<p>The nitrogen cycle in freshwater bodies is complex and consists of many separate processes affected by a number of important factors for example oxygen concentration in the water, temperature and circulation. Knowledge of the different components of the nitrogen cycle exists; however, a complete and comprehensive picture is difficult conceptually as well as theoretically. The available literature illustrates that the research on nitrogen and the related freshwater processes is still associated with high uncertainty of how much of the supplied nitrogen from the catchment is transported with the water versus and how much is lost due to denitrification, sedimentation or uptake by plants. This report is an interdisciplinary survey of Nitrogen discharge permitting. The research focuses in particular on the decision-making process, the levels of scientific standard and the administrative framework.</p><p>Application for Nitrogen discharge permits are decided by the Environmental Court with council from their own experts as well as relevant government authorities and organisations. The court bases their decisions largely on a report that is produced by a third party with direct input from the permit applicant. With the goal aimed at cheapest production of report results in a situation where data is incomparable and discontinuous and hinders consistent rulings. Where there is a lack of knowledge, decisions are based on assumptions, estimations and intuition. To be able to make profitable decision for the society in environmental questions concerning Nitrogen there has to be an adequate basis. It has also pushed the Environmental Court to use the Precautionary Principle since threshold values become general and are not context specific. This has resulted in court rulings that, in hindsight, are uneconomical both for the applicant and broader society.</p><p>The permitting process must consider a range of directives and regulations. The basis for Swedish environmental law, and more specifically Nitrogen permitting, includes Miljöbalken, the Council Directive concerning urban waste-water treatment, the Council Directive concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources and the Water Policy Directive. Furthermore, the Broviken area investigated in this report is classified as a Natura 2000 in which some portions are slated to switch over to nature reserve status. In addition to all these directives and regulations, Nitrogen permitting must also take into consideration the 15 Environmental Goals declared by the Swedish Government.</p> / <p>Kvävets kretslopp i limniska miljöer är ett komplext förlopp bestående av flera processer vilka påverkas av en rad omgivande faktorer. Kännedom finns om de olika delprocesserna men exakt kunskap och en täckande helhetsbild är svår att få. Vid litteratursökning och samtal med verksamma inom området framkommer en bild av att forskning bedrivits med fokus på kväve och dess processer men har under 1990-talet stannat av och inriktats mer på andra områden och ämnen. Man vet för tillfället till exempel inte med säkerhet hur stor del av det kväve som tillförs vattnet som transporteras vidare och hur står del som denitrifieras, sedimenterar eller tas upp av växter. Detta skapar en osäkerhet i massbalansberäkningar och olika analyser och beräkningar av kvävets transport och påverkan på sin omgivning.</p><p>I miljödomstolens arbete att bedöma en ansökan om kväveutsläpp för en verksamhet ber de utöver sina egna experter olika myndigheter och organisationer om synpunkter. Dessa hämtar fakta för sina utlåtande från rapporter om miljöstatus i området. Ofta baseras olika myndigheter och organisationers uttalanden på samma rapport, en rapport som sökanden indirekt varit med att framställa genom ett vattenvårdsförbund. Då vattenvårdsförbundet genom påtryckning från sina medlemmar söker den billigaste lösningen av uppgiften miljöövervakning låter man de som tar minst betalt framställa en rapport och utföra arbetet. Detta har lett till byte mellan utförare av analys, miljöövervakning och rapportsammanställning vilket gett en diskontinuitet i data då provtagning inte skett på samma sätt. Underlagen blir osäkra och svåra att jämföra med tidigare analyser, långsiktiga trender blir svåra att se. Gränsvärden blir inte platsspecifika utan generella vilket kan leda till ekonomiskt olönsamma beslut både för den sökande och för samhället.</p><p>Kunskap är nyckeln till framgång. Det gäller inom många områden och så även när det kommer till kvävets processer i limniska miljöer. Vid bristande kunskap fattas beslut som baseras på antaganden, uppskattning eller känsla. För att kunna fatta samhällsekonomiskt lönsamma beslut om miljöfrågor krävs det att man har adekvata underlag.</p><p>Det finns många direktiv och förordningar att ta hänsyn till vid en tillståndsprocess. Till grund för miljölagstiftningen som berör kväveutsläpp ligger miljöbalken, avloppsdirektiv, nitratdirektiv och ramdirektivet för vatten. Broviken, som är en del av det geografiskt undersökta området i Mälarens avrinningsområde, är ett Natura 2000 område i vilket delar även kommer att bli naturreservat. Utöver dessa bestämmelser ska hänsyn till de av regeringen uppsatta 15 miljömålen tas vid tillståndsansökan. Hur dessa ska implementeras i lagstiftningen är dock osäkert.</p><p>Detta arbete är en tvärvetenskaplig kartläggning av de processer som leder till ett tillstånd för kväveutsläpp. Arbetet fokuserar på tillståndsprocessen, kunskapsnivån och vem som förvaltar kunskapen. Arbetet visar på svårigheter med många olika direktiv och mål utan klarhet i hur de ska följas och hur brist på vetenskapligt adekvata underlag leder till en stor osäkerhet i miljöstatus och en situation där utvecklingen av kvävehantering står still.</p>

2 pp. / Tips for Arizona's Rural Landowners / The Tips for Arizona's Rural Landowners Fact Sheet Series is intended to educate homeowners who have recently purchased small acreages in Arizona. The purpose of the series is to give homeowners information about living in rural settings. The Land Use Planning Unit includes fact sheets on open range concepts, easements, zoning and permitting, and homesiting.

3 pp. / Tips for Arizona's Rural Landowners / The Tips for Arizona's Rural Landowners Fact Sheet Series is intended to educate homeowners who have recently purchased small acreages in Arizona. The purpose of the series is to give homeowners information about living in rural settings. The Land Use Planning Unit includes fact sheets on open range concepts, easements, zoning and permitting, and homesiting.

5 pp. / Tips for Arizona's Rural Landowners / The Tips for Arizona's Rural Landowners Fact Sheet Series is intended to educate homeowners who have recently purchased small acreages in Arizona. The purpose of the series is to give homeowners information about living in rural settings. The Land Use Planning Unit includes fact sheets on open range concepts, easements, zoning and permitting, and homesiting.

2 pp. / Tips for Arizona's Rural Landowners / The Tips for Arizona's Rural Landowners Fact Sheet Series is intended to educate homeowners who have recently purchased small acreages in Arizona. The purpose of the series is to give homeowners information about living in rural settings. The Land Use Planning Unit includes fact sheets on open range concepts, easements, zoning and permitting, and home-siting.

The introduction of an IPPC proceedings into Czech law has been executed through implementation of requirements of Directives enacted at the level of European Communities and subsequently at the level of European Union and Czech republic was obliged to implement the content of the Directives by being a member state of those international organizations. During the IPPC proceedings of application for an integrated permit the participants and other subjects who can express their statement on the application a chance to influence the final content of an integrated permit. This influence subsequently might change the conditions of operation of large industrial and agricultural compounds and the emission limits binding for the operator of such compounds. This thesis focuses on an evaluation of possibilities to protect the environment through IPPC during the proceedings of application for an integrated permit, through managing the way of establishing the emission limits within the obligatory conditions of operation and through an influence of preceding proceeding and subsequent proceedings, which are part of allowing the intended activity of the operator.

The nitrogen cycle in freshwater bodies is complex and consists of many separate processes affected by a number of important factors for example oxygen concentration in the water, temperature and circulation. Knowledge of the different components of the nitrogen cycle exists; however, a complete and comprehensive picture is difficult conceptually as well as theoretically. The available literature illustrates that the research on nitrogen and the related freshwater processes is still associated with high uncertainty of how much of the supplied nitrogen from the catchment is transported with the water versus and how much is lost due to denitrification, sedimentation or uptake by plants. This report is an interdisciplinary survey of Nitrogen discharge permitting. The research focuses in particular on the decision-making process, the levels of scientific standard and the administrative framework. Application for Nitrogen discharge permits are decided by the Environmental Court with council from their own experts as well as relevant government authorities and organisations. The court bases their decisions largely on a report that is produced by a third party with direct input from the permit applicant. With the goal aimed at cheapest production of report results in a situation where data is incomparable and discontinuous and hinders consistent rulings. Where there is a lack of knowledge, decisions are based on assumptions, estimations and intuition. To be able to make profitable decision for the society in environmental questions concerning Nitrogen there has to be an adequate basis. It has also pushed the Environmental Court to use the Precautionary Principle since threshold values become general and are not context specific. This has resulted in court rulings that, in hindsight, are uneconomical both for the applicant and broader society. The permitting process must consider a range of directives and regulations. The basis for Swedish environmental law, and more specifically Nitrogen permitting, includes Miljöbalken, the Council Directive concerning urban waste-water treatment, the Council Directive concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources and the Water Policy Directive. Furthermore, the Broviken area investigated in this report is classified as a Natura 2000 in which some portions are slated to switch over to nature reserve status. In addition to all these directives and regulations, Nitrogen permitting must also take into consideration the 15 Environmental Goals declared by the Swedish Government. / Kvävets kretslopp i limniska miljöer är ett komplext förlopp bestående av flera processer vilka påverkas av en rad omgivande faktorer. Kännedom finns om de olika delprocesserna men exakt kunskap och en täckande helhetsbild är svår att få. Vid litteratursökning och samtal med verksamma inom området framkommer en bild av att forskning bedrivits med fokus på kväve och dess processer men har under 1990-talet stannat av och inriktats mer på andra områden och ämnen. Man vet för tillfället till exempel inte med säkerhet hur stor del av det kväve som tillförs vattnet som transporteras vidare och hur står del som denitrifieras, sedimenterar eller tas upp av växter. Detta skapar en osäkerhet i massbalansberäkningar och olika analyser och beräkningar av kvävets transport och påverkan på sin omgivning. I miljödomstolens arbete att bedöma en ansökan om kväveutsläpp för en verksamhet ber de utöver sina egna experter olika myndigheter och organisationer om synpunkter. Dessa hämtar fakta för sina utlåtande från rapporter om miljöstatus i området. Ofta baseras olika myndigheter och organisationers uttalanden på samma rapport, en rapport som sökanden indirekt varit med att framställa genom ett vattenvårdsförbund. Då vattenvårdsförbundet genom påtryckning från sina medlemmar söker den billigaste lösningen av uppgiften miljöövervakning låter man de som tar minst betalt framställa en rapport och utföra arbetet. Detta har lett till byte mellan utförare av analys, miljöövervakning och rapportsammanställning vilket gett en diskontinuitet i data då provtagning inte skett på samma sätt. Underlagen blir osäkra och svåra att jämföra med tidigare analyser, långsiktiga trender blir svåra att se. Gränsvärden blir inte platsspecifika utan generella vilket kan leda till ekonomiskt olönsamma beslut både för den sökande och för samhället. Kunskap är nyckeln till framgång. Det gäller inom många områden och så även när det kommer till kvävets processer i limniska miljöer. Vid bristande kunskap fattas beslut som baseras på antaganden, uppskattning eller känsla. För att kunna fatta samhällsekonomiskt lönsamma beslut om miljöfrågor krävs det att man har adekvata underlag. Det finns många direktiv och förordningar att ta hänsyn till vid en tillståndsprocess. Till grund för miljölagstiftningen som berör kväveutsläpp ligger miljöbalken, avloppsdirektiv, nitratdirektiv och ramdirektivet för vatten. Broviken, som är en del av det geografiskt undersökta området i Mälarens avrinningsområde, är ett Natura 2000 område i vilket delar även kommer att bli naturreservat. Utöver dessa bestämmelser ska hänsyn till de av regeringen uppsatta 15 miljömålen tas vid tillståndsansökan. Hur dessa ska implementeras i lagstiftningen är dock osäkert. Detta arbete är en tvärvetenskaplig kartläggning av de processer som leder till ett tillstånd för kväveutsläpp. Arbetet fokuserar på tillståndsprocessen, kunskapsnivån och vem som förvaltar kunskapen. Arbetet visar på svårigheter med många olika direktiv och mål utan klarhet i hur de ska följas och hur brist på vetenskapligt adekvata underlag leder till en stor osäkerhet i miljöstatus och en situation där utvecklingen av kvävehantering står still.

Numeric groundwater modeling techniques can assist water resources regulators pursuing prudent and foresightful aquifer management decisions. Unfortunately, the amount of time and professional expertise required to wield modern groundwater models often exceeds the resources of regulating agencies – even for simple modeling tasks that are repetitive in nature. In an effort to increase the accessibility of groundwater modeling resources, a server-based automated well permitting decision support system was designed. The prototype system allows a user to 1) input properties for any number of candidate wells, 2) execute an associated MOFLOW model, and 3) view relevant results of the simulation on a map such as drawdown contours and regions of decreased spring flow. The system extends the existing concept of automated well permitting geoprocessing, which involves customizable tools built with ArcGIS and Arc Hydro Groundwater geoprocessing components, by moving the geoprocessing tool to a server and creating an interactive web interface built with the Google Earth plug-in. Several strategies to initiate the server-based geoprocessing tool were considered, with and without ArcGIS Server software. A realistic case study was included to demonstrate the system in action. Such server-based automated decision support systems have promising potential to increase the accessibility of groundwater models, facilitating professional management of crucial water resources.

Lack of access to information on the cost and timeframe for the permitting and interconnection of distributed renewable energy generation facilities may hinder renewable energy capacity development. This issue is examined within the specific context of solar photovoltaic systems developed for participation in the Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program hosted by the Marin Energy Authority (MEA). A guide on the permitting and interconnection of solar PV generators for participation in the program was produced for the host agency. This guide seeks to assist property owners and solar developers in overcoming existing informational challenges. By providing an overview of the procedural requirements and process, as well as reference tools that highlights helpful resources and documents, the guide provides readers with an introductory tool for overcoming existing non-market barriers to participation in the MEA FIT program. In addition, a Recommendations Report has also been produced to provide the MEA with a discussion of existing procedural challenges faced by program participants. This report, which details the issues identified by those stakeholders that participated in the development of the guide, concludes with a series of recommended actions that the MEA may take to enhance the ability of potential FIT participants to accurately estimate and plan for the costs and timeframes associated with permitting a solar PV facility.

The nation's Section 404 permitting program, of the Clean Water Act (CWA), represents one of the longest regulatory histories of designing and implementing credit trading programs to satisfy regulatory requirements. The role and the function of in-lieu fee (ILF) programs in supporting this regulatory structure have undergone a substantial change. For the first time in the history of the Sec. 404 program, 33 CFR Part 332 and 40 CFR Part 230, Subpart J (the "2008 mitigation rule" or "rule"), prioritizes the use of off-site mitigation over on-site-mitigation. Additionally, the rule prioritizes advanced, third-party mitigation; especially as achieved through mitigation banks; over any off-site compensatory mitigation provided by ILF programs (33 CFR 332.3(b)(1)). This new regulatory environment favors the use of commercial mitigation bank credits while acknowledging that the limited permittee demand of off-site mitigation credits, in particular areas, justifies the continuing need for ILF programs (Corps and EPA 2008, p.19606,19611). This research examines how regulatory officials use ILF programs under the 2008 mitigation rule, and, it determines the extent to which ILF programs are capable of fulfilling the role envisioned for them under the 2008 mitigation rule. Simulation results indicate that commercial mitigation banks cannot meet risk adjusted returns under limited credit demand conditions. ILF programs offer some additional financial capacity to fill the void in commercial bank coverage; but, this potential is limited in low demand conditions. Furthermore, empirical case studies of a Virginia and Georgia provide evidence that regulatory officials rely on ILF programs to provide off-site compensatory mitigation almost exclusively in the absence of private credit supply, as intended in the 2008 rule. Evidence in Georgia and Virginia also indicate that, in some situations, ILF programs face difficulties in providing mitigation under the constraints of limited demand and more stringent regulatory requirements. / Master of Science / National permitting programs require people that impact wetlands or streams to offset unavoidable, adverse impacts by improving wetlands or streams elsewhere, a process called compensatory mitigation. A new regulatory rule, approved in 2008 (33 CFR Part 332 and 40 CFR Part 230, Subpart J), prioritizes that mitigation is provided at larger projects off-site of the impact. Key policy questions of “who should provide the mitigation?” and “when the mitigation should be provided” were an important part of the debate during the rule’s development. Wetland and stream mitigation may be provided by commercial (for profit) businesses, called mitigation banks. Commercial banks make wetland/stream improvement projects before permitted (adverse) impacts occur in anticipation of selling wetland/stream “credits” (quantified levels of improvement). Off-site mitigation may also be provided by in-lieu fee (ILF) programs operated by the government or nonprofit organizations. ILF programs first accept funds from permittees and then construct mitigation projects once sufficient funds have been collected, thus creating a lag between adverse impact and compensatory mitigation. The 2008 regulatory rule favors the use of commercial mitigation bank credits over ILF credits, but allows regulatory officials, under certain circumstances, to use ILF credits when commercial bank credits of the appropriate type are unavailable. This research examines how regulatory officials use ILF programs, and it investigates the extent to which ILF programs are financially capable of providing off-site mitigation in situations where the appropriate commercial credits are unavailable. A financial simulation model is developed to examine the feasibility of mitigation projects under different costs and credit demand conditions. Results indicate that commercial mitigation banks cannot meet financial objectives under limited credit demand conditions. ILF programs offer some additional financial capacity to fill the void in commercial bank coverage, but ILF programs also face financial limitations under conditions with low demand for credits. Empirical case studies of Virginia and Georgia provide evidence that regulatory officials rely on ILF programs to provide off-site compensatory mitigation almost exclusively in the absence of a private credit supply, as intended in the 2008 rule. However, evidence in Virginia and Georgia also affirm that ILF programs face difficulties in providing mitigation in some situations of limited demand and stringent regulatory requirements.