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Focuses on collaborative environmental decision making process in the United States. Needs and opinions of affected parties; Dialogue on normative values into the deliberative process; Decisions that enhance environmental protection; Role of public decision about the environment.

Focuses on the possibility of a contingency framework for environmental decision-making in Tennessee. General typology of decision-making based on dichotomized categories; Examination of the environmental decision-making; Classification of environmental problems and characteristics; Categorization of decision types and processes.

Presents an introduction on the environmental policy in Tennessee. Foundation of National Center for Environmental Decision-making Research in 1995; Presentation of papers on the risk analysis, management, and devolution; Approaches in improving environmental decision-making process.

How do the diverse qualities that movement organizations bring to the policy process affect the representation of particular interests? This question is explored by analyzing environmental organizations across the national, state, and local level of the American political system. This article suggests that two types of social movement organizations exist: movement interest groups and communal advocacy group. While this article does not provide direct evidence of the different policy capabilities of the two types of movement organizations, existing research is drawn upon to consider how each type might fare in the policy process. One approach suggests that centralized organizations with incremental goals are better equipped to attain policy success, while the other stresses the need for active member involvement to engage in "disruptive" politics. To fully assess these divergent views, this article presents a broad review and analysis of the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the problem-making tendencies in environmental policymaking has been an incremental approach to regulation and control. Either because the full dimensions of an environmental problem are not perceived or because political resistance compels step-by-step action, environmental controls tend to be applied progressively, beginning with nominal, largely ineffectual, retroactive declarations. Failing to meet objectives, laws are toughened and extended year by year until the severity of sanctions begins to defeat their intended effects. The fractionized state of environmental law, focusing on specific problems of pollution and subject to changes in interpretation, makes observance and enforcement difficult. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 could have facilitated the unification of environmental policy; unfortunately presidents and congresses have not chosen to use it for this purpose. Meanwhile, because environmental protection per se is relatively new to public law and policy and has few roots in the common law, private citizens aggrieved by political obstruction of their expectations have appealed to the courts for relief and compensation. Conservative courts have granted this relief under the "taking" clause of the Constitution. Extraordinary measures in constitutional law may be necessary to resolve an impasse in public policy resulting from conflict between public interests and private rights as interpreted by the judiciary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the unforeseen problems of the new industrial age has been the disposal of increasing quantities of wastes many hazardous and toxic. Industrial chemistry has produced numerous products that, while useful, are alien to nature and resistant to biodegradation or detoxification. Growing public awareness of the possible hazards and risks involved in disposal of the residuals of industrial activities is arousing a popular demand for environmental protection. But this popular awareness depends upon public information and a degree of scientific literacy--conditions which vary widely among nations. Initial consequences are environmental regulations and restrictions respecting waste disposal in scientifically developed countries, and vulnerability among less developed countries to the export of hazardous wastes from the countries of their origin. A secondary consequence is the emergence of international waste trade as a national and international multidimensional policy problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents summarized form of membership and financial reports of "Policy Studies Organization" as of June 30, 1994. As per the data provided in the membership report, there has been an increase in library and institutional members, although a decrease in individual members. The percentage change is only 2 percent less than last year. According to the financial report, total receipt for the first six months of 1994 are about the same as they were in 1993. Receipts are much higher in the second half of the year because nearly all libraries renew in December. The expenditures for 1994 are higher than they were in 1993. Report on grants include support for symposia by the Florida International University and the Indiana University concerning environmental policymaking.

This article examines the roles of politics and processes in the formulation and implementation of U.S. natural resource policy during the Reagan and Bush administrations. The relationship between policies and procedures during these administrations will be illustrated by their effects on renewable natural resources management in the Department of the Interior and in the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture. The political history of these agencies raises doubts regarding their voluntarily adopting an ecological approach to the management of natural resources. Historically they have been largely captives of their clienteles--farmers, ranchers, miners, loggers, hunters and fishermen. Recreation and tourism have added new clients, whose interests often clash with the older interests in the land and its resources. Further complicating the roles of these agencies has been the environmental movement and new science-based analyses (e.g., impact assessment). Management science has introduced new methods that have increased the effectiveness of political control over policy and performance. Therefore, in evaluating the administration of environmental policies distinction should be made between the substance of policies and implementing procedures. Policies regarded as good may be poorly administered and policies harmful to the public interest may be efficiently executed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scope, complexity and interrelatedness of environmental problems presents a difficult challenge to policymakers. To date, public policies have been responsive largely to particular matters of public concern. They have typically been ad hoc, sectoral and segmental. Their administration has been charged to various agencies, each with its special mission. In consequence, governments have often acted to cross purposes; small results have often been ineffectual and, as often, unnecessarily expensive. Incremental innovation is seldom able to affect significantly the tendencies of the larger system of public policy and administration within which it is undertaken. Inasmuch as no country has had long experience with administration of environmental policy, a comparison of different approaches to environmental problems is useful. Direct transfers of method from one country to another may seldom be practicable, yet there may be lessons learned from the diverse experience of governments addressing similar problems. A comprehensive and radical institutional experiment in environmental policy has been initiated in the government of New Zealand. The New Zealand experiment may illuminate the effects of institutional structure on the implementation of policy. The relationships between constitutional principles, policy priorities and administrative structures have never been clear. The problems of coping with multiple environmental trends, their causes and their consequences justify efforts to find more effective methods of policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of a worldwide environmental movement in the early 1960s accompanied an international expansion of economic activity and applied technology. The principal medium through which this expansion progressed was trade. In 1947, following World War II, a series of international agreements were negotiated to regularize international relations in finance, monetary policies, and trade. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was negotiated without anticipation of an international environmental movement and new policies at the national level that did not reflect, and might be inconsistent with, economic values. Conflict between policies for freedom of trade and environmental protection did not immediately emerge. With the adoption of numerous environmental protection measures in the United States and many other countries after 1969, the incompatibility of some trade and environmental policies became political issues. Trade policies are not confined to economic changes. Policy issues developing around the agreement and environmental protection are complex, and frequently involve technological issues, as in the Mexican tuna controversy discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A problem in policymaking for prevention of harm to persons and the environment concerns the probability of harm occurring--that is, the measure of risk involved. Policymakers have almost always sought to calculate the risk involved in proposed courses of action. Their methods have often been irrational and their estimates erroneous. Explicit analysis of risk to society and systematic methods for estimating it emerged with the advent of science as more reliable procedures for prediction and decision-making. However, as with many other forms of analysis, the assessment of risk has carried its own risk namely an undue reliance on logical quantitative techniques which fail to address the root causes of public concern and apprehension. Common-sense assessments of risk tell us more what risks people regard as acceptable and risks arouse anxiety and protest. Carnage from accidents on the nation's highways arouse much less apprehension than nuclear accidents even though actual risk from automobiles is much greater than injury or death from nuclear reactors. The following paper makes the case that the art and science of risk assessment will fall short of social and political realities until the psychological and cultural aspects of risk receive more adequate attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The politics of the environment may not be unique, but they present some distinctive characteristics. In undertaking policy analyses and administrative strategies an appreciation of concepts, assumptions and circumstances, and underlying environmental policy issues is needed. To ignore these fundamentals is to risk superficiality in analysis, and error in findings and conclusions. Yet getting down to basics is often rejected as diversion from the goal of analysis. It deviates from a "straight to the point" approach, adds cost and time to investigation, and seldom interests practical-minded analysts. Even so, this paper will be prefaced by a concise reminder of some basic factors that make environmental policy problematic. Among these are: (1) incompatible concepts of man-nature relationships notably conflict between perceived facts and values, (2) inadequate comprehension of the complexities of nature, (3) sectoral subdivisions of knowledge, (4) assumptions, situations and motivations in environmental politics, (5) fractionated structure of laws and administration, and (6) short-range perception of time. In addition to these conceptual factors the widely varied subject-matter of environmental politics narrows the scope of generalization for policy purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines interstate variance in the distribution of costs for hazardous waste regulation in the U.S. states. Identification of the distribution of regulatory costs for technical externalities; Answers to specific questions about the regulatory strategies of competing states in a federal system.

Looks at environmental policymaking in the coastal zone of the U.S. giving particular attention to the conflicts between the desire to protect renewable resources and the need for economic growth in the coastal zone. Illustration of these conflicts by an examination of comprehensive land use planning in Oregon; Federal government's proposal to develop seabed mining on the Gorda Ridge.

Points out that an underlying assumption of the partial preemption approach is the belief that minimum federal standards contribute to the prospective decentralization of environmental protection programs in the U.S. Removal or reduction of industry incentives to shop around for states with a more lenient regulatory stance; Survey of chief executive officers of pollution-generating firms; Indication that corporate officials see regulatory climate as an important component of overhead costs.

Outlines the scope of the hazardous waste problem to which state governments in the U.S. must respond. Observation that hazardous waste management has become a primary concern of state governments; Assumption of a leading role by the state governments in hazardous waste policy development and implementation; Relation of the scope of the problem with changing public perceptions and intergovernmental relationships.

Reports on a study which conceptualizes and operationalizes state high-technology capacity and demonstrates its potential usefulness in comparative state studies in the U.S. Identification and recording of the amount of high-technology resources that are available in each state and that can be employed in public policy; Five dimensions of the concept; Ranking of the states along these dimensions; Relationships between the five components of high-technology capacity and several state energy and environmental policies.

It has been almost a dozen years since the passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act. Even after all these years, there is little agreement on how well it has worked. Environmentalists have argued that the Act has not worked well since it has not been vigorously implemented by the coal states or by the U.S. Office of Surface Mining. The coal states and the coal industry, on the other hand, have generally found the Act to be working reasonably well in recent years. Assessing the impacts of any environmental policy is especially difficult since its impacts are long term and hard to measure.

Congressional architects of environmental policy in the 1970s sought to resolve air, water, and land-based pollution problems by using a policy approach termed "partial preemption." A major objective was to maintain a significant policy-making role for U.S. state officials and, at the same time, attain federal environmental quality standards. The relative locus of political control varies according to the type of partial pre-emption adopted, i.e., compulsory or voluntary. Voluntary forms of partial pre-emption encourage but do not require state participation in federal environmental programs.

In October 1972, the heads of government of the European Economic Community, now popularly known as the European Community (EC), declared an intent to adopt an environmental policy to complement its other areas of activity. The "six" countries comprising the EC evolved into "nine" with the accession of Great Britain, Denmark and Ireland. Since formal accession on January 01, 1973, Great Britain has often found this an uneasy union, not least in the field of environmental policy. From the outset, it was clear that reconciling the environmental "policy style" of Great Britain with the evolving EC approach to environmental protection would be difficult. This has certainly been the case in environmental impact assessment (EIA). Within any discussion of the interaction between Britain and the EC, EIA legislation merits special consideration for it provides evidence of an evolving relationship.

Environmental impact analysis (EIA) is best understood as an early and special phase of a new approach to policy development that incorporates several analytic techniques in a process sometimes called "comprehensive impact analysis." In improving these techniques, however, it is important to keep in mind the substantive purpose for which they were invented. That purpose was to protect the public and the environment from the consequences of reckless or inadequately informed policies and decisions. The development of EIA has been shaped by several converging influences, notably rational planning theory, technology assessment, risk assessment, and the policy goals of the environmental movement.

In recent years, many policy scientists have looked to mediation as a promising means of resolving conflict over environmental regulation. A number of case studies have shown the potential value of the method in leading opposing interest groups to compromise settlements in land-use and facility-siting decisions, as well as in other areas of environmental policy. In addition, several centers for the practice of environmental mediation have been established, and federal regulatory agencies have explored the use of the mediatory approach.

This paper looks at the role evaluation has played in developing a national environmental monitoring system. Environmental monitoring programs are designed to provide information useful in enforcing existing environmental statutes and in helping to detect and prevent future problems. The need for an effective national environmental monitoring system that can adequately address those goals is well recognized. Despite the considerable number of monitoring programs which have been conducted, there is still a lack of reliable data that can be used to support environmental policymaking.

This paper draws on three cases from ocean policy to explore the notion of anticipatory policy, or policy which is premised on warnings about future threats and opportunities and seeks to control or diminish their impact through positive government action. The three cases -- deep water ports, ocean thermal energy, and deep seabed mining -- suggest that even the best intentioned efforts can run aground when jolted by external forces over which there is little or no control. Ocean policy in the U.S. is one small part of that broader family of resource and environmental policy issues that played such a prominent role in the politics of the 1970's.

This paper discusses the sources of risks and conditions under which the government may wish to indemnify firms for losses suffered when environmental regulations are revised. Revision of environmental regulations will strengthen some standards while weakening others. The major business risks of changing environmental regulations appear to be associated with market competitiveness and capital investment. The current practice, in most cases, is to generate specific bills in Congress to solve specific indemnity problems. In the case of losses resulting from government conducting faulty tests of unworkable environmental equipment or a change in public attitude toward a specific form of environmental hazard, a law allowing compensation for adversely affected firms is needed to encourage compliance.

To explore the utility of a broader approach, this paper analyzes external forces that are helping shape the efficiency and effectiveness of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as it implements the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976. Spurred by revelations about polychiorinated biphenyis and other toxic substances, TSCA was intended to find out in advance which chemicals are harmful, and prevent or curtail the harm. The analysis shows that EPA's productivity in implementing these provisions has been determined largely by the applicable legislation, by the nature of the toxic substances problem, and by the configuration of group interests and resources that impinge on the agency.

This article focuses on intergovernmental and intersectoral tensions which are generated in the policy implementation process in the U.S. In this article, the concept of "tension" is the analytical device used for interpreting policy implementation events. The focus of the article is upon Superfund, legislative response to growing public concern over the potential environmental damage and health risks posed by uncontrolled toxic waste sites. Superfund is designed to promote cooperative interaction among government units and private sector.

The article presents a discussion on environmental regulation and energy production. Not only are the goals of environmental protection and energy independence new political goals, they also are increasingly conflicting goals. The U.S. Congress has played a major role in formulating energy and environmental policy. Therefore. the article presents an analyzed roll call voting which was conducted in 1975 and 1979 in order to look at the politics of policy development and to determine if the traditional model of congressional voting still explains voting in these policy areas.

This article proposes an approach that recognizes the primary function of environmental protection as one of planning, rather than legal battling. It therefore derives much of its conceptual base from state-of-the-art planning theories, including resiliency, adaptive systems and evolutionary thinking. Its central theme is that of planning as an adaptive-learning process and of environmental regulation as a means of correcting or avoiding "social errors." Such a conceptual reformulation should promote strategies which enhance the level of environmental concern in corporate and governmental policy.

Explores the informational requirements for effective regulatory review analyzing the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) lead standard in the U.S. Overview of the requirements of the Clean Air Act; Inadequacies of the agency's analysis; Methods for generating appropriate information on which to base policy decisions; Emphasis on the use of lead and the benefits of lead regulation; Costs of the EPA lead standard.

Reports on the results of a study on the role of risk analysis in seven federal agencies in the U.S. concerned with health, safety and environmental regulation. Increase in the use of risk analysis procedures; Variation in the use of risk analysis in risk management decision making; Overview of methodological and institutional constraints in risk analysis.

Argues that delegation of discretion over environmental regulation to the states may trigger a process analogous to Gresham's Law in which lax regulation in one state drives out stringent regulation in neighboring states. Devolution to regulatory laxity illustrated by the lax pesticide regulations in five Midwestern agricultural states; Questions about the effects of U.S. President Ronald Reagan Administration's commitment to reduce the stringency of federal environmental regulations and delegate more regulatory discretion to states.

Indicates how science and social science can be combined to assess the range and effectiveness of policy alternatives available to environmental decision-makers. Cost-effective regulatory alternatives to the Los Angeles, California particulate sulfate problem; Application of both sciences to the relationship of emissions to pollution levels and environmental quality; Rejection of notion that a simple reduction in emissions leads to a commensurate reduction in pollution levels; Problem of applying licenses and emissions.

This article discusses the responsibility of social scientists in preparing Social Impact Assessments (SIAs) for communities that are scheduled for energy-related projects and state-of-the-art analyses of those communities. SIAs, prompted by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of the U.S. and by complementary legislation in certain states, are prepared, ostensibly, to provide expert scientific analyses of human societies, to project the probable consequences to those societies from large-scale projects planned for their environments, to suggest ways to mitigate deleterious consequences and to aid decision makers.

The article lists several books on energy and environmental policy, received for publication in the May 01, 1983 issue of the "Blackwell" journal. Energy and environmental policy are two rapidly developing inter-related subfields within the broad area of natural resource policy which are of considerable contemporary interest. Rapid change in these policies during the late 1970s several times rendered course coverage, materials and texts obsolete less than a year after preparation or publication. References in this bibliography were selected to reflect both historical context and recent developments, through scholarly and a few popular publications of enduring relevance and classroom utility.

This article presents various abstracts related to social policy published in the journal "Policy Studies Review." "Indemnity for Companies Adversely Affected by Environmental Regulation Changes," by Donald E. Agthe. The problem addressed by this paper is the government may wish to indemnify firms for losses suffered when environmental regulations are revised. Larger firms are likely to be in a better competitive position than smaller firms when raised. "Knowledge and Organizations," by David Dery. This paper examines two interrelated questions: Knowledge utilization and organizational learning.

This article presents brief introduction on various essays, published in August 1993 issue of the journal "Policy Studies Review," which were based on 16 sources of environmental policy problems in the 21st century, identified by researcher Joseph F. Coates. The purpose of these essays, reportedly, is to provide a cross-sectional view of a variety of environmental issues that create policy problems. They should help to clarify why the attempt of Congress to adopt a basic environment statute, that is, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, dealt with principles, qualitative goals and action-forcing procedures. This Act was intended to provide a template for evaluating specific environmental policies and decisions.