Development and Implementation of Strategic Frameworks for Air Quality Management in the UK and the European Community

The UK and the EC have recognized that the application of national and EC policies alone may not be cost effective in improving air quality in some areas, especially in traffic-congested urban centres and along major road transport corridors. Consequently both have introduced new strategic frameworksfor air quality management.This paper outlines and compares the UK National Air Quality Strategy (NAQS) and the EC approach, set out in the Air Quality Framework and Daughter Directives. Both frameworks shift responsibility for reviewing, assessing and managing air quality on to local authorities. The UK considers the NAQS will provide the principal means of carrying out its commitments under the new EC framework.Local authorities in the UK have begun the review and assessment phase of the NAQS. This paper examines the support that central government has had to provide to local authorities to ensure the NAQS will be effective. It offers insights into what other Member States are likely to face when implementing their interpretation of the EC air quality management framework. The paper highlights that many UK local authorities lacked even basic air quality management capabilities when the NAQS was being formulated. Consequently the UK Government has had to expand the national pollution monitoring networks (this was achieved primarily by affiliating the growing number of local authority funded sites), commission new detailed urban emissions inventories, and develop and validate a suite of air quality dispersion models. Training events in air quality assessment techniques have had to be offered and many detailed guidance notes issued to ensure an appropriate and consistent interpretation of the NAQS. Some government initiatives to support the implementation of the NAQS suffered delays which initially caused some unnecessary uncertainties and inconsistencies amongst local authorities conducting their review and assessment of air quality. This points to the importance of the Governmentensuring that the support for the management phase of the NAQS will be in place in time. This includes providing additional pollution-control powers and reformulating transport and planning policies in order to integrate air quality management more fully.     

Joint submissions,output related payments and environmental co-operatives: Can the Dutch experience innovate UK agri-environment policy?

This paper describes three relatively recent innovations in the Dutch agri-environment programme which have helped nature management to be contiguous with natural features allowing the landscape to be managed whole rather than piecemeal—and thus generate higher quality and greater scope in environmental management. The first two, joint submissions by neighbouring farmers and payments related to the level of environmental output delivered, are scheme innovations. The third, Environmental Co-operatives (EC)—clubs of neighbouring farmers that inter alia co-ordinate and help manage the scheme innovations—is an institutional innovation. None has an equivalent in the UK. Evidence from interviews with farmer and non-farmer members, policy makers, academics and other interested parties show the role EC play in overcoming some of the postulated problems of the two scheme innovations. Not all the problems have been overcome, and cost-benefit analyses have not been conducted, nevertheless there is sufficient evidence to suggest that these innovations have benefited all actors involved: farmers, the government, the environment and the rural economy. Analysis of UK agri-environment policy using actor network theory (ANT) suggests the UK government will need to show similar levels of trust in and commitment to the farming community before these innovations could be introduced in the UK.     

Waste management issues for the UK ready-mixed concrete industry

The UK government has recognised the vital contribution that the construction industry has to play in contributing towards sustainable development. While the issue of hardened concrete waste has received considerable attention, process waste arising from the manufacture of ready-mixed concrete is relatively unexplored. It is apparent that initiatives such as the landfill tax have encouraged UK ready-mixed concrete manufacturers to reduce substantially the amount of waste they produce. Environmental pressures continue to increase and ready-mixed concrete producers are being forced towards a closed loop production system.     

Judging the Risk of Exceedance: Local authority decision-making for air quality management area designation

Management of air quality by local government in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) requires a process of local decision-making, involving collaboration between local politicians, authority officers and interest-groups. Since the establishment of the first National Air Quality Strategy for the UK in 1997, local authority environmental health professionals have undertaken a scientific review and assessment process to identify locations where predicted future pollutant concentrations may exceed national air quality objectives. Air quality management areas (AQMAs) are declared where such exceedences are predicted. Over recent years, significant changes in local authority decision-making structures in England, Scotland and Wales have occurred, resulting in changes to the structure and governance in many local authorities. Results are presented from local authority surveys undertaken to examine the occurrence of any conflicts between the science involved in predicting exceedences and the local political decision-making processes in declaring AQMAs. Data are presented for a sample set of local authorities in Great Britain from which it is concluded that decision-making structures in local government are having a demonstrable impact on the designation of AQMAs.     

Judging the Risk of Exceedance: local authority decision-making for air quality management area designation

Management of air quality by local government in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) requires a process of local decision-making, involving collaboration between local politicians, authority officers and interest-groups. Since the establishment of the first National Air Quality Strategy for the UK in 1997, local authority environmental health professionals have undertaken a scientific review and assessment process to identify locations where predicted future pollutant concentrations may exceed national air quality objectives. Air quality management areas (AQMAs) are declared where such exceedences are predicted. Over recent years, significant changes in local authority decision-making structures in England, Scotland and Wales have occurred, resulting in changes to the structure and governance in many local authorities. Results are presented from local authority surveys undertaken to examine the occurrence of any conflicts between the science involved in predicting exceedences and the local political decision-making processes in declaring AQMAs. Data are presented for a sample set of local authorities in Great Britain from which it is concluded that decision-making structures in local government are having a demonstrable impact on the designation of AQMAs.     

Flooding and the Role of Planning in England and Wales: A Critical Review

In this paper the authors raise some important questions about the extent to which planning is fostering an environment susceptible to flooding. They argue that severe UK flooding incidents in recent years should result in the government re-examining the planning system to ensure relevancy and effectiveness in dealing with such problems in the future. They identify where the current policy and practice weaknesses lie in planning to limit both flood source and flood impact areas and suggest ways in which the government and the profession could take remedial steps to increase local and regional sustainability.     

Examining municipal response to a provincial climate action planning mandate in British Columbia,Canada

The engagement of UK local authorities is vital if national government is to meet its climate change commitments. However, with no mandatory targets at local government level, other drivers must explain engagement. Using a Geographic Information System, this study compares the spatial distribution of action on climate change based on past actions and stated intentions to a suite of relevant independent variables. The Action Index created is among the first to quantify climate change engagement beyond a simple binary measure and provides a useful comparative study to recent work in the USA. The Index enables investigation of both mitigation and adaptation, which show different trends in relation to some variables. The study shows that action is strongest where the voting habits of the local population suggest environmental concern and where neighbouring local authorities are also engaging in action on climate change. Physical vulnerability to the effects of climate change is a motivator for action only where the dangers are obvious. Action is less likely where other resource-intensive issues such as crime and housing exist within a local authority area.     

Forest networks

Summary A study beyond the political boundaries in planning strategies for long-term management of the global forest estate is presented. Three alternative forest networks are proposed: (1) the genetic-evolutionary network, based around common evolutionary features, thus delineating similar forest types where conservation and management issues are likely to be compatible; (2) the current ecological and environmental network, based around the role that forests play in the wider ecosystem, including regular and irregular migration pathways, networks to absorb the impact of climate change, water filters etc; (3) the human impact network, based on the history of human involvement in the forest and its implications. The practical policy significance of the various networks is discussed in turn.This paper was researched as part of a project carried out for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Nigel Dudley is an ecologist, based in the UK, with 15 years experience as a consultant for NGOs, local government and international organizations. He is a former director of the Soil Association and now works with Equilibrium Consultants at the above address. For the past five years he has worked closely with WWF on forest conservation projects and has written several reports for the organization, includingForests in trouble: a review of the status of temperate forests worldwide.     

Tales of local sustainability

Local Agenda 21 (LA21) has emerged as the principal means of addressing sustainable development practice at the local government level. In the UK, progressive local authorities have emphasised the need for participatory processes and innovative policy options. This requires commitment and active involvement from a variety of individuals and organisations. Participants in LA21 have been interviewed to determine their motivations and perceptions, and their responses are represented in terms of the storylines of various constituencies of interest. The key themes seem to be those of actively promoting widespread participation, gaining competence in innovative techniques, taking a holistic approach to quality of life concerns, and claiming the legitimacy of local government as a key player in sustainable development.     

Participatory GIS and its application in governance: the example of air quality and the implications for noise pollution

Abstract

Participatory GIS (geographic information systems) is designed to use community mapping exercises to produce spatial representations of local knowledge. The ideals of Participatory GIS revolve around the concept of public participation in the use of spatial data leading to increased community involvement in policy-setting and decision-making (Weiner et al., Community participation and geographic information systems, in: Craig et al., Community participation and geographic information systems, London: Taylor & Francis, 2002). This paper reports on findings from two case studies, one relating to assessments of air quality and how Participatory GIS has been used in the UK to improve local government policy, and the second on assessments of noise pollution. It concludes by discussing a caveat on the use of Participatory GIS for environmental governance, which is that, ideally, only issues on which participants are likely to have direct experiential knowledge should be targeted.     

Tales of local sustainability

Abstract

Local Agenda 21 (LA21) has emerged as the principal means of addressing sustainable development practice at the local government level. In the UK, progressive local authorities have emphasised the need for participatory processes and innovative policy options. This requires commitment and active involvement from a variety of individuals and organisations. Participants in LA21 have been interviewed to determine their motivations and perceptions, and their responses are represented in terms of the storylines of various constituencies of interest. The key themes seem to be those of actively promoting widespread participation, gaining competence in innovative techniques, taking a holistic approach to quality of life concerns, and claiming the legitimacy of local government as a key player in sustainable development.     

An empirical analysis of productivity: Welsh coal industry

A non-homogeneous variable-elasticity-of-substitution production function is estimated using data for the Welsh coal industry. From 1961 to 1976 output declined, returns to scale increased and the elasticity of substitution fell. At the end of the period, the elasticity of substitution between capital and labour in the coal industry is still large and there may be room for greater employment in the industry at a time of high and rising unemployment, subject to other overall considerations. While marginal productivity of labour in physical terms has been stagnant, price rises in the industry in recent years have been in excess of what was needed to finance wage settlements. Perhaps price rises granted to the coal industry by the UK government were justified, but they require closer scrutiny.     

The geography and political economy of metal supplies

The author examines the dependence of the UK on metal raw material supplies. A statistical analysis of sources of UK imports is undertaken, and comparisons made with other industrialized states. Political aims underlying the economic relationships of supply and implications for government policy are considered. The case of copper is used as an example, with emphasis on the roles of investment and political stability in supply.     

Addressing environmental inequalities in UK policy: An action research perspective

In the UK there has been a serious attempt under the current government to foster policy making which is evidence-based and therefore more likely to deliver its intended results. In this article we consider the types of evidence and evidence making that might be required to build effective policy for addressing environmental inequalities. We draw on our experiences of developing an action research approach to policy making in the Environment Agency over a two year period from July 2002 to August 2004. We conclude that an action research approach is well suited to policy making within this new but rapidly growing area of sustainable development policy and urge further exploration of such approaches as a means of better connecting the relevant research, policy making and practitioner communities.     

Engaging with the Ecological Footprint as a Decision-Making Tool: Process and Responses

Since the initial development of the Ecological Footprint in the early 1990s, the concept has gained increased interest amongst academics and practitioners internationally. In the UK, it is estimated that some 60 to 70 Ecological Footprint studies were undertaken between 1999 and 2004. Although the majority of interest in Ecological Footprinting has come from local government, a recent study has found that government officers involved in the formulation of council policy have not been able to engage with the Ecological Footprint as a process or use the results to inform policy decisions. This paper analyses how an Ecological Footprint has been developed for Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The approach used to construct an Ecological Footprint for Cardiff has been significantly different to that which had been used previously in the UK, as it has involved a unique consortium of researchers at Cardiff University and policy development officers at Cardiff Council checking the quality of data used in the Footprint calculation, and developing a range of policy scenarios.     

Norway's offshore petroleum industry

During the past decade, Norway has become an important oil and gas producer. Annual production is six times national consumption. Development policies of the national government have been cautious, and future policies will probably follow a similar pattern. The government recently opened offshore areas poleward of 62°N latitude, a decision likely to have a significant impact on Norway's future as an oil producer. Norway maintains a tight reign on foreign oil company participation, domestic downstream processing of crude, oil company taxation and oil revenue investment within the national economy. Norway's large inflow of oil-related capital investments and production revenues have contributed to significant inflation and to changes in local labour supplies. Norway has always used its petroleum industry to further the country's overall development goals, a policy that will continue in the years ahead.     

UK interpretation and implementation of the EEC Shellfish directive

The EEC Shellfish Directive is a policy designed to protect and, where necessary, improve the quality of designated shellfish waters. Its implementation within the UK, however, has had no effect upon water quality for two reasons. First, the policy has important defects, having ambiguities concerning public health provisions and lacking designation criteria. Second, UK government has sought to achieve formal compliance, while at the same time ensuring that its full financial impact on public expenditure has been contained. Consequently, only those fisheries which already comply with water quality standards have been designated. Within Wales, one fishery has been designated, while other, commercially more important, but grossly contaminated shellfisheries have not.     

Sustaining Technologies? Agenda 21 and UK Local Authorities' Use of the World Wide Web

The Agenda 21 treaty adopted at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development set out new goals for the provision and management of information in a sustainable society. New information and communications technologies (ICTs) have the potential to be used as tools for managing information and consequently have a role in sustainable development. This paper considers the use of ICTs to manage local information areas and the extent to which these new technologies are compatible with the broader goals of Agenda 21 such as social inclusion and public participation in decision making. The use of the World Wide Web by local authorities in the UK to manage local information and promote Agenda 21 is explored through a critique of website contents. It is concluded that, although the use of ICTs is not incompatible with the broader aims of Agenda 21, and has many possible positive applications, current use of the World Wide Web by local government in the UK does not yet fulfil this potential.