Road to Solutions — Urbanization & Infrastructure
Estimating the Impact of Tradeoffs in U.S. EPRP Rulemaking Scenarios
As Extended Producer Responsibility policies for packaging gain traction in the U.S., there is an immediate need to understand the environmental, social, and economic trade-offs of the different approaches to policy rulemaking that are emerging across states. Through modeling six ideal type policy scenarios to analyze the likely environmental, economic, and social impacts, this two-year research project is intended to help policymakers adopt effective policies that advance safe and just materials circularity for packaging.
Uncovering Opportunities for Industrial Circular Economy Exchanges in Maine
This two-year project will study opportunities to reduce Maine’s non-hazardous industrial waste (NHIW); items like cellulose trimmings, leather, sandblast grit, and pulp mill waste that are typically landfilled. These waste products are not considered a significant human health or environmental risk, but disposing of them is expensive for manufacturers. Keeping NHIW out of the waste stream is an important strategy for climate change mitigation, efficient resource use, and pollution reduction.
Developing and Deploying a Risk Framework for PFAS Management in Rural America: Connecting Predictive Models of PFAS Contamination with Risk Perceptions to Guide Management Decisions (WRRI 104g)
Across the United States, there is growing concern about the widespread occurrence of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in our water, our food, and our bodies stemming from exposure through landfills, pesticides, atmospheric deposition, consumer products and fire suppressants. This is particularly true in rural America, where the land application of municipal and industrial biosolids to agricultural fields or septage disposal sites may be further contributing to PFAS contamination in groundwater and surface water.
Integrated Assessment of Alternative Management Strategies for PFAS-contaminated Wastewater Residuals (WRRI 2021)
PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are used in a range of consumer products from nonstick cookware to breathable rain gear and food packaging. Though PFAS have been in use since the late 1950s, it is only in the last 20 years that their toxicity has been well documented. Because these chemicals do not break down, they eventually end up in the wastewater streams sent to treatment plants. During treatment, much of the PFAS are removed from the wastewater and become concentrated in the wastewater sludge, or residuals, that remain. In 2019, the state stopped spreading wastewater residuals on farm fields due to the discovery of unsafe levels of PFAS in virtually all samples and PFAS contamination at several Maine dairy farms. An interdisciplinary research team is examining the environmental, social and economic consequences of a range of management options for PFAS-contaminated wastewater residuals.
Addressing Energy Justice Through Community Energy
Energy justice seeks to make sustainable energy solutions such as energy efficiency more accessible to traditionally underrepresented groups. Community energy involves a group of people coming together to solve an energy issue. This project addresses the solutions-side of energy justice with a pilot project on collectively building insulating window inserts, which can reduce heat loss, save energy and money, and protect the environment, in an Indigenous community.
Assessing the Value of Access to Water-Related Data to Support River Basin Management
The benefits of collaborative river basin planning efforts are increasingly recognized. Informed decision-making in these basins requires access to comprehensive data and information (“water data”) about key issues. However, the water data that are needed are often found in disparate sources, or are not publicly available, posing barriers to effective water management.
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) initiated a project to investigate and document the value of improving the discovery, sharing, and use of water data for diverse stakeholder groups. Coordinated dam management practices within and across these basins could lead to opportunities for greater power production and fewer environmental impacts than if dams are managed independently.
We’re All in This Together: Participatory Planning for Community-Based Climate Change Adaptation
Vacationland. Take one look at Maine’s license plate and you see the widespread importance of tourism to the state. Maine’s natural resources attract visitors from all over the world but are also vulnerable to climate change, which is likely to impact visitors as well as communities dependent on tourism. This project seeks to move beyond traditional power structures and collaborate with community partners to co-develop locally relevant, useful climate change solutions. The result of this collaboration will be a participatory framework to build climate-planning capacity within tourism-dependent communities.
Collaborating Toward Climate Solutions
The research and engagement of Collaborating Toward Climate Solutions (CTCS) is designed to support on-the-ground problem-solving for the complex challenges that communities face with climate change. The research team is working closely with community partners to co-develop strategies and extension/assistance services to foster adaptation and resilience. This includes learning about community priorities and challenges and identifying potential service-provider partners, best practices, and the potential for networks that enable towns to connect with peer communities.
Using Socio-Economic Impacts to Inform Decision-Making on Dams (WRRI 2020)
With large-scale river restoration projects becoming more prevalent, new opportunities such as the Penobscot River Restoration Project (PRRP) have emerged to investigate key questions about socio-economic impacts. Comprehensive stakeholder engagement and collaboration between a variety of interests were critical to the success of the PRRP and other similar dam removals. The research team is working with key stakeholders to identify and evaluate impacts of river restoration, continuing to learn about the socio-economic impacts and benefits of dam removals and the importance of building community engagement and education around river restoration.
Reuse Markets as a Means to Advance Environmental, Social and Economic Public Policy
In an era of non-renewable resource depletion and growing waste streams, environmentalists and industrialists alike are advocating for the development of more circular economic systems that can reduce resource pressure, waste, and inefficiencies by keeping existing materials in economic circulation longer. In response, many communities have already implemented programs designed to encourage a new “culture” of reuse.
Archived Projects
Please contact umgmc@maine.edu to access the following archived projects.
Food Waste Management: Empowering Maine Businesses Toward Sustainability
Upgrading Culverts for Safer Roads and Healthier Ecosystems (WRRI 2019)
Making Maine’s Local Food System Sustainable: Opportunities to Address Hunger and Reduce Waste
Developing Economic and Community Resilience Indicators for the Katahdin Region
Future of Dams (New England Sustainability Consortium)
Protecting Natural Resources at the Community Scale
Safeguarding a Vulnerable Watershed
Sustainable Urban Regions Project – University of Southern Maine / University of Maine
The Emergent Risks of Food Waste Recovery: Characterizing the Contaminants in Municipal Solid Waste
Mitigating Environmental-Human Determinants of Tickborne Disease Risk in Acadia National Park