Author(s)

I. L. Navis & S. H. Conway

Abstract

Since 1988, Clark County has been designated by the Department of Energy (DOE) as an \“Affected Unit of Local Government” (AULG). The AULG designation is an acknowledgement by the federal government that activities associated with the Yucca Mountain proposal could result in considerable impacts on Clark County residents and the community as a whole. In 2004, Clark County Comprehensive Planning Department’s Nuclear Waste Division implemented a Monitoring Program designed to capture changes to the social, environmental, and economic well-being of its residents resulting from the Yucca Mountain Project and other significant events within the County. The Monitoring Program acts as an \“early warning system” that allows Clark County decision makers to proactively respond to impacts from the Yucca Mountain Project. This paper provides an update on our Monitoring Program that has been refined and expanded to monitor changes not only for Clark County governmental agencies, but also regional agencies across Southern Nevada and all of the incorporated jurisdictions within Clark County. The paper will examine the lessons learned in implementing a Monitoring Program at this scale and is designed to track impacts that may result from High-Level Nuclear Waste (HLNW) and spent fuel shipments to Yucca Mountain. Keywords: Yucca Mountain, Clark County, Nevada, monitoring, environmental indices, economic indices, nuclear waste transportation, environmental stigma, valuation. 1 Background research 1.1 Environmental valuation The field of environmental economics joins two distinct branches of science in order to better understand the intersection phenomena in the natural and social

Keywords

Yucca Mountain, Clark County, Nevada, monitoring, environmental indices, economic indices, nuclear waste transportation, environmental stigma, valuation.