Debra Knopman

Progress on Infrastructure, but the Devil May Be in the Details

Negotiations are underway between the White House and Congress about the scope of investment in infrastructure and how to pay for it. But reaching a compromise on spending may not be enough to ensure that the spending will produce results as intended.

The Economic Wallop of COVID-19: Q&A with RAND Experts

As Washington continues to weigh economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, here are insights from RAND experts on how aid money might be best allocated, how this crisis compares to the 2008 recession, what business communities can do right now, and more.

Want to Know If a New Drug Crisis Is Growing? Check the Wastewater

Few people foresaw how quickly fentanyl would displace heroin, doubling or tripling opioid overdose deaths in some pockets of the United States from 2013 to 2017. But we could have been warned—if only we'd checked our wastewater.

The Social Distancing Economy: Q&A with RAND Experts

Congress and the White House are weighing economic policies to help people acutely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Here are insights from RAND experts on what might be effective in terms of fiscal policy, stimulus spending, and emergency relief to affected workers.

The Long Game on Infrastructure

The Trump administration recently announced its Legislative Outline for Rebuilding Infrastructure in America. With its lack of new federal funding, the plan may not be the best path to fixing America's most serious regional, national, and long-term problems.

How Federal Policy Could Help Water and Wastewater Utilities

A targeted approach could help the federal government address the root causes of infrastructure problems more effectively than a spending initiative that simply spreads money around with the hope that more spending might do some good.

When It Comes to Climate, Look for Vulnerabilities in Policy, Not Science

Federal policymakers have picked up on the concept of red teaming — actively seeking out one's own vulnerabilities. While red teaming may not make sense for climate science, it does offer great benefits when weighing climate policy options.

The Big Bet: Withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement

America's formal withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement could have far-reaching consequences for U.S. global leadership on many issues, not just on efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Impact on the Environment from President Trump's First 100 Days

President Trump's actions have not yet resulted in demonstrable change in environmental conditions or funding. But the groundwork is being laid to unwind major regulations and diminish staff at the EPA and other federal agencies with climate-related research in their portfolios.

With Trump in the White House, States Could Step Up on Climate Change

The new administration has expressed skepticism about climate change. But states may choose to pursue their own climate change initiatives.

COP21: Ambition and Momentum

Negotiators in Paris achieved a historic breakthrough by adopting a fundamentally different, and likely more effective, institutional framework to address climate change. It builds on two concepts missing from past attempts to forge a global treaty: voluntary participation and adaptive policymaking.

Breaking Down Nuclear Waste as a Two-Part Issue

The U.S. Department of Energy is now planning separate repositories for commercial waste and the waste from the military's nuclear weapons production instead of disposing of both in the same repository as originally intended. Decoupling different parts of the nuclear waste problem is a small but positive step forward.

Future of Coastal Flooding

President Obama's executive order that directs federal agencies to plan and build for higher flood levels as they construct new projects in flood-prone regions will affect hundreds of billions of dollars of future public works projects. In an ideal world, planners would estimate the benefits and costs for each project, taking into account everything from the details of the local landscape to the potential for adaptive responses over time.

Firearms and Gun Control: Many Questions, Some Answers

President Obama's task force on gun violence has raised the stakes in the policy debate on gun control and policy in the wake of the recent shootings in Colorado and Connecticut. Some of RAND's top researchers share what is, and what isn't, known about firearms and gun control.

What Louisiana Can Teach New York and New Jersey

The massive damage and disruption caused by “Super Storm” Sandy has created a rare moment when New York City, New Jersey and surrounding areas are singularly focused on the infrastructure they need in a changing environment – not just the infrastructure they already have thanks to the vision and investments of past generations.

UXOs at Closing U.S. Bases

Published commentary by RAND staff.

Journal Article

Rhodium-SWMM: An Open-Source Tool for Green Infrastructure Placement Under Deep Uncertainty

To help mainstream MORDM applications in GI planning, we developed an open-source Python library: Rhodium-SWMM. Rhodium-SWMM connects the USEPA's Stormwater Management Model (SWMM) to Rhodium, a Python library for MORDM.

Journal Article

City-Heat Equity Adaptation Tool (City-HEAT): Multi-objective Optimization of Environmental Modifications and Human Heat Exposure Reductions for Urban Heat Adaptation Under Uncertainty

Rising global temperatures and the urban heat island effect can amplify heat-related health risks to residents. Cities are considering various heat adaptation actions to improve public health, enhance social equity, and cope with future conditions.

Tool

Chesapeake Bay Model Inventory and Selection Tool (MIST)

The Model Inventory and Selection Tool (MIST) is an interactive, searchable database of empirical, statistical, and conceptual models relevant to water- and climate-related planning and decisionmaking in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and beyond.

Tool

Climate Hazard and Mitigation Planning (CHaMP) Tool: Background and Guidance for Users

The Climate Hazard and Mitigation Planning online tool is an interactive website designed to provide users with a single point of access to county-, state- and region-specific historical climate and hazard data and projected climate information.

Report

The Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities Mitigation Grant Program: Incorporating Hazard Risk and Social Equity into Decisionmaking Processes

The federal Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program can help develop community resilience through mitigation activities that emphasize equity goals alongside reduction of risk to physical assets, as described in this report.

Report

Developing the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response: An Opportunity to Reduce Risk and Impacts of Future Spills in Freshwater

In 2016, Congress directed the U.S. Coast Guard to establish the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response. This report makes recommendations for the center, its staffing, potential partnerships, and location.

Report

Proposed Analytical Products for the Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability: Developing and Presenting Options for Future Force Design and Capability Development

RAND Project Air Force assisted the Air Force Warfighting Integration Capability (AFWIC) in conceptualizing analytical and other products to support concept development, options for future force design, and capability development planning.

Journal Article

Meeting Climate, Mobility, and Equity Goals in Transportation Planning Under Wide-Ranging Scenarios: A Demonstration of Robust Decision Making

Robust Decision Making offers a promising complement and possibly future alternative to current prediction-based and scenario approaches that could help planners better manage in today's conditions of fast-paced change.

Research Brief

Creating a Separate Space Force: Challenges and Opportunities for an Effective, Efficient, Independent Space Service

Taking into account the goals of effectiveness, efficiency, independence, and identity, the RAND Corporation proposed the activities that should transfer to the new Space Force and analyzed how best to sustain career fields in the small service.

Report

A Separate Space: Creating a Military Service for Space

As the United States creates the Space Force as a service within the Department of the Air Force, RAND assessed which units to bring into the Space Force, analyzed career field sustainability and drew lessons from other defense organizations.

Journal Article

Climate-Resilient Planning for Urban Stormwater and Wastewater Utilities: Workshop Proceedings

This document summarizes the Climate-Resilient Planning for Urban Stormwater and Wastewater Utilities Workshop, held July 16–17, 2019 at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Resource Recovery Facility in Brooklyn, NY.

Report

U.S. Airport Infrastructure Funding and Financing: Issues and Policy Options Pursuant to Section 122 of the 2018 Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act

Passenger air travel is at an all-time high, and airports are investing in the infrastructure needed to meet demand. This report contains a comprehensive review of the role of the federal government in airport infrastructure funding and financing.

Report

U.S. Airport Infrastructure Funding and Financing: Issues and Policy Options Pursuant to Section 122 of the 2018 Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act: Executive Summary

Passenger air travel is at an all-time high, and airports are investing in the infrastructure needed to meet demand. This document summarizes the full report's review of the federal government's role in airport infrastructure funding and financing.

Report

Air Force Capability Development Planning: Analytical Methods to Support Investment Decisions

RAND Project AIR FORCE examines analytical methods for Air Force capability development planning under conditions of deep uncertainty.

Report

Valuing Air Force Electric Power Resilience: A Framework for Mission-Level Investment Prioritization

This report addresses the U.S. Air Force's need for a systematic way to value the risk to missions associated with electric power--related disruptions and accordingly set priorities among investments in power resilience.

Journal Article

Renewing America's Infrastructure: An Agenda for Federal Transportation and Water Policy

This paper addresses policies that promote and deter investment in and maintenance of U.S. transportation and water infrastructure.

Report

Building Resilience in an Urban Coastal Environment: Integrated, Science-Based Planning in Jamaica Bay, New York

This project considered baywide concepts that could reduce future flood risk exposure in Jamaica Bay while also improving water quality, restoring habitat in and around the bay, and more generally improving resilience to extreme weather events.

Report

Adapting Land Use and Water Management Plans to a Changing Climate in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, Florida

This report addresses the vulnerability to flooding, saltwater intrusion, and related issues in Southeast Florida and describes a model and decision support tool to help regional planners and decisionmakers better focus on the most vulnerable areas.

Journal Article

Existing Regulatory Approaches to Reducing Exposures to Chemical- and Product-Based Risk and Their Applicability to Diet-Related Chronic Disease

Exempting dietary health from some form of social support or regulation seems increasingly difficult to justify in light of the scientific evidence of causal links to chronic illness.

Research Brief

Fixing U.S. Infrastructure's Ills Requires an Accurate Diagnosis

This brief examines how the federal government can better promote investment in and maintenance of U.S. transportation and water infrastructure.

Report

Not Everything Is Broken: The Future of U.S. Transportation and Water Infrastructure Funding and Finance

This report identifies policies that promote and deter investment in and maintenance of U.S. transportation and water infrastructure.

Report

Air Force Installation Energy Assurance: An Assessment Framework

This report presents a framework that mission owners and civil engineers at Air Force installations can use to assess their level of energy assurance.

Commentary

Resilience to a Changing Climate in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed: Progress, Challenges, Information Gaps, and Opportunities

To launch Mid-Atlantic Regional Integrated Sciences and Assessments (MARISA), this report synthesizes stakeholder views and literature on activities related to resilience and adaptation to a changing climate in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Report

Landscape Survey to Support Flood Apex National Flood Decision Support Toolbox: Definitions and Existing Tools

This report summarizes the literature on resilience to flood risk, its analysis and measurement, and examples. It also catalogs decision support tools for flood mitigation and makes recommendations for further investigation of the tools.

Report

Evaluation of the Jinan City Water Ecological Development Implementation Plan and Recommendations for Improvement

RAND evaluated potential effects of uncertain projections of demand and climate change on the ability of the Jinan Municipal Water Resources Bureau to meet its long-term water resources goals for Shandong Province's capital city.

Research Brief

Exploring America's Role in a Turbulent World: Strategic Rethink

This brief outlines the Strategic Rethink project and describes research documented in the final volume of the project, focusing on three different strategic orientations to satisfy the greatest number of U.S. interests and objectives.

Report

Strategic Choices for a Turbulent World: In Pursuit of Security and Opportunity

This report is the last of a series in which RAND explores the elements of a national strategy for the conduct of U.S. foreign policy, in this new era of turbulence and uncertainty. Three alternative strategic concepts are presented.

Report

Urban Responses to Climate Change: Framework for Decisionmaking and Supporting Indicators

This report presents a decisionmaking framework and supporting indicators for urban responses to climate change based on risk governance, emphasizing capacities to transform policies, institutions, financing, and other actions to affect change.

Report

Scenario Development for the 2015 Quadrennial Energy Review: Assessing Stresses, Opportunities, and Resilience in the Transmission, Storage, and Distribution Systems for Oil and Refined-Oil Products, Electricity, and Natural Gas

RAND researchers developed a framework and metrics for examining vulnerabilities, opportunities, and risks to U.S. energy transmission, storage, and distribution systems through 2030 under a range of uncertainties.

Journal Article

Computational Modeling of the Jamaica Bay System

For Jamaica Bay, and other coastal areas being studied for resilience capacity, we need not only models that are published and in the public domain, but mechanisms to generate scenarios that address resilience from various perspectives.

Report

Quality of Life Indicators and Policy Strategies to Advance Sustainability in the Pearl River Delta

Proposes a system of quality of life indicators and identifies policy options to improve quality of life in the Pearl River Delta, a region of Guangdong Province in southeastern China.

Report

The Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force's Infrastructure Resilience Guidelines: An Initial Assessment of Implementation by Federal Agencies

RAND researchers assessed federal agencies' implementation of the Infrastructure Resilience Guidelines, written by the Presidential Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force to ensure key principles of resilience when investing appropriated funds.

Research Brief

Addressing Coastal Vulnerabilities Through Comprehensive Planning: How RAND Supported the Development of Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana used a new analytic approach, developed in part by RAND, that incorporates results from predictive models in a decision tool to allow formulation and comparison of alternatives.

Report

Strengthening Coastal Planning: How Coastal Regions Could Benefit from Louisiana's Planning and Analysis Framework

Report describes RAND contributions to Louisiana's Coastal Master Plan for policymakers in other coastal regions. It highlights the value of a solid technical foundation to support decisionmaking on strategies to protect and restore coastal regions.

Research Brief

Adapting to a Changing Colorado River: An Interactive Research Brief

Web page summarizing the Colorado River Basin Study, which evaluated the river system's resiliency and compared resource management options.

Report

Adapting to a Changing Colorado River: Making Future Water Deliveries More Reliable Through Robust Management Strategies

The Colorado River Basin Study evaluated the river system's resiliency and compared resource management options. This report describes RAND's contributions, focusing on methodologies used to identify vulnerabilities and compare portfolios of options.

Testimony

Written Testimony on S. 1240 – Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2013

Document submitted at the request of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on August 14, 2013 as part of the record for a hearing held on July 30, 2013.

Research Brief

Taking a Comprehensive Planning Approach to Address Coastal Vulnerabilities

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana used a new analytic approach, developed in part by RAND, that incorporates results from predictive models in a decision tool to allow formulation and comparison of alternatives.

Report

Choosing a New Organization for Management and Disposition of Commercial and Defense High-Level Radioactive Materials

Describes the steps needed to design a new organization for the management and disposition of commercial and defense high-level radioactive materials, with particular focus on the relationship of the organization to the President and Congress.

Research Brief

Options for an Organization to Manage and Dispose of Radioactive Materials

RAND researchers describe the attributes of potential organizational models and the steps needed to choose the form of a new organization charged with managing and disposing of commercial and defense high-level radioactive materials.

Report

Planning Tool to Support Louisiana's Decisionmaking on Coastal Protection and Restoration: Technical Description

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority Planning Tool provided technical analysis for Louisiana's Comprehensive Master Plan for a Sustainable Coast. This document is a technical description of the tool and associated analyses.

Report

Managing Spent Nuclear Fuel: Strategy Alternatives and Policy Implications

The United States has yet to implement a strategy for managing spent nuclear fuel. This book examines technical and institutional approaches to spent fuel management and highlights policy implications of pursuing alternative strategies.

Report

Design of the Qatar National Research Fund: An Overview of the Study Approach and Key Recommendations

This report documents the design and business and implementation plans that the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute recommended in 2004 to the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development for its Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF).

Report

Preparing for an Uncertain Future Climate in the Inland Empire: Identifying Robust Water-Management Strategies

This briefing presents an analysis of how different adaptive water-management strategies may reduce Southern California's vulnerability to climate change and other planning uncertainties.

Research Brief

Identifying and Reducing Climate-Change Vulnerabilities in Water-Management Plans

This research brief summarizes work with Southern California's Inland Empire Utilities Agency to help it identify climate-change vulnerabilities in its long-term water plans and evaluate its most effective options for managing those risks.

Report

Presenting Uncertainty About Climate Change to Water-Resource Managers: A Summary of Workshops with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency

RAND researchers are working with water agencies in California to help them better understand how climate change might affect their systems and what actions they may need to take to address this challenge. This report documents the study.

Report

From Flood Control to Integrated Water Resource Management: Lessons for the Gulf Coast from Flooding in Other Places in the Last Sixty Years

Reports the experiences from four major floods since 1948 to draw lessons for the Gulf coast restoration effort.

Research Brief

Preparing for Future Floods: Analyzing Reconstruction Pathways from Past Floods Can Help

This fact sheet summarizes a study of approaches to reconstruction that followed previous flooding disasters as a way to glean lessons for dealing with the aftermath of Katrina and of future floods.

Journal Article

Success Matters: Recasting the Relationship Among Geophysical, Biological, and Behavioral Scientists to Support Decision Making on Major Environmental Challenges

Coping with global change, providing clean water for growing populations, and disposing of nuclear waste are difficult public policy challenges.

Research Brief

Transferrring Army Land Containing UXO: Problems and Possible Solutions

The Army asked RAND Arroyo Center to identify and assess obstacles to the transfer of land containing unexploded ordnance (UXO) and then to identify innovative ways to accomplish such transfer.

Periodical

RAND Review: Vol. 29, No. 3, Fall 2005

Outlines the wisdom of bearing the up-front costs for publicly funded high-quality early childhood intervention programs so that society can reap the plentiful returns over time; also reviews energy security, obesity, and national security issues.

Report

Transferring Army BRAC Lands Containing Unexploded Ordnance: Lessons Learned and Future Options

Identifies and assesses obstacles to disposing of excess Army lands that contain unexploded ordnance, and identifies innovative options for the disposal of these lands.

Report

Unexploded Ordnance: A Critical Review of Risk Assessment Methods

Evaluates the technical soundness of existing methods for assessing the risks posed by unexploded ordnance at U.S. military installations.

Research Brief

Risky Business: Assessing the Potential Harm from Unexploded Ordnance

This research brief evaluates the adequacy of methodologies developed to assess UXO risk, reviews risk assessment methodologies of other federal agencies, and proposes a strategy for improving the application risk assessment to the UXO problem.

Report

Building Better Homes: Government Strategies for Promoting Innovation in Housing

This study examines the rationale and strategies available to the federal government for promoting and accelerating innovation in housing.

Report

Assessing Natural Gas and Oil Resources: An Example of a New Approach in the Greater Green River Basin

This report presents a new approach to assessing natural gas and oil resources that is intended to help guide strategic land use planning by expanding the scope of these assessments to include economic and environmental considerations.

Testimony

Assessing Natural Gas and Oil Resources

Testimony presented before the U.S. House Committee on Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on June 24, 2003.

Report

Systems of Innovation Within Public and Private Organizations: Case Studies and Options for the EPA: Executive Summary

Systems of Innovation Within Public and Private Organizations: Case Studies and Options for the EPA Executive Summary

Report

Systems of Innovation Within Public and Private Organizations: Case Studies and Options for the EPA: Appendices

Systems of Innovation Within Public and Private Organizations: Case Studies and Options for the EPA Appendices

Report

Systems of Innovation Within Public and Private Organizations: Case Studies and Options for the EPA

Systems of Innovation Within Public and Private Organizations: Case Studies and Options for the EPA

Report

Assessing Gas and Oil Resources in the Intermountain West: Review of Methods and Framework For a New Approach

The authors examine four recent traditional assessments of the nation's potential supply of natural gas and oil resources.

Testimony

Assessing Gas and Oil Resources in the Intermountain West

Testimony before the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources of the Committee on Resources of the United States House of Representatives on April 18, 2002.

Report

Lessons for the Global Spatial Data Infrastructure: International Case Study Analysis

Ten in-depth international and regional collaboration case studies were conducted to assess lessons learned for GSDI development and implementation.

Report

A New Approach to Assessing Gas and Oil Resources in the Intermountain West

The authors propose that comprehensive resource assessment focus not on land access restrictions but on determining what resources are recoverable.