Economic efficiency of environmental legislation as it affects small hydropower development at existing dams in North Carolina

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5294377

Meardon, K R

Small hydropower development at existing dams is affected by a number of pieces of Federal environmental legislation. Such legislation typically does not differentiate between large and small hydropower projects and their relative environmental impacts. Small hydropower development at existing dams is generally thought to have few or minor adverse impacts. The benefits of the environmental legislation may thus be small relative to its costs. This study assesses the economic efficiency (broadly defined to include nonmarket values) of eight major pieces of Federal environmental legislation: the Clean Water Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Wildlife Refuge Act, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the Wilderness Act. The costs examined are real resource costs and lost power production costs. The benefits examined are avoided adverse impacts and improvement in environmental quality. A data base of 152 existing dams in North Carolina was used from which 48 dams were identified as being developed in the absence of the legislation. The effects of the legislation on these dams were then identified, and the costs and benefits estimated. Under the basecase analysis, none of the legislation was found to be economically efficient.

• Research Organization: Duke Univ., Durham, NC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5294377
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY
130500 -- Hydro Energy-- Economic
Industrial
& Business Aspects
130600* -- Hydro Energy-- Environmental Aspects
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
296000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
ELECTRIC POWER
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
FEDERAL REGION IV
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
HYDROELECTRIC POWER
HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS
NATIONAL GOVERNMENT
NORTH AMERICA
NORTH CAROLINA
POWER
POWER PLANTS
REGULATIONS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SMALL-SCALE HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS
USA