Institutional Rent in Metallurgy: Ways of Use

The article describes the possible use of institutional rent of the largest metallurgical companies associated with their non-market advantages. The author identifies the channels for obtaining such rent, including differences in the tax burden, difference in the rates of involved financial resources for companies operating in different institutional conditions, state support and benefits from peculiarities of the vertical organization of production. Some estimates of institutional rent are obtained and questions are raised about the income and expenses level, fair for the economy, of the companies that receive it. The directions, in which large companies spend the received rent, are highlighted; it is emphasized that withdrawal of "windfall revenues" can be made only after they are compared with non-market expenses of companies, imputed by the state. At the same time, information on such costs is scattered, inaccurate and therefore requires serious assessment and monitoring. The author substantiates an approach wherein the state and big business are interested to seek a mutually beneficial use of the received institutional rent.

Thin layer placement for marsh enhancement: Planning, design, construction, and monitoring considerations

Thin layer placement (TLP) is the purposeful placement of thin layers of sediment in an environmentally acceptable manner to achieve a target elevation or thickness. TLP is used for a variety of purposes, such as sediment management, beneficial use of dredged material (DM), and ecological enhancement. The term “thin” is used to distinguish TLP from other methods of sediment placement in which sediments are applied in layers on the order of several meters thick. In this paper, DM disposal refers to the deposition of sediment in a location and manner where no beneficial use is attained; with DM placement the sediment is used to benefit society and the environment. The application of thin layers of sediment has advantages over more traditional, thicker sediment applications in environments where these thicker layers pose potential challenges to natural resources, infrastructure, navigation, or other assets. Although TLP projects are most often conducted in wetlands, there are open-water applications as well. But because TLP is relatively early in its development, there is a dearth of design and construction information and guidance available to practitioners. This paper provides a high-level summary of pending national TLP guidance being developed by the authors on behalf of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center (USACE ERDC).

Incorporation of coarse-grained dredged material into marsh and shoreline restoration projects in coastal New Jersey

Millions of cubic yards of sediment are dredged every year in coastal New Jersey for the operation and maintenance of an extensive marine transportation system stretching from the New Jersey Harbor south along the Atlantic Coast from Sandy Hook to Cape May and north up the Delaware River. Dredged material from these public and private projects has been managed using a variety of placement approaches and technologies, from open-water disposal to landfilling to construction materials. For the past several decades, the State of New Jersey has advocated for and implemented a policy of beneficial use of dredged material rather than its disposal. The New Jersey Department of Transportation’s Office of Maritime Resources (NJDOT/OMR) is the lead state agency for research and implementation of beneficial use statewide. NJDOT/ OMR is also responsible for the recovery of the 200-mile network of shallow-draft navigation channels along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey that was damaged by a series of severe coastal storms, most notably Superstorm Sandy in 2012. For the past decade, considerable effort has been made to develop methods that use clean dredged material from the Atlantic region to rebuild and improve coastal features such as marshes, dunes, and beaches, thereby retaining the sediment in the ecosystem. Although there have been a number of successful beneficial use projects, concerns remain about the long-term sustainability of the program due to high cost, timelines, scalability, habitat sensitivity, resiliency, aesthetics, and other factors. This paper explores some of these issues and proposes solutions. It focuses on the use of available coarse-grained material as a way to provide resiliency to these restored features while increasing scale and efficiency, protecting aesthetics, and providing increased habitat value.

Correction: Ghurye et al. Thermal Desalination of Produced Water—An Analysis of the Partitioning of Constituents into Product Streams and Its Implications for Beneficial Use Outside the O&G Industry. Water 2021, 13, 1068

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