Equivalency Methods for Environmental Liability in the European Union

Joshua Lipton is an internationally recognized expert in the measurement and quantification of natural resource damages, including the determination, quantification, and restoration of adverse impacts to natural resources. For more than 25 years, Josh has been a central figure in the field, having been a leader in the development and application of technical methods, guidance, and regulatory and policy approaches. In the United States, Josh has served as a lead scientist and technical director on many of the prominent natural resource damage assessments undertaken by Federal, State and Tribal authorities. He has assessed the effects of inorganic and organic pollutants on terrestrial, marine, and freshwater biological resources and habitats; surface and groundwater resources; soils; air; and human and ecological services. In the European Union, Josh served as lead scientist and author of the technical methodological toolkit for assessing and quantifying natural resource damages pursuant to the Environmental Liability Directive. Josh has provided technical training to the European Commission and to relevant regulatory and technical authorities in Member States. Josh’s technical expertise is in the fields of environmental toxicology and ecology, with specific expertise in aquatic, marine, and terrestrial ecotoxicology; ecological assessments; chemical characterization, fate, and transport; applied ecology and population biology; and uncertainty analysis. Josh is the author or coauthor of numerous peer-reviewed scientific publications and presentations, has been an invited speaker and instructor for many government and university audiences, and has served on editorial boards and as a peer reviewer for scientific journals Josh on holds a PhD in natural resources from Cornell University.

Ece Ozdemiroglu is an environmental economists. She started her career in 1992 by founding eftec (economics for the environment consultancy). Since then, she worked on about 500 projects for public and private sector and NGO clients in the UK and the rest of the world. She specialises in interpreting economic value evidence for natural capital, ecosystem services, cultural heritage, value of information and education. She has co-edited or co-authored 11 books. Her adventure with Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) started with a review of economic concept of value, damage and benefit of remediation; use of cost benefit analysis and experience of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment experience in the USA. The review helped with the drafting of the Directive. Between 2006 and 2008, she coordinated the DG Research & Innovation funded project on the use of equivalency methods for implementing the ELD. Since then she lead the writing of the European Commission brochure and factsheet and training materials for the ELD and organised / delivered trainings across the EU. In addition to working at eftec, Ece is a member of the Climate Change Committee – Adaptation Sub Committee, a steering group member of the Natural Capital Initiative; a member of the coordination team of the Valuing Nature Network and an associate editor of the Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy. She is also a member of the UK Network for Environmental Economists.

David Chapman is the Human Dimensions Science Program Manager at the U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station where he oversees a team of 30 researchers investigating multiple aspects of human interactions with the environment. Prior to joining the Station in September of 2015, David spent 13 years at Stratus Consulting in Boulder CO where he led the natural resource economics group. Before Stratus, David spent 10 years at NOAA’s Damage Assessment Center where he was the Pacific Coast Branch manager and senior economist. The majority of his career has been in the field of Natural Resource Damage Assessments where he has led over 25 litigation studies for state, federal, and tribal clients. His most recent assessment work was leading the human use and total value assessment teams for the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill on behalf of Federal and State Trustees. David has testified as an expert witness in state and federal court on oil spills and groundwater contamination damage assessment cases under the Oil Pollution Act, CERCLA, and State law. He is co-author of the European Commission (EC) guidance document on the use of equivalency methods in the EC Environmental Liabilities Directive (ELD) and led natural resource damage assessment (NRDA) training sessions throughout the United States and in more than 14 EU Countries. David has published on the use of equivalency methods and economic methodology for economic assessments in numerous journals.

Jennifer Peers is an environmental scientist who has conducted numerous evaluations of natural resource damages and equivalency analyses to compensate for harm to the environment. Her expertise includes environmental impacts, water quality, ecological services, and remediation planning. Jennifer has provided technical training on equivalency analyses in the United States and on the Environmental Liability Directive to multiple European Member States. She holds a MA in physical geography from the University of Colorado.