Comparative research was conducted to assess the environmental impacts of the Adopt-a-Pond program, which operates throughout Hillsborough County, Florida. The Adopt-a-Pond program was established in 1992 and designed to address nonpoint pollution through outreach and stormwater pond enhancement. However, the program had never been thoroughly and scientifically evaluated. Therefore, assessments of water quality and vegetative characteristics were made at ninety Adopt-a-Pond participants and eleven control ponds to explore the potential impacts of the program on measurable environmental parameters. Statistical analysis of the results failed to demonstrate any statistically significant environmental improvements associated with the Adopt-a-Pond program, and measures of program activity did not illustrate a consistently positive relationship. These results indicate a need to readdress the policies and implementation of the program. Poor compliance by program volunteers, evident by the limited span of group participation (mean = 2.5 years) and relatively low percentage of actively involved residents, is the most likely culprit for the unremarkable improvements in pond quality, as pond enhancement techniques are firmly established in the literature. Overall, these conclusions underline the need for an integrated evaluation component in policymaking and an adaptive management approach to environmental management. A more detailed analysis is warranted to provide time series data, which examines ponds both before and after entry to the program and after implementing landmark improvement measures. In the end, the results of the study have provided a better understanding of the AAP and other similar restoration programs, and hopes to allow for enhancement of AAP program restoration practices.

The water quality in the United States has greatly improved since the implementation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in the early 1970s. Unfortunately, the Clean Water Act only addresses one kind of water pollution, point source pollution. The major problem that is present in the degradation of todays water quality has to deal with nonpoint source pollution. Agriculture is commonly regarded as the leading contributor to nonpoint source pollution in the United States. This study uses two analytical tools to try to determine the significant factors in the transport of pollutants in the Lower Kentucky Watershed, located in central Kentucky. Spatial analysis (GIS) coupled with the statistical analysis (SAS), allowed for significant factors to be identified within a small proximity of sampling sites throughout the watershed. The results suggest that although agriculture is commonly regarded as the largest contributor to nonpoint source pollution, other factors outside of agriculture were also found to be significant, such as resident land use and rainfall. The results generated from this study suggest that land managers in communities throughout the watershed should analyze agricultural factors, as well as, factors outside of agriculture, in an effort to protect their communities water quality.

This dissertation consists of three chapters that explore environmental policy. Chapter 1 empirically investigates the potential for incentives to encourage the adoption of low-emission alternatives to gasoline motorcycles. Hanoi, Vietnam, like many Asian cities, is experiencing rapid growth in the ownership of personal gasoline-powered motorcycles and scooters, and along with this heightened air quality issues. Electric scooters have the potential to reduce air pollution as an alternative to gasoline-powered motorcycles; however, electric scooters have yet to penetrate the Vietnamese and other large Asian markets. This study uses a choice experiment survey to elicit the demand for electric scooters, with focus on the effects that economic incentives and technology improvements have on adoption. Chapter 2 takes the first steps toward incorporating point sources into the theoretical discussion on nonpoint pollution ambient taxes. Previous investigations into the use of ambient taxes for nonpoint source pollution have not addressed the role of point sources, even though many watersheds have both source types. This paper examines the use of taxes for jointly regulating point and nonpoint sources. A model of point-nonpoint pollution is developed, and within this framework taxes are applied to achieve different regulatory objectives, including implementing optimal emissions reductions, as well as meeting exogenously specified environmental goals at least cost. Discussion centers on comparison of the point and nonpoint taxes in each scenario. Chapter 3 is an experimental economics examination of the design of markets for water quality trading. Water quality trading is endorsed by policymakers as a tool for reducing pollution in watersheds in a cost-effective manner, and many watersheds in the U.S. have established water quality trading programs. As a whole, these programs have not been successful. It is hypothesized that common features of these programs, such as the market institutions in place, may contribute to the limited success. As a first step in empirically investigating water quality trading markets, this study uses laboratory experiments to isolate how different institutions affect economic efficiency. In particular, we compare cap-and-trade, two forms of baseline-and-credit institution, and a tax/subsidy regulation, and examine the effect of introducing fixed technology costs with these four institutions.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 193-217).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1996. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-161). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1996. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 154-161). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Texas State University--San Marcos, 2009. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 133-163. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 16-20, 52-53, 87-91, 116-119, 130-132). References in more than one sequence of leaves. Also available on microfilm.

Thesis (M.A.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2008. / Directed by Roy Stine; submitted to the Dept. of Geography. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Aug. 17, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 44-48).

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, June, 2003. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-129)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-146).