other activities carried out by the Albany State University water center are aimed at improving the efficiency of water use and allocation, which in turn, contributes to enhancing the short & long term economic situation in southwest Georgia and throughout the state. Virgil Norton directs the Flint River Water Planning & Policy Center.

Projects

On going Research Funded by External Contracts and Grants.
Joint project with the USDA National Peanut Research Lab on limited irrigation, funded by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. ($59,506; 2001-2002)

Contract with the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission for examining the potential role of small reservoirs and ponds for supplementing irrigation sources. ($150,000; 2001-2002)

Contract with the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission to study irrigation uniformity and efficiency, and the potential to apply advancements from other countries and states to Georgia. ($68,050; 2001-2002)

Development of a computer database for literature from throughout the world on irrigation efficiency and economic aspects of irrigation. (un-funded, on-going project)

Analysis of water use by industry in the Flint River Basin. (un-funded, on-going project)

Under review

Improving Water Use Efficiency in Agriculture, USDA/NRI Competitive Grants Program. ($193,000, under review)

Coastal Rivers Water Planning & Policy Center

Phyllis Isley and Dallas Rhodes, Co-Directors
Donna Fisher, Karen McCurdy, Ben Thompson, Faculty

October 1, 2001 marked the beginning of the new Coastal Rivers Water Planning and Policy Center for southeast Georgia. Within a few months the Center established itself as a regional center serving the needs of southeast Georgia. Residing in the College of Business' School of Regional Economic Development, the Center will play a proactive role in assessing water use issues that affect southeast Georgia and the Floridan Aquifer. An Advisory Board, and Board of Directors, was created to represent regional stakeholders and water users to help establish research goals and priorities. Advanced degree and certificate programs in water management and policy are scheduled to be available to students during Fall and Spring semesters of 2002-03.

Emphasis is given to water use characteristics that are of central importance for efforts to estimate future water use as applied to the source of water, farm production cycles and cropping plans, agribusiness production cycles, seasonal changes in water uses caused by population migration and second home uses. Irrigation technology demonstration projects are being designed for willing participants to demonstrate the yield-effectiveness of alternative irrigations systems. Professor Isley serves on the Governor's Joint Water Plan Study Committee.