ESTIMATING THE SOCIAL VALUE OF GEOLOGIC MAP INFORMATION - A REGULATORY APPLICATION

People frequently regard the landscape as part of a static system. The mountains and rivers that cross the landscape, and the bedrock that s upports the surface, change little during the course of a lifetime. So ciety can alter the geologic history of an area and, in so doing, affe ct the occurrence and impact of environmental hazards. For example, ch anges in land use can induce changes in erosion, sedimentation, and gr ound-water supply. As the environmental system is changed by both natu ral processes and human activities, the system's capacity to respond t o additional stresses also changes. Information such as geologic maps describes the physical world and is critical for identifying solutions to land use and environmental issues. In this paper, a method is deve loped for estimating the economic value of applying geologic map infor mation to siting a waste disposal facility. An improvement in geologic map information is shown to have a net positive value to society. Suc h maps enable planners to make superior land management decisions. (C) 1997 Academic Press.