Environmental Management: Principles and practice

implementation.
The Netherlands adopted a National Environmental Policy Plan (NEPP) in
1989, the first serious attempt by a national government to develop an integrated

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environmental policy based on explicit control principles and clearly formulated
long-term objectives (Bennett, 1991). This is in sharp contrast to the more usual
incrementalist (step-by-step) approach by most environmental planning and
management. The Netherland’s NEPP environmental planning and management
approach gives serious consideration to the concept of sustainable development and
the polluter-pays principle. Although NEPP is behind schedule for its implementation,
it has already influenced several other governments to develop similar approaches.
At one time the main, if not only, means of trying to consider environmental
issues in planning and management was to use cost-benefit analysis (CBA). For
environmental management to be a significant improvement on CBA or cost-
effectiveness analysis (which are inadequate because they require monetary valuation,
which can be difficult, and they fail to consider social and environmental issues
adequately), it must view things from social, economic and environmental
perspectives. To do that effectively demands a multidisciplinary (or interdisciplinary)
approach (Spash, 1996). However, a functional grouping approach is often adopted
in practice: e.g. a pollution control agency; a conservation body, and this may hinder
multidisciplinarity.
As if it is not enough to have to deal with complexity and uncertainty, the
environmental manager often has to cope with situations where the development
objectives and strategy have already been decided by others (politicians, special-
interest groups, aid agencies, etc.). Environmental management may also have to
proceed in a piecemeal manner, with inadequate jurisdiction, poor data, insufficient
time to act effectively, public and administrative mood swings (Trudgill, 1990).
Environmental managers may be faced with a crisis-management (reactive, short-
term response) situation even though one of their principles is anticipatory planning
(Scher, 1991).
There are three main focuses an environmental manager can adopt (in a given
situation a mix of more than one will probably be used):
1
Advisory
♦ advice, leaflets, phone help-line;
♦ media information (which can be covert i.e. hidden in entertainment or open);
♦ education;
♦ demonstration (e.g. model farm).
2
Economic
♦ taxes;
♦ grants, loans, aid;
♦ subsidies;
♦ quotas.
3
Regulatory/Control
♦ standards;
♦ restrictions;
♦ licensing of potentially damaging activities.

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Environmental management can adopt three distinct stances:
1
preventive management—which aims to preclude adverse environmental
impacts;
2
reactive or punitive management—which aims at damage limitation or control;
3
compensatory management—mitigation of adverse impacts through trade-offs.
One trade-off is to protect some habitats of conservation or aesthetic value,
and develop other localities. The goal is to prevent an overall slow decline of
environmental quality. Montgomery (1995:186) suggested the environmental
manager might be better advised to focus on: (a) modifying anthropogenic
inputs (input management—controlling use); (b) responding to ecosystem
attributes (output management—driven by assessment of resources). Ideally
an environmental management framework will integrate (a) and (b) to control
environmental degradation most effectively.
While co-ordination of environmental management approaches is desirable, it
is difficult to see how too rigid a framework can help, given that each situation is to
some degree unique. Companies, funding agencies, NGOs and governments have
developed codes, manuals and guidelines to guide environmental management
(Forrest and Morison, 1991; Nash and Ehrenfeld, 1997); Europe is adopting codes
which will shape practices in all member countries, and in the USA the Environmental
Protection Agency sponsors new environmental management programmes.
There are demands for environmental planning and environmental management
to act to strengthen the drive for achieving sustainable development (Costanza, 1991;
Blowers, 1993). One means is to use covenants, which offer a means of providing
companies with a stable regulatory environment, and act as incentives to encourage
development of pollution control plans and environmental management systems (a
government can focus its attention on companies and bodies that have not signed
covenants). The Netherlands has one of the most innovative and best-developed
approaches to environmental management, and covenants are one of its two primary
components: (1) National Environmental Policy Plans (NEPPs); (2) covenants
(Beardsley et al., 1997). NEPPs were adopted by the Dutch Parliament in 1989 and
1994, set targets for pollution reduction, and are a relatively integrated approach.
The covenants are voluntary agreements between the Dutch Government and various
sectors of industry to facilitate the improvement of environmental management
objectives and keep down enforcement costs. The Dutch approach has apparently
been quite effective in achieving environmental management goals (mainly pollution
control, but also sustainable development initiatives).
Before long there should be environmental management system standards
widely in use. These, together with eco-auditing and environmental management
system standards, will provide internationally recognized foundations for
environmental management to draw upon in any given situation.

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