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The interaction between science and policy in transboundary environmental regulation is dynamic. By elaborating on the concepts of boundary organisations and portable representations, I shed light on how science-based policy and policy-relevant science are co-produced. This perspective is then put to use in an analysis of the scientific representation and political regulation of two different environmental issues: ground-level ozone and biodiversity. Portable representations function as a link between experts and policymakers. By means of portable representations, nature is not only measured and represented but also made governable. Portable representations seemed to strengthen the credibility of both scientific assessments and policy. Science makes itself matter by formally separating itself from policy considerations, although the two are at the same time integrated through portable representations from boundary organisations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Environment Act of 1995 (Part IV) requires local authorities to review and assess air quality in their area of jurisdiction and to determine locations where concentrations of defined pollutants exceed. The ongoing review and assessment process is one of the largest locally based science policy and science consultation initiatives undertaken in the UK. Combining a questionnaire-based survey with in depth case studies has allowed an exploration of the process and the development of better practice guidance for such consultation initiatives. The research suggests that while there are no simple solutions to the dilemma of how best to engage the public in such consultations, there are steps that can be taken to improve consultation. Key factors that facilitate local community participation in such processes include a well-informed and adequately resourced local community and an explicit connection between participatory and decision-making processes. Although the research focused on local air quality management as a case study of consultation mechanisms, the outcomes will be relevant to other locally based environmental management issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, a multilateral environmental agreement, has successfully eliminated the use of most ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons. As a result, a number of observers have pointed to the possibility of transferring successes-and even linking regulations-between the Montreal Protocol and Kyoto Protocol, the international but stalled climate-change agreement. We argue that there is need for caution on this issue. The Montreal and Kyoto protocols are the outcomes of vastly different political contexts, from public civil society approaches to what we call 'the private turn': the current loss of faith in state sovereignty, the rejection of multilateralism, and an embrace of private knowledge about economic damage over public knowledge about the protection of citizens and natural resources. From this broader perspective we show that the differences between the Montreal and Kyoto protocols are therefore more than `command-and-control' versus `market-based' solutions. These differences also reflect an even deeper divide over what `counts' as knowledge in political decision-making processes. We illustrate these points through a case study of the current knowledge controversies around the phase-out of methyl bromide under the Montreal Protocol. We explain how the methyl bromide phase-out has stalled because the phase-out approach is incompatible with the current political regime, thus supporting the argument that neoliberal forms of governance cannot solve global environmental problems. This case, therefore, shows us that the challenges we face are more than atmospheric: to save the Earth we must create new ways to govern ourselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The causes for the failure in enforcement of environmental regulations at the Giap Lai pyrite mine in northern Vietnam are considered and the environmental impacts that are associated with this mine are evaluated. It is shown that sulphide-rich tailings and waste rock in the mining area represent significant sources of acid rock drainage (ARD). The ARD is causing elevated metal levels in downstream water bodies, which in turn, represent a threat to both human health and to aquatic ecosystems. Metal concentrations in impacted surface waters have increased after mine closure, suggesting that impacts are becoming progressively more serious. No post-closure, remediation measures have been applied at the mine, in spite of the existence of environmental legislation and both central and regional institutions charged with environmental supervision and control. The research presented here provides further emphasis for the recommendation that, while government institutions may need to be strengthened, and environmental regulations need to be in place, true on the ground improvement in environmental quality in Vietnam and in many other developing countries require an increased focus on promoting public awareness of industrial environmental issues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper develops a scheme for characterizing variation in the structure of state environmental regulatory policy design. The rules, policy tools and incentives built into regulatory policies affect the manner in which policies are implemented, and, ultimately, the actions of target populations toward the ambient environment. Variation in state concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) regulation is examined as a specific case of subnational regulatory policy design. These operations can have substantial environmental impacts on local communities and large cumulative impacts on waterways. Using a content analysis of CAFO policy across states, the paper shows state policy designs to vary on three dimensions: scope, stringency and prescription. This research calls attention to the use of more detailed measures of environmental policy design rather than unitary measures typically used in environmental policy research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examine the implementation of environmental regulation and demonstrate that path dependency, created largely by resource constraints, narrows the range of options for implementing regulation. It also magnifies the impact of the institutional history of the regulatory body and the impact of the disciplinary commitments of those working within the regulatory body on the implementation process. It is shown that the result is that those involved in the implementation process are unable to consider all possible routes to implementation but, rather, only a relatively few 'manageable' options for the regulation of particular activities. The arguments are examined in the context of implementation of the Water Framework Directive 2000 (WFD) in Scotland. In particular the authors focus on the regulation of diffuse pollution under the WFD and on the role played by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency in that regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the paper released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in June 2005 titled "Chemical Regulation: Options Exist to Improve EPA's Ability to Assess Health Risks and Manage Its Chemical Review." The report claims that the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has failed to empower the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ensure the safety of chemicals being used by companies in the United States. However, many other experts have testified that the TSCA has mostly accomplished what it sought to do.

Abstract: We analyze the determinants of environmental policy when two industry lobbies can seek a laxer policy that would apply to both industries and loophole lobbying that provides benefits specific to one industry. We determine the properties of the lobbying equilibrium, including the resulting emissions level. In many cases, higher effectiveness of loophole lobbying is detrimental for industries and beneficial for environmental quality, as it exacerbates the free-rider problem in the provision of general lobbying by inducing industries to turn towards loophole lobbying. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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]

The article focuses on the need for the European Union (EU) to revise the directive regulating the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops. The idea was raised after EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas inappropriately overturned the recommendation of his scientific advisers and plans to reject the applications for two GM varieties of insect- and herbicide-resistant maize from Sygenta AG and Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. EU countries anticipate that the revision will limit the use of political motives in analyzing applications for GM crops.

Presents details on how the environmental regulations developed by the Helsinki Conventions were implemented in the Baltic States. Environmental problems caused by nutrients that cause eutrophication and various kinds of toxic substances including heavy metals, halogenated hydrocarbons, and oil products; Need for the Helsinki Convention to be expanded at the beginning of the 1990s due to political changes on the east side of the Baltic Sea; Creation of new monitoring systems and establishment of new systems of finance; Data on organic toxic pollutants.