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Friday, January 31, 1997

Enterprise for the Environment Releases "Vision" Principles

Enterprise for the Environment, the stakeholder initiative established to develop proposals for systemic reform of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), this week released a set of principles that are expected to serve as the philosophical basis for the group's final report, due in April. The principles were developed under a consensus approach by Enterprise for the Environment action groups, and will now guide the initiative's steering committee as they craft the final report. Enterprise for the Environment was established last February and is chaired by former EPA Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus. AMSA Member Agency Representative Doug MacDonald, executive director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, serves on the Enterprise for the Environment Steering Committee.

In releasing the principles during a Jan. 29 Enterprise for the Environment meeting, Ruckelshaus said the initiative is at a "crucial stage" in the process that has to move from theory to practice. Ruckelshaus stressed that while the action groups disagreed on many issues regarding the current environmental protection system, the steering committee must develop a consensus package that will be accepted by Congress in its entirety. Congress "can't take half and discard the other half," he said, adding that the steering committee will have to move quickly to "take advantage of a bi-partisan window [in Congress], which will not stay open long."

According to a "Vision of an Improved Environmental Protection System," an improved system of environmental protection should include the following:

  • Effectively and efficiently controls threats to human health and the environment caused by pollution.
  • Sets and pursues clear national goals for key agencies impacting environmental quality, and uses understandable indicators to measure progress.
  • Results in continuous improvement in environmental performance.
  • Offers flexibility of means linked with clarify of responsibility, accountability for performance, and transparency results.
  • Is adaptive -- adjusting policies, strategies, and systems based upon experience.
  • Fairly distributes costs and benefits.
  • Generates, disseminates, and relies upon the best available scientific and economic information.
  • Maintains basic standards of protection that are fairly and consistently enforced.
  • Relies on (and experiments with) a broad set of policy tools.
  • Places authority, responsibility and accountability at the appropriate level of government, and creates decision processes that meaningfully involve affected stakeholders and engage all citizens in protecting the environment.

The AMSA FaxAlert will not be transmitted on Friday, February 7, due to the AMSA Winter Conference being held in Orlando, Fla.