Environmental Models for Screening Land-Use Plans

A framework is presented for screening the environmental impacts and environmental control costs associated with alternative land uses. The methodology is oriented toward providing rapid and inexpensive preliminary screening of alternative plans, given environmental constraints. It provides a variety of impact measures, calculated from the standpoint of different groups that might be affected by and/or influence the land-use decision-making process. The central element of the process is a linear program that determines whether environmental standards can be met under a given land-use scenario and selects appropriate control measures. The model considers multiple pollutants and intermedia transformations that occur in the course of treatment. Use of this approach is illustrated in an application to Onondaga County, N. Y., using a simplified representation of the county’s environmental problem.