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Research Article: Institutional Problems Facing Environmental Decision Makers in Local, State, and Other Subnational Governments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2009

Bruce E. Tonn  and
Jean H. Peretz
Bruce E. Tonn*
Affiliation:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Jean H. Peretz
Affiliation:
Energy, Environment and Resources Center, The University of Tennessee-Knoxville
*
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6207: (fax) 423-574-3895; (email) [email protected]
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Abstract

This paper describes seven institutional problems that plague subnational public sector environmental decision making. These problems are: (1) turnover among decision process participants, (2) difficulties in building and maintaining expertise in government, (3) lack of credibility of participants in environmental decision making processes, (4) difficult relationships between government and the public, (5) difficult relationships among state/regional/federal governments, (6) lack of institutional support for decision makers, and (7) difficulties in making decisions under high degrees of uncertainty. These findings were drawn through extensive and intensive interactions with people engaged in environmental decision making through their roles in government, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector. It can be argued that these types of institutional problems now overwhelm other factors traditionally thought to be worse plagues upon environmental decision making, such as lack of scientific data and deficient decision making models. It can also be argued that with respect to the general practice of public administration, institutional issues associated with environmental decision making may pose the most significant challenges of all public policy issues because these problems entail scales of political, technical, ethical, and decision making complexities unmatched in other areas. Several recommendations for overcoming these problems are provided, including solutions related to pay, training, evaluation, and information technology.

Type
Features
Information
Environmental Practice , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , March 1999 , pp. 25 - 36
Copyright
Copyright © National Association of Environmental Professionals 1999

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References

Notes

1. For a summary of public opinion polls from the 1970s through the 1990s, see Dunlap, R. E., 1995, “Public Opinion and Environmental Policy,” in Environmental Politics and Policy: Theories and Evidence, Lester, J. P., ed., 2nd edition, Duke University Press, Durham, NC, 63–114Google Scholar. Also see Brechin, S. and Kempton, W., 1994, “Global Environmentalism: A Challenge to the Postmaterialism Thesis,” Social Science Quarterly 75(2): 245–269.Google Scholar

2. This research was conducted under the auspices of the National Center for Environmental Decision-making Research (NCEDR). NCEDR was established in Oct. 1995 by Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and the Tennessee Valley Authority through a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation and matching funds from the three host institutions. See http://www.ncedr.org for more information.

3. Rosenbaum, W. A., 1991, Environmental Politics and Policy, 2nd edition. Congressional Quarterly Press, Washington, DC p. 6Google Scholar. Rosenbaum notes that environmental policy making in the 1990s is at the intersection of “two learning curves.” One curve supports increasing use of environmental information, while the other “seems to chart a plummeting confidence in existing institutional and legal capacities to deal with environmental problems.”

4. Fiorino, D. J., 1990, “Can Problems Shape Priorities? The Case of Riskbased Environmental Planning,” Public Administration Review 50(1):82–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Fiorino summarizes how EPA is using risk-based data to set priorities.

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9. For example, recognizing that environmental decision making occurs through fragmented institutions, Kraft explores institutional fragmentation in congressional responsibility in environmental decision making, notes the significant changes that have occurred since the 1970s, and concludes that “new institutional mechanisms that facilitate comprehensive and integrative decision making are especially desirable.” Kraft, M. E., 1995, in Environmental Politics and Policy: Theories and Evidence, J. P., Lester, ed. 168–205Google Scholar. Although Ingram and Ullery acknowledge that fragmentation occurs, they argue that it does not necessarily hinder policy innovation. See Ingram, H. M. and Ullery, S. J., 1980, “Policy Innovation and Institutional Fragmentation,” Policy Studies Journal, 5(5):664–682CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Fiorino has identified the major themes on analysis of institutional settings for environmental policy as: (1) fragmentation, (2) conflict, and (3) demands placed on institutions. See Fiorino, , Making Environmental Policy.Google Scholar

10. Tonn, B., English, M., and Travis, C., 1998, “Frameworks for Understanding and Improving Environmental Decision Making,” ORNL/NCEDR-07, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, February, 48 pp.Google Scholar

11. NCEDR's research on this topic is described by Travis, C., Moore, D., and Tonn, B., 1997Google Scholar, “Building a Tool for Environmental Decision Making,” Society for Judgment and Decision Making Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, November.

12. Tonn, B., English, M., and Travis, C., “Frameworks for Understanding.”Google Scholar

13. Rosenbaum, W. A., 1995, “The Bureaucracy and Environmental Policy,”Google Scholar in Environmental Politics and Policy: Theories and Evidence, J. P. Lester, ed.

14. Tonn, B., English, M., and Travis, C., “Frameworks for Understanding.”Google Scholar

15. This study is summarized in Tonn, B. and Peretz, J., 1997, “Field Notes on Using Risk in Environmental Decision Making: Lack of Credibility All Around,” Inside EPA: Risk Policy Report 4(6)34–36.Google Scholar

16. Dale, V. and English, M., eds., 1998, Tools to Aid Environmental Decision Making, Springer Verlag, New York.Google Scholar

17. The workshop held in April 1997 is summarized in Dobson, J., Urban, R., and Kelly, J., 1998, “EnvironAid: A Proposed Conceptual Design for a National Environmental Decision-making Information Infrastructure,” NCEDR/98–05, National Center for Environmental Decision-making Research, 600 Henley Street, Knoxville, TN, 75 PP.Google Scholar

18. Tonn, B., Turner, R., Mechling, J., Fletcher, T., and Barg, S., 1999, “Environmental Decision Making and Information Technology: Issues Assessment,” Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, 15 pp.Google Scholar

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21. See http://www.ncedr.org for information on the 1998 national conference and the other workshops.

22. The user-needs study is summarized in Schexnayder, S., 1998, “Introduction to User Needs,” National Center for Environmental Decisionmaking Research, 600 Henley Street, Knoxville, TN, 15 pp.Google Scholar

23. Tonn, and Peretz, , “Field Notes.”Google Scholar

24. Wolfe, A., 1997, “Environmental Decision Making Related to Waste Area Grouping 6 on the Oak Ridge Reservation: Workshop Summary,” NCEDR/97–05, National Center for Environmental Decision-making Research, 600 Henley Street, Knoxville, TN, 8 pp.Google Scholar

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26. The Atlanta ozone case study is described by N. Nicholas and D. Feldman on NCEDR's website at http://www.ncedr.org.

27. The surveys did not necessarily identify institutional problems as those observed in the other research methods conducted by NCEDR. However, in those surveys one institutional problem was identified: adequate budgets for recycling programs. For more information, see http:// www.jiee.org/recycling.htm. Kraft and Vig have observed budget shortfalls as a constraint in environmental policy making; see Kraft, M. E. and Vig, N. J., 1997, “Environmental Policy from the 1970s to the 1990s: An Overview,” in Environmental Policy in the 1990s, Vig, and Kraft, , eds., 3rd edition, Congressional Quarterly Press, Washington, DC.Google Scholar

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29. Farquhar, K., 1991, “Leadership in Limbo: Organization Dynamics During Interim Administrations,” Public Administration Review (51)2:202–210CrossRefGoogle Scholar. One study of salary disparity between federal and private sector employees found that even when considering benefits, federal employees tend to be underpaid when compared to their private-sector counterparts. See Lewis, G. B., 1991, “Turnover and the Quiet Crisis in the Federal Civil Service,” Public Administration Review 51(2):145–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

30. Tonn, B. and Petrich, C., 1997, “Environmental Citizenship: Problems and Prospects,” ORNL/NCEDR-01, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN, December, 141 pp.Google Scholar

31. Coles, R., 1993. The Call of Service: A Witness to Idealism, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.Google Scholar

32. Kettl, D. E., 1988, Government by Proxy: (Mist)Managing Federal Programs, Congressional Quarterly Press, Washington, DC, 170 pp.Google Scholar, for a discussion on the demands placed upon participants engaging in extensive negotiation of policy.

33. Golembiewski, R. T., Boudrau, R. A., Sun, B.-C., and Luo, H., 1998, “Estimate of Burnout in Public Agencies,” Public Administration Review, 58(1):59–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

34. Flyvbjerg, B., 1998, Rationality & Power: Democracy in Practice, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 290 pp.Google Scholar

35. Tonn, and Peretz, , “Field Notes.”Google Scholar

36. Comment made by a private sector member of NCEDR's External Advisory Board on Jan. 16,1998 to the author. See also Lewis, , “Turnover and the Quiet Crisis,” where he finds empirical evidence that “federal workers were more likely to leave the civil service in the late 1980s than were comparable workers in the late 1970s, with the increase concentrated among employees in the prime of their careers” (p. 145)Google Scholar. It should be noted that Lewis did not find the increase dramatic, but the finding that those departing were in the “prime of their careers” supports the notion that the best public sector employees may be the ones to depart.

37. Schexnayder, , “Introduction to User Needs.”Google Scholar

38. See, for example, Romzek, B. S., 1990, “Employment Investment and Commitment: The Ties that Bind,” Public Administration Review, 50(3):374–382CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Lewis, , “Turnover and the Quiet Crisis.”Google Scholar

39. Schweitzer, , “Decision Making Related to the Clean-up.”Google Scholar

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42. Tonn, and Peretz, , “Field Notes.”Google Scholar

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44. Schweitzer, , “Decision Making Related to the Clean-up.”Google Scholar

45. See note 26 above.

46. Wolfe, and Schweitzer, , “Working Group Summary Report”Google Scholar; See also LaPorte, T. R. and Metlay, D. S., 1996, “Hazards and Institutional Trustworthiness: Facing a Deficit of Trust,” Public Administration Review 56(4):341–347.Google Scholar

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53. Another concern is that the public participation may be one of “tokenism,” where informing, consultation, or placation occurs. These efforts fall short of partnership, which may be necessary in environmental decision making. See Arnstein, S. R., 1969, “A Ladder of Citizen Participation,” Journal of the American Institute of Planners 35(4):216–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

54. Wolfe, A., Schexnayder, S., Fly, M., and Furtsch, C., 1997, “Summary Report Developing a Users' Needs Survey Focusing on Informational and Analytical Environmental Decision-aiding Tools,” NCEDR/97–01, National Center for Environmental Decision-making Research, 600 Henley Street, Knoxville, TN, 10 pp.Google Scholar

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