Austria´s New Assessment Method for Remediation Options
According to the guidelines of National Austrian Remediation Fund an options appraisal is re-quired to obtain financial resources for taking remedial actions in order to select the option gain-ing "a maximum of ecological effects under acceptable costs". However, up to now neither an ecological-economic assessment methodology nor the criteria to be assessed have been stand-ardized. Therefore the Austrian Ministry of Environment ordered the development of an appro-priate assessment tool from the authors’ institutions aimed to become mandatory to use when requesting resources from the National Remediation Fund.
Following an extensive literature review, available assessment methods and tools were evalu-ated regarding suitability, transparency and flexibility. A modified Cost-Effectiveness-Analysis (MCEA) was identified as the most appropriate assessment method. Classical CEA are com-monly used in the public sector to identify the most advantageous among different options. Ide-ally, it is the alternative combining least costs with the highest effectiveness in fulfilling specific objectives. Since 2012 the application of the developed assessment tool based on MCEA is mandatory when performing a remediation options appraisal.
In a first step the remediation options to be assessed have to be selected. Based on a pre-screening of potentially applicable technologies (or combinations of technologies), those have to be identified, which have the potential to meet the remediation target. Given this minimum re-quirement, options to be assessed have to be suitable in technical and legal terms, too.
MCEA consists of an effectiveness assessment on the one hand and an assessment of corre-sponding costs on the other hand. Effectiveness assessment displays the effectiveness values of an alternative regarding different objectives. Summing up the weighted values according to the objectives leads to a total effectiveness value for each alternative. The costs of an alternative are assessed in monetary terms. Finally MCEA provides a total effectiveness-cost-ratio for each op-tion enabling a ranking of options.
One major prerequisite to perform an effectiveness assessment when applying MCEA is the definition of a set of objectives or goals to be fulfilled by the different options. Austria’s rele-vant stakeholders in contaminated site management have been involved in a process resulted in a hierarchical system of goals consisting several levels. The goals of the uppermost level ('overall objectives") and their weighting were derived from national laws, guidelines and other relevant documents:
- Objective 1: 'Ecology" (Weight 60 %): Maximizing the ecological benefit,
- Objective 2: 'Local Development" (Weight 20 %): Improving the framing conditions for local development and
- Objective 3: 'Project Stability" (Weight 20 %): Maximizing further aspects (in addition to ecology, economy and local development) of sustainability.
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