Assessment and appraisal concepts in environmental policy and management James Ivan Scrase

319 Pages·2013·3.28 MB·English

Assessment and appraisal concepts in
environmental policy and management
James Ivan Scrase
November 2006
A thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy of the
University of London
Centre for Environmental Policy, Faculty of Natural Sciences,
Imperial College London
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Declaration of Own Work
I declare that this thesis:
"Assessment and appraisal concepts in environmental policy and management"
is entirely my work and that where any material could be construed as the work of
others, it is fully cited and referenced, and/or with appropriate acknowledgement
given.
Signature:
Name of Student: James Ivan Scrase
Names of Supervisors: William Sheate, Clive Potter, Sue Reed
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Abstract
A range of appraisal methods is widely used in the public sector to assess the
anticipated environmental consequences of projects. UK, European and US
governments have sought to extend the use of such appraisals, for example to regional
planning and to policy development. This creates challenges that demand
interpretation and debate, but much academic comment is divided into two polarised
positions. One advocates appraisals as a set of administrative or scientific 'tools' used
to improve decision-making, while the other critiques them as social technologies
used to transform properly political questions into managerial and technical ones. A
critique of mainstream literature on appraisal and a historical study of its uses by
governments demonstrate this intellectual tension. The research then develops and
applies a social constructionist perspective that brings together the critics' and
proponents' concerns.
The ideas and practices constituting appraisals are approached here as resources
which are drawn from, and embedded in, wider discourses that shape environmental
politics. The research focuses attention on how these resources are defined, produced
and drawn upon in academic debate and in practical contexts. A set of research
questions is developed and answered through qualitative research into the
Environment Agency of England and Wales' work. First the framing of flood defence
as a political project is investigated, and interview data are used in a discourse
analysis of experts' contemporary arguments about the sector. Three shorter,
procedural case studies then focus on the social construction and use of specific
appraisals. Themes of 'context', 'framing' and 'participation' structure the analysis
and differing conceptions of their relevance and meaning are highlighted. The
research concludes that a social constructionist perspective, informed by insights into
the nature of discourse and the role of experts in policy- and decision-making, is
needed to promote a more critical and context-aware debate about assessment.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Bill Sheate and Clive Potter for their excellent input as
supervisors. Their very different perspectives on the subject made the research
process more challenging and ultimately more satisfying than it might have been
without this creative tension. In both intellectual and practical terms their support has
been of the highest quality throughout. Thank you both.
I would also like to thank Andrew Brookes, Clare Twigger-Ross and Sue Reed for
their input as co-supervisors representing the Environment Agency. Specifically I
must thank Andrew for setting up the PhD with Bill in the first place, Clare for getting
me involved in the chemicals policy process, and Sue for showing me how flood
defence policies are really made. Thanks also to Gary Kass and to the Parliamentary
Office for Science and Technology for supporting my research on SEA.
Thank you to everyone at the Environment Agency, the ESRC and Imperial College
who made the research possible. I would also like to thank all of the interviewees,
especially John Bowers, Edmund Penning-Rowsell, David Noble and Mike Brewer.
Thanks also to Sian, Lotte, and Graham for making IC more fun for me, and to Guy
for his philosophical insights and letting me beat him at tennis.
Finally a very big thank you and much else besides is owed to Lesley who lived
though the whole process with me. Thank you so much for all your emotional support,
for bringing Arthur into our lives, and for heroically surviving to see him grow up and
me leave university!
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Publications
The following publications contain material originating from research carried out for
this thesis:
Scrase J. I. and Sheate W. R. 2002. Integration and integrated approaches to
assessment: what do they mean for the environment? Journal of Environmental Policy
and Planning 4: 275-294.
Scrase J. I. and Sheate W. R. 2005. Re-framing flood control in England and Wales.
Environmental Values 14: 113-137.
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Abbreviations
AA 'Appropriate assessment' as defined in UK regulations implementing
the European Habitats and Birds Directives
BPEO Best Practicable Environmental Option
CAWC Central Advisory Water Committee
CAMS Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy
CBA Cost-benefit analysis (or assessment)
CCA Compliance cost assessment
CEQ Council on Environmental Quality
CFMP Catchment Flood Management Plans
CIWEM Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management
CMP Catchment Management Plan
COBA Cost benefit analysis software and methods used by the UK
Department of Transport
CPRE Campaign to Protect Rural England (formerly 'Council', and, prior to
that, 'Preservation')
DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
DOE Department of the Environment
EA Environment Agency (of England and Wales)
EAEW Environment Agency of England and Wales
EIA Environmental impact assessment
EMS Environmental management system
EN English Nature
EU European Union
FDC Flood Defence Committee
FCDPAG Flood and Coastal Defence Project Appraisal Guidance
HO Head office
IA Integrated assessment
lDB Internal Drainage Board
IEA Integrated environmental assessment
IEM Integrated environmental management
LCA Lifecycle analysis (or assessment)
LDC Land Drainage Committee
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LEAP Local Environment Agency Plan
MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
MCA Multi-criteria assessment (or analysis)
MHLG Ministry of Housing and Local Government
NCC Nature Conservancy Council
NCRAOA National Centre for Risk Analysis and Options Appraisal
NEPA National Environmental Policy Act
NRA National Rivers Authority
OA Options appraisal
OR Operations (or 'operational') research
PAG Project Appraisal Guidance
PRP Pollution Reduction Programme
RIA Regulatory Impact Assessment
RA Risk assessment (or analysis)
RAM Resource Assessment Methodology
RFDC Regional Flood Defence Committee
SA Sustainability appraisal (or assessment)
SEA Strategic Environmental Assessment
SG Stakeholder group
SMP Shoreline Management Plans
SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest
TOR Terms of reference
TW Thames Water (Utilities Limited)
UK United Kingdom
US United States of America
USACE United States Army Corps of Engineers
USEPA United States Environmental Protection Agency
VAT Value added tax
WSAC Water Space Amenity Commission
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART I. ASSESSMENT AS A RESEARCH OBJECT 12
CHAPTER ONE. INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 13
1.1 Introduction 13
1.2 Literature overview and preliminary research questions 14
1.2.1 The mainstream literature 14
1.2.2 Preliminary research questions 16
1.2.3 The constructionist critique 18
1.3 The research problem and thesis 19
1.3.1 Discourse 20
1.4 Aim, research questions and dissertation structure 22
1.4.1 Part I of the dissertation 22
1.4.2 Parts II, III and IV of the dissertation 24
CHAPTER TWO. A POLITICAL HISTORY OF ASSESSMENT AND THE
ENVIRONMENT. 28
2.1 Introduction 28
2.2 Six classes of assessment. 29
2.2.1 Environmental impact assessment 29
2.2.2 Risk assessment 30
2.2.3 Cost-benefit assessment 31
2.2.4 Multi-criteria analysis 31
2.2.5 Systems models for decision support 32
2.2.6 'Integrated' assessments 33
2.3 Early political contexts, ideas and practices 34
2.4 The rise of environmental politics in the US 40
2.4.1 Federal resource management, river engineering and CBA 40
2.4.2 The National Environmental Policy Act 43
2.4.3 Risk assessment and management 46
2.5 The rise of environmental management in the UK 50
2.5.1 ETA's reception by government, industry and academia 50
2.5.2 European EIA 55
2.5.3 CBA in UK government 57
2.6 The context for current debates 58
CHAPTER THREE. INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT AND SUSTAINABLE
PLANNING 61
3.1 Introduction 61
3.2 Integrated assessment 62
3.2.1 Data sources 62
3.2.2 Cause and effect 64
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3.2.3 Issue selection 65

3.2.4 Assessment tools 66
3.3 Integrated administration and management 68
3.3.1 Integrating assessment into decision-making 69
3.3.2 Organisational decision-making hierarchies 70
3.3.3 Environmental decision-making in industry and industrial regulation 71
3.3.4 The spatial dimension 73
3.4 Integrated policy-making 73
3.4.1 Joined-up government 74
3.4.2 Environmental policy integration and sustainable development 75
3.4.3 Inclusion 77
3.5 Environmental assessment and 'sustainable planning' 78
3.5.1 Against EIA as a tool for sustainable planning 79
3.5.2 Responses from the assessment community 81
3.6 Re-connecting context and content 84
PART II. RESEARCH METHOD AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMING 87
CHAPTER FOUR. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 88
4.1 Introduction: the qualitative approach 88
4.1.1 Evolution of the research aim 88
4.1.2 Broad approaches: structure and action 90
4.2 Social constructionism and discourse analysis 92
4.3 Detailed research methodologies 96
4.3.1 Semi-structured interviews and discourse analysis 96
4.3.2 Participatory research methods 102
CHAPTER FIVE. DISCOURSES AND ASSESSMENT 106
5.1 Introduction 106
5.2 Problem solving discourses 106
5.2.1 Administrative authority 108
5.2.2 Market efficiency 116
5.2.3 Democratic legitimacy 122
5.3 A critical framework 129
5.3.1 Narrative framing 130
5.3.2 Problem framing 132
5.3.3 Socio-political framing 134
5.3.4 How the framework is used 136
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PART III. CASE STUDIES AND EMPIRICAL RESEARCH 138
CHAPTER SIX. A HISTORY OF FLOOD DEFENCE POLITICS AND
APPRAISALS 139
6.1 Introduction 139
6.2 Narrative framing: institutional stability and change 141
6.2.1 Pre-1930: the most valuable lands in the Kingdom 141
6.2.2 1930 to the late 1970s: defending and draining the nation 144
6.2.3 The late 20th century: environmental conflict and management 147
6.3 Problem framings: industrialism and environmentalism 150
6.3.1 Landscapes as strategic national infrastructure 150
6.3.2 Nature: production and preservation 154
6.4 Appraisals and flood defence politics 160
6.4.1 The economic need for land drainage and flood defence 160
6.4.2 Appraisals as expert problem solving 165
6.4.3 Flood defence as rational planning 169
6.5 Discussion: appraisals in the context of political projects 172
CHAPTER SEVEN: EXPERT CONSTRUCTIONS OF FLOOD DEFENCE
AND APPRAISALS 175
7.1 Introduction 175
7.1.1 Context 175
7.1.2 The interviewees 177
7.1.3 Chapter overview 178
7.2 The broad arguments: metaphors and narratives 179
7.2.1 David Noble (Association of Drainage Authorities) 179
7.2.2 John Bowers (Leeds University) 180
7.2.3 Edmund Penning-Rowsell (Middlesex University) 180
7.2.4 Mike Brewer (EAEW) 181
7.3 Comparing the meaning of floods, flood defences and the environment 182
7.3.1 Floods, flood defence and the environment 183
7.4 Constructing identities and social relations 189
7.4.1 Stakeholders and their interests 190
7.4.2 Institutional relations and identities 194
7.4.3 The state and the individual 198
7.5 Appraisals and assessments 205
7.6 Discussion: discourse and policy change 214
CHAPTER EIGHT: ASSESSMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY 220
8.1 Introduction 220
8.2 SEA: Historical framing in England and Wales 222
8.2.1 Origins of the SEA Directive 222
8.2.2 The debate in 2004: sustainability, participation and rigour 225
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