Environmental policy implementation during the economic crisis: an analysis of European member state ‘leader-laggard’ dynamics

ABSTRACT

The long-standing debate on environmental policy ‘leaders’ and ‘laggards’ lends itself to a new analysis following with the advent of the 2008 economic crisis. This paper, therefore, asks the question to what extent do European Union (EU) member states have the capacity and willingness to implement EU environmental policy amid austerity, budget cuts, and rising costs over the period 2008–2014. Building upon previous studies, 26 interviews with European, Greek and United Kingdom participants and records of environmental infringements, the paper provides a contemporary picture of the environmental policy ‘leader-laggard’ dynamic in Europe. The findings demonstrate that the impact of the economic crisis seems contestable and varies amongst member states, while the reduction in environmental infringements appears to have a link with the decrease in economic activity. Although environmental policy ‘leaders’ maintain patterns of strong implementation, the improved implementation performance of some ‘laggards’ reflects a shift in their implementation patterns amid a period of intense political and economic controversies.     

Explaining implementation deficits through multi-level governance in the EU's new member states: EU limits for arsenic in drinking water in Hungary

This paper uses a multi-level governance lens to explore a case of non-compliance with EU legislation in Hungary and expands historical institutionalist explanations of EU laggards. Despite adopting the European Union's (EU's) limit of 10 ppb arsenic in drinking water, parts of Hungary do not comply. To explain this deficit, the paper examines the match between discourse incorporated into policy and held by policy actors in Hungary. Multiple points of mismatch are found that influence implementation because of governance structures, adding specificity to explanations of ‘goodness of fit’ between EU and national policy.     

EU policy on the move – mobility and domestic translation of the European Union’s renewable energy policy

We discuss how the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive was designed to be mobile, and how it was moved to and implemented in Finland by translating it to enhance wood-based energy production through specific subsidies. We study policy-making as a mobile process, which approach has its original roots in political science and more recent basis in political geography. The article aims to develop conceptual understanding of how the mobility of a supranational policy is generated and how a policy is translated into complex and contentious geographical contexts. We aim to show that mobility of a directive is enabled by an empty governance space which is aimed to be ‘filled in’ in each spatial context, and that the filling in process makes each translation a contentious and path-dependent process. In Finland, the selected policy tools and practices continued the path-dependent ways of favouring forestry industry’s traditional position as the primary utiliser of forest resources.     

The meaning of BATNEEC: interpreting excessive costs in UK industrial pollution regulation

The paper examines how the concept of ‘excessive costs’ has been interpreted in the implementation of industrial pollution control in the UK. Since 1984, industrial air pollution regulation in the EU has been guided by the framework concept of Best Available Technology Not Entailing Excessive Costs (BATNEEC). With the introduction of the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive in 1996, this has been replaced by the concept of Best Available Techniques (BAT). Despite the absence of the NEEC qualification, IPPC BAT includes excessive costs in its definition of ‘available’. Both concepts require interpretation and both devolve potentially controversial decisions to the level of the individual site regulator. A central issue in interpreting ‘excessive costs’ is the relative importance of environmental cost–benefit analysis versus the ability of a sector to ‘afford’ environmental improvements. Also important is how such concepts can be operationalized by regulators who lack resources and depend upon industry for information. The paper provides a historical account of how these issues have been dealt with in the UK and argues that the key difficulties are far from being resolved. The paper concludes by assessing the implications for the future implementation of IPPC. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Following Old Paths or Shaping New Ones in Natura 2000 Implementation? Mapping Path Dependency in Instrument Choice

This article reviews the influence of two specific European Union (EU) laws, the Birds and Habitats Directives, on the choice of national policy instruments by Member States. Both Directives leave the choice for policy instruments to manage the sites designated under the Directives to the Member States. Using path dependency as a leading concept, this article analyses the continuity or changes in policy instruments due to the implementation of the Directives in 15 countries. This article shows that the tendency to use existing instruments to implement EU policy is limited, as in almost all countries new instruments were developed. Yet, states do tend to choose instruments from their predominant policy instrument mix and preferred implementation style to address the management requirements of the Directives. Additionally, in Central and Eastern European countries where the implementation of EU policy coincided with a process of transition to a market economy, new instruments were introduced outside the existing implementation style. The introduction of new policy instruments is the result of historical turns, domestic pressure and a shift to new modes of governance. National case studies are needed to shed more light on the interaction between EU policy and domestic factors during the process of instrument choice.     

Selecting agri-environmental indicators to facilitate monitoring and assessment of EU agri-environmental measures effectiveness

Since its introduction in the early 1960s, the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has demonstrated a capacity to adapt and change in the face of new challenges. The reformed CAP, under AGENDA 2000, encourages more environmentally friendly farming practices. In the context of their rural development plans, Member States are required to link policies on agriculture with protection of the environment and to ensure that farmers meet environmental standards. Additionally, Member States should maintain and restore the quality of both their aquatic and adjacent terrestrial ecosystems according to the Directive 2000/60/EU, 'Establishing a framework for Community Action in the field of Water Policy'. Within this framework, agri-environmental indicators play an important role in planning and implementing CAP guidelines. However, selection and use of the proper indicators remains unresolved, considering that ecosystem processes are complex and interactions in most cases not obvious. This paper proposes a methodology for assessing the environmental state and impacts of current land use and management when implementing agri-environmental measures of CAP. The proposed methodology includes a modified Driving forces-Pressures-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) framework, identification of Zones of Specific Functional Interest (ZSFI), and criteria for selecting agri-environmental indicators, which assess the functional performance of each zone and meet existing legislation. The Mygdonia Watershed (Greece) is an example where through use of both the appropriate Minimum Data Set of agri-environmental indicators at the identified zones and the proposed modified DPSIR, the functioning performance of each ZSFI can be assessed to evaluate the applied agri-environmental measures.     

Agri-Environmental Policy Measures in Israel: The Potential of Using Market-Oriented Instruments

This paper examines the possibilities of developing agri-environmental policy measures in Israel, focusing on market-oriented instruments. A conceptual framework for developing agri-environmental policy measures is presented, first in very broad lines (mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures) and subsequently focusing on economic instruments, and specifically, on market-oriented ones. Two criteria of choice between the measures are suggested: their contribution to improving the effectiveness of the policy; and the feasibility of their implementation. This is the framework used for analyzing agri-environmental measures in Israel. Israel currently implements a mix of mandatory regulations, economic instruments and advisory measures to promote the agri-environment. The use of additional economic instruments may improve the effectiveness of the policy. When comparing the effectiveness of various economic measures, we found that the feasibility of implementation of market-oriented instruments is greater, due to the Israeli public’s preference for strengthening market orientation in the agricultural sector. Four market-oriented instruments were practiced in a pilot project conducted in an Israeli rural area. We found that in this case study, the institutional feasibility and acceptance by stakeholders were the major parameters influencing the implementation of the market-oriented instruments, whereas the instruments’ contribution to enhancing the ecological or economic effectiveness were hardly considered by the stakeholders as arguments in favor of their use.     

成都市生活垃圾分类治理政策执行研究——基于史密斯的政策执行过程模型

以成都市生活垃圾分类治理政策为研究对象,以史密斯的政策执行过程模型为理论基础,从政策制定、执行机构、目标群体和政策环境四大要素出发,对成都市相关政策执行情况进行逐一分析。并结合成都市实际情况,从完善政策内容,增强政策执行机构的执行力,调动目标群体积极性和优化政策执行环境4个方面提出相应的意见和建议,以期为推动成都市生活垃圾分类治理政策有效执行提供一些参考和借鉴。     

The influence of street level bureaucracy on the implementation of Strategic Environmental Assessment

A number of factors are critical to the implementation of measures identified through Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) processes. This paper addresses the challenge of implementation from a street level perspective and studies the role of planners and their use of discretion in the SEA implementation process: in which way might planners hinder or facilitate the implementation of SEA? Which coping mechanisms and discretions are deliberately or unconsciously developed and used by the planners? The paper reviews the literature on street level bureaucracy (SLB) in order to identify both factors influencing the implementation behaviour of street level bureaucrats and their coping mechanism when confronted with these factors. Based upon the SLB theory, a case study explores the SLB behaviour involved in the implementation of the SEA of the Copenhagen spatial plan. The analysis shows a surprisingly high level of implementation of measures put forward in the SEA report, and underlines the role of planners at the front line of implementation, functioning as ‘innovators’ during the SEA process and the following implementation of measures. The paper documents the importance of examining planners’ role in SEA and their potential as levers for SEA implementation.     

Transport and Urban Air Pollution in India

The rapid growth in motor vehicle activity in India and other rapidly industrializing low-income countries is contributing to high levels of urban air pollution, among other adverse socioeconomic, environmental, health, and welfare impacts. This paper first discusses the local, regional, and global impacts associated with air pollutant emissions resulting from motor vehicle activity, and the technological, behavioral, and institutional factors that have contributed to these emissions, in India. The paper then discusses some implementation issues related to various policy measures that have been undertaken, and the challenges of the policy context. Finally, the paper presents insights and lessons based on the recent Indian experience, for better understanding and more effectively addressing the transport air pollution problem in India and similar countries, in a way that is sensitive to their needs, capabilities, and constraints.     

Vehicular air pollution and asthma: implications for education for health and environmental sustainability

Studies show a direct relationship between occurrence of asthma and increases of particulate matter in the air. Private transportation is found to be a significant contributor to this problem. The objective of this article is to explore this link between air pollution, asthma and vehicular dependency in order to provide recommendations for health and transport policy. This article focuses on the survey of literature on the relationship between vehicular air pollution and asthma; combining it with the literature on vehicular dependency or ‘car culture’ in the global context and in The Netherlands. This article exposes the imbalance of power between patient groups and polluting industries, and the government failure to protect the weaker party can be explained by corporate pressures. It will be argued that since air pollution is tied to the corporate support for the car industry and vested interests in promoting a ‘car culture’, strategic policy that claims to be concerned with public health should explicitly link the present pattern of mobility to public health. This article concludes with a recommendation for raising environmental health awareness by explicitly linking vehicular dependency to respiratory health through a combination of holistic and citizenship education.     

Editorial The Good,the Bad and the Bubbly

Biodiversity planners increasingly recognise the need for delivering action on a ‘wider countryside’, rather than on a purely site‐centred, basis. Ecological processes often take place at the ‘landscape scale’ and are not sufficiently accommodated within reserves, and a failure to reflect this in biodiversity planning has been one of the contributors to species and habitat decline. However, there are generally few powers to enforce compliance with spatial rural land‐use strategies, and biodiversity plans at the landscape scale must rely heavily on incentives, advice and goodwill. Not surprisingly, this results in a substantial gap between policy and implementation. One way of analysing the causes of, and potential solutions to, implementation failure is to examine the barriers to plan uptake. This paper addresses barriers to biodiversity action in three case‐study areas in terms of ‘force fields’, depicting the nature and strength of negative and positive influences on land managers and conservation staff. It is concluded that a clearer understanding of the nature of ‘barriers’ can lead to improved targeting on potential ‘bridges’ to a better future.     

Evaluating the effectiveness of air quality management within the class I area of great smoky mountains national park

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1977 designated national parks and wilderness areas larger than 1894 ha to be class I areas for air quality management, setting more restrictive criteria than the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Class I areas are afforded the greatest degree of air quality protection under the Clear Air Act of 1970. In recent years, several studies have documented air pollution effects in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP), the second-largest class I area in the eastern United States. Air pollution problems of greatest concern in the GSMNP are effects of acid deposition, visibility impairment, and tropospheric ozone. Several recent events have increased concerns about air quality management in the class I area of the GSMNP. A forum, sponsored by the Southern Appalachian Man and the Biosphere Cooperative (SAMAB), was held in March 1992, which involved representative. parties-at-interest and began to address strategies for better management of air resources in the Southern Appalachians. This paper summarizes those discussions and recommendations and reports actions occurring as a result of the forum. Another objective of this paper is to present a conceptual framework for more effective management of the class I area of the GSMNP.     

Analyzing the cost effectiveness of Santiago, Chile's policy of using urban forests to improve air quality

Santiago, Chile has the distinction of having among the worst urban air pollution problems in Latin America. As part of an atmospheric pollution reduction plan, the Santiago Regional Metropolitan government defined an environmental policy goal of using urban forests to remove particulate matter less than 10 microm (PM(10)) in the Gran Santiago area. We used cost effectiveness, or the process of establishing costs and selecting least cost alternatives for obtaining a defined policy goal of PM(10) removal, to analyze this policy goal. For this study, we quantified PM(10) removal by Santiago's urban forests based on socioeconomic strata and using field and real-time pollution and climate data via a dry deposition urban forest effects model. Municipal urban forest management costs were estimated using management cost surveys and Chilean Ministry of Planning and Cooperation documents. Results indicate that managing municipal urban forests (trees, shrubs, and grass whose management is under the jurisdiction of Santiago's 36 municipalities) to remove PM(10) was a cost-effective policy for abating PM(10) based on criteria set by the World Bank. In addition, we compared the cost effectiveness of managing municipal urban forests and street trees to other control policies (e.g. alternative fuels) to abate PM(10) in Santiago and determined that municipal urban forest management efficiency was similar to these other air quality improvement measures.     

A conceptual model of the role of complex science in local authority consultations about air quality management

There exists a clear imperative across the EU and within the UK towards the enhanced integration of community knowledge in environmental and health decision-making processes. The underlying social force that underpins this dynamic is the drive for a more accountable, transparent and publicly acceptable decision-making arena. However, relatively little research has been undertaken on the evaluation of local air quality management consultation in particular. In this context, the paper presents an evaluation of evidence resulting from questionnaire survey and case study research undertaken in the first round of the statutory process of local air quality management (LAQM), in which local authorities are required to consult on their air quality findings and intentions. We suggest that local authority perceptions of the relative abilities of differing stakeholders' grasp of air quality science, the process that translates that science into policy, and the institutional and organizational status of stakeholders (i.e. whether they are statutory or non-statutory stakeholders) may tend to transitively determine the choice of consultation methods used, the communication strategies chosen and the relative integration of stakeholder feedback into the LAQM decision-making process. In order to interrogate this potentially problematic chain of risk communication events, a preliminary conceptual model has been developed to enable the interrogation of the pathways through, and the obstacles to, the translation of air quality knowledge. The task is to unveil the sequential chains of association that comprise the LAQM risk communication process.     

Trade transport and environment linkages at the U.S.–Mexico border: Which policies matter?

We apply a fixed-effects model to examine the impact of trade and environmental policies on air quality at ports along the U.S.-Mexico border. We control for other factors influencing air quality, such as air quality of cities near the border, volume of traffic flows and congestion. Results show the air quality improved after 2004, when the diesel engine policy was applied. We see mixed results for the trade policy, whose implementation time varies across ports along the international border. Controlling for air quality in cities near the border is essential for assessing the policy contributions to air quality.     

National Responses to the EC Nitrate Policy

This paper reviews the implementation of EU nitrate policy in seven member states of the European Union. The countries reviewed are Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. It summarizes the main features of the EU Nitrate Directive, and examines the national nitrate policies formulated by the seven Member States. The analysis shows substantial differences in the interpretation of the directive, and in the size of the affected agricultural area in each country. This discrepancy raises the question of finding a platform for future EU nitrate and nutrient policy.     

Missing the trees for the forest? Bottom-up policy implementation and adaptive management in the US natural resource bureaucracy

For decades, natural resource agencies in the United States have attempted to restore ecosystems using adaptive management, a process that emphasizes experimental learning to reduce uncertainty. Most studies show that it rarely occurs in practice and explain implementation failures as organizational issues. This study draws on policy implementation theory to suggest that behaviors and attitudes of individuals may better explain implementation gaps. This comparative case study finds differences between experts implementing adaptive management in the Fish and Wildlife Service and the United States Geological Survey. These include differences in attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors aimed at promoting individual autonomy, performance standards, and defending individual interests on the job. Policy implications are twofold: first, that individual behaviors impact adaptive management implementation and intrinsic motivation to perform such functions. Second, regardless of agency, experts view their work as a social good. This suggests that a devolved planning process may remedy implementation obstacles.     

Greenhouse gas emissions along the rural-urban gradient

This paper investigates how land use relates to greenhouse gas emissions, using data sources that are readily available to municipal planners. It presents a causal framework linking settlement patterns to greenhouse gas emissions via landscape impacts (deforestation, carbon sequestration by soils and plants, urban heat island), infrastructure impacts (transportation-related emissions, waste management-related emissions, electric transmission and distribution losses) and buildings (residential, commercial). This is not a full accounting because it does not include impacts from industrial activities, agriculture and consumer behavior not related to land use, such as food consumption and air travel. Exploratory case studies of municipalities lying along a gradient of increasing population density suggest that per-capita carbon dioxide emissions vary widely, following an inverted ‘U’ shape, with post-war suburbs riding the pinnacle. Reflecting their central regional roles, municipalities with good jobs-to-housing ratios have higher per-capita emissions because they host both residential and commercial buildings. Buildings typically contribute more emissions than personal transportation. Vehicle-miles traveled per capita shrink most dramatically at very high population densities and where transit options exist. Changing land-use patterns is a political challenge because localism and outdated zoning ordinances subvert regional solutions. Technical fixes, especially green buildings, must be part of the solution.     

A conceptual model of the role of complex science in local authority consultations about air quality management

Abstract

There exists a clear imperative across the EU and within the UK towards the enhanced integration of community knowledge in environmental and health decision-making processes. The underlying social force that underpins this dynamic is the drive for a more accountable, transparent and publicly acceptable decision-making arena. However, relatively little research has been undertaken on the evaluation of local air quality management consultation in particular. In this context, the paper presents an evaluation of evidence resulting from questionnaire survey and case study research undertaken in the first round of the statutory process of local air quality management (LAQM), in which local authorities are required to consult on their air quality findings and intentions. We suggest that local authority perceptions of the relative abilities of differing stakeholders' grasp of air quality science, the process that translates that science into policy, and the institutional and organizational status of stakeholders (i.e. whether they are statutory or non-statutory stakeholders) may tend to transitively determine the choice of consultation methods used, the communication strategies chosen and the relative integration of stakeholder feedback into the LAQM decision-making process. In order to interrogate this potentially problematic chain of risk communication events, a preliminary conceptual model has been developed to enable the interrogation of the pathways through, and the obstacles to, the translation of air quality knowledge. The task is to unveil the sequential chains of association that comprise the LAQM risk communication process.