%0 Book %A National Research Council %T Pathways to Urban Sustainability: Research and Development on Urban Systems: Summary of a Workshop %@ 978-0-309-15895-4 %D 2010 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12969/pathways-to-urban-sustainability-research-and-development-on-urban-systems %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12969/pathways-to-urban-sustainability-research-and-development-on-urban-systems %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Environment and Environmental Studies %P 124 %X More than half of the world's people now live in cities. In the United States, the figure is 80 percent. It is worthwhile to consider how this trend of increased urbanization, if inevitable, could be made more sustainable. One fundamental shortcoming of urban research and programs is that they sometimes fail to recognize urban areas as systems. Current institutions and actors are not accustomed to exploring human-environment interactions, particularly at an urban-scale. The fact is that these issues involve complex interactions, many of which are not yet fully understood. Thus a key challenge for the 21st century is this: How can we develop sustainable urban systems that provide healthy, safe and affordable environments for the growing number of Americans living in cities and their surrounding metropolitan areas? To address this question, the National Research Council organized a workshop exploring the landscape of urban sustainability research programs in the United States. The workshop, summarized in this volume, was designed to allow participants to share information about the activities and planning efforts of federal agencies, along with related initiatives by universities, the private sector, nongovernmental groups, state and local agencies, and international organizations. Participants were encouraged to explore how urban sustainability can move beyond analyses devoted to single disciplines and sectors to systems-level thinking and effective interagency cooperation. To do this, participants examined areas of potential coordination among different R&D programs, with special consideration given to how the efforts of federal agencies can best complement and leverage the efforts of other key stakeholders. Pathways to Urban Sustainability offers a broad contextual summary of workshop presentations and discussions for distribution to federal agencies, regional organizations, academic institutions, think tanks and other groups engaged in urban research. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals: Volume 9 %@ 978-0-309-15944-9 %D 2010 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12978/acute-exposure-guideline-levels-for-selected-airborne-chemicals-volume-9 %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12978/acute-exposure-guideline-levels-for-selected-airborne-chemicals-volume-9 %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Environment and Environmental Studies %P 462 %X This book is the ninth volume in the series Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals, and reviews AEGLs for bromine, ethylene oxide, furan, hydrogen sulfide, propylene oxide, and xylenes. %0 Book %A National Research Council %T The Use of Title 42 Authority at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: A Letter Report %D 2010 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12901/the-use-of-title-42-authority-at-the-us-environmental-protection-agency %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12901/the-use-of-title-42-authority-at-the-us-environmental-protection-agency %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Environment and Environmental Studies %P 40 %X At the request of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the present letter report evaluates the effectiveness of EPA's Title 42 program. Title 42 authority was granted to EPA for 5 years, from 2006 to 2011. As that period draws to a close, it was thought that a review of the current program would be appropriate. This letter report first provides some background information on the origin of EPA's Title 42 program and then more detailed information on the committee's task and its approach to the task, comments on implementation of the Title 42 program, and suggestions for strengthening the program. The report concludes with the committee's overall findings and recommendations. Although the Title 42 program at EPA is still evolving, the committee found that the agency has implemented the program appropriately. Most important, the Title 42 appointees have already had a favorable effect on EPA's scientific research even after such a short time since implementation of the program. A leading example is the development of the National Center for Computational Toxicology. %0 Book %A National Research Council %E Stern, Paul C. %E Kasperson, Roger E. %T Facilitating Climate Change Responses: A Report of Two Workshops on Knowledge from the Social and Behavioral Sciences %@ 978-0-309-16032-2 %D 2010 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12996/facilitating-climate-change-responses-a-report-of-two-workshops-on %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12996/facilitating-climate-change-responses-a-report-of-two-workshops-on %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Environment and Environmental Studies %K Earth Sciences %P 174 %X The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, understanding the need for policy makers at the national level to entrain the behavioral and social sciences in addressing the challenges of global climate change, called on the National Research Council to organize two workshops to showcase some of the decision-relevant contributions that these sciences have already made and can advance with future efforts. The workshops focused on two broad areas: (1) mitigation (behavioral elements of a strategy to reduce the net future human influence on climate) and (2) adaptation (behavioral and social determinants of societal capacity to minimize the damage from climate changes that are not avoided). Facilitating Climate Change Responses documents the information presented in the workshop presentations and discussions. This material illustrates some of the ways the behavioral and social sciences can contribute to the new era of climate research. %0 Book %A National Academy of Engineering %T Technology for a Quieter America %@ 978-0-309-15632-5 %D 2010 %U https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12928/technology-for-a-quieter-america %> https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/12928/technology-for-a-quieter-america %I The National Academies Press %C Washington, DC %G English %K Engineering and Technology %K Environment and Environmental Studies %P 210 %X Exposure to noise at home, at work, while traveling, and during leisure activities is a fact of life for all Americans. At times noise can be loud enough to damage hearing, and at lower levels it can disrupt normal living, affect sleep patterns, affect our ability to concentrate at work, interfere with outdoor recreational activities, and, in some cases, interfere with communications and even cause accidents. Clearly, exposure to excessive noise can affect our quality of life. As the population of the United States and, indeed, the world increases and developing countries become more industrialized, problems of noise are likely to become more pervasive and lower the quality of life for everyone. Efforts to manage noise exposures, to design quieter buildings, products, equipment, and transportation vehicles, and to provide a regulatory environment that facilitates adequate, cost-effective, sustainable noise controls require our immediate attention. Technology for a Quieter America looks at the most commonly identified sources of noise, how they are characterized, and efforts that have been made to reduce noise emissions and experiences. The book also reviews the standards and regulations that govern noise levels and the federal, state, and local agencies that regulate noise for the benefit, safety, and wellness of society at large. In addition, it presents the cost-benefit trade-offs between efforts to mitigate noise and the improvements they achieve, information sources available to the public on the dimensions of noise problems and their mitigation, and the need to educate professionals who can deal with these issues. Noise emissions are an issue in industry, in communities, in buildings, and during leisure activities. As such, Technology for a Quieter America will appeal to a wide range of stakeholders: the engineering community; the public; government at the federal, state, and local levels; private industry; labor unions; and nonprofit organizations. Implementation of the recommendations in Technology for a Quieter America will result in reduction of the noise levels to which Americans are exposed and will improve the ability of American industry to compete in world markets paying increasing attention to the noise emissions of products.