Decisionmakers

If decision makers choose to use QRA, they must then define the analysis objectives so the results will satisfy the particular decisionmaking requirement. Because the cost of performing QRA is dependent... 

After each issue outlined in the evaluation criteria has been developed for each corrective measure, the selection of the most appropriate alternative can be made. Trade-offs among health risks, environmental effects and other pertinent technical, environmental and human health factors enter into this decisionmaking process. In the RCRA context, cost is not a factor in the selection process except when two or more corrective measure alternatives are determined by EPA to provide similarly adequate levels of protection of human health and the environment. 

Process synthesis may be defined as (Westerberg, 1987) the discrete decisionmaking activities of conjecturing (1) which of the many available component pjuts... 

The Chemical Process Industry (CPI) uses various quantitative and qualitative techniques to assess the reliability and risk of process equipment, process systems, and chemical manufacturing operations. These techniques identify the interactions of equipment, systems, and persons that have potentially undesirable consequences. In the case of reliability analyses, the undesirable consequences (e.g., plant shutdown, excessive downtime, or production of off-specification product) are those incidents which reduce system profitability through loss of production and increased maintenance costs. In the case of risk analyses, the primary concerns are human injuries, environmental impacts, and system damage caused by occurrence of fires, explosions, toxic material releases, and related hazards. Quantification of risk in terms of the severity of the consequences and the likelihood of occurrence provides the manager of the system with an important decisionmaking tool. By using the results of a quantitative risk analysis, we are better able to answer such questions as, Which of several candidate systems poses the least risk Are risk reduction modifications necessary and What modifications would be most effective in reducing risk ... 

Wood may be cheaper and oil more convenient. If two people are confronted by the same information and one chooses wood while the other chooses oil, both decisions may he economically efficient in the sense of maximizing the utility, or satisfaction, of the decisionmaker. 

Another characteristic of the economic-efficiency concept IS that it does not require arbitrai y decisions by the analyst about, fur example, how coal should be evaluated compared with natural gas. The question of whether I Btu of coal is equal to 1, or perhaps 1/2, Btu of natural gas is answered directly by the market. The weightings of the marketplace, revealed in relative prices, vary with scarcity, cost of production, technology, and human preferences. Decisionmakers do not need to think about the underlying reasons, however. They need to know only current prices (and make their best guesses about future prices). 

The benefits from a planned maintenance system cannot be achieved without the commitment of the person responsible for its implementation. To ensure that the system operates to the satisfaction of operators and users, discussions should take place during the initial decisionmaking and with the relevant departments when the planning schedules are being prepared. 

In passing we remark that there are well-known statistical methods of hypothesis testing and parameter estimation used in decisionmaking. Sequential analysis is a method of sampling used to decide whether to accept or reject a lot with defective items, or whether to continue sampling. Also, there are various statistical methods used in quality control of a manufacturing process, to decide on how much the quality should be improved to be acceptable. 

World Commission on Dams (2000) Dams and development a new framework for decisionmaking. Earthscan Publication, London... 

Andrea Manca is Research Fellow at the Centre for Health Economics, University of York. His research interests lie in the investigation of methodological and theoretical issues related to two broad areas the application of modelling techniques to support the decisionmaking process in health care, and the use of analytical methods in the conduction of economic analysis of health care interventions. Andrea s applied work focuses on a number of different technologies in several clinical areas, including mental health. 

Fio. I. Levels, time scales, and application scopes of decisionmaking activities. 

Any learning procedure, aimed to address and solve problems given by the problem statement (2) at the supervisory control level of decisionmaking, can be expressed by the following quartuple ... 

Before starting the search for solutions, it is necessary to select among the M decision variables a subset of H variables, Xf, h- 1,..., W, which influence significantly the system performance, and thus will be used by S and included in the definition of the final set of hyperrectangles, X. For this preliminary choice of critical decision variables, other than his or her own specific process knowledge, the decisionmaker can count on a number of auxiliary techniques enumerated in Saraiva and Stephanopoulos (1992c). 

Rather than finding the exact location of the single feasible hyperrectangle that optimizes i/f (X), our primary goal is to conduct an exploratory analysis of the decision space, leading to the definition of a set of particularly promising solutions, X, to be presented to the decisionmaker. 

Before beginning the search for feasible zones of the decision space where the preceding tentative aspiration levels can be achieved, a preliminary check for the possibility of existence of such a zone is conducted. If the perceived ideal, y, does not pass this preliminary check, i.e., there is no commensurable solution to the multiobjective problem, the decisionmaker is asked to relax y, in order to transform the problem into one with commensurable solutions. For instance, if the initial tentative perceived... 

After the search has been concluded, all the uncovered feasible final solutions, X, leading to satisfactory joint performances, consistent with y, are presented to the decisionmaker for close examination and for the selection of a particular hyperrectangle within this group for eventual implementation. 

However, conflicts between the fulfillment of different objectives and aspiration levels may prevent any feasible zone of the decision space from leading to satisfactory joint performances. If the search procedure fails to uncover at least one feasible final solution, X, consistent with y, a number of options are available to the decisionmaker to try to overcome this impasse. Namely, the decisionmaker can revise the initial problem definition, by either... 

Complex manufacturing systems, such as an unbleached Kraft pulp plant (Fig. 9), are almost always characterized by some type of internal structure, composed of a number of interconnected subsystems with their own data collection and decisionmaking responsibilities. This raises a number of additional issues, not addressed in previous sections. For instance, if the learning methodology described in Section VI is applied to the digester module of a pulp plant (Fig. 9), it is possible for the final selected solution, to include ranges of desired values of sulfidity... 

To address the modified problem statements and uncover final solutions with the desired alternative formats, data-driven nonparametric learning methodologies, based on direct sampling approaches, were described. They require far fewer assumptions and a priori decisions on the part of the user than most conventional techniques. These practical frameworks for extracting knowledge from operating data present the final uncovered solutions to the decisionmaker in formats that are both easy to understand and implement. 

Annex I inclusion of an a.i. is the result of a harmonized evaluation and decisionmaking procedure, performed on the basis of harmonized data requirements, as detailed in Annexes II and III to the Directive. 

The US Army, which for several years has had responsibilities for renovating contaminated tracts of land, has developed a conceptual framework that can accommodate a variety of decisionmaking processes and models to respond to the question, "How clean is clean " This approach focuses on determining acceptable pollutant residue levels as goals for remedial action. It recognizes that potential land use, courses of remedial action, the nature and extent of contamination, and the population at risk are all considerations that may affect those goals. 

The EEA was set up as a legally independent community body under council regulation (EEC) 1210/90. The EEA s core task is to provide decisionmakers with the information needed for making sound and effective policies to protect the environment and support sustainable development. 

---