Risk of Public Disclosure in Environmental Farm Plan Programs: Characteristics and Mitigating Legal and Policy Strategies

Although various studies have shown thatfarmers believe there is the need for a producer-ledinitiative to address the environmental problems fromagriculture, farmers in several Canadian provinceshave been reluctant to widely participate inEnvironmental Farm Plan (EFP) programs. Few studieshave examined the key issues associated with adoptingEFP programs based on farmers', as opposed to policymakers', perspectives on why producers are reluctantto participate in the program. A study adapting VanRaaij's (1981) conceptual model of the decision-makingenvironment of the firm, and prospect theory on valuefunctions associated with the gains and losses fromrisky choices can be used to characterize how farmersperceive potential risks in environmental farmplanning. This framework can be used to assert thatfarmers are concerned about risks of public disclosureof potentially incriminating environmental informationfrom farms because the EFP program requirements foridentification and extensive documentation of farminformation is perceived by farmers as facilitatingthe accessibility of environmental information to thepublic, and public investigative efforts. Although theEFP program does not explicitly generate informationabout the environmental conditions of a farm nor thedisclosure of such information to the public, itcreates the possibility of generating and divulgingpotentially incriminating information that the farmermay want to treat as confidential. Yet, alone, theserisks of public disclosure concerns should not preventfarmers from participating in the EFP. Awareness ofand participation in environmental farm planning canbe increased if farmers and policy makers understandwhat the risks are, and how they arise. Aspects of theEFP process that have the potential to generate riskof public disclosure concerns relate to farm reviews,documentation and record keeping, and correctiveaction plans. There are legal and policy instrumentsthat can offer various forms of protection and helpminimize such risks, and these need to be assessed.     

Understanding the Scope of Farmer Perceptions of Risk: Considering Farmer Opinions on the Use of Genetically Modified (GM) Crops as a Stakeholder Voice in Policy

In the beginning, policy debates between critics and advocates of genetically modified (GM) crops focused on scientifically determined risks. Ten years later, the argument between environmentalists or consumers and regulators or industry has changed into a discussion about the implementation of more democratic policymaking about GM farming. A notable omission from the political debate about food biotechnology in the United States, however, is the opinion of farmers who cultivate the GM crops. Policymakers should value practical knowledge based on experiences from farmers, not only scientific industry reports or consumer product opinions. This project uses in-depth interviews to create an original mail survey that uses the practical discourse of farmers in order to explore the relationship of farmer attitudes and GM agriculture. Although national research indicates that larger yields are the most common reason for GM adoption, qualitative information suggest that the potential of GM crops to increase revenue per acre does not truly reflect all the concerns of modern farmers. For example, farmers who use GM seeds indicate that they constantly question the social impacts of their agricultural practices. As such, GM policies should be restructured as a political rationalization of both economic modeling and political theory because this research suggests that farmers’ business decisions are utility calucations that consider economics without ignoring environmental and political contexts. Farmers’ concerns about non-economic risks suggest that they need more information about GM crops and that governmental policies should respond to their interests, as they are more democratic or pluralistic than industry or consumer arguments.     

What motivates farmers to participate in the Nova Scotia environmental farm plan program? Evidence and environmental policy implications

Program stakeholders are interested in better understanding farmers' experience, and factors that affect farmer participation in the relatively new Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) program, implemented in several provinces in Canada. To increase relevance of the research findings to EFP program administrators and policy makers, the research methods emphasised determining whether relationships exist among program-related variables, and how such relationships affect farmers' decision choices and behaviour. Traditional farmer and farm attributes that have contrasting effects in agricultural innovation adoption and conservation management (namely age, and formal education completed), were not associated with EFP program participation. Farm income, years of farming experience, and type of agribusiness managed were associated with participation in the Nova Scotia EFP program. Although program participants tended to have higher incomes, overall, non-financial considerations dominated monetary considerations in Nova Scotia farmers' reasons for participating in the Nova Scotia EFP. Helping to publicize positive farm stewardship practices was reported as the most important reason for participating in the EFP scheme, followed by its use to help improve relationships with non-farming neighbours, and to comply with government environmental regulations. In contrast, and somewhat a surprising finding, minimizing potential farm environmental risk, program administrators' raison d'être for promoting the NS EFP, was ranked the lowest, with no respondent rating that as a "very important" or "extremely important" reason for participating in the EFP program.     

深圳市环境信息公开和公众参与管理实践与对策

环境信息公开和公众参与已经成为一种重要的环境管理辅助手段,深圳市立足城市之先,在立法和执法方面开展了一系列实践工作,并积累了一定的经验和教训。在研究深圳市环境信息公开和公众参与管理现状的基础上,结合实践中存在的焦点和难点问题,以提高公民环境知情权和参与权的落实水平为目标,从观念、立法、技术指引和参与形式等方面提出政策建议,为深圳市环境信息公开与公众参与管理实践提供了较好的理论和实践探索。     

上市公司环境信息披露调查研究——基于公司高管的访谈

上市公司高管态度对企业环境信息披露会产生重要影响。为充分了解企业高管如何看待上市公司环境信息披露过程中涉及的环境信息沟通、披露制度、能力建设等多方面问题，本文对涉及第一、第二和第三产业的16家上市公司高管进行访谈调研。研究发现，多数高管视社会第三方机构对企业的环境信息需求为较大的潜在风险，非强制是上市公司环境信息选择性披露的主要原因，企业重视环保投资但信息公开能力建设不足，环境信息公开对企业价值影响较弱。本文提出编写环境信息公开指南及实施细则，提升企业环境信息公开的能力建设，拓展政府和社会组织对企业环境信息公开的奖励形式等建议。     

Perceiving Land-Degrading Activities from the Lay Perspective in Northern China

Investigation into local peoples’ perceptions can produce useful information that could be incorporated into the decision-making process to help resolve environmental problems. Within the arena of land degradation, a number of studies have also been conducted to explore local peoples’ views of the problem. However, the perceptions of land-degrading practices of the general public have so far not been actively solicited. This study aimed to contribute to this area of research by adopting the psychometric scaling technique to empirically explore the lay public’s ecological risk perceptions of land-degrading activities in Minqin County in Gansu Province, northern China. The primary data were collected via a questionnaire survey (n = 1,138) administered between 14 and 31 December 2002. The major findings of the survey were: (1) Respondents perceived the ecological risks posed by different land-degrading activities to be different. (2) There was a considerable incongruence in the way in which mining of groundwater was conceived by experts and laymen, respectively. (3) Respondents were pretty unsure of expert knowledge. (4) Respondents’ ecological risk perceptions were significantly affected by their personal attributes. As far as the policy implications of these findings are concerned, this study accentuates that we must be aware of, and involved in, the environmental perceptions of the lay public in order to succeed in guiding any human-environment tensions along more sustainable trajectories and navigating the transition to sustainability.     

Farmers Engaged in Deliberative Practices; An Ethnographic Exploration of the Mosaic of Concerns in Livestock Agriculture

A plethora of ethical issues in livestock agriculture has emerged to public attention in recent decades, of which environmental and animal welfare concerns are but two, albeit prominent, themes. For livestock agriculture to be considered sustainable, somehow these interconnected themes need to be addressed. Ethical debate on these issues has been extensive, but mostly started from and focused on single issues. The views of farmers in these debates have been largely absent, or merely figured as interests, instead of being considered morally worthwhile themselves. In this paper the relevance for ethical debates of the ways farmers discuss and engage with moral concerns is explored. The variety of norms that figure in contemporary farming practices is sketched in its multifarious complexity, illustrated by ethnographic fieldwork, and systematized in terms of “orders of worth.” Reviewing the practical arguments and commitments of farmers within this framework reveals that farming practices are subject to mixed motives, in which an amalgam of types of concerns play a role. Recognition of the peculiarly entangled nature of the ethics of farming practices could counter the tendency in policy making, technological innovation, and ethical thought to compartmentalize our moral landscape. Understanding farming practice as the integration of a mosaic of concerns in the light of a variety of moral experiences would foster public appreciation of positions of farmers in debates on improving the sustainability and societal acceptability of livestock agriculture.     

The Relationship Between Workers and Animals in the Pork Industry: A Shared Suffering

Animal production, especially pork production, is facing growing international criticism. The greatest concerns relate to the environment, the animals’ living conditions, and the occupational diseases. But human and animal conditions are rarely considered together. Yet the living conditions at work and the emotional bond that inevitably forms bring the farm workers and the animals to live very close, which leads to shared suffering. Suffering does spread from animals to human beings and can cause workers physical, mental, and also moral suffering, which is all the more harmful due to the fact that it is concealed. The conceptual tools used to conceal suffering (“animal welfare,” stress, pain) suggest that the industrial system can be improved, whereas for farmers it is by definition incompatible with animal husbandry.     

Assessing farming eco-efficiency: a Data Envelopment Analysis approach

This paper assesses farming eco-efficiency using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) techniques. Eco-efficiency scores at both farm and environmental pressure-specific levels are computed for a sample of Spanish farmers operating in the rain-fed agricultural system of Campos County. The determinants of eco-efficiency are then studied using truncated regression and bootstrapping techniques. We contribute to previous literature in this field of research by including information on slacks in the assessment of the potential environmental pressure reductions in a DEA framework. Our results reveal that farmers are quite eco-inefficient, with very few differences emerging among specific environmental pressures. Moreover, eco-inefficiency is closely related to technical inefficiencies in the management of inputs. Regarding the determinants of eco-efficiency, farmers benefiting from agri-environmental programs as well as those with university education are found to be more eco-efficient. Concerning the policy implications of these results, public expenditure in agricultural extension and farmer training could be of some help to promote integration between farming and the environment. Furthermore, Common Agricultural Policy agri-environmental programs are an effective policy to improve eco-efficiency, although some doubts arise regarding their cost-benefit balance.     

基于重点排污单位的上市公司环境信息披露现状分析

本文选取264家母公司属环保部门公布的重点排污单位的上市公司作为研究对象,将样本企业在2016年年报、2017年半年报及2016年度社会责任报告等定期报告中披露的环境信息,对照上市公司年报与半年报中环境信息披露的要求与规范,对上市公司环境信息披露合规性进行评估。评估认为:上市公司通过定期报告披露环境信息在形式上和内容上均有所进步,但距离基本的形式上合规披露仍有显著差距,信息披露的全面性、有效性与针对性更远远不能满足强化环保监管与优化资本市场的目标本意与政策需求。基于上述评估结果与发现的问题,本文提出了制定管理办法与技术导则、提升政策层级与规范披露标准,强化部门协作等政策建议。     

Adaptive Capacity and Social-Environmental Change: Theoretical and Operational Modeling of Smallholder Coffee Systems Response in Mesoamerican Pacific Rim

Communities who rely directly on the natural environment for their survival typically have developed risk management strategies to enable them to avoid dangerous thresholds of change to their livelihoods. Development policy appropriate for natural resource-based communities requires an understanding of the primary drivers of social-ecological change, the ways in which affected households autonomously respond to such drivers, and the appropriate avenues for intervention to reduce vulnerability. Coffee has been, and still remains, one of the most important commodities of the Mesoamerican region, and hundreds of thousands of smallholder households in the region are dependent in some way on the coffee industry for their livelihood stability. We used the Analytical Network Process to synthesize expert knowledge on the primary drivers of livelihood change in the region as well as the most common household strategies and associated capacities necessary for effective response. The assessment identified both gradual systemic processes as well as specific environmental and market shocks as significant drivers of livelihood change across the region. Agronomic adjustments and new forms of social organization were among the more significant responses of farmers to these changes. The assessment indicates that public interventions in support of adaptation should focus on enhancing farmers’ access to market and technical information and finance, as well as on increasing the viability of farmers’ organizations and cooperatives.     

Managing Drought Through Water Markets: Farmer Preferences in the Rio Grande Basin1

Abstract: Managing drought in agriculture has taken on growing importance as population growth and environmental concerns place increasing pressures on agricultural water use. One alternative for agricultural water resource management in areas of recurrent drought is allocation through market mechanisms. While past research has aimed to explain why farmers are reluctant to participate in already established water markets, this research seeks to identify the appropriate market mechanism given farmers’ preexisting attitudes toward water markets. Statistical analysis of survey data from 166 farmer interviews in the Rio Grande Basin indicate that farmers are significantly more likely to participate in short‐term water mechanisms, such as spot water markets and water banks than in permanent transfer mechanisms, particularly those that fully separate water rights from land. In sharp contrast to expectations, the choice of market mechanism did not differ significantly between farmers based on their a priori intention to buy, sell or both buy and sell in these markets. Choice of market mechanism also did not differ among farmer types although small, lifestyle or hobby farmers clearly preferred spot water markets to other types of short‐term mechanisms. Evaluating these attitudes a priori may help to design more suitable water market mechanisms for the basin.     

构建开放监督型工业源挥发性有机物排污申报平台的建议

工业源挥发性有机物(VOCs)以无组织排放为主,其排放量的确定和申报对现行的以有组织排放管理为主的环境管理模式提出挑战。为顺利实施VOCs排污收费、总量控制、环境影响评价、污染防治管理,切实降低环保部门收集信息、监督管理的成本,促进环境信息的真实性和有效性,我国迫切需要在国家层面结合环境信息公开和公众参与对VOCs排污申报管理模式进行研究和构建。在研究国内外排污申报平台的基础上,提出以VOCs管控为契机,整合环境统计、排污费征收等要求,建立面向企业的唯一开放监督型VOCs排污申报平台,采取数据联审制度,推行信息公开和开放型监督。通过申报功能、试算功能、监督审核功能、决策支持功能、减排技术评价功能、信息公开功能、资料和文件功能、培训和试报功能等平台八大功能的有机融合,建立公众、企业和政府相互监督、制约的三级VOCs排放监督管理新机制,为我国环境管理模式的更新升级提供参考。     

Environmental Equity and the Role of Public Policy: Experiences in the Rijnmond Region

This Φ Ψ study of environmental equity uses secondary quantitative data to analyze socioeconomic disparities in environmental conditions in the Rijnmond region of the Netherlands. The disparities of selected environmental indicators—exposure to traffic noise (road, rail, and air), NO₂, external safety risks, and the availability of public green space—are analyzed both separately and in combination. Not only exposures to environmental burdens (“bads”) were investigated, but also access to environmental benefits (“goods”). Additionally, we held interviews and reviewed documents to grasp the mechanisms underlying the environmental equity situation, with an emphasis on the role of public policy. Environmental equity is not a priority in public policy for the greater Rotterdam region known as the Rijnmond region, yet environmental standards have been established to provide a minimum environmental quality to all local residents. In general, environmental quality has improved in this region, and the accumulation of negative environmental outcomes (“bads”) has been limited. However, environmental standards for road traffic noise and NO₂ are being exceeded, probably because of the pressure on space and the traffic intensity. We found an association of environmental “bads” with income for rail traffic noise and availability of public green space. In the absence of regulation, positive environmental outcomes (“goods”) are mainly left up to market forces. Consequently, higher-income groups generally have more access to environmental “goods” than lower-income groups.     

An Institutional and Opinion Analysis of Colorado’s Hydraulic Fracturing Disclosure Policy

Hydraulic fracturing and oil and natural gas development are possibly the most contentious energy and environmental issues to face the USA in the twenty-first century. One point of contention is the disclosure of fluids used in the hydraulic fracturing process. This paper analyses the Colorado 2011 policy requiring disclosure of hydraulic fracturing fluid information, considered one of the first comprehensive hydraulic fracturing disclosure policies in the country. We conduct an institutional analysis of the disclosure policy to understand how the policy establishes information flows and grants and restricts choices by targeted actors. We then analyse the opinions of people actively involved in hydraulic fracturing debates in Colorado to assess whether they view the disclosure policy as resolving problems. The institutional analysis illustrates how the policy allocates responsibilities in sending and receiving information and the opinion survey shows divergence in perceptions of its potential to resolve problems associated with chemical use or disclosure. Most respondents are in agreement that the new policy failed to build public trust of the hydraulic fracturing process.     

Environmental Awareness, Economic Orientation, and Farming Practices: A Comparison of Organic and Conventional Farmers

/ This study examines similarities and differences between organic and conventional farmers. We explore the factors that underlie farmers' conservation attitudes and behaviors, including demographic and farm characteristics, awareness of and concern for environmental problems associated with agriculture, economic orientation toward farming, and self-reported conservation practices. A series of intensive personal interviews was conducted with 25 farmers in Washtenaw County, Michigan, USA, using both qualitative and quantitative survey methods. The findings indicate that both groups of farmers share a concern for the economic risks associated with farming, although the organic farmers reported a significantly greater concern for long-term sustainability and a greater willingness to incur present risk to gain future benefits. Organic farmers expressed a greater awareness of and concern for environmental problems associated with agriculture. Organic farmers also scored significantly higher on a multifaceted measure of conservation practices, although both groups had a fairly high adoption rate. Implications of these findings are discussed, relative to economic risks of farming, implications for new farmers, effectiveness of conservation education and government programs, and impact of farm size and crop diversity.KEY WORDS: Environmental attitudes; Conservation behaviors; Organic farming; Agricultural sustainability     

公众参与对环境治理效果的影响——基于阶梯理论的实证研究

近年来,公众已经成为中国环境治理中不可或缺的力量,公众参与的方式和渠道也在不断拓展和丰富。为考察不同类型公众参与方式对环境治理效果的影响差异,本文基于公众参与阶梯理论,选取四类公众参与方式和四类污染物,结合我国2008—2017年30个省份数据,利用面板数据回归模型进行了实证检验。结果表明,横向比较不同类型的公众参与方式,公众环境来访对环境治理的促进效果优于环境信息公开和环保网络舆论,而政协提案、人大议案的积极效应尚不显著。纵向比较不同类型的污染物治理效果,公众参与能显著促进大气污染物的减排,对噪声和固体废物污染效果的影响次之,而在水污染治理中的作用较不理想。建议政府进一步优化健全环境信息公开机制,并重视公众层面的环境诉求,建立公众与地方生态环境部门的良好互动机制,同时鼓励公众通过新媒体渠道参与环境治理。     

Publicly-provided information in environmental management: incorporating groundwater quality goals into herbicide treatment recommendations

Use of publicly-provided information to promote environmental quality has received somewhat less attention in the environmental management literature than use of other environmental policy tools based on economic incentives such as emissions taxes, subsidies and marketable permits. Yet publicly-provided information may have potential as an environmental policy tool, especially in managing problems of agricultural pollution, due in large part to the existing capability of public information agencies associated with the agricultural research community. Information provided by these agencies is known to be an important factor in decision making in agriculture and may have potential for influencing decisions that relate directly to preserving the integrity of environmental resources. Moreover, this potential may have particular relevance for protecting groundwater quality from agricultural production since the results of contamination are often at least partially internal to the farm decision maker. This paper develops an empirical model to formulate publicly-provided herbicide treatment recommendations designed to protect both the quality of groundwater and the income of farmers. An economic and statistical model of a crop-pest system is used in conjunction with a groundwater loading model to derive the trade-off relationship between producer income and movement of herbicide material through the root zone. The trade-off relationship can provide the basis for formulating herbicide treatment recommendations and can also shed light on appropriate groundwater quality goals.     

MANAGING GROUND WATER QUALITY IN RELATION TO AGRICULTURAL ACTiVITIES1

ABSTRACT: Ground water quality is an environmental issue of national concern. Agricultural activities, because they involve large land areas, often are cited as a major contributor of ground water contaminants. It appears that some degree of ground water contamination from agricultural land use is inevitable, especially where precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration. For this reason, and because agriculture differs significantly from point sources of pollution, farmers, policymakers, and scientists need alternative management strategies by which to protect ground water. Mathematical models coupled to geographic information systems to form expert systems can be important management tools for both policymakers and agricultural producers. An expert system can provide farmers, researchers, and environmental managers with information by which to better manage agricultural production systems to minimize ground water contamination. Significant research is necessary to perfect such a system, necessitating interim ground water management strategies that include not only a strong research program, but educational and public policy components as well.     

Environmental performance rating and disclosure: China's Green Watch program

In this paper we describe a new incentive-based pollution control program in China, in which the environmental performance of firms is rated from best to worst using five colors--green, blue, yellow, red and black--and the ratings are disseminated to the public through the media. We focus on the first two municipal disclosure programs, which have been implemented at very different levels of economic and institutional development. In both cases, the increases in compliance with pollution regulations have been similar to increases produced by public disclosure programs in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The results suggest that incentives created by public disclosure may significantly reduce pollution in China, even though environmental NGO's play little role and there is no formal channel for public participation in environmental regulation.