Shared Responsibility Shared Risk

How can the American social welfare system be repaired so that workers and families receive adequate protection and, if necessary, provision from the ravages of the market? This book addresses this fundamental problem and analyses how the 'privatization of risk' has increased hardships for American families and increased inequality. It also proposes a series of solutions that would distribute the burdens of risks more broadly and expand the social safety net.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration (FIMA) manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is a cornerstone in the U.S. strategy to assist communities to prepare for, mitigate against, and recover from flood disasters. The NFIP was established by Congress with passage of the National Flood Insurance Act in 1968, to help reduce future flood damages through NFIP community floodplain regulation that would control development in flood hazard areas, provide insurance for a premium to property owners, and reduce federal expenditures for disaster assistance. The flood insurance is available only to owners of insurable property located in communities that participate in the NFIP. Currently, the program has 5,555,915 million policies in 21,881 communities3 across the United States. The NFIP defines the one percent annual chance flood (100-year or base flood) floodplain as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). The SFHA is delineated on FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM's) using topographic, meteorologic, hydrologic, and hydraulic information. Property owners with a federally back mortgage within the SFHAs are required to purchase and retain flood insurance, called the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirement (MPR). Levees and floodwalls, hereafter referred to as levees, have been part of flood management in the United States since the late 1700's because they are relatively easy to build and a reasonable infrastructure investment. A levee is a man-made structure, usually an earthen embankment, designed and constructed in accordance with sound engineering practices to contain, control, or divert the flow of water so as to provide protection from temporary flooding. A levee system is a flood protection system which consists of a levee, or levees, and associated structures, such as closure and drainage devices, which are constructed and operated in accordance with sound engineering practices. Recognizing the need for improving the NFIP's treatment of levees, FEMA officials approached the National Research Council's (NRC) Water Science and Technology Board (WSTB) and requested this study. The NRC responded by forming the ad hoc Committee on Levee and the National Flood Insurance Program: Improving Policies and Practices, charged to examine current FEMA treatment of levees within the NFIP and provide advice on how those levee-elated policies and activities could be improved. The study addressed four broad areas, risk analysis, flood insurance, risk reduction, and risk communication, regarding how levees are considered in the NFIP. Specific issues within these areas include current risk analysis and mapping procedures behind accredited and non-accredited levees, flood insurance pricing and the mandatory flood insurance purchase requirement, mitigation options to reduce risk for communities with levees, flood risk communication efforts, and the concept of shared responsibility. The principal conclusions and recommendations are highlighted in this report.

Cut through the legalese to truly understand construction law Smith, Currie & Hancock's Common Sense Construction Law is a guide for non-lawyers, presenting a practical introduction to the significant legal topics and questions affecting the construction industry. Now in its fifth edition, this useful guide has been updated to reflect the most current developments in the field, with new information on Public Private Partnerships, international construction projects, and more. Readers will find full guidance toward the new forms being produced by the AIA, AGC, and EJDC, including a full review, comparison to the old forms, areas of concern, and advice for transitioning to the new forms. The companion website features samples of these documents for ease of reference, and end of chapter summaries and checklists help readers make use of the concepts in practice. The updated instructor support material includes scenario exercises, sample curriculum, student problems, and notes highlighting the key points student responses should contain. Construction is one of the nation's single largest industries, but its fractured nature and vast economic performance leave it heavily dependent upon construction law for proper functioning. This book is a plain-English guide to how state and federal law affects the business, with practical advice on avoiding disputes and liability. Understand construction law without wading through legal theory Get information on an emerging method of funding large-scale projects Parse the complexities presented by international and overseas projects Migrate to the new AIA, AGC, and EJDC forms smoothly and confidently This book doesn't cover legal theory or serve as a lawyer's guide to case law and commentary – its strength is the clear, unaffected common-sense approach that caters to the construction professional's perspective. For a better understanding of construction law, Smith, Currie & Hancock's Common Sense Construction Law is an efficient reference.

Are individuals responsible for the consequences of actions taken by their community? What about their community's inaction or its attitudes? In this innovative book, Larry May departs from the traditional Western view that moral responsibility is limited to the consequences of overt individual action. Drawing on the insights of Arendt, Jaspers, and Sartre, he argues that even when individuals are not direct participants, they share responsibility for various harms perpetrated by their communities.

The #1 construction law guide for construction professionals Updated and expanded to reflect the most recent changes in construction law, this practical guide teaches readersthe difficult theories, principles, and established rules that regulate the construction business. It addresses the practical steps required to avoid and mitigate risks—whether the project is performed domestically or internationally, or whether it uses a traditional design-bid-build delivery system or one of the many alternative project delivery systems. Smith, Currie & Hancock's Common Sense Construction Law: A Practical Guide for the Construction Professional provides a comprehensive introduction to the important legal topics and questions affecting the construction industry today. This latest edition features: all-new coverage of Electronically Stored Information (ESI) and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD); extended information on the civil False Claims Act; and fully updated references to current AIA, ConsensusDocs, DBIA, and EJDC contract documents. Chapters coverthe legal context of construction; interpreting a contract; public-private partnerships (P3); design-build and EPC; and international construction contracts. Other topics include: management techniques to limit risks and avoid disputes; proving costs and damages, including for changes and claims for delay and disruption; construction insurance, including general liability, builders risk, professional liability, OCIP, CCIP, and OPPI; bankruptcy; federal government construction contracting; and more. Fully updated with comprehensive coverage of the significant legal topics and questions that affect the construction industry Discusses new project delivery methods including Public-Private Partnerships (P3) and Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) Presents new coverage of digital tools and processes including Electronically Stored Information (ESI) Provides extended and updated coverage of the civil False Claims Act as it relates to government construction contracting Filled with checklists, sample forms, and summary “Points to Remember” for each chapter, Smith, Currie & Hancock's Common Sense Construction Law: A Practical Guide for the Construction Professional, Sixth Edition is the perfect resource for construction firm managers, contractors, subcontractors, architects and engineers. It will also greatly benefit students in construction management, civil engineering, and architecture.

Data sharing can accelerate new discoveries by avoiding duplicative trials, stimulating new ideas for research, and enabling the maximal scientific knowledge and benefits to be gained from the efforts of clinical trial participants and investigators. At the same time, sharing clinical trial data presents risks, burdens, and challenges. These include the need to protect the privacy and honor the consent of clinical trial participants; safeguard the legitimate economic interests of sponsors; and guard against invalid secondary analyses, which could undermine trust in clinical trials or otherwise harm public health. Sharing Clinical Trial Data presents activities and strategies for the responsible sharing of clinical trial data. With the goal of increasing scientific knowledge to lead to better therapies for patients, this book identifies guiding principles and makes recommendations to maximize the benefits and minimize risks. This report offers guidance on the types of clinical trial data available at different points in the process, the points in the process at which each type of data should be shared, methods for sharing data, what groups should have access to data, and future knowledge and infrastructure needs. Responsible sharing of clinical trial data will allow other investigators to replicate published findings and carry out additional analyses, strengthen the evidence base for regulatory and clinical decisions, and increase the scientific knowledge gained from investments by the funders of clinical trials. The recommendations of Sharing Clinical Trial Data will be useful both now and well into the future as improved sharing of data leads to a stronger evidence base for treatment. This book will be of interest to stakeholders across the spectrum of research--from funders, to researchers, to journals, to physicians, and ultimately, to patients.

Risk has become one of the main topics in fields as diverse as engineering, medicine and economics, and it is also studied by social scientists, psychologists and legal scholars. But the topic of risk also leads to more fundamental questions such as: What is risk? What can decision theory contribute to the analysis of risk? What does the human perception of risk mean for society? How should we judge whether a risk is morally acceptable or not? Over the last couple of decades questions like these have attracted interest from philosophers and other scholars into risk theory. This handbook provides for an overview into key topics in a major new field of research. It addresses a wide range of topics, ranging from decision theory, risk perception to ethics and social implications of risk, and it also addresses specific case studies. It aims to promote communication and information among all those who are interested in theoetical issues concerning risk and uncertainty. This handbook brings together internationally leading philosophers and scholars from other disciplines who work on risk theory. The contributions are accessibly written and highly relevant to issues that are studied by risk scholars. We hope that the Handbook of Risk Theory will be a helpful starting point for all risk scholars who are interested in broadening and deepening their current perspectives.

This book pursues a comprehensive approach so as to arrive at a better understanding of the implications of climate change on sustainable development, focusing on the perspective of water. Climate change is one of today’s most pressing global issues and will become increasingly important in the decades to come, as societies will feel its pervasive impacts in many aspects of their lives. Given that the majority of these climate change impacts will be felt through the medium of water, the book explores the interrelationships and inter-linkages between water, climate change and sustainable development.