CEEPES: An Evolving System for Agro-environmental Policy

over potential sources of environmental degradation (see, for example, Shortle and Dunn 1986; Russell and Shogren 1993). Although partially related to scientific advances in measurement and detection, perceived risks due to chemical loading have intensified the pressure to more closely coordinate agricultural and environmental policy (Cohen, Eiden, and Lorber 1986; Johnson, Wolcott, and Aradhyula 1990). But strategies to coordinate these policies have been impeded by a serious information gap in the explicit environmental and economic trade-offs of various public and private actions. Although most decision makers would agree that securing this information is critical for more effective agro-environmental policy, the question remains as to the best course of action.