Determining how potential regulations or policies will impact the environment and human health is often difficult because of the complexity of the systems that need to be modeled and limitations in available data.
Abt’s team of software developers, ecologists, economists, human health risk assessors, and engineers develop and analyze a simplified version of these systems, incorporating uncertainty analysis. In that way, they can help decision makers understand the likely impact of any proposed action.
For instance, Abt models the impact of regulatory or other management actions on air quality, surface and ground water quality, drinking water quality, and land resources. We use a range of platforms, including custom-built software and geographic information systems. We implement existing environmental models as appropriate, or develop custom models when needed.
After developing environmental models to answer a client’s specific need, we are often asked to develop these models into more generalized platforms that become the client’s standard model for all future decision making. This was the case with SafeWater CBX, which was developed to estimate the costs and benefits of reducing the allowable concentration of arsenic in drinking water. This model is now the Environmental Protection Agency’s standard economics model for all drinking water regulatory actions.