Massage Therapy Proven Beneficial Health And Social Care Essay

Massage can be used in assorted signifiers to excite and loosen up. Physical and psychological benefits have been used throughout history and are used to handle conditions. The curative touch has led to its usage as a holistic intervention. Massage is the use of superficial beds of musculus and connective tissue to advance relaxation and wellbeing. Massage involves moving on and pull stringsing the organic structure with force per unit area. The mark tissues include musculuss, sinews, ligaments, tegument, articulations and any other connective tissue every bit good as lymphatic vass or any variety meats of the GI system. There are over 80 different recognised massage modes and the most cited grounds for presenting massage as therapy have been client demand and sensed clinical effectivity. Rubing parts of the organic structure is a natural and natural manner to alleviate hurting and uncomfortableness. This inherent aptitude was likely led to most signifiers of massage. The first to be developed was the sense of touch and it is indispensable to our growing as human existences. Massage can be used to excite or loosen up. McDonald and Goldberg ( 1996:72-89 ) insist that throughout its history it has been used for both its physical and physiological benefits and is used to handle a scope of conditions from both emphasis and position related to concerns, abdominal, pelvic, musculus and back hurting either a consequence from specific hurts like falls, athleticss and auto accidents or merely general hurting. The curative touch has led to its usage as a holistic intervention, one that treats the organic structure and head as a whole. The word ‘massage ‘ is thought to be deprived either from the Arabic for ‘press quietly ‘ or from the Greek for ‘knead ‘ , massage interventions has been passed down through centuries for 1000s of old ages. In ancient China over five thousand old ages ago there was a system of massage and exercising in usage, it is about certain that most races used massage and exercising in one signifier or another dating as far back as the prehistoric ages of adult male. Peoples of ancient civilizations in Persia, Japan and Egypt practised the art of massage for decorative intents and besides found out that they all gained curative effects when they rubbed oils and aromas into their organic structure to fancify their tegument. Around 500BC the Grecian historian Herodotus applied exercisings and massage on the intervention of disease rules about the technique of rubbing that began to be formulated. Massage was directed off from the bosom and the force per unit area was varied during the intervention. It would get down with being soft and so it becomes deeper and quicker and ends easy. In the big metropoliss of Greece, acrobatic Centres were set up where pupils and philosophers could run into to discourse doctrine and attend talks while bathing and exerting at the same clip. Hippocrates, the male parent of medical specialty about 380BC truly merely used massage for the intervention of hurts and diseases, he found that it was more good if friction was done towards the bosom during the intervention although the circulatory system was non understood so. From his accent on force per unit area application he discovered the physiological effects of massage that are accepted today. During 130-200AD a celebrated phy sician during the Roman epoch called Galen experimented in physiology and discovered that arterias were filled with blood, non air as antecedently believed. He varied the way of massage and besides greatly believed in handling hurts and diseases with it. During the fifteenth, 16th and 17th centuries, Switzerland, France, Italy, Prussia and England produced several celebrated sawboness and doctors who began one time once more to utilize massage intervention for hurts and diseases. The old nomenclature of massage remained but new words were introduced such as force per unit area, working and uses. From the terminal of the 18th century a great resurgence in massage began. Many governments wrote and expounded their theories on the topic, one extremist advocated that massage should be performed with great force and they all had different thoughts about the nomenclature, force per unit area, rate, beat and any medium such as oil or pulverization that can be used, the place of the patient and the continuance of the intervention. In the early 19th century Peter Henry Ling of Sweden made the most dramatic part to rub down at this clip. His influence spread throughout Europe and America, he realised that it was of import to get certain cognition of anatomy and physiology before using massage interventions. He created a manner of intervention to advance wellness by increasing blood circulation and exciting the organic structure ‘s curative abilities. It is known that Ling ‘s greatest influence came from a Chinese friend who was a maestro of soldierly humanistic disciplines and Chinese Tui Na massage. A Dutch practician names Johan Georg Mezgar subsequently developed a decreased set of Ling ‘s techniques to organize our modern manner of Swedish massage ; it is Mezgar who adapted the Gallic names normally used to bespeak the basic shots. Doctor Mezgar helped to set up massage as a reputable agencies of intervention by ordering it widely and rehearsing it himself. In 1894 a group of adult females joined together to organize a society of trained masseuses in order to seek to raise the repute and criterion of massage in this state. Although massage in physical therapy had reached a high criterion it seemed as though there was an pressing demand to raise the criterion in the beauty industry. Harmonizing to Jenkins, Massage of kernel ( 2006 ) , the term holistic comes from the Grecian word ‘Holos ‘ which means whole. The holistic attack takes the individuals whole organic structure into history. The intervention takes an consequence on the organic structure originating from environment, psychological science and nutrition. Holistic massage dainties each individual separately in context of their ain life, it enables the individual to better and command their wellness, and it ever keeps the rule of handling the organic structure, head and psyche as one. Holistic massage is about looking at the causes of tenseness and working with the whole organic structure to assist reconstruct the whole organic structure ‘s natural interior balance. The attack with holistic massage is based around oil-based Swedish massage ( effleurage, petrissage and percussion ) Massage as a holistic intervention takes into consideration the physical, mental, religious and environmental fortunes of a individual having a massage intervention, this means that the intervention should be different for each individual. Massage benefits the organic structure because of the particular techniques it involves. The motions and steadfast force per unit area affect all systems in the organic structure, including soft tissues such as musculuss and ligaments and besides nervousnesss and secretory organs. When the force per unit area is applied in motions to your musculuss it is in melody with the natural flow of blood back to your heat. Massage is one of the best known counterpoisons for emphasis ; cut downing emphasis gives you more energy. It improves your mentality on life and reduces your likeliness of unwellness and hurt. It can besides alleviate symptoms of conditions that are aggravated by anxiousness. There are psychological and physiological effects of massage, which some of them are:PsychologicalEncourages the head and organic structure Concentration and watchfulness is frequently improved due to relaxation Emotional effusions Energy degrees are increased Addition in assurance and positive mentality Promotes a feeling of increased wellness and well-being Reduces emphasis degrees Increases the clients feeling of being cared for, supported and nurturedPhysiologicalAids general relaxation Stimulates blood circulation Helps better lymphatic flow Reduces muscular tenseness Layers of the tegument are stimulated which increases cellular map and regeneration of cells Reliefs stiffness in the cervix and shoulder ensuing in hurting alleviation Loosens scar tissue Warms the musculuss Nerve terminations are soothed and stimulated Aidss in peeling bettering the texture of the tegument Softens fatso sedimentations Helps cut down non medical puffiness Encourages deeper take a breathing to a more relaxed external respirationEffectss on the skeletal systemImproves muscle tone and balance Reduces the physical emphasis placed on articulations and castanetss It helps to liberate adhesions Additions joint mobility, cut downing any thickener of the connective tissueEffectss on the Muscular systemReliefs muscular stringency, stiffness, limitations and cramps in the musculus tissue Additions flexibleness in the musculuss Additions blood circulation Reduces musculus weariness and tenderness Promotes rapid remotion of waste and toxins from the musculusEffectss on the lymphatic systemReduces oedema Additions lymph drainage Strengthens the immune systemEffectss on the Nervous systemStimulates centripetal receptors Reduces hurting by the release of endorphins Stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system Promotes relaxation Reduces emphasisEffectss on the cardiovascular systemImproves circulation Dilates blood vass Produces an enhanced blood flow Helps temporarily diminish blood flow Decreases bosom rate due to relaxation Reduces ischaemiaEffectss on the tegumentImproves circulation Increased nutrition to the cells and encourages cell regeneration Additions production of perspiration from the perspiration secretory organs Improves snap on the tegument Additions sebum production Helps better the teguments colour Helps to better the teguments lissomeness and opposition to infectionEffectss on the digestive systemAdditions vermiculation in the big bowel Helps to alleviate irregularity Promotes the activity of parasympathetic nervous system. Which stimulates digestionEffectss on the urinary systemAdditions circulation and lymph drainage from the tissuesEffectss on the respiratory systemSlows down the rate of respiration Improves lung capacity by loosen uping stringency in the respiratory musculuss Massage uses specific techniques such as effleurage, petrissage, working and tapotement ; these treat the soft tissues of the organic structure. Motions are chiefly towards the bosom so it can better blood and lymph circulation, every bit good as to cut down musculus tenseness and to promote flexibleness. The massage techniques have certain effects to the organic structure which are:EffleurageComforting consequence on the nervousnesss including relaxation Additions both blood and lymph circulation Tension alleviation, loosen uping tense musculuss Helping peelingPetrissageAdditions blood and lymph circulation Increases venous return Breaks down tenseness nodules Aidss relaxation Speeds up the remotion of waste merchandisesTapotementAidss sulky clashs Tones and strengthens musculuss Helps loosen mucous secretion in thorax conditions Produces erethyma Stimulates nerve terminationsClashsHelps to interrupt down tight nodules Aidss in relaxation Additions lymph and blood flowVibrationsClears and stimulates the nervousnesss tracts Reliefs tenseness in the cervix and dorsum Can assist increase the action of lungs Helps to increase vermiculation in the colonIndiaIn India massage therapy was licensed in March 1955 by the section of Ayurveda, yoga and naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and homoeopathy under the ministry of wellness and household public assistance.ChinaIn china many of the smaller massage parlors are foreparts for harlotry. These are called falangmei. Most types of massage are non regulated in China without the exclusion of some traditional Chinese medical specialty.JapanIn Japan oil and Thai massage are non regulated but shiatsu massage is cocottes presenting as massage healers are reasonably common in the larger metropoliss ; they pose in manner wellness stores and pink salons.FranceIn order to acquire a licence it requires three old ages of survey and two tests.South KoreaIn South Korea, merely visually- impaired and unsighted people can go accredited massage healers.New ZealandIn New Zealand, massage is unregulated. The professional organic structure for massage healers and the enrol lment at the remedial massage healer denotes competence in the pattern of remedial or orthopedic massage ; these are two degrees of enrollment of massage in New Zealand. Both degrees are defined by in agreement minimal hours and competences.MexicoMassage healers in Mexico combine massage utilizing oils or lotions, the healers are called †sob adores † and they are used to alleviate digestive jobs every bit good as back and articulatio genus hurting. Many of these healers work from the dorsum of a truck and in many parts of Mexico cocottes are allowed to sell sexual massage. This concern is frequently confined to a specific country of Mexico such as zonte norte.Client CareWhen you give a massage intervention to a client appropriate attention for that client involves sing all their demands associating to the massage. Client attention involves practical stairss you take to care for the client ‘s well- being before, during and after the intervention. A clean and unagita ted ambiance will assist the client to experience more comfy and relaxed, and to besides concentrate on the individual acquiring a massage throughout the whole intervention.Client ModestyA client ‘s privateness and modestness must be respected at all times during and after the intervention. You need to merely expose the organic structure portion that gets treated one by one. Clients need privateness in which to undress, besides any notes made during and after the intervention must be locked up firmly afterwards. A audience must be done where no organic structure else can hear it.Client ConfidentialityDuring a intervention anything the client says must be regarded and should non be discussed outside the intervention room or to any other healer. If advice is needed from another healer to come on clients needs so it should be understood from the other healer that it maintains the confidentiality other than that the clients permission is needed to make so.Health and safetyThe well ness and safety Torahs are designed to protect the healer and their clients and punishments for conflicting these Torahs can be terrible, therefore it is extremely of import that the healer high spots their duties and their rights. The wellness and safety at work act 1974 covers all facets of wellness, safety and public assistance at work. It indentifies the duties of the employers and employees. Employers are responsible for the wellness and safety to anyone who comes into their premises. They must supply a safe environment and personal protection. They must take sensible safeguards to protect the wellness and safety of themselves, co-workers and clients.Cite survey ; Massage eases AnxietyKaren J.Sherman, a senior research worker at the group wellness research institute ( 2010 ) states that on mean three months after having 10 massage interventions, patients had half the symptoms for anxiousness. Massage therapy is among the most popular complimentary and alternate medical intervention for anxiousness. A test began to asses how effectual massage is for patients with an anxiousness upset. The test was assigned 68 group wellness patients with a upset to Sessionss in a pleasant and restful environment. Massage healer ‘s delivered their interventions of massage or one of two control interventions. The massage interventions were designed to heighten the map of the nervous system and to alleviate symptoms of anxiousness including musculus tenseness. The control groups were relaxation and thermotherapy. Anxiety upset can be treated besides through medical specialty therapy which is medical and cost effectual. The benefits of massage may be due to a general relaxation response. The massage therapy reduces stress endocrines and epinephrine and increases the relaxation of alpha encephalon moving ridges and besides reduces anxiousness degrees where as the negative consequence is that massage is to be no more effectual than simple relaxation with comforting music. The results of this survey is that Massage easing anxiousness is seeking to turn out that it is n't merely a massage that can assist with anxiousness ; there are other ways of assisting such as sitting in a unagitated environment listening to comforting music. It shows that massages decreases the symptoms of anxiousness and can besides be less expensive.

Difficult position Essay

The play the crucible was written by Arthur Miller .The play was based on a hurricane of mass hysteria .The crucible has been adapted from true life events .The play shows the cry of witchery evolve and grow out of hand .Written by Arthur Miller based on personal problems which have effected his life .The McCarthy trials in which he found himself in an very difficult position, but also very similar to those of Massachusetts in Salem in the 17th Century. Miller used this play to show opposition to McCarthyism in which it was seen as Un- American to be a communist. Anti-communism was strongly encouraged .Thousands of Americans were accused and they were aggressively investigated and if you wanted to prevent yourself from paying a heavy fine you had to point the finger at someone else, he described this as â€Å"Quite crazy†. He was really interested by the strong correlation with Communism and the Salem witch hunt . And even went to Salem Massachusetts to research the witch trials. Arthur Miller in the play shows the significance of ones name and the value within it.  Abigail Williams a small girl created madness falsely accusing innocent people to seek revenge .She felt once Elizabeth Proctor, John Proctor’s wife was dead she will have him all to herself she believes that John Proctor and her haven’t finished yet, from their previous affair .Accusing John Proctor of â€Å"Putting knowledge in her heart†. Accusing him of destroying her innocence by taking her virginity .So for a time when the church is suppose to be a big part in everybody’s life he knows it wont look good on his behalf .She has malicious intentions, initially intending to get Elizabeth killed .It started as dancing in the woods and drinking blood which was a supposed ritual. She had a real plan for everything to go haywire. John Proctor’s guilt over affair with Abigail makes his position uneasy because he is guilty of the very hypocrisy he scorns in others. It silences his voice to speak out. This adds tension because he’s craving to testify against Abigail. But initially doesn’t this also adds dramatic irony.  Giles Corey is very fearful and died due to this; a lot of tension was caused by this. Tension is caused by him not confessing or accusing someone else of witchery consequently encountering a slow and painful death. Forced to plead guilty by pressing heavy stones on his chest he died by being crushed under the weight of these many stones .A slow painful death made it aching to read about and curious to find out what was going to happen next. Stage direction enabled us to visualise what was going on, on the stage. As it amplified the scenes and tension was added because the bigger and better the stage direction meant the scene was more detailed.  Act 4 began with the isolation of a jail in Salem the stage direction tells us that Sarah Good and Tituba both in rags tells us they have been ill treated. There in darkness and light only seeps through the bars creating a depressing, sorrowful and gloomy atmosphere. Making the unavoidable more daunting .The iron bars symbolises that they are prisoners locked away from their basic human rights and the world. Dramatic tension is caused by the setting of the scene because their probably yearning to see the outside world. Instant pity is felt for them they have had to suffer the excruciating pain of being locked up for a long period of time. For a crime they did not commit.  Parris is fearful of the situation he finds a dagger outside the door. This adds suspense and tension it left the audience wandering for his future existence. It could have been done simply but it was really dramatic because the audience are clueless about who put it their and why. It could have been done simply. But the dagger in the door made it more dramatic and the scene was dark which made it more spooky it was a clear threat and meant his life was at stake. Abigail’s unexpected disappearance because of her unachievable goal puts more pressure on Parris. As he is also feeling gradually more isolated in the village. His congregation has also dropped in size .This heightens the tension because if Abigail’s disappeared without a trace her doings and the doings of the other girls who cried witchcraft will be questioned. Abigail does not want her name to be soiled it’s so important to her she is seen as a good girl â€Å"My name is good in the village I will now have my name soiled†. So she might have her doubts about everyone finding out the whole thing was a lie so the best thing to do was to runaway. Parris is also worried that he stole all his money  To change Proctors mind to confessing to witchcraft in order to save his life Elizabeth is required. She is heavily pregnant but she agrees but makes no promises Hale asks her to make him confess to witchcraft.

Health Care Spending Paper Essay

Health care costs for individuals in the United States have increased and will continue to increase. The number of people needing care and insurance is one of the major factors in health care spending. Another factor is the amount needed to be spent on new equipment and technology which will always continue to change. The U.S. health care spending accounts for 16% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the highest compared to other countries. Although the American populations have benefited from the investments made in health care, it still puts strains on the systems used to finance health care, such as private and public insurance programs. Many people are still without insurance and those who do have insurance have seen their out-of-pocket expenses grow from their deductibles and copayments (Kaiser Family Foundation, n.d.). Health Expenditures The national health expenditures currently have reached $2.1 trillion. According to Forman (2008), â€Å"This translated into $7,026 per person and 16% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)† (para. 3). Both of these records are the highest among the nations. The hospital spending accounts for 31% of the national health care expenditure, which continues to grow. Due to a 0.2% Medicare fee schedule update for physicians in 2006, the physician expenditure is at an generally low rate at 5.9%. Prescription drug spending has increased to 19% due to the implementation of Medicare Part D. Administrative cost have also grown over the years and is currently at 8.8% in the health care spending expenditure. The growth of this is due to the amount of Medicare beneficiaries who have enrolled in the Medicare Advantage plans. Medicaid spending has for the first time ever, decreased in the amount spent on health care, partly due to Medicare Part D (Forman, 2008). Spending too much? The level of health care spending is too high and continues to grow. It will continue to grow and exceed the overall GDP, which does not leave open opportunities for spending in other areas. Health care spending has not been manageable for some time now, resulting in a higher number of people uninsured and a greater number of consumers and employers struggling to afford insurance. The increased use of the Medicare Advantage plan has increased the importance of managed care and also puts the remaining fee-for-service system at risk (Forman, 2008). Health care in the U.S. is also much higher priced for the services than other countries. According to Kelley (2010), the public’s lack of market power – the ability to drive price based on supply and demand, as with most other products and service – is the cause of high prices in physician services, hospital services, and prescription drugs (p. 21). To Add or Cut Spending According to Kelley (2009), â€Å"Estimates suggest that as much as $700 billion a year in healthcare costs do not improve health outcomes. They occur because we pay more for care rather than better care† (p. 2). We are often provided with service that do us no good or services that we really do not need. Too much is spent on unnecessary hospitalizations, unneeded tests, over-priced drugs, and more expensive equipment that works just as well as the last and cheaper equipment (Kelley, 2009, p. 2). Compared to other countries, the U.S. health care costs are too high; more is spent per capita and the GDP percentage is the highest. Health care costs also can be reduced by eliminating the amount of medical errors, fraud and abuse, and payments for services with no evidence that they contribute better health outcomes (Kelley, 2009, p. 4). According to Kelley (2009), â€Å"The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates that fraudulent billings to public and private healthcare programs are 3-10 percent of total health spending, or $75-$250 billion in fiscal year 2009† (p. 17). Kelley (2009), states that a substantial amount of care provided adds no or little value to the diagnosis of a patient’s condition or effective treatment of a diagnosed condition (p. 12). This means that the use of diagnostic test, high-price procedures, and irrelevant use of antibiotics can be decreased. The result of this could save millions of dollars in health care expenses for hospitals, patients, and insurance companies. Health care costs also can be cut by administrative costs. According to kaiseredu.org (2011), â€Å"At least 7% of health care expenditures are estimated to go toward for the administrative costs of government health care programs and the net cost of private insurance.† Health Care Finance The public’s health care needs are paid for by public and private health insurance companies, which in the year of 2010 cost about $2.6 trillion. This is ten times over the $256 billion spent in health care expenditures in 1980 (Kaiser Family Foundation, n.d.). Health care needs for citizens age 65 and older are covered through Medicare with no direct out-of-pocket expenses. Not all drug costs and medical services are covered under Medicare; some require additional coverage from private insurers (Torrey, 2010, para. 1). Private health insurance is available to employees through their employer. Americans under the age of 65 who cannot afford health insurance have a chance to be covered under state-run programs, such as SCHIP for children. There are millions of people still uninsured and many who are underinsured (Torrey, 2010, para. 2). According to Torrey (2010), â€Å"With the passage of the healthcare reform in March 2010, the number of uninsured Americans is changing so that by 2014, 32 million more Americans will have coverage† (para. 6). Economic Health Care Needs The future economic health care needs are expanding health care coverage and addressing the rising costs. The percentage of Americans with health insurance declined in 2009 (American College of Physicians, 2011). According to the American College of Physicians (2011), â€Å"The number of uninsured persons reached an all-time high, with almost 51 million people having no health insurance coverage and 59 million being without health insurance at least part of the year† (p. 2). Many people have also signed up for Medicaid and many more need to sign up with the time of the Baby Boomers. If the health care system does not come up with a solution to the finances of health care and health insurance it will not be provided. If the costs of health insurance are also not taken into account, many will lose their insurance because they can no longer afford it. I believe the needs of the health care system will be met through government financing and other programs, which may result in higher taxes. In 2014 the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will become available to nearly all Americans and will address the challenges of rising costs, inadequate capacity, and coverage. According to the American College of Physicians (2011), â€Å"ACA will address the shortage of primary care physicians by reforming payment systems and by the funding of primary care training programs† (p. 1). The health care system needs to realize how their money is being spent and wasted. The costs of medical supplies and some prescription drugs are outrageous. Starting with little changes, such as the price of aspirin in a hospital can result in lower health care costs. The important need of Americans and providing affordable health insurance is a major issue. This results in the high health expenditures that are seen today. Americans should not have to worry about whether or not they will be able to afford health care in the next few years, let alone have insurance. Americans without insurance will need to have access to some type of care or insurance. Health insurance companies and employers need to come up with a solution or find ways to help out the people of the U.S. If health care prices do not decrease soon, they may never decrease. References American College of Physicians. (2011). Health Care Coverage, Capacity and Cost: What Does the Future Hold?. Retrieved from http://www.acponline.org/advocacy/events/state_of_healthcare/snhcbrief2011.pdf Forman, H.P. (2008). National Health Care Expenditure Update: A New Threat or an Opportunity?. Retrieved from http://www.ajronline.org/content/190/3/557.full kaiseredu.org. (2011). US Health Care Costs. Retrieved from kaiseredu.org: http://www.kaiseredu.org/Issue-Modules/US-Health-Care-Costs/Background-Brief.aspx Kelley, R. (2009). Where Can $700 Billion in Waste be Cut Annually from the U.S. Healthcare System?. Retrieved from http://www.factsforhealthcare.com/whitepaper/HealthcareWaste.pdf Torrey, T. (2010). Healthcare Reform – How Should Healthcare be Paid For?. Retrieved from http://patients.about.com/od/healthcarereform/a/reform-payment.htm

Purification of Drinking Water, Drinking Water Treatment Processes, Essay

Purification of Drinking Water, Drinking Water Treatment Processes, Wastewater Treatment in Developing Countries - Essay Example Availability of clean drinking water is a major global concern with the situation in developing countries becoming worse due to the rapid population growth in these nations. Scarcity of water has serious socio-economic implications in developing countries with women and girls from poor families spending a majority of their time searching for water at the expense of economically rewarding activities and education (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2010). Poor quality drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene contribute to 4 billion cases of diarrhoea disease annually with more than 1.5 million people losing their lives, the majority being children under the age of five years (United Nations, 2005). These people are usually exposed to contaminated drinking water mainly from untreated waste water that contains human and animal faeces and urine exposing them to pathogenic micro organisms. Water Sources Drinking water comes from both surface and ground water with the na tural water cycle maintaining the available water for mankind (Omran, 2011). Majority of people from developing countries get their water from springs, boreholes, sealed wells, hand-dug wells, streams, rivers, and lakes (Omran, 2011). Some of these sources are contaminated with water borne diseases responsible for over 50% hospitalization in these countries (Alward et al., 1994). Despite some of the sources like ground water being clean and safe for drinking, improper use, ignorance and lack of adequate sanitation facilities like toilets make their drinking water contaminated during collection, transport, storage and drawing of water (Lindskog and Lindskog, 1988). This contributes significantly to developing countries disease burdens. Purification of Drinking Water Majority of people living in developing countries uses simple and rudimentary water treatment techniques to serve individual households and community needs despite the availability of superior conventional technologies. C onventional treatment technologies are too expensive and inappropriate for people living in very poor neighbourhoods due to limitation in infrastructure and skilled personnel. The simple and rudimentary water purification system is primarily aimed to remove the visible impurities such as floating particles, leaves, and twigs. The commonly used water purification systems include; Simple Filtration This is accomplished by using locally available filters, sieves, or pieces of cloth. The filters can be made of sandstones and plant materials and are purposefully made to clarify or remove visible contaminants of water. Boiling Boiling is the most commonly used and promoted household water treatment method around the world (Beddow, 2010). The water being boiled must reach a boiling temperature of 1000c. This process is effective in killing most pathogens that cause water borne diseases. The disadvantages of boiling include the lack of residual antimicrobial properties in the water making t he water easily re-contaminated if handled improperly. Boiling is widely accepted across all regions and when done properly offers many people access to safe drinking water free from diarrhoea causing organisms. Waste Water Treatment Waste water treatment in developing cou

Paradoxical Thinking Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Paradoxical Thinking - Research Paper Example In this case, scientists are the best examples of people who practice paradox thinking in their daily life. Paradoxical thinking is based on suspicion and the internal feeling that the outcome of a certain thing, idea or experiment will turn out to be exactly as expected. Although the method might be the opposite of the normal or natural way of doing, the outcome should turn out to be the same or better than when the normal procedure is used. Paradoxical thinking is believed to produce extraordinary outcomes. An example of a brilliant demonstration of paradoxical thinking is by a famous scientist known as Faraday back in the 1830s. He discovered that when a current is moving through a wire, it bares the effect of deflection a magnetized needle thus can be applicable to a compass needle. He used this idea to create an electric motor which is currently used in electric transformers. The current world market has a lot of competition. Ideas are being generated every day and the technology keeps on advancing with the change in time. New products appear in the market everyday with manufacturers trying to outdo each other by modernism their products to meet the needs of the consumer. This has called for the alert of every company in order not to be left aside with the emerging trends of technology. Paradoxical thinking plays a key role in ensuring that the goods produced by various companies merge the current technology and are suitable to the consumers. Most companies have maintained their high performances in the world market because of using paradoxical thinking as a tool to outdo their competitors. The concept of this form of thinking is simply to do things the opposite of the intended way. This helps the company be unique and unpredictable. The Coca-Cola Company is one of the companies which have a team of staff who have mastered the art of paradoxical thinking. The

RFID and online shopping Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

RFID and online shopping - Assignment Example This gives leverage to exploit hackers and online criminals to exploit the age of the internet. Technology is moving into human bodies quickly (Keenan, 2014). Humans are gradually becoming slaves to technology. Software and machines know the most intimate secrets of a person. Apps and devices track blood-sugar level, heart rate and blood pressure. It won’t be hard for a hacker to sell medication to diabetic patients after obtaining this useful information. One does not even need to be that illegal to exploit internet privacy. Studying shopping habits is becoming a science in itself. The internet has provided so many in-depth tools to marketers that they can explore shopping behaviors by regions (towns, suburbs etc.) and persons. A shopper might put in some key words in the search engine and in just a few seconds he might see banner ads selling the exact or a relevant product to this person. This precise form of marketing is frightening. It reveals how much activity of a person can be tracked over the internet. One study conducted on online shoppers showed that the privacy concern is a major impediment of truthful and deep online interaction (Flick, 2009). Shoppers are always concerned about their information security. Different credible shopping websites have to show a licensed banner for the online security of their fund transfers. News of identity theft, credit card scams, online stalking and threats over social media are not new. The surprising part is that not everyone engages so much over the internet to become a victim of cybercrimes. Internet privacy is among the most widely discussed subjects in print and electronic media (Chamorro-Premuzic, 2014). A significant number of people are now informed of this menace. People are not comfortable giving sensitive information online. But modern lifestyle almost demands engagement with technology and modern shopping trends. People are outsourcing their lives to

SRD Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

SRD - Assignment Example While a resume website provides me with the potential of targeting any web user, the website targets potential employees. In particular, my resume website targets employers in the business sector since my competencies are suited to this specific job environment. The resume website will provide me with the creative freedom that I need to express my personality, which is not possible through the conventional resume. In this case, I will ensure that every detail of the website from my bio to the design option I select says something about me and communicates my personality to potential employees. Besides, every detail of the website will pass the message that I take my career seriously. The different categories of information will start with the homepage. On this category, I will provide my extended professional summary. The other category will include the resume category, which will communicate the specifics of my resume with different subcategories such as my work experience, education qualifications, and skills. The website will also inform the target audience of the different ways in which they could connect with me either via a social networking site or through email. First, the resume website communicates my competencies and background to potential employees. Besides, it provides a record of accomplishment of my life, and the activities that I have engaged in that would help me fit in the job market and help an organization achieve its objectives. The resume website will also control my branding. While a resume presents an excellent opportunity to present my experiences, it fails to provide an opportunity for presenting a future that I would want hiring managers to see. Therefore, the resume website will present me as a brand, and not just presenting me as who I was, but whom I envisage on becoming. The website resume will also include my philosophy on life.

Transportation Safety Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Transportation Safety - Research Paper Example Notably the numbers can reduce only if more people took the initiative to drive safely. The commitment towards this should not be a one-person affair, but all persons involved in the transport sector from the top. Human life is sacred, and employers should make sure that the precautions on transport safety that they take are geared towards its preservation. Transportation safety greatly reduces accidents that would lead to loss of human life. Another advantage is that transportation fatalities are costly to the employer. During an accident involving an employee, there are going to be medical expenses on the part of the employer. Another thing is that there will be a loss on the capital: your employees are part of your capital, and when they are not at work, there are going to be losses incurred. There are also legal requirements for worker’s compensation, disability insurance as well as social security costs that the employer will have to cater for. On average, the U.S employers incur about $60billion annually as a result of this (Dhillon, 2011). This money would instead have been invested elsewhere to grow the economy. It is the concern of the government too that transport fatalities that may be avoided do not happen. The American National Standards Institute has written down guidelines for use when it comes to motor vehicle use so as to preserve lives. These safety guidelines are voluntary, but every employer should acquire them so as to ensure the safety of those persons he or she has entitled his employees to. There is also the 10-step program by Network of Employers for Transport Safety. This program is meant to guide the employers in minimizing the crash risks. These guidelines help the employers in hiring only competent drivers. These ten guidelines are: Having written procedures and policies is important for documentation and reference purposes. These policies should be widely available and accessible to all. The

Professional Interview Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Professional Interview - Research Paper Example Authors such as Reilly (2012) have established a relationship between effective leadership and the success in business systems in a country. The author argues that knowledge and skills in a country, which can empower leadership, are significant to the country’s economic development. Leadership roles exist at different levels at which decision-makers offer their professionalism (Nabli, 2011). To facilitate the study of leadership capacity in Nigeria, this essay will focus on an interview response from a Nigerian professional, ‘Usman Olaide’ who is a Senior Client Service Consultant and a Business Development Executive at Field Communication Ltd. The interview focuses on the role of leadership in promoting crises and leadership strategies for preventing or managing crises when they occur in the Nigerian business environment. Consequently, it will be possible to evaluate any impacts of the leadership that exists to the business crisis in this country. Usman identifie s the role of leadership in integrating different industries in the corporate sector for accountability in management because observed crises in the Nigeria’s business environment results from negligent actions from single industries or organizations and spread to affect the entire economy. Referring to Martin Oluba’s analysis of the equity market crisis (N.d.) and her experience in sources of crises in the Nigerian business environment, Usman explains that industries are interrelated and poor leadership in one industry, leading to a crisis in the industry, affects other industry’s performance. The finance industry is the most significance because it is the center of power for circulation of money across other industries as was observed in the equity market crisis. While poor leadership in the equity market led to its crisis, Usman explains that the move by the industry’s players to seek funds from private holdings influenced businesses in other sectors t o seek similar targets for rescue and culminated into the crisis. In her analysis of the scenario that is a perfect example of the role of weak leadership in business crisis, the interviewee argues that regulatory framework, both legal and moral, should be put in place to ensure credible and competent centralized leaderships that can preempt crisis in their respective industries and develop preventive measures. She also argues that a collaborative initiative among leaders from respective industries in regulating activities and risks in each industry can also play an effective role in containing crises from spreading to other industries, should such crises occur in a given industry (Usman, O, personal communication, August 16, 2013). Usman also argues that leadership offered by relevant government agencies play a significant role in management of financial crises in the Nigerian corporate environment. Agencies whose roles relate to macroeconomic aspects such as the Central Bank of Ni geria must be explicit in their roles to guide corporate operations and regulate the economic environment for stability. She explains that poor decisions on factors such as interest rates and consequences in high inflation rates are detrimental to businesses and the central bank should develop effective strategies for economic stability. The interviewee also relates such government regulations to the sensitive finance sector that has potential effects on other sectors and industry. In agreement with John, Adaeze, Soni, and Onoriode

Credit appraisel literature review Essay Example for Free

Credit appraisel literature review Essay This chapter is an elucidation of literature relating to the flow of credit from various organised and unorganised sources of housing and real estate finance. The aim of such a perusal is to have a birds eye view of the concurrent and corresponding issues and problems related to the present study. The first part deals with the flow of credit from organised institutions to various sectors like manufacturing industry, private corporate sector and various other industrial concerns. Studies on the institutional flow of credit in Kerala are also discussed. The unorganised sector consisting of indigenous financial agencies is enumerated in the next part. Understanding the operation of and the potential for housing finance is important, since in many developing countries housing policy is about establishing new and more innovative finance policies. 4. 1. 1 The banking system in India comprises of the Reserve Bank of India, Commercial banks and cooperative banks and credit societies. The commercial banks are the premier institutional structure of the 104 banking system. The principal function of these institutions is to satisfy simultaneously the portfolio preferences of the borrowers on one side and the lenders on the other. They mobilise resources from the savers in the form of deposits and extend credit facilities to borrowers in the form of loans, advances and securities. Loans and advances provided by these institutions can be categorised into short-term funds and long-term funds. The latter are advanced for purchase of plant and machinery while the former are provided for purchase of raw materials, stores, spare parts and the like. However following the traditional British banking practice, commercial banks provide more short term funds to the investors in industry and trade than long term loans. The pattern of credit disbursement has undergone substantial changes since 1950. 4. 1. 2 Commercial banks extended credit to commerce and trade to a larger extend than to manufacturing industry until 1958. Since the commencement of the second five Year Plan, which laid emphasis on rapid industrialisation, the pattern of credit flow took a new turn in favour of medium and large industry. As a result, the share of industry, in public and private sectors in total bank credit increased from 34. 8% to 67. 5% during the period 1954 to 1968. Since nationalisation of 14 major commercial banks in July 1969, the Government of India assigned new priorities to commercial banks with regard to the flow of credit to hitherto neglected sectors, called 105 priority sectors. The emphasis thus shifted from industry to the priority sectors. Further the supply of credit was controlled through statutory regulations and monetary regulations. On the other hand the demand for bank credit has also  undergone substantial increase. Factors such as, large growth in the number of industrial units, diversification of existing units, increase in industrial and agricultural production, increasing needs of short and long-term funds to maintain the increased levels of production, pushed up the demand for bank credit. 4. 1. 4 ~ u ~ t and ~ m b e ~ e o k aobserved that the use of funds from a r* banks by the private corporate sector had exceeded its inventory formation. Gupta, has argued that a small portion of such finance should have gone to meet fixed investment. Further, he found the growth rate of physical assets to be more directly and closely related to security issues than bank credit. Hence, he argued that the fast growing firms relied heavily on security issues than the use of bank credit. Arnbegeokar found that the rate of rise in bank credit exceeded that of inventory, sales and output. Further he observed 1 L . S . Gupta (1969). Changing Structure of Industrial Finance in India, The Impoct ojlnstitutional Finance, Clarendon Press: Oxford. 2 N. Ambegaokar (1969). Working Capital Requirement and Availability o f Bank Credit: Indian Processing and Manufacturing Industries, Reserve Bank of India Bulletin Vol XXIII. No:lO. 106 that its dependence on banks for working capital had increased, accompanied by a decline in reliance on other financial institutions. 4. 2 shetty3 assessed the dimensional changes in credit deployment during the first five years of nationalisation in relation to changes in output and prices. The rationale for his analysis was the fact that, in any accepted model of demand for money, one common variable is the gross national product or some other  variant of it in real terms. Consequently, he hypothesised that credit for any sector or industry over a period has to have some relationship with its performance in real terms, particularly output. He observed a declining trend in the credit extended by banks to industries since nationalisation, though it was higher than other sectors. On finding that the share of manufacturing sector in bank credit is higher than its share in Net Domestic Product (NDP) he concludes that increase in bank credit has occurred far in excess of increase in output during the years 1968169 to 1973174. In his other paper, shetty4 observed that the share of medium and large industry in total bank credit had declined due to priority S . L . Shetty (1976). Deployment of Commercial Bank and other lnstitutio~lalCredit: A note on Structure changes. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol XI No: 11, M a y 8th . pp. 696-705. S L Shetty (1978). Performance of Con~mercial Banks since N a t ~ o n a l ~ s a t ~ofn Major Banks: Promises and Realty. Economic and Political o Weekly, Vol. XI1 No. 31, 32 34, August, pp. 1407-1451. sector lending. Another observation in line with his earlier finding was that growth in bank credit had always been disproportionate to growth of their physical output, especially in industries like cotton textiles. His observation particularly for the years 1975-76 and 1976-77 revealed: (a) Increase in average bank credit had been higher than the growth of NDP originating in registered manufacturing sector even at current prices (b) An appreciable increase in the rate of short-term bank credit to inventories; and (c) Relatively higher reliance on trade credit. In line with these observations, he suggested policies to scrutinise credit claims vigorously and relate credit to the genuine production requirements so that funds are not tied up with these large borrowers. 4. 2. 2 K. S. R. ~ a o carried out an econometric exercise on the determinants of demand for bank credit of some selected industries for the period between 1970-71 and 1984-85. He observed that output of these industries was the most important factor in determining its demand for bank credit whereas, interest rate of K S . R . Rao (1988). Demand for Commercial Bank Credit 1970-71 t o A Study Thiruvananthapuram 1984-85: of Selected Indian Industries. M. Phil Thesis, CDS 108 banks and relative rate of interest of other sources of borrowing played only a secondary role. Price of output was also found to have affected the demand for credit significantly. The relative interest rate variable was significant with respect to industries like textiles, engineering and total manufacturing, while it was not significant for industries like sugar and other food products and chemicals. Divatia and shankar6 in their paper discussed the role of  internal and external sources of funds and their components in financing capital formation of the private corporate sector. The study was based on the RBI company finance studies relating to medium and large public and private limited companies and covered the period 1961-76. They also discussed the trends and patterns of financing for four individual industries, viz, cotton textiles, jute, sugar and cement. 4. 4 S. ~ d v e had some interesting findings in his article Financial Practices in Indian Corporate Sector, based on the RBI company finance data. He underlined the rising dependence on borrowed capital in relation to the total capital employed in the 6 V. V. Divat~a a1 (1979). Capital Formation and its Financing in the et Private Corporate Sector 1961-62 t o 1975-76. The Journal of Income ; Wealth, April 118-152. 7 S. Adve (1980). Financial Practices in Indian Corporate Sector, Inter-Group and Inter-Size Differences, Economic and Political Weekly, Feb. 23. 109 Indian corporate sector. Trade credit was pointed out to be important sources of capital when the bank credit was squeezed. Making an industry-wise analysis, the author came to  the conclusion that the industries with large profit margins and those with large depreciation and development rebate reserves had a relatively lower order of overall indebtedness and many of them also had a lower order of bank borrowings in relation to overall indebtedness. Industries with high profit margin such as silk and rayon textiles, aluminium, basic industrial chemicals and medicine and pharmaceutical preparations had lower proportion of borrowed funds as compared to the average of the medium and large public Ltd. companies. The extensive study viewed that the growth  from of institutional finance emerged in lndia due to structural change for industrial financing system with wide change of socio-political situations in lndia. He attempted to measure overall impact of financial institutions on capital formation in the organised private sector as also the allocative efficiency of financial system. He observed that during the first pla? financial assistance rendered by special institutions represented only 4. 1 per cent of gross fixed investment in private industry, which rose to 7. 9 per cent in the second plan and further to 18.1% in the third plan period. He also 8 L . S . Gupta ( 1 9 6 9 ) . Changing Structure of Industrial Finance in Indra, The Impacr ~flnstrtutronalFinance, Clarendon Press: Oxford. 110 found that commercial banks remained the most important single agency for financing the private corporate industry and LIC was the single largest purchaser of industrial securities and the underwriter of new issues of large and established companies. 4. 6 M. S. ~ o s h examined the role of financial intermediaries in i~ providing finance to large-scale industries in the private sector. After analysing the contribution of each important intermediary towards industrial development in India, he estimated that these intermediaries have participated with 17% of investment in various industries against 39% in share capital of public Ltd. companies. 4. 7 Studies on Institutional Credit in Kerala Among the studies on the state of Kerala, few have looked at the inter regional development of banking. The study conducted by the Travancore-Cochin banking enquiry c ~ r n m i t t e ewas the first of ~ its kind in the post-Independence era. The report traced the development of banking in the two regions of Travancore and Cochin. It noted that in terms of the average number of people per bank office, they had the smallest figure in the whole of lndia. It was noted that the expansion of commercial banks in the rural areas is more pronounced than in any other state. 9 M. S. Joshi (1965). Financial Intermediaries in India. Makhanlal ; Sons Pvt. Ltd, Bombay. 10 Gok (Various Years) Kerala Economic Review, Thimvananthapuram. 111 4. 7. 1 M. A. Oornrnenl historically reviewed the expansion of commercial banking in the Travancore-Cochin region prior to the period of planning. He noted some of the salient features of banking in Kerala: their community or sectarian origin and ownership, the rural areas bias, over extension of credit and predominance of small accounts. He noted the presence of a special concentration of banking in Tiruvalla and Trichur. 4. 7. 2 The Kerala Planning Board (1982) too made an effort to understand the performance of commercial banks in Kerala after nationalisation. This study was confined only to a quantitative assessment of the performance of nationalised banks and looked at the mobilisation of deposits, trend in credit expansion and the sectoral distribution of bank advances. Even though the number of bank offices in the state is more than that of other states, some districts like Malappuram and ldukki lacked banking infrastructure. Ernakulam was found to be the best-banked district in the state followed closely by Trivandrum. It accounted for 22 per cent of the deposits and 30 per cent of the credit disbursed in the state. Idukki, Malapuram and Palghat were way behind. ~-. II M A . Oommen (1976). Rise and Growth of Banking In Kerala. Social . Scieflt~. sl. Vol 5 . 8 0 3 112 4. 7. 3 Among the more recent studies, Sunandas study of institutional agricultural credit in Kerala highlights the inter district disparity. She reviews the socio-economic background for the origin and growth of banks in Kerala (performance of commercial banks and co-operatives only) and concentrates on the agricultural credit disbursed by them. In credit per hectare, Ernakulam and Trichur stood highest while Palghat ranked the lowest. Regional disparity of agricultural credit from commercial banks decreased between 1974175 and 1985186 while that of co-operatives increased. She has used Principal Component Analysis to explain the variation. Three sets of variables are used for explaining the variation of credit co-operatives viz, per hectare from commercial banks and Banking variables, Asset variables and Productivity variables. 4. 7. 4 The book Reminiscences, written by Shri. K. C. Mammen ~ a ~ ~ i throws ~ l a i some light on the banking developments that took place in Kerala prior to independence and also the role played by the Christian community in developing the banking system in the state. It also contains the history of the National Quilon Bank, which was the premier bank at that time and explains the reasons for its failure. S. Sunanda (1991). Institutional Credit for Agriculture in Kerala-A Disaggregated Analysis, M. Phil dissertation, CDS, Thiruvananthapuram. K. C. Mammen Mappilai (1959). Reminiscences, Malayala Manorama Printing and Publishing Co. Kottayam, Kerala. 113 4. 7. 5 Shri. A. K. Seshadris A Swadeshi Bank from South lndial4 gives an account of the banking crisis that occurred in the state in 1930 due to the failure of the National Quilon Bank and that in 1960 consequent upon the liquidation of the Palai central Bank, Palai. 4. 7. 6 The Indian Banks ~ s s o c i a t i o n ~ , Bombay published a book Keralas Banking Profile in 1987. This book contains a quick review on the banking and the economic scenario in Kerala from 1969 to 1987 and also has dealt with the impact of the non-banking private financial institutions on the banking system in the state. It also contains a quick analysis of the role of the NRI sector in the growth of the commercial banks in Kerala. Though the book contains information regarding deposits, advances, number of branches, net state domestic product, per capita income, per capita deposits etc, it does not make any attempt to analyse these factors and to find out whether any relation exists between these factors. In 1992 Canara Bank, the convener of State Level Bankers Committee Kerala had brought out a brochure on Keralas banking profile. This book contains a review of the district and state wise performance of the commercial banks during the 3 year period from 1989 to 1992. But this does not contain certain vital information like I4 AK Seshadrl (1982). A Swadeshi Bank,from South India, Indian Bank, Madras. I I n d ~ a nBanks Association (1987). Kerala: A Banking Profile, Bombay. 114 classification of deposits and advances according to population group wise, a review on the productivity of banks in Kerala etc. Indigenous Financial Agencies The availability of literature on indigenous financial system is scarce. The Central and Provincial Banking Enquiry Committee Reports give comprehensive information regarding the working of the agencies. But even such information appears to have become outdated in many respects as the enquiry was conducted more than 55 years ago. The Rural credit survey and Central banking Enquiry Committee attempted to obtain quantitative information, including capital invested in the business from the agencies but failed in their task. Hence as far as the quantitative aspect is concerned, i t is impossible to collect correct information from these agencies as their nature of business is selective and also as their exact number is not known. 4. 8. 1 G. ~ a r k a l brings out some of the problems of indigenous banking in India in the present context of economic development. He attempts a scientific definition of the term agencies and points out how the earlier definitions were defective. Karkals book estimates the magnitude of capital involved in the unorganised G Karkal ( 1 967). Unorganised Money Market in India. Lalvani Publishing House Bombay. 115 market through the help of data regarding Hundi sales. With the help of available data the study points out the nature of the interest rate in the various rural-urban regions. It indicates the trend of and effect of the contact between the two markets viz. , the organised money market and unorganised financial sector. Again the study discusses the methods of strengthening the Agencies. Here it pleads for the recognition of the hundi as a liquid asset at least in the case of trusted indigenous bankers, thereby giving an impetus to the unorganised sector to encourage the bill business. Provides an interesting account of the functioning of private financing firms in Kerala. The study based on a survey of the private financing firms in Trichur town seeks to examine the factors, which contributed to the emergence of these institutions, the method of their functioning and their importance as a parallel banking system. However he is silent on questions such as types of borrowers, total amount of uncounted money generated by the private financing firms, safety of depositors money and so on. 4. 8. 3 D. ~ a j a s e k h a r based on a survey of 8 private financing  firms in Bellary town in Karnataka tries to probe the factors B A Prakash (1984). Private Financing firms in Kerala, Economic and Political Weekly. Vol X I X . Dec. 15. D Rajasckhar (1988). Private Financing Firms in Karnataka: A boom for tax dodgcrs W o r k ~ n g Paper No: 228. CDS, Thil-uvananthapuram. 116 responsible for the growth of private financing firms. It also documents and analyses the functioning of private financing firms and critically examines the type of borrowers, the use pattern of the borrowings and also tries to estimate the black money generated by the private financing firms. 4. 9 H o u s i n g Finance A strong relationship between levels of urbanisation and wealth has been demonstrated both theoretically and empirically in numerous s t u d i e ~ . Traditionally, faced with other development ~,~~ priorities, governments and international agencies have been reluctant to encourage investment in housing, which has often been seen as an item of consumption (UNCHS 1991). ~Moreover, many of the first waves of housing finance institutions were poorly managed and contributed to macro-economic disruption. Even by the late 1980s en and^^ was able to observe that few aspects S . Malpezz~ (1990). Urban Housing and financial markets: Some ~nternationnlCo~iiparisons,(Jrhnn Studies, 27, 6 : 971-1022. World Bank (1993). Housing: Enabling Markets t o Work, W o r l d Bank iolic), Pnper Washtngton D C : World Bank. U n ~ t e d Nations Centrc for Human Settlements (1991). Integrating Housing Finance into the National Finance Systems of Developing Countries: Exploring the Potentials and the Problems, Nairobi: UNCHS. R. M. Buckley er a / . (1989). Housi~ig policy in developing economies: evaluating thc macroeconomic impacts, Review uf Urban ; Regional llevelopmenr Studies. 2: 27-47. B. Renand (1987). Financing Shelter in L. Rodwin (ed) Shelter, Settlement nnd I l e v e i o p m e n f Boston: Allen and Unwin. 117 of economic development remain as unexplored and poorly analysed as the potential to induce financial development and ways to improve the financing of housing. These practical and conceptual difficulties notwithstanding, during the 1990s housing finance moved to the top of the urban agenda. Under pressure to reform urban management, governments have made important legislative and institutional reforms to enable private institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOS) to have a greater role in the provision of housing finance. The lead of the World Bank has been especially important in making the shift from housing projects towards the delivery of housing financez4 from 1983 to 1988. Bank lending for housing finance exceeded the total for sites and services from 1972 to 1988, and by 1989 almost one-half of all Bank urban lending was for housing finance programmes. z5This reorientation went beyond the need to deliver more and better housing, to make urban policy compatible with macro-economic management, particularly in the context of structural adjustment programmes in which control of foreign exchange risks and fiscal policy have been paramount. World Bank (1993). The Housing Indicators program: Preliminary Result, Washington, DC World Bank. R. M. Buckley el a ! . (1989). Housing policy in developing economies: evaluating the macroeconomic impacts, Review of Urban d; Regional llevelopment S t u d i e . ~2: 2 7 4 7 . . 4. 9. 1 S. chantz6;K. ~ a t t a and ~ i r a f f a b argue that formal finance ~ institutions are rarely willing to assist with the purchase of land, especially where the tenure, is insecure, to provide assistance with improvements to the rental housing stock or to support nonconventional household arrangements such as sharing of multiplefamily  compounds. These limitations have implicit gendered consequences, as rental and shared housing are of particular importance to low income women who often lack the means to become homeowners. 4. 9. 2 M. M. valeneaZ9summarizes the conditions of Brazils housing finance system by the 1980s as one of crisis, chaos and apathy. Notoriously inadequate fund collection and loan enforcement rates exemplified housing these finance conditions. This condition of public-sector institutions accentuated by was political manipulations that passed these institutions from one ministry to another at short intervals. Valenea points out that as the economic crisis of the 1980s deepened, the fall in the real value of payroll S Chant ( 1997). Women headed Households: Diversity and Dynamics in [he l l e v e l o p i n ~ i+orld. Basingstoke: Macmillan. K. ~ a t t a (1995). Strategies for urban survival? ; Women landlords in Gabocomc Bots ana, Habitat International, 19,1: 1 12. 2X F. Miraftab (1994). Housing Preferences of Female headed Households of Low Income Families in Guadalajara, Mexico: paper presented a t the International semlnar on Gender, Urbanisation and the Environment, Nairobi. The inevitable crisis of the Brazilian housing finance s!. stem. IJrhan Sttrdies, 29,1:39-56. 119 deductions with rising unemployment, the diversion of revenue sources to fund higher priority areas of the government budget and the withdrawal of savings from negative interest rate bearing accounts left many public sector housing finance institutions short of capital. 4. 9. 3 David lsaac3 provides an introduction to property finance, bringing together the professional disciplines related to finance and property investment and development. The book establishes the basic concept of finance, examines the applications of these concepts in practice and gives an overview of the market, its history and position as of 1993. 4. 9. 4 R . M . ~ u c k l e ~ ~ ; ~ i m and N. ~ u n j e have pointed out K. H. ~ e ~ ~ that the declining effectiveness of housing finance institutions coupled with economic and fiscal crises, have made governments more aware of the need to promote savings, reduce subsidies and mobilize domestic resources and motivate the involvement of 3, David Isaac (1994): Property Finance, Macmillan Press Ltd. , London. R . M . Buckley (1996). Housing Finance in Developing Countries. Bas~ngstokc. Macmillan. K. H. Kim (1997). Housing finance and urban infrastructure finance, Urban . stl~d~r. s. 10: 1597-620. 34, 11 N Munjec (1994). Housing finance in development: is there an cmerglng paradigm for developing countries in Asia: Housing Finance I n t e r n a t i o n n l . 8. 4 6-10 11 120 private financial institutions. Many of the most restrictive practices operating in housing finance markets, such as institutional entry requirements and liquidity limits, have been lowered, loanlvalue ratio made more flexible and a wider definition given to the terms of collateral. The optimistic view was that private institutions would be able to deliver larger quantities of finance more efficiently and with a greater chance of sustainability. 4. 9. 5 T. H. ~ a l i argues that even though new private finance c ~ ~ companies have been set up, a few lower-income households qualify for loans because the eligibility criteria require proof of five years full employment, imposing a start-up fee equivalent to three months salary and taxes to approximately 25% of the loan value. Similarly US AID^^ points out that in Eastern Europe despite the establishment of DIMS i n Poland, building certificates in Russia and indexed credit systems in Bulgaria, the bottom 80 per cent of the income profile has not been reached. T. H. Malik (1994). Recent development in housing finance policy in Pakistan paper presented at 2nd symposium Housing for the Urban Poor, Birmingham. Ull~tcd States Agency for International Development (USAID) (1997). Building on progress: The Future of Housing Finance in Poland. Warsaw: USAID. 121 4. 9. 6 Thomas Klak and Marlen Economy explore Housing of the Formal Sector organisation Trust in their article. The Political (NHT), the and Housing Finance performance  states main of in Jamaica the National housing agency in distributing finance in the context of the struggle for basic needs such as shelter, state socio-economic interventions. By examining the NHTs funding base, expenditures and beneficiaries they outline the scale of the financial resource diversions that effectively restrict low-income households from obtaining NHT housing assistance. They point out that a greater share of NHTs massive financial assets could be directed towards serving the housing needs of lowincome people if the Trust were organised differently.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Planning Process

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Planning Process CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is 20 year old tool for environmental management, not living up to its full potential. (Mudge, 1993). This chapter describes the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) planning process as conventionally depicted in subsequent EIA texts and guidelines. EIA characteristics and objectives are first presented because EIA planning process characterisations are interdependent with assumed EIA characteristics and objectives. Following the depictions of EIA characteristics, EIA objectives and the EIA planning process vary greatly from source to source. These variations are more the result of the varying perspectives of different authors than clearly defined schools of thought. Although, there has been a pro- process of evaluation over the past two decades, there also are many instances where elements suggested in earlier works have not been incorporated into most recent portrayals. This overview of the conventional EIA planning process is a point of departure for the modifications and refinements discussed in later chapters of this research. Also, the conventional portrayals of EIA characteristics, EIA objectives and the EIA planning process will be revisited in later chapters, taking account of combined implications. The following are EIA characteristics as commonly depicted in introductory EIA literature and guidelines; As a field of study EIA draws upon many social and natural science disciplines (Jain, Urban and Stacey, 1977). Drawing upon diverse disciplines is necessary to understand the significant aspects of the environment in order to predict how those environmental attributes may change over time with and without a proposed action; Boundaries between, and links to both traditional disciplines and to other transdisciplinary and transprofessional fields such as planning (Lawrence 1992). EIA must transcend individual disciplines if a holistic image of the environment with and without a proposed action(s), is to be presented. Hence, EIA should not be viewed as a transdisciplinary field. EIA consist of structural approaches and set of procedures in order to ensure that environmental factors are considered in planning and decision making (Clark1981a). In this regard EIA is a normative procedure that seeks to identify natural and social environmental norms or ethical standards and to infuse these into planning and decision making. In the definition of Environmental Impact Assessment, the impact element is often prefaced by one or more dimensional distinctions, such as; positive and negative (Mitchell and Takheim 1977; Rau and Wooten 1980); time ( short term, long term, frequency, duration); space (on-site, off-site); direct and indirect, quantitative and qualitative; individual and cumulative; and likelihood of occurrence (Rau and Wooten 1980). While the assessment component of EIA includes analysis synthesis and management- Analysis involves data collection and compilation, the identification of likely environmental conditions and interactions among environmental conditions and systems (Mm 1979; Munro et. al 1986; Amour 1990; Erickson 1994) und the description, measurement and prediction of likely effects and interactions among effects. Synthesis includes the interpretation of the significance of affects and interactions among them (Munn 1979; CEARC l988b) and the aggregation and evaluation of individual and cumulative effects (Cumulative Environmental Assessment CEA) both with and without mitigation (Westman 1985; Lang and Annour 1981; Armour 1990; Erickscm 1 994; Shoanaka 1994). Management includes mitigation (Jain, Urban and Stacey 1977) compensation and local benefits (Amour 1990), the management of residual impacts (CEARC 1988b), monitoring and contingency measures, and communications/ consultation activities (CEARC 1988b). In summary, EIA is a process that identifies, predicts, evaluates and manages the potential (or real) impacts of proposed (or existing) human activities on both the human and natural environment. The EIA planning process includes analysis, synthesis, management, communications and consultation activities. The consequences of such activities and their alternatives will result in specific impacts. Underlying EIA practice are usually implicating application assumptions. Formal or informal institutional mechanisms are, for example, anticipated to be in place to help to compel, or at least facilitate public or private proponents to initiate and complete an EIA planning process and the necessary documentation, as a perquisite to project approval. Along with perquisite methods it is expected that a systematic planning process can be devised or adapted for analysing and synthesizing the appropriate data and for involving relevant agencies and the public. Further assumed that: there is appropriate expertise to tackle the necessary technical work and to review whatever the outcomes of the planning process; there is a basis for choosing among alternative plans and for deciding if an undertaking should or should not proceed; the people who make the decision will rationally use the information provided to guide their actions; the requirements for approvals can be enforced and the impacts managed if unforeseen impacts occur; the contingency measures can be instituted. These application assumptions have been increasingly challenged in the EIA literature and in decision of courts and hearing panels and boards. The expectation that knowledge and expertise are sufficient may be especially dubious in situations characterised by emerging technologies, poorly understood environments and complex inter relationships within and among proposed actions and components of the environment. The extension of EIA from the conceptual to the applied pre-supposes that EIA must also be a transprofessional field of practice, EIA comprises of a core body of knowledge, skills and methods. Social and natural sciences provide the initial knowledge base- EIA seeks to integrate and, thereby transcend, the inputs and insights of a range of professions with expertise m the proposed action, the environment and their interactions, within a public policy setting. Frameworks, procedures and methods have been formulated and refined through practice, which over the years, has resulted in the emergence of EIA as a recognized area of expertise. EIA is a planning tool (Bisset 1983; Clark l9Ã »3a; Smith 1993). It is a form of applied policy analysis or more specifically, a form of resource management and environmental planning (Smith 1993). Consequently, the formulations and applications of environmental planning processes is one aspect of EIA. It, therefore, tends to be assumed that the EIA planning process should be anticipatory (prior to decision-making), systematic or orderly and rational. The results and conclusions from the EIA planning process should also be documented, generally in the form of an EIA report or statement. EIA is a generic planning process intended to contribute environmental information to decision-making. It provides a regulatory basis for forcing the explicit consideration of environment concerns by public and private decision makers. As such EIA forms a part of the institutional fabric through legislation, public policy or administrative procedures. Institutionalisation requires mechanisms to prepare, review and document the process, to coordinate inter-agency and private/public interactions, to adjudicate disputes and to monitor and enforce compliance. This dissertation therefore takes up this theme to investigate the effectiveness of EIA in the Skye Bridge project by considering the planning process and by using literature review as a means of analysis and research. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW On July 3, 1988, European Union (EU) Directive 85/337/EEC (Directive) came into force and as a result, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) became a part of the EUs environmental protection plans. The Directive requires that before consent is given for the development of certain public and private projects that are likely to have significant effects on the environment, an assessment of those effects must be compiled and considered by the developer and the authority in charge of approving the projects. By asking decision-making authorities to ponder likely environmental harm before the harm occurs, the Directive promotes a policy of preventing environmental harm. The comprehensive effectiveness of mandating pre-consent environmental impact assessment is undercut, however, because the Directive textually exempts national defense projects from its process. This study suggests that the European Union could and should include national defense projects in its EIA law. Part I of this Chapt er will provide a summarized, chronological evolution of environmental policy in the European Union. Part II will give a description and history of EIA law, including that of the United States, so as to provide a comparative and contrasting point of reference. Part III will propose a way by which the European Union can more fully live up to the preventative approach that it has espoused for environmental protection by requiring environmental impact assessments for national defense projects. This Chapter concludes that the inclusion of national defense projects in the EUs EIA law would broaden the scope and effectiveness of EIA law and environmental protection generally. 2.1. HISTORICAL AND LEGAL DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT LAW 2.1.1. The Evolution of Environmental Policy in the EU The 1957 Treaty of Rome (Treaty), which established the European Economic Community, focused on the creation of a common-trade zone. Accordingly, the Treaty failed to make any explicit statements regarding policies for environmental protection. In fact, until 1987, all EU environmental protection legislation was introduced via the general language of one or both of two Treaty articles that only implicitly recognized EU authority over environmental issues in Member States. Article 100 of the Treaty calls for the harmonization of laws affecting the common market in Member States. Article 235 authorizes measures that prove necessary to attain one of the objectives of the Community absent a specific delegation of authority by the Treaty. Although the Articles make no explicit reference to environmental issues, they have been used as authority for certain environmental regulations. For example, Article 100s allusion to issues affectin g the common market was used as the authority to develop legislation that regulated product and industry standards across the EU. On the heels of the increased environmental awareness that swept the globe in the late 1960s, the European Community initiated the European Community Action Programmes on the Environment. The first of these five-year programmes, covering the years from 1973 to 1977, established principles and priorities for future environmental policies. The second five-year programme (1977-1981) established a list of eleven principles and actions to be taken in order to move closer to the goal of environmental protection. The list included the decision-making tool of environmental impact assessment. The first two Action Programmes had a common theme of protecting human health and the environment by controlling pollution problems. The third five-year Programme (1982-1986) solidly shifted the emphasis of environmental policy from one of pollution control to one of prevention and integration of environmental issues into other European Community policies. Not surprisingly, it was during the era of the S econd and Third Action Programmes when Directive 85/337/EEC, an inherently preventative and integrating piece of legislation, was first proposed and then accepted. The Fourth Action Programme (1987-1992) continued the trend of prevention but proceeded further beyond its predecessors by stressing the importance of using stringent environmental standards in regulating the activities of Member States. The evolution of environmental policy in the EU took a crucial step on July 1, 1987 when, in conjunction with the adoption of the Fourth Action Programme, the Community adopted the Single European Act. The Act, which consisted of amendments to the Treaty of Rome, contained articles that specifically affected environmental policy. Article 100A recognized the relationship between promotion of the common market and protection of the environment by authorizing the EU to adopt environmental legislation on the basis that such issues affect the marketplace. Article 130R lays out the objectives of future Community action relating to the environment by formalizing the principles of prevention, subsidiarity, polluter pays, and most importantly, integration. Article 130T reconfirms that individual Member States may enact environmental legislation that is more stringent than, but is compatible with, that of the Community. The evolution of environmental policy in the EU from the 1957 Treaty of Rome through the various Action Programmes and to the Single European Act exemplifies the European Communitys commitment to a preventative approach to environmental protection. EIA law stands as a hallmark of that preventative approach. The EUs commitment to the comprehensive prevention of environmental degradation is tested, however, by the limitations of its own EIA law. 2.1.2. Environmental Impact Assessment Law: A Description and Comparative Study 2.1.2.1. EIA: A General Overview The essential structure of EIA law is common to all the nations that use it. Generally, EIA law is a process intended to minimize or prevent environmental damage that is usually associated with the construction and operation of certain development projects. Usually in the form of legislation, regulations and/or administrative processes, EIA law requires that certain development projects, while still in a planning stage, be analyzed in terms of their potential adverse impacts on the environment. Developers and/or governmental bodies, depending on the particularities of the EIA law in question, must conduct an analysis, or assessment, of the environmental effects of certain projects. The public authority responsible for granting or denying consent to the project is asked to take into account the results of the assessment. Again, depending on the particularities of the EIA law in question, provisions are made for public disclosure of the assessments, as well as for public involvement in the authoritys decision-making process. The EIA process plays four important roles in protecting the environment. First, EIA law gives concrete, practical effect to environmental policy language that is often broad, general and otherwise absent of specific mandates. The U.S. Congress, in formulating its declarations of environmental policy, included EIA so as to insure that the policies enunciated . . . are implemented. EIA helps to insure proper implementation of policies by requiring the formulation and submission of written assessment reports, demonstrating an affirmative compliance with the environmental concerns outlined in policy language. A second role for EIA is to provide an analytical decision-making tool that institutionalizes foresight. It asks the decision-making authority to look beyond the moment and to incorporate into its decision the possible irreversible future effects a project may have on the environment. Third, to the extent that EIA affirmatively asks developers and decision-makers to account for the social and economic costs resulting from their actions, EIA forces the internalization of those costs and consequences that might otherwise go unaccounted for. The final role that EIA plays is as a public-awareness measure. Most EIA processes allow for public disclosure of development plans, as well as for public participation in the decision-making process. In the words of Professor Nicholas Robinson, EIA facilitates democratic decision making and consensus building regarding new development. For EIA to incorporate environmental norms into decision making, it must address both environmental ethics and values and human ethics, values, perceptions, beliefs and attitudes. It is an objective procedure for identifying, measuring and predicting environmental attributes and changes brought about by existing or proposed actions, but is subjective in the interpretation, aggregation and management of those changes. Although driven by an environmental ethic, the links between EIA and ethical theory in general and environmental ethics in particular, have been tenuous at best. The tendency has been to assume that concepts and methods developed to predict and explain environmental change provide a sufficient knowledge base. The practice of EIA involves, usually implicit assumptions regarding the known environment, environmental impacts and environmental norms. It is, for example, generally assumed that aspects of the environment and their inter- relationships can be identified, described or measured and monitored; changes, with or without a proposed action can be predicted to the extent that cause-effect relationships can be established; stakeholders values can be determined; measures of impact magnitude and importance can be combined; individual and cumulative environmental consequences can be interpreted, aggregated and managed; end issues of probability of uncertainty can be managed sufficiently to decide whether a proposed action should proceed and, if so, then, in what fashion. These knowledge assumptions are questionable, especially in the subjective realm of conflicting values, perceptions and human behaviour. The primary focus of EIA was initially on the physical and natural environment and, to a lesser extent, on the socio economic consequences of physical and natural environmental changes. The environmental aspect of EIA now generally embraces both natural (physical, biological and ecological) and human (human health and well being, social, cultural, economic built) environmental components and systems (Wiesner, 1995) and their inter relationships (Jain, Urban and Stacey, 1977; Estrin and Swaigen, 1978; CEARC, 1988b). There are many opinions regarding whether social impact assessment (SIA) or socio-economic impact assessment is or should be a sub-field of EIA (Morris and Therive1, 1995). A broad definition of the environmental EIA facilitates a more comprehensive approach to environmental management but it leaves open the possibility that certain elements of the environment will not receive pertinent attention. The question of how best to integrate social, ecological and economic data and perspectives remains unresolved. Human actions alter the environment (Jain, Urban and Stacey 1977; Mitchell and Turkheim 1977). In EIA, the term impact generally refers to the accepted environmental consequences (Meredith 1991) of a proposed action or set of actions (Rau and Wooten 1980) and less frequently to the actual consequences of an existing activity. Distinctions also are often drawn between changes or effects (measures of magnitude) and impacts (measures of magnitude in combination with measures of importance), between alternations of environmental conditions or the creation of a new set of environmental conditions, and between environmental conditions changes caused or ind uced by actions (Rau and Wooten 1980). Although the traditional focus of EIA has been capital projects, EIA requirements are increasingly applied to legislative proposals, policies, programs, technologies, regulations and operational procedures (Munn 1979; Estrin and Swaigen 1978; CEARC 1988b). The expectation that the conceptual basis for EIA largely developed at a project level can be readily extended and applied to policies, programs and technologies is questionable. At the policy and program level the range of inter related choices tends to multiply, impacts tend to be more generic and less amenable to precise prediction and EIA overlaps with policy and program evaluation, planning and environmental and resource management. A distinction is sometimes drawn between project level EIA und the strategic environmental assessment (SEA) of policies, plans and programs (Sadler 1995). Risk assessment, technology assessment and environmental health impact assessment are viewed as either subfields within EIA (Sadler 1995) or as distinct fields that partially overlap with EIA in most cases EIA applies to the actions of both public and private proponents (Meredith 1991; Mitchell and Tuclcheh 1977). Alternative methods of achieving a proposed end and of managing the impacts associated with a partial choice are also usually considered in an EIA planning process. 2.1.2.2. A Comparative Study: The United States Experience with EIA The significant history of EIA law began with the passage in the United States of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. NEPA was brought about as an instrument of policy and planning (Roberts, 1984a). Among NEPAs eloquent but broad declarations of environmental policy is a brief section mandating EIA law for certain projects, thus providing a set of teeth with which to enforce the statutes policies. Section 102(2) of the Act requires all federal agencies to prepare and include an environmental impact statement (EIS) with every recommendation or proposal for major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment. The importance and weight of this requirement, as well as the problems inherent in defining its triggering terms, are demonstrated by the fact that the EIS clause has spawned nearly all case law brought under NEPA. Much of NEPA case law has dealt with the issue of w hether projects involving national defense and national security are subject to compliance with Section 102(2), and judicial review of such compliance. The environmental, public-awareness and military interests at stake in these cases are reflected by two questions. First, will compliance and judicial review compromise the confidentiality of matters regarding national security? Second, will compliance and judicial review compromise the ability of the military to proceed with projects, which while detrimental to the environment, are crucial to the defense of the country? In answering these questions, it is important to note that NEPA calls for EISs from all agencies of the Federal Government; the statute does not provide a textual exception for national defense or security projects. Despite the clear language of the statute, however, U.S. courts have struggled with the issue and are currently responding in a manner that runs counter to the language and true intent of NEPA. Most court decisions find that NEPA-based claims against projects involving national defense interests are justifiable. Early cases, however, were ambiguous in answering questions of whether such projects must comply with NEPA requirements and whether EISs for such projects are subject to judicial review of their legal sufficiency. For instance, in the early case of McQueary v. Laird, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals dealt with a NEPA challenge to a military project by claiming lack of jurisdiction. In another early case, Citizens for Reid State Park v. Laird, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Maine found that NEPA applies to all federal agencies, including the Department of Defense. The Court in Citizens for Reid State Park refused to require an EIS for the Navy project in question, however, because it found that the plaintiff citizens group had failed to prove that the Navy plans constituted a major project significantly affecting the environment. Later court d ecisions often allowed national defense projects to proceed without an EIS or judicial review of an EIS, not because the courts believed that such projects did not have to comply with NEPA, but merely because the courts found that major federal action or significant effects on the environmentrequirements necessary to trigger NEPA were absent. In cases where major federal actions having significant effects on the environment were found to exist, compliance with NEPA was required despite national security interests. In Committee for Nuclear Responsibility, Inc. v. Schlesinger, for example, the Supreme Court refused to issue an injunction for violation of NEPA, but the Courts rushed decision upheld a Court of Appeals finding that the Atomic Energy Commission did have a judicially reviewable duty to comply with NEPA requirements in spite of national security considerations. In Progressive Animal Welfare Society v. Department of Navy, the Western District Court of Appeals of Washington found that the Navys plan to use dolphins in a military project was a major federal action with significant environmental impact; accordingly, a NEPA EIS was required for the project. Finally, in Concerned about Trident v. Rumsfeld, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia found that the Navys plans for a submarine support facility requ ired compliance with NEPA to the fullest extent possible. The court found that the Navys own internal environmental impact statement was insufficient to fulfill the requirements of NEPA. In making its decision, the court, citing judicial precedent as well as NEPAs lack of a textual military exception, rejected the Navys argument that NEPA could not possibly apply to strategic military decisions. The court stated that the Navys plans were subject to NEPA requirements despite the projects serious national security implications. In 1981, the Supreme Court again addressed the issue of the militarys compliance with NEPAs EIA mandate. In Weinberger v. Catholic Action of Hawaii, the Court refused judicial review of the Department of Defenses compliance with NEPA in a matter of national security. The dispute began with the Navys plan to construct a weapons and ammunition holding facility capable of storing nuclear weapons in Ohau, Hawaii. The Navys internal assessment concluded that the fac ility would not have significant impact on the environment and as such, a NEPA EIS was unnecessary. The Navys assessment, however, failed to include an analysis of the facilitys impact on the environment should nuclear weapons actually be stored at the site. The district court that first reviewed the case found that the Navy had complied with NEPA to the fullest extent possible. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the district court, arguing that an EIS was necessary and feasible since it would not necessarily release confidential matters. Important to the court was the fact that the Navy had already made the nuclear capabilities of the facility public knowledge. The court went on to suggest a hypothetical approach to writing EISs that would protect national security, environmental concerns, and public disclosure interests. Judge Merrill wrote that under this hypothetical approach, the Navys EIS must evaluate the hypothetical consequences of storing nuclear weapons at the site but it need not imply that a decision to actually store nuclear weapons had been made. The court argued that since the public was already aware of the capability of the facility to store nuclear weapons, a hypothetical EIS that discussed the impact of such storage, but not whether it would actually occur, would not reveal anything the public did not already know . Further, it would allow the Navy and the decision-making authority to consider the true and potential costs and consequences of proceeding with the project. Finally, the Court stated that a hypothetical EIS would assure the public that the decision-making process had fully accounted for the projects externalities and consequences. On review, the Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeals creative approach to balancing the interests at stake. The Court, discrediting the Ninth Circuits notion of a hypothetical EIS, refused to mandate a NEPA EIS because it believed that doing so would reveal confidential matters of national security. In the majority opinion, Justice Rehnquist outlined the current status of the law regarding military compliance with EIA law in the United States. He wrote that public policies favoring the protection of confidential information regarding national security ultimately forbids judicial scrutiny of whether or not the Navy has complied with NEPA to the fullest extent possible.' Justice Blackmun, who concurred with the judgment of the Court, was joined by Justice Brennan in stressing that although the Defense Department may disseminate EISs in a manner that protects confidential matters, it is still bound by the obligations of NEPA. 2.1.2.3. A Comparative Study: The European Unions Experience with EIA Sixteen years after NEPA took effect in the United States and after five years of consideration in the European Union, Environmental Impact Assessment law was officially incorporated into the statutory framework of the EU on June 27, 1985. Directive 85/337 mandates EIA for certain projects such as those involving crude-oil refineries, thermal and nuclear power stations, motorway construction and dangerous waste landfills. It also requires EIA to be performed in conjunction with those other projects that Member States find have a significant effect on the environment due to the projects particular characteristics. The specific legal authority for the Directive is derived from Articles 100 and 235 of the EEC Treaty. The Directive also cites to the first three Action Programmes for their policies of preventing environmental harms at the source rather then trying to counteract environmental degradation once it occurs. The procedure called for by the Directive identifies, describes and analyzes the effects a development project may have on humans, fauna, flora, soil, water, air, climate, landscape, welfare and cultural heritage. The EIA must contain a description of the project in question, an outline of the main alternatives to the project, the reason for choosing the proposed plans, a description of the significant effects the project will have on the environment, and a description of the measures that must be taken to avoid, reduce or compensate for those effects. Because developers have the best knowledge of the nature of their proposal, they have the responsibility of gathering the information and compiling the EIA. The decision-making authorities who have the power of giving consent to the developers plans have the responsibility of setting standards for approval or disapproval and ensuring that the developers EIA complies with the law. Further, they are obligated, by statute, to incorporate the EIA into their decision-making process. Also, Article 10 of the Directive states that the authorities must respect existing regulations and practices regarding industrial and commercial secrecy. Finally, the Directive envisions an active role for the public. In addition to supplying the decision-makers with information regarding the impact a project will have on the local environment, the public may have an opportunity to suggest alternatives and to pursue judicial action in order to request a review of consent. Further particularities of public participation and involvement are to be determined by the individual Member States. 2.1.2.4. The National Defense Project Exception to Directive 85/337/EEC The effectiveness of the Directive in preventing environmental harms is undercut by the exception it gives to national defense projects. It is reasonable to infer that this exception reflects two assumptions. The first assumption, explicitly mentioned in the Directive, is that national legislative processes will ensure that defense projects comply with the Directive. No rationale is provided for this assumption except for the implied reasoning that national legislators share the concerns of the Directive and are able to guide national legislation accordingly. The second assumption appears to be that the confidentiality of Member States national security matters would be compro