Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management

Strategic forms of impact assessment have seen increased application around the world since their conception. Expansion has produced considerable variation and this range of tools and processes can create practitioner confusion and blurred boundaries in practice. This research draws on empirical data from England and Scotland to examine different systems to understand how the purposes of strategic assessment are framed and to consider how purposes are translated into practice. Four key purposes of strategic assessment are examined; overcoming EIA shortcomings, strategic thinking, representation of the environment and consideration of sustainability. It is concluded that various scales (international, national, local and individual) influence how strategic assessment purpose is framed. We find that as multiple purposes come together they interact, with regulatory compliance potentially dominating. Strategic assessment is also found to be described as information provider, and excluded or distant from strategic thinking as part of plan formulation.

The purpose of this study is to identify core Environmental Information Disclosure (EID) contents and to evaluate the current level of EID proactiveness of the hotel companies on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) database. We confirmed 38 reports as a sample from 2008 to 2014. Utilising content analysis and a case study approach, we comprehensively investigated the quality and extent of what is being reported and evaluated in respect to each hotel’s EID proactiveness. Six core EID categories which had received significant attention from the hotels were identified, and we found the sampled hotels emphasised cost reduction activities of their operations in their EID. EID proactiveness was addressed and there was significant difference between the EID proactiveness groups (top, middle, bottom) in terms of property, quality and quantity. This study provides an overview of the current level of EID proactiveness of the hotels in the GRI database and also provides a measure for EID proactiveness for the hotel sector.

The United States (U.S.) environmental regulatory system relies heavily on self-reports to assess compliance among regulated facilities. However, the regulatory agencies have expressed concerns regarding the potential for fraud in self-reports and suggested that the likelihood of detection in the federal and state enforcement processes is low. In this paper, we apply Benford’s Law to three years of self-reported discharge parameters from wastewater treatment plant facilities in one U.S. state. We conclude that Benford’s Law alone may not be a reliable method for detecting potential data mishandling for individual facility–parameter combinations, but may provide information about the types of parameters most likely to be fraudulently reported and types of facilities most likely to do so. From a regulatory perspective, this information may help to prioritise potential fraud risks in self reporting and better direct limited resources.

Air pollution in Tehran, the capital city of Iran, has led to poor air quality, with consequences for the health of residents. This study uses a contingent valuation method to estimate the willingness to pay of Tehran’s residents for air quality improvement. Open-ended and stochastic payment card approaches were used to determine the willingness to pay of the sample. The mean individual willingness to pay for a specified air quality improvement was approximately US $6.40 per month, and the variance of the willingness to pay was approximately U.S. $4, as estimated using the SPC approach. Open-ended questions revealed that the mean individual willingness to pay was approximately U.S. $4 per month. Significant positive effects of income, use of public transportation, marriage, job and health status on the mean willingness to pay were observed. Although most respondents believed that air quality improvement is the government’s responsibility, they are willing to bear the cost as a supplement to achieve better air quality.