Environmental Science and Policy

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Environmental Science and Policy

• Chapter 15

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Outline

• Decision Making
• Environmental Policy Cycle
• NEPA and EIS
• Environmental Law
• Statutory Law
• Case Law
• Administrative Law
• International Treaties
• Dispute Resolution
• Collective Action

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Table 15.1
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DECISIONS IN AN UNCERTAIN WORLD

• Adaptive Management
• A solutions approach designed to test clearly
  formulated hypotheses about the actions being
  taken.
• Learning by doing.
• Polices are designed at the outset to utilize
  scientific principles to examine alternative and
  assess outcomes.

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Table 15.2
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Wicked Problems

• Environmental problems tend to be intractable
  because they are nested within sets of
  interlocking issues.
• Often poor match between bearers of costs and
  bearers of benefits.
• No value-free objective answers.
• Best approach is often consensus building.

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Environmental Decision Making
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Precautionary Principle

• Four basic tenets.
• People have a duty to take anticipatory steps to
  prevent harm.
• Burden of proof with new technologies lies with
  its proponents.
• Full range of alternatives must be examined
  before using a new technology.
• Decision must be open, informed, and democratic.

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ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION

• Broad Goals
• Improve understanding among the general public of
  natural and built environments and the
  relationships between human and their
  environment.
• Encourage postsecondary students to pursue
  environmental careers.

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Table 15.3
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Table 15.4
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ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

• Environmental Policy - Official rules and
  regulations concerning the environment that are
  adopted, implemented, and enforced by a
  governmental agency.
• Also encompasses public opinion.

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Environmental Policy
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The Policy Cycle

• Acts to continually define and refine the public
  agenda.
• One big obstacle is getting a problem noticed in
  the age of ever-increasing volume and tenor of
  shocking news.
• Does rhetoric help or harm ?

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The Policy Cycle
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Political Decision Making

• Politics as Power
• Politics is a struggle among competing interest
  groups as they strive to shape public policy to
  suit their own agendas.
• Rational Choice
• In choosing between policy alternatives,
  preference should be given to those with the
  greatest cumulative welfare and the least
  negative impacts.

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Arguments Against Rational Choice

• Conflicting views are not comparable.
• Few agreed-upon broad social goals.
• Policymakers not motivated by societal goals.
• Large investments create path dependence.
• Uncertainty drives policy makers toward past.
• Costs and benefits difficult to calculate.
• Segmented nature of large bureaucracies.

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National Environmental Policy Act

• National Environmental Policy Act (1970)
• Authorizes Council on Environmental Quality as
  the oversight board.
• Directs federal agencies to take environmental
  consequences into account during decision making.
• Requires an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
  for every federal project having significant
  environmental impact.

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Environmental Impact Statement

• Every EIS must contain
• Purpose and need for project.
• Alternative to proposed action.
• Statement of positive and negative impacts of the
  proposed activities.

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ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

• Statutory Law The Legislative Branch
• Federal laws (statutes) are enacted by Congress
  and signed by the President.
• After introduction, each bill is referred to a
  committee or sub-committee for hearings and
  debate.
• Language is modified, multiple bills may be
  combined, and overall bill is passed on to full
  committee.

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Case law The Judicial Branch

• Establishes environmental law by ruling on
  constitutionality of statutes and interpreting
  their meaning.
• First must be determined if participants have a
  right to initiate an action.
• Legal Standing

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The Judicial Branch

• Criminal Law - Derives from federal and state
  statues that prohibit wrongs against the state or
  society.
• Charges always initiated by a government
  prosecutor.
• Guilt or innocence of defendant determined by a
  jury of peers.

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The Judicial Branch

• Civil Law - Defined by a body of laws regulating
  relations between individuals or corporations.
• Burden of proof lies with prosecution.
• Guilt or innocence based on whether the defendant
  could reasonably have anticipated and avoided the
  offense.
• Purpose of civil suit may be an injunction from
  the actions of an individual or corporation.

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SLAPP

• Strategic Lawsuits Against Political
  Participation - Practice of suing citizens who
  criticize businesses or government agencies over
  environmental issues.
• Legal defense costs can be exorbitant.

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Administrative Law The Executive Branch

• More than 100 federal agencies have environmental
  oversight.
• Federal agencies often delegate power to a
  matching state agency to decentralize authority.

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The Executive Branch
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Regulatory Agencies

• EPA - Primary agency with responsibility for
  protecting environmental quality.
• Cabinet-level department.
• Department of Interior (Natural Resources)
• National Park Service
• Bureau of Land Management
• US Fish and Wildlife Service

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Regulatory Agencies

• Department of Agriculture
• US Forest Service
• Department of Labor
• Occupational Health and Safety Agency (OSHA)
• Revolving door with workers moving back and forth
  between industry and government.

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Table 15.5
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INTERNATIONAL TREATIES AND CONVENTIONS

• Over past 25 years, more than 170 environmental
  treaties and conventions have been negotiated.
• Unfortunately many of these are vague.
• Most nations unwilling to give up sovereignty.
• International court has no enforcement powers.
• Accords and sanctions
• World opinion

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Table 15.6
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DISPUTE RESOLUTION

• Arbitration is a formal dispute resolution, based
  in a trial-like setting.
• Arbitrator takes a more active role than a judge,
  and is not constrained by precedent.
• Useful when winning an entire case might be
  difficult.
• Does not create legally-binding precedent.
• Less opportunity to appeal.

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Legislative Branch

• A bill succeeding in full committee is reported
  to full House or Senate for a floor debate.
• Amendments proposed at each stage.
• House and Senate versions are often different,
  and must be sent to conference committee to meld
  differences.
• Bill goes back to House and Senate for
  confirmation.
• Passed on to President for signature.

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Mediation

• Mediation is a process in which disputants are
  encouraged to come up with a solution on their
  own.
• Useful in complex issues with multiple
  stakeholders with different interests.

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Collaborative Approaches to Planning

• Community-Based Planning - Incorporates holistic,
  adaptive, pluralistic approaches.
• Collaborative Approaches - Working with local
  communities to gain traditional knowledge and
  gain local acceptance of management plans.
• Especially important in nonlinear, nonequilibrium
  problems.

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COLLECTIVE ACTION

• Student Environmental Groups
• Student Environmental Action Coalition
• Public Interest Research Groups
• Mainline Environmental Organization
• National Wildlife Federation
• Sierra Club
• Radical Environmental Groups
• Earth First
• Sea Shepherd
• International Nongovernmental Organizations

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Summary

• Decision Making
• Environmental Policy Cycle
• NEPA and EIS
• Environmental Law
• Statutory Law
• Case Law
• Administrative Law
• International Treaties
• Dispute Resolution
• Collective Action

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Table 15.7