Project ID: 2002CA4B

Title: Voluntary Compliance Versus Mandatory Sanctions: A Natural Experiment in Water Quality Regulation

Project Type: Research

Focus Categories: Water Quality, Law, Institutions, and Policy, Agriculture

Keywords: water quality, voluntary compliance, command-and-control, livestock, dairy

Start Date: 03/01/2002

End Date: 02/28/2003

Federal Funds: $10,000

Non-Federal Matching Funds: $15,495

Congressional District: 43

Principal Investigator:
Paul Sabatier
University of California, Davis campus

Abstract

Paul Sabatier PI
Dept of Environmental Science & Policy, Davis campus
email: pasabatier@ucdavis.edu
phone: 530-752-8898

The PI will share with 4 other PIs from California in the award allocation.

The research will evaluate the voluntary compliance approach to water quality regulation being practiced in the dairy and livestock industries in counties north of San Francisco Bay. It will explore the relative effectiveness of voluntary compliance versus manditory sanctions and how compliance has improved water quality. It will explore which of the hypothesized mechanisms are important e.g. education and outreach, promoting an environmental ethic, trust-building. The research will include an original analysis of 9 years of water quality data and an original survey of all dairy and livestock producers in the region.

Progress/Completion Report PDF