scholarly journals Ensuring Compliance From 35,000 Feet: Accountability and Trade-Offs in Aviation Safety Regulatory Networks

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (10) ◽  
pp. 1478-1507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell W. Mills ◽  
Christopher J. Koliba ◽  
Dorit Rubinstein Reiss

A puzzle that faces public administrators within regulatory networks is how to balance the need for public or democratic accountability with increasing demands from interest groups and elected officials to utilize the expertise of the private sector in developing process-oriented programs that ensure compliance. This article builds upon the network governance accountability framework developed by Koliba, Mills, and Zia to explore the dominant accountability frames and the accountability trade-offs that shape the process-oriented regulatory regime used by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to oversee and regulate air carriers in the United States.

Author(s):  
Thomas R. Weitzel ◽  
Thomas R. Chidester ◽  
Roger A. Mason

The authors investigated a previously unaddressed problem within curricula of the United States (U.S.) aviation institutions of higher education. Graduates of these institutions were not being prepared to work within safety departments of the U.S. air carriers involved with one or more of the five current, voluntary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) programs. To ascertain the need for a solution, a subjective instrument was developed and personally administered to 13 participants within the industry. The qualitative results were interpreted, and, in combination with the knowledge gained from the immersion of a professor within a research organization, resulted in the curricular placement of some of the aforementioned content on one campus of one U.S. aviation university during the spring semester of 2005.


Public Voices ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 115
Author(s):  
Mary Coleman

The author of this article argues that the two-decades-long litigation struggle was necessary to push the political actors in Mississippi into a more virtuous than vicious legal/political negotiation. The second and related argument, however, is that neither the 1992 United States Supreme Court decision in Fordice nor the negotiation provided an adequate riposte to plaintiffs’ claims. The author shows that their chief counsel for the first phase of the litigation wanted equality of opportunity for historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), as did the plaintiffs. In the course of explicating the role of a legal grass-roots humanitarian, Coleman suggests lessons learned and trade-offs from that case/negotiation, describing the tradeoffs as part of the political vestiges of legal racism in black public higher education and the need to move HBCUs to a higher level of opportunity at a critical juncture in the life of tuition-dependent colleges and universities in the United States. Throughout the essay the following questions pose themselves: In thinking about the Road to Fordice and to political settlement, would the Justice Department lawyers and the plaintiffs’ lawyers connect at the point of their shared strength? Would the timing of the settlement benefit the plaintiffs and/or the State? Could plaintiffs’ lawyers hold together for the length of the case and move each piece of the case forward in a winning strategy? Who were plaintiffs’ opponents and what was their strategy? With these questions in mind, the author offers an analysis of how the campaign— political/legal arguments and political/legal remedies to remove the vestiges of de jure segregation in higher education—unfolded in Mississippi, with special emphasis on the initiating lawyer in Ayers v. Waller and Fordice, Isaiah Madison


2007 ◽  
Vol 101 (2) ◽  
pp. 453-459
Author(s):  
Daniel Bodansky ◽  
Simon Lester

European Communities—Measures Affecting the Approval and Marketing of Biotech Products. WT/DS291/R, WT/DS292/R, & WT/DS293/R. At <http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dispu_e/dispu_status_e.htm>.World Trade Organization Panel, September 29, 2006 (adopted November 21, 2006).In what was by far the longest panel report in the World Trade Organization’s history, a WTO panel ruled last September that various parts of the European Communities’ regulatory regime for the approval and marketing of “biotech products” (that is, products that contain, or are made from or with, genetically modified organisms (GMOs)) violated the Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement). The panel report was not appealed and was adopted by the WTO Dispute Settlement Body on November 21, 2006.In recent years, a heated international debate has developed regarding the production and consumption of food made from or with GMOs. Among the key players in this debate, the United States, supported by many companies who have developed GMO-based products, has pushed for their acceptance; by contrast, the European Communities (EC) and its member states, backed by consumer groups and other activists, have tried to restrict their use through various regulations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Romiti ◽  
Mario Del Vecchio ◽  
Gino Sartor

Abstract Background This study focuses on the application of Provan and Kenis’ modes of network governance to the specific field of public healthcare networks, extending the framework to an analysis of systems in which networks are involved. Thus, the aim of this study is to analyze and compare the governance of two cancer networks in two Italian regions that underwent system reconfiguration processes due to reforms in the healthcare system. Methods A qualitative study of two clinical networks in the Italian healthcare system was conducted. The sample for interviews included representatives of the regional administration (n = 4), network coordinators (n = 6), and general and clinical directors of health organizations involved in the two networks (n = 25). Data were collected using semi-structured interviews. Results Our study shows that healthcare system reforms have a limited impact on network governance structures. In fact, strong inertial tendencies characterize networks, especially network administrative organization models (NAO). Networks tend to find their own balance with respect to the trade-offs analyzed using a mix of formal and informal ties. Our study confirms the general validity of Provan and Kenis’ framework and shows how other specific factors and contingencies may affect the possibility that cancer networks find positive equilibria between competing needs of inclusivity and efficiency, internal and external legitimacy, and stability and flexibility. It also shows how networks react to external changes. Conclusions Our study shows the importance of considering three factors and contingencies that may affect network effectiveness: a) the importance of looking at network governance modes not in isolation, but in relationship to the governance of regional systems; b) the influence of a specific network’s governance structure on the network’s ability to respond to tensions and to achieve its goals; and c) the need to take into account the role of professionals in network governance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7926
Author(s):  
Bharman Gulati ◽  
Stephan Weiler

This paper explores the role of local labor market dynamics on the survival of new businesses. The characteristics of the local labor market are likely to influence the survival of new businesses, the level of entrepreneurship, and the resilience of the regional economy. We apply portfolio theory to evaluate employment-based and income-based measures of risk-and-return trade-offs in local labor markets on new business survival in the United States. Our results show that volatility in local labor markets has a positive impact on new business survival, especially in Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The results are robust across different timeframes, including during economic downturns, thus highlighting the contribution of new businesses in developing the resilience of the local economy, and further promoting sustainable regional economic development.


2014 ◽  
Vol 53 (6) ◽  
pp. 1416-1432 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. D. Sharman ◽  
L. B. Cornman ◽  
G. Meymaris ◽  
J. Pearson ◽  
T. Farrar

AbstractThe statistical properties of turbulence at upper levels in the atmosphere [upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS)] are still not well known, partly because of the lack of adequate routine observations. This is despite the obvious benefit that such observations would have for alerting aircraft of potentially hazardous conditions, either in real time or for route planning. To address this deficiency, a research project sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration has developed a software package that automatically estimates and reports atmospheric turbulence intensity levels (as EDR ≡ ε1/3, where ε is the energy or eddy dissipation rate). The package has been tested and evaluated on commercial aircraft. The amount of turbulence data gathered from these in situ reports is unprecedented. As of January 2014, there are ~200 aircraft outfitted with this system, contributing to over 137 million archived records of EDR values through 2013, most of which were taken at cruise levels of commercial aircraft, that is, in the UTLS. In this paper, techniques used for estimating EDR are outlined and comparisons with pilot reports from the same or nearby aircraft are presented. These reports allow calibration of EDR in terms of traditionally reported intensity categories (“light,” “moderate,” or “severe”). The results of some statistical analyses of EDR values are also presented. These analyses are restricted to the United States for now, but, as this program is expanded to international carriers, such data will begin to become available over other areas of the globe.


2021 ◽  
Vol 263 (1) ◽  
pp. 5815-5827
Author(s):  
Sean Doyle ◽  
Donald Scata ◽  
James Hileman

As part of the agency's broader noise research program, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has undertaken a multi-year research effort to quantify the impacts of aircraft noise exposure on communities around commercial service airports in the United States (U.S.). The overall goal of the study was to produce an updated and nationally representative civil aircraft dose-response curve; providing the relationship between annoyance and aircraft noise exposure around U.S. airport communities. To meet this goal, the FAA sponsored a research team to help design and conduct a national survey, known as the Neighborhood Environmental Survey (NES). By assessing the results of the NES through both internal review and input from public comment, the FAA seeks to better inform its noise research priorities and noise policies. This paper will outline the FAA's motivation to conduct the NES as well as how its findings will help inform ongoing work to address aircraft noise concerns. Additional information describing the noise methodology and survey methodology are provided in companion papers.


Author(s):  
Michael Devin ◽  
Bryony DuPont ◽  
Spencer Hallowell ◽  
Sanjay Arwade

Abstract Commercial floating offshore wind projects are expected to emerge in the United States by the end of this decade. Currently, however, high costs for the technology limit its commercial viability, and a lack of data regarding system reliability heightens project risk. This work presents an optimization algorithm to examine the trade-offs between cost and reliability for a floating offshore wind array that uses shared anchoring. Combining a multivariable genetic algorithm with elements of Bayesian optimization, the optimization algorithm selectively increases anchor strengths to minimize the added costs of failure for a large floating wind farm in the Gulf of Maine under survival load conditions. The algorithm uses an evaluation function that computes the probability of mooring system failure, then calculates the expected maintenance costs of a failure via a Monte Carlo method. A cost sensitivity analysis is also performed to compare results for a range of maintenance cost profiles. The results indicate that virtually all of the farm's anchors are strengthened in the minimum cost solution. Anchor strength is in- creased between 5-35% depending on farm location, with anchor strength nearest the export cable being increased the most. The optimal solutions maintain a failure probability of 1.25%, demonstrating the trade-off point between cost and reliability. System reliability was found to be particularly sensitive to changes in turbine costs and downtime, suggest- ing further research into floating offshore wind turbine failure modes in extreme loading conditions could be particularly impactful in reducing project uncertainty.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (47) ◽  
pp. 12069-12074 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel G. Roy ◽  
Emi Uchida ◽  
Simone P. de Souza ◽  
Ben Blachly ◽  
Emma Fox ◽  
...  

Aging infrastructure and growing interests in river restoration have led to a substantial rise in dam removals in the United States. However, the decision to remove a dam involves many complex trade-offs. The benefits of dam removal for hazard reduction and ecological restoration are potentially offset by the loss of hydroelectricity production, water supply, and other important services. We use a multiobjective approach to examine a wide array of trade-offs and synergies involved with strategic dam removal at three spatial scales in New England. We find that increasing the scale of decision-making improves the efficiency of trade-offs among ecosystem services, river safety, and economic costs resulting from dam removal, but this may lead to heterogeneous and less equitable local-scale outcomes. Our model may help facilitate multilateral funding, policy, and stakeholder agreements by analyzing the trade-offs of coordinated dam decisions, including net benefit alternatives to dam removal, at scales that satisfy these agreements.


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