CSIR Center for the study and improvement of Regulation

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Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation

"Merging the study of pollution, risk, epidemiology, technology, economics, organizations and history to improve environmental, health, and safety regulation."

The Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation (CSIR) is a joint research center in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and the Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication at the University of Washington.

The Center was created because evolving knowledge of natural science and engineering has opened new doors to measuring and understanding environmental, health, and safety issues. However, rising control costs, the potential involvement of previously unregulated sectors, and concerns about fairness, participation, and the scope of government action have created both new opportunities and barriers to effective regulation. To have impact in this evolving regulatory environment, the Center brings together researchers from multiple disciplines spanning the hard sciences, the social sciences, and engineering. Our quantitative focus provides it with a comparative advantage in examining the interrelationships between emerging technologies and emerging regulations.

The goals of the Center are to:

Facilitate the use of scientific information and methods in the regulatory process
Develop decision tools for addressing risk and uncertainty in the regulatory process
Understand risk perceptions and effective risk communication
Examine how stakeholder involvement shapes the regulatory process and influences regulatory outcomes

Center research encompasses a number of domains, including water quality valuation, genetically modified crops, brownfield redevelopments, and air pollution from ocean vessels. Currently, the Center is developing a suite of projects exploring the regulation of automobile emissions, fuel economy, and transportation fuels.

As a result of its efforts, the Center produced a diverse portfolio of output, including historical case studies that document stakeholder involvement and the machinations of the regulatory process; the publication of Improving Regulation (RFF Press), an edited volume that contains several specific examples applying quantitative methods to regulatory analysis; and the development of a decision support tool, FERET, a benefit-cost analysis template for evaluating regulations or projects involving criteria air pollutants, health impacts and accidents.

The Center collaborates with a number of large, university-based research centers, including the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center (CEIC), the Center for the Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change (HDGC), the Green Design Initiative at Carnegie Mellon, and the Center for Child Health Environmental Risks Research (CHC), the Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health (CEEH), the Toxicogenomics Center, and the Institute for Population Kinetics at University of Washington.

For further information on Center activities contact David Gerard
(dgerard@andrew.cmu.edu).

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Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation "Merging the study of pollution, risk, epidemiology, technology, economics, organizations and history to improve environmental, health, and safety regulation." The Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation (CSIR) is a joint research center in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University and the Institute for Risk Analysis and Risk Communication at the University of Washington. The Center was created because evolving knowledge of natural science and engineering has opened new doors to measuring and understanding environmental, health, and safety issues. However, rising control costs, the potential involvement of previously unregulated sectors, and concerns about fairness, participation, and the scope of government action have created both new opportunities and barriers to effective regulation. To have impact in this evolving regulatory environment, the Center brings together researchers from multiple disciplines spanning the hard sciences, the social sciences, and engineering. Our quantitative focus provides it with a comparative advantage in examining the interrelationships between emerging technologies and emerging regulations. The goals of the Center are to: Facilitate the use of scientific information and methods in the regulatory process Develop decision tools for addressing risk and uncertainty in the regulatory process Understand risk perceptions and effective risk communication Examine how stakeholder involvement shapes the regulatory process and influences regulatory outcomes Center research encompasses a number of domains, including water quality valuation, genetically modified crops, brownfield redevelopments, and air pollution from ocean vessels. Currently, the Center is developing a suite of projects exploring the regulation of automobile emissions, fuel economy, and transportation fuels. As a result of its efforts, the Center produced a diverse portfolio of output, including historical case studies that document stakeholder involvement and the machinations of the regulatory process; the publication of Improving Regulation (RFF Press), an edited volume that contains several specific examples applying quantitative methods to regulatory analysis; and the development of a decision support tool, FERET, a benefit-cost analysis template for evaluating regulations or projects involving criteria air pollutants, health impacts and accidents. The Center collaborates with a number of large, university-based research centers, including the Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center (CEIC), the Center for the Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change (HDGC), the Green Design Initiative at Carnegie Mellon, and the Center for Child Health Environmental Risks Research (CHC), the Center for Ecogenetics and Environmental Health (CEEH), the Toxicogenomics Center, and the Institute for Population Kinetics at University of Washington. For further information on Center activities contact David Gerard (dgerard@andrew.cmu.edu).