Tom LaTourrette

Do Car Companies Know Where Their Critical Minerals Come From?

The initial slate of electric vehicles qualifying for a new federal tax credit was announced in April. Key to eligibility is the source of critical minerals used in their batteries. While the list of acceptable nations of origin is still being worked out, there's an important practical question the IRS should ask: Do carmakers really know where their critical minerals come from?

Is Seabed Mining an Opportunity to Break China's Stranglehold on Critical Minerals Supply Chains?

China dominates global supply chains for nearly all critical mineral resources, including the rare earths that power decarbonization technologies. Seabed mining may be a way to diversify critical minerals supply chains and break China's stranglehold on supplies of some of the world's most important natural resources.

Q&A with the Experts: Puerto Rico

When Hurricane Fiona struck Puerto Rico on September 18, electricity went out across the island. It was a reminder that recovery from 2017's Hurricane Maria is far from complete. RAND researchers discuss the difficulties Puerto Rico is still facing.

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.

3 Terrorism Risk Insurance Act Facts for Congress to Consider

With the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act set to expire this year, Congress is currently revisiting a crucial question: What is the appropriate government role in terrorism insurance markets? As the debate unfolds on Capitol Hill, policymakers should consider three key research findings.

San Onofre Risk Factors

The ongoing effort to open a spent fuel repository in the U.S. demonstrates the magnitude of the technical and political challenges of such an undertaking, writes Tom LaTourrette.

Prepare for Disaster

Published commentary by RAND staff: Prepare for Disaster in the United Press International.

Report

Barriers to the Commercialization and Adoption of New Underground Coal Mining Technologies in the United States

This report characterizes barriers to the development, commercialization, and adoption of new technologies for use in underground coal mining in the United States using input from structured interviews and a workshop with industry representatives.

Report

China's Role in the Global Development of Critical Resources: Case Studies in Coal Power, Electricity Transmission, and Seabed Mining

China's foreign investment and financing activities over the past two decades have garnered substantial attention and raised concerns. This report explores Chinese investment and financing activities in energy infrastructure and critical minerals.

Draft

Barriers to the Commercialization and Adoption of New Underground Coal Mining Technologies in the U.S. Interim Results

Presents interim results of a project characterizing barriers to the development, commercialization, and adoption of new technologies for use in underground coal mining in the U.S.

Report

Defining Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices for Process Safety Management

The author presents the origin and intention of recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices (RAGAGEP), points of disagreement about the definition, and recommendations for complying with RAGAGEP.

Report

The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Impact on Fire Safety Standards

The authors document the role of the National Institute for Standards and Technology in developing fire safety standards and analyze the economic and social benefits provided to society as a result of the adoption of those standards.

Report

Public Buildings in Puerto Rico After Hurricane Maria: Prestorm Challenges, Hurricane Damage, and Suggested Courses of Action for Recovery

HSOAC presents a summary of hurricane damage to public buildings in Puerto Rico and 12 courses of action to repair damage and modernize public building infrastructure for increased resilience, improved energy efficiency, and improved user experience.

Testimony

Cost and Affordability of Meeting California's Hospital Seismic Safety Requirements

Testimony presented before the California State Assembly and Senate Committees on Health on January 28, 2020.

Report

Updating the Costs of Compliance for California's Hospital Seismic Safety Standards

California Senate Bill 1953 requires structural and nonstructural upgrades to hospital buildings to enhance resilience to seismic events. This report estimates the costs to hospitals of compliance, with a focus on the 2030 deadline.

Report

Process and Outcome Evaluation of the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program

Presents the results of a process and outcome evaluation of the California Energy Commission's Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, relying on quantitative and qualitative methods.

Report

Characterizing National Exposures to Infrastructure from Natural Disasters: Data and Methods Documentation

This report serves as the technical documentation and reference document for the data, methods, and analytic approach used in the analysis of national exposures to infrastructure from natural disasters.

Journal Article

Assessing the Effectiveness of Layered Security for Protecting the Aviation System Against Adaptive Adversaries

This study examines the effectiveness of layered security for protecting the aviation system against adaptive adversaries.

Journal Article

Risk Factors for Injury in Law Enforcement Officer Vehicle Crashes

The purpose of this paper is to identify risk factors for injury in police officer vehicle crashes in order to help determine the most effective approaches to improve officer vehicle safety.

Report

The Future of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act

Recounts the proceedings of a conference to discuss recent RAND research on issues related to the potential reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, as well as the varying implications of TRIA's expiration, modification, and extension.

Report

License Plate Readers for Law Enforcement: Opportunities and Obstacles

Explores issues concerning license plate reader technology: funding, implementation, types of use, data retention policies, and privacy concerns.

Report

The Impact on Federal Spending of Allowing the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act to Expire

Examines whether federal spending would increase or decrease if the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act were allowed to expire.

Research Brief

Making Good Decisions Without Predictions: Robust Decision Making for Planning Under Deep Uncertainty

Quantitative analysis is often indispensable to sound planning. But with deep uncertainty, predictions can lead decisionmakers astray. Robust Decision Making supports good decisions without predictions by testing plans against many futures.

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

Modeling Terrorism Risk to the Air Transportation System: An Independent Assessment of TSA's Risk Management Analysis Tool and Associated Methods

RAND evaluated a terrorism risk modeling tool developed by the Transportation Security Administration and Boeing to help guide program planning for aviation security.

Report

Efficient Aviation Security: Strengthening the Analytic Foundation for Making Air Transportation Security Decisions

Presents a set of analyses intended to help fill some of the current gaps in analysis of the costs, benefits, and efficiency of aviation security measures and strategies in the face of uncertainty.

Report

Improving Joint Expeditionary Medical Planning Tools Based on a Patient Flow Approach

The authors propose a planning concept for U.S. military expeditionary medical care that promotes patient flow rate as the common unit of measurement for treatment and evacuation functions.

Report

Assessing the Benefits of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Regulatory Actions to Reduce Terrorism Risks

Summarizes the proceedings of a workshop in which experts on regulatory analysis and terrorism risk examined alternative approaches for estimating the benefits of regulations designed to reduce the risks of terrorist attacks in the United States.

Journal Article

Assessing the Security Benefits of a Trusted Traveler Program in the Presence of Attempted Attacker Exploitation and Compromise

Examines the security costs and benefits of a trusted traveler program, in which individuals who have been identified as posing less risk than others are allowed to pass through security checkpoints with reduced security screening.

Draft

Assessing the Security Benefits of a Trusted Traveler Program in the Presence of Attempted Attacker Exploitation and Compromise

Examines the security costs and benefits of a trusted traveler program, in which individuals who have been identified as posting less risk than others are allowed to pass through security with reduced security screening.

Report

Supplying Biomass to Power Plants: A Model of the Costs of Utilizing Agricultural Biomass in Cofired Power Plants

Biomass energy is a renewable resource with lower life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions than fossil fuels. The model described here estimates cost and availability of these resources from U.S. agricultural lands for an individual power plant.

Journal Article

Safety and Health Protection Efforts in the Police Service

This article reviews RAND Corporation research on police officer safety and health and provides some recommendations for improving police officer safety and health protection efforts.

Testimony

Policy Implications of Alternative Spent Nuclear Fuel Management Strategies

Testimony presented before the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future on November 15, 2010.

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

Earthquake Insurance and Disaster Assistance: The Effect of Catastrophe Obligation Guarantees on Federal Disaster-Assistance Expenditures in California

Proponents of the Catastrophe Obligation Guarantee Act argue that lower-cost catastrophe insurance could reduce federal disaster-assistance expenditures. This report estimates the law's potential effects in California.

Journal Article

The Life-Saving Effectiveness of Body Armor for Police Officers

Body armor more than triples the likelihood that a police officer will survive a shooting to the torso. Outfitting all police with armor yields a positive net benefit and is strongly justified economically.

Report

Public Health Preparedness and Response to Chemical and Radiological Incidents: Functions, Practices, and Areas for Future Work

Discusses the role of public health agencies in emergency preparedness for and response to chemical and radiological incidents.

Report

Mandatory Workplace Safety and Health Programs: Implementation, Effectiveness, and Benefit-Cost Trade-Offs

In 1998, OSHA sought to require all workplaces to have a safety and health program but abandoned the effort. This report assesses the proposal and studies of its potential effects, providing recommendations should authorities revisit the initiative.

Report

Occupational Safety and Health for Public Safety Employees: Assessing the Evidence and the Implications for Public Policy

Examines the safety and health risks faced by police officers, firefighters, and other public safety workers and how they differ from those faced by the general workforce.

Research Brief

Evaluating Alternatives for Renewing TRIA in an Uncertain World

This research brief summarizes an analysis of terrorism-insurance policy. The current law produces positive outcomes for conventional attacks but does not effectively address risks that nuclear, biological, chemical, or radiological attacks present.

Journal Article

Using Probabilistic Terrorism Risk Modeling for Regulatory Benefit-Cost Analysis: Application to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Implemented in the Land Environment

This article presents a framework for using probabilistic terrorism risk modeling in regulatory analysis.ment, (WHTI-L).

Report

The Federal Role in Terrorism Insurance: Evaluating Alternatives in an Uncertain World

This book examines the impact of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act on the market for terrorism insurance and analyzes program enhancements to improve the availability of insurance for nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological attacks.

Report

Terrorism Risk Modeling for Intelligence Analysis and Infrastructure Protection

Describes how a probabilistic terrorism model can be used to assess terrorist risk and assist intelligence analysis.

Report

Trade-Offs Among Alternative Government Interventions in the Market for Terrorism Insurance: Interim Results

This briefing informs the debate over extending the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA). The results suggest that TRIA performs well on outcomes examined for conventional attacks but not for chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear ones.

Draft

Using Probabilistic Terrorism Risk Modeling For Regulatory Benefit-Cost Analysis: Application to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Implemented in the Land Environment

This report introduces a framework for using probabilistic terrorism risk modeling in an analysis of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, a proposed regulation specifying documentation requirements for entry to the United States by land.

Report

Reducing Terrorism Risk at Shopping Centers: An Analysis of Potential Security Options

Helps shopping center operators evaluate security options aimed at reducing terrorism risk, a prominent concern, given over 60 terrorist attacks against shopping centers in 21 countries since 1998.

Report

Implementing Security Improvement Options at Los Angeles International Airport

Reasserting the need for reducing the density of people in unsecured areas at Los Angeles International Airport, the authors advise that adding security film to the tempered windows will likely not reduce fatalities in the event of a bomb detonation.

Report

Distribution of Losses from Large Terrorist Attacks Under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act

The pending expiration of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) of 2002 is the impetus for this assessment of how TRIA redistributes terrorism losses, helping to inform policymakers on whether to extend, modify, or terminate it.

Report

Oil Shale Development in the United States: Prospects and Policy Issues

Should the United States tap into its vast deposits of oil shale?

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

What You Should Do to Prepare for and Respond to Chemical, Radiological, Nuclear, and Biological Terrorist Attacks: Pocket Edition Survival Guide

The guide focuses on simple steps individuals can take to prepare for and respond to terrorist attacks with chemical, biological, radiological (dirty bomb) and nuclear weapons.

Research Brief

Assessing the Effectiveness of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act

This study simulates the expected losses from three modes of terrorist attacks and shows how the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) would distribute the resulting losses.

Research Brief

Gauging the Prospects of a U.S. Oil Shale Industry

Higher world oil prices and recent technological achievements are generating renewed interest in oil shale. However, based on technical design needs, initial commercial operations are likely more than a decade away.

Report

Individual Preparedness and Response to Chemical, Radiological, Nuclear, and Biological Terrorist Attacks

How can individuals best prepare themselves against a variety of terrorist attacks?

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.

Report

Protecting Emergency Responders, Volume 2: Community Views of Safety and Health Risks and Personal Protection Needs

Examines the hazards that emergency responders face and the personal protective technology needed to contend with those hazards.

Research Brief

Emergency Responders' Views on Their Protection Needs

Emergency responders face serious hazards in their jobs, placing them at high risk of occupational injury or death. Using various forms of personal protective technologies (PPTs) can mitigate that risk.

Report

Individual Preparedness and Response to Chemical, Radiological, Nuclear, and Biological Terrorist Attacks: A Quick Guide

Offers suggestions about how individuals can prepare for chemical, radiological, nuclear, or biological attacks and what actions they can take to protect their own health, safety, and lives.

Research Brief

An Individual's Strategy for Responding to Chemical, Radiological, Nuclear, and Biological Terrorist Attacks

This research brief describes work documented in Individual Preparedness and Response to Chemical, Radiological, Nuclear, and Biological Terrorist Attacks (MR-1731-SF).

Report

Supporting Expeditionary Aerospace Forces: An Operational Architecture for Combat Support Execution Planning and Control

Defines and analyzes the current command and control architecture for combat support, identifies changes needed in the architecture to meet Aerospace Expeditionary Force goals and correct deficiencies, and sets forth detailed concepts for a future architecture.

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.

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.

Report

Protecting Emergency Responders: Lessons Learned from Terrorist Attacks

This book is intended to help managers and decisiomakers understand the unique working and safety environment associated with terrorist incidents.

Report

The Effects of the Soledad Canyon Mine on the Aggregate Industry in the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

The Effects of the Soledad Canyon Mine on the Aggregate Industry in the Greater Los Angeles Metropolitan Area

Report

New Forces at Work in Mining: Industry Views of Critical Technologies

Technology advances have had major impacts on mining practices and the nature of the mine and quarry sites in the United States. Brings to light critical technologies likely to be implemented between now and 2020.