A new approach to environmental policy analysis is introduced that is designed to mitigate the exacerbation of environmental problems, which can result from the application of traditional approaches in environmental decision making. These approaches are problematic because they tend to rely on technical fixes, a single-discipline focus, and optimality. When such traditional approaches are applied, complex environmental problems are simplified beyond recognition, and the solution produced no longer matches the original problem. An alternative approach has been developed at the U.S. (...) Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that is designed to improve the utilization of scientific research results and data (social, physical, and biological) through a more inclusive problem-solving process aimed particularly at difficult and complex environmental issues. Using a policy application pertaining to the EPA’s 1995 decision to approve a fuel additive, the authors illustrate how integrated environmental policy decision analysis can be made operational using this new approach. (shrink)

Scientifically derived environmental indicators are central to environmental decision analysis. This article examines the interface between science (environmental indicators) and policy, and the dilemma of their integration. In the past, science has been shown to dominate many policy debates, usually with unfavorable results. The issue, therefore, is not whether science can determine policy but how science can be part of a more holistic analysis that incorporates other critical perspectives. This article discusses the importance of considering alternative views (as represented by (...) different scientific indicators) within the policy debate. Six example ozone indicators, constructed from the same raw data, are used to illustrate this point. Two represent newly developed indicators that respond to present-day policy questions at theU.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The article concludes with a brief discussion of how such indicators can be used to better define a policy question, inform the policy debate, and evaluate policy alternatives. (shrink)

Scientifically derived environmental indicators are central to environmental decision analysis. This article examines the interface between science (environmental indicators) and policy, and the dilemma of their integration. In the past, science has been shown to dominate many policy debates, usually with unfavorable results. The issue, therefore, is not whether science can determine policy but how science can be part of a more holistic analysis that incorporates other critical perspectives. This article discusses the importance of considering alternative views (as represented by (...) different scientific indicators) within the policy debate. Six example ozone indicators, constructed from the same raw data, are used to illustrate this point. Two represent newly developed indicators that respond to present-day policy questions at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The article concludes with a brief discussion of how such indicators can be used to better define a policy question, inform the policy debate, and evaluate policy alternatives. (shrink)