D. Energy: 1. Thermal-electric plant siting, design, and operation. 2. Electric power transmission line siting, design, construction, and operation. 3. Fossil fuel exploration, inventory, and research. 4. Heat utilization and dispersion. 5. Nuclear power research, development, and operation. 6. Hydroelectric power research, development, and operation. E. Mineral resources conservation: 1. Mineral exploration and inventory. 2. Materials research and development. 3. Solid waste storage, recycling, and disposal. III. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND WELL-BEING A. Physiological health and well-being: 1. Sanitation. 2. Radiation control. 3. Industrial and domestic health and safety. 4. Environmental health protection. 5. Contagious disease control. 6. Pest control. 7. Food and drug regulation. 8. Flood control. 9. Natural disaster warning and relief. 10. Population control. B. Psychological health and well-being: 1. Noise suppression. 2. Relief of acoustic, mechanical, and interpersonal tension stresses. 3. Promotion of community identity. 4. Population dispersion. 5. Environmental education. A. Outdoor recreation: IV. PROMOTION OF AMENITIES 1. Public recreation, planning, and development. 2. Wild lands preservation. 3. Sport fish and wildlife conservation. 4. Conservation and promotion of natural beauty. B. Cultural stimulation: 1. Urban beautification. 2. Historic preservation. 3. Enhancement of architectural and engineering design. 4. Maintenance of continuity of environmental associations. 5. Provision for diversity of experience and life style. A. Human ecology: V. ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH 1. Basic research in human ecology. 39-478-70-3 DISCUSSION OF THE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM The classification system, shown in table I, groups the activities generally according to the nature of environmental problems involved. The two major headings entitled "Renewable" and "Nonrenewable Resources Conservation" are based upon concepts which have been commonly used in regard to natural resource conservation. The earliest movements for Federal action regarding the environment were associated with fears of exhaustion of resources and led to the renewable resources concepts of forest management and agricultural practices. Later, fears for exhaustion of nonrenewable mineral resources led to Federal exploration and inventory programs and research into extraction processes. Separation of resources into renewable and nonrenewable categories must, of course, be somewhat arbitrary. Soil, for example, can be misused to the point where reclamation is impracticable. The third major category, "Environmental Health and Well-being," centers around the well-established governmental function of public health. This field certainly reflects some of man's earliest environmental concerns such as sanitation and contagious disease. It has traditionally been differentiated from natural resources, although often, as in water supply matters, the division line is not easily defined. In this classification, traditional public health concerns have been expanded by the addition of concerns for physiological and psychological factors in the environment which appear to have effects at least bordering on the pathological. The fourth category, "Promotion of Amenities," includes some of the most recent areas of concern in the environmental field. These activities are those having environmental implications which, although not essential to the continued healthy existence of man under conditions of tolerable stress, are vital to the achievement of a higher quality of intellectual and cultural existence. The fifth category, "Ecological Research," is necessary to characterize programs, particularly of a data-gathering nature, which are so broad in scope and implication for environmental matters that they would be involved in many categories without any clearly defined emphasis. An example of such a program is the earth resources observation satellite program of the Environmental Sciences Services Administration. Many of the activities listed have implications in more than one category. For example, air transport has important implications with regard not only to nonrenewable resource conservation (land use), but also to renewable resources (air pollution), environmental health and well-being (noise suppression), and promotion of amenities (intrusion over wilderness areas). It is not possible to devise a classification system in which each activity lies exclusively within a single heading unless the activities are subdivided into extremely narrow classes. If numerous narrow classes of activities are utilized, the system becomes more difficult to comprehend in its entirety and thus less useful as a definition of the scope of the problem. Furthermore, as the activity classes are made narrow, a specific program will encompass more of them. Broad activity classes, therefore, are used to retain ease of comprehension and to afford less complex relations among activity classes and programs. An alternative method of grouping broad activity classes would be to include the activity under every heading in which it has implications. This method would provide a more rigorous classification scheme, but would extend and complicate the format of the listing. Each activity, therefore, is listed under the heading which is deemed to reflect its most significant attributes or which contains other very closely related activities. It is recognized that each activity may have implications within other headings. The list of activities in table I which are numbered with Arabic numerals is considered to encompass the scope of environmental management. The headings under which activities are grouped are intended merely to provide a useful format for sorting and considering data. No analytical power is claimed for the heading scheme. FEDERAL PROGRAMS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF In order to test the utility of the classification system, a pretiminary survey of Federal programs was made. The compilation was developed from available published data. The appendix to the "Budget of the United States Government" for fiscal year 1969 was used as a basic comprehensive list of existing Federal programs. The budget list was supplemented by various more detailed program descriptions. Programs were collected on cards. Each program was coded with (1) the outline identification for the activities in the classification system with which it is related and (2) a code number for each activity reflecting the degree of influence which environmental management would have upon it. The descriptions of degrees of influence which were developed earlier were restated in terms of the program attributes as follows: 1. Program involves planning, construction, operation or management, regulatory, or licensing functions (or grants or loans for such functions) which have significant and recurring implications with the environmental activity cited. 2. Program involves planning, construction or management, regulatory, or licensing functions (or grants or loans for such functions) which have implications with the activity cited, but significant implication is infrequently an important factor in program administration. 3. Program involves data gathering or research which is relevant to the activity cited. The format of a typical card follows: II C2-1 Highway Beautification IV B3-1 III B2-1 Federal Highway Administration, Department of In the upper left corner, the activities associated with the program are noted. The first entry, II C2, relates to the activity classification system: II. NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES CONSERVATION C. Transportation: 2. Highway planning, safety, and beautification. (13) |