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- Title
Applicability of Benford's Law to Compliance Assessment of Self-Reported Wastewater Treatment Plant Discharge Data.
- Authors
Beiglou, Pouyan Hatami Bahman; Adhikari, Umesh; Mitchell, Jade; Gibbs, Carole; Rivers, Louie
- Abstract
The United States (U.S.) environmental regulatory system relies heavily on self-reports to assess compliance among regulated facilities. However, the regulatory agencies have expressed concerns regarding the potential for fraud in self-reports and suggested that the likelihood of detection in the federal and state enforcement processes is low. In this paper, we apply Benford's Law to three years of self-reported discharge parameters from wastewater treatment plant facilities in one U.S. state. We conclude that Benford's Law alone may not be a reliable method for detecting potential data mishandling for individual facility-parameter combinations, but may provide information about the types of parameters most likely to be fraudulently reported and types of facilities most likely to do so. From a regulatory perspective, this information may help to prioritise potential fraud risks in self reporting and better direct limited resources.
- Subjects
SEWAGE disposal plants; BENFORD'S law (Statistics); NATIONAL Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (U.S.); SELF-evaluation; ENVIRONMENTAL regulations; COMPLIANCE auditing
- Publication
Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy & Management, 2017, Vol 19, Issue 4, p-1
- ISSN
1464-3332
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1142/S146433321750017X