Benefits transfers allow policy analysts to estimate, in a timely and cost effective manner , environmental and health values as inputs to the decision­making. In response to a growing need to provide a storehouse of valuation studies documents to aid in conducting transfers, Environmental Canada has designed the Environmental Valuation Reference Inventory^TM (EVRI^TM), a benefits transfer database. The EVRI has been designed to capture original valuation studies and present the pertinent information that would be necessary to identify which studies are appropriate candidates for a transfer. Designed for the Internet, it is hoped that the EVRI will one day contain valuation papers from around the globe, to be used by economists in all countries. Through a partnership with the US EPA the database is presently populated with water related studies.

Benefits transfer involves the application of economic values estimated in previous valuation studies ­ usually referred to as a study site(s) ­ to a decision maker's current policy and program needs ­ usually referred to as the policy site(s). The challenge in conducting a defensible transfer lies in matching the policy site with the study site according to certain criteria. Namely: similarities between the extent of the environmental change; similarities in commodities; similarities in socioeconomic and cultural characteristics; similarities in markets; and, similarities in property rights. The EVRI has been designed with such criteria in mind.

The EVRI contains 31 fields clustered six categories. The categories are: 1) Study Reference, ­ basic bibliographic information; 2) Study Area and Population Characteristics, ­ information about the location of the study along with population and site information; 3) Environmental Focus of the Study, ­ text and keyword fields that describe the environmental asset being valued, the environmental goods and services being valued, the stressors on the environment and the specific purpose of the study; 4) Study Methods, ­technical information on the actual study, along with the specific techniques that were used to arrive at the results; 5) Estimated Values, ­ the dollar values that are presented in the study and the specific units of measure; and 6) Abstract and Alternative Language Summary ­ a brief description of the study itself in English, French and Spanish.

Over the past three years, leading North American benefits transfer experts have been involved in the development of the EVRI. The EVRI contains three modules that allow users to enter data, search, and screen studies, through the World Wide Web using a multilingual interface. The Searching Module has been designed to help users match characteristics between the study site and the policy site. The Screening Module allows users to assess the acceptability of the search results based upon established criteria. The Capturing Module allows studies to be entered into the database from anywhere in the world.

With a fully populated EVRI on the Internet, matching study sites with a policy site is less of a burden. Those countries and organizations that do not have the ability to access to the wealth of studies that are available in the literature will be able to find references via their computer. Users of the EVRI will be able to e­mail Environment Canada for the full study if they cannot access the reference through their local library service. By matching and accessing published reports, government publications and the grey literature the potential to improve the quality and defensibility of transfers is enhanced significantly.