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Environmental Technology Assessment (EnTA) in the Urban Management Context

Johan G. Nel

ABSTRACT

Environmental Technology Assessment (EnTA) is explored as an analytical tool, designed to ensure that decision making processes related to technology adaption, implementation and use are sustainable. Decision making is normally tiered in a sequence of multiple decisions. Multiple decisions often progress from a strategic or policy level, through plans and programmes to specific project level decisions. It is argued that more conventional analytical tools such as Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Social Impact Assessment (SIA) fail to address issues at the higher tiers of decision making and that EnTA, a flexible, informal approach to technology related decision making is well positioned to fill this gap. The EnTA elements are then briefly described to serve as an Aide Memoire, rather than a defined process. The Technology Decision loop within EnTA is especially highlighted in the discussion.

INTRODUCTION

Those familiar with tools like Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Social Impact Assessment (SIA), may well ask, why another analytical tool to consider technology induced changes to environmental, societal and institutional receptors? From local authority perspective within a developing country context, EnTA, as an analytical tool, is well positioned to address shortcomings experienced with more entrenched tools like EIA and SIA. The most important shortcomings of more conventional tools such as EIA include their often rigorous procedural requirements and the fact that EIAs are often commissioned too late in the sequence of decision hierarchies. An understanding of the hierarchical decision making regimes within local authorities is imperative to appreciate potential areas of failure for some of the more conventional tools, as well as to identify areas where value may be added by EnTA.

HIERARCHICAL DECISION MAKING AT LOCAL AUTHORITY LEVEL

Decisions on technology adoption, implementation and use at local authority levels are often not one-shot events. Instead, they are characterized by a multiple sequence of decisions made across a tiered hierarchy, a process that is called disjointed incrementalism. The decision making sequence starts with conceptual or strategic policy type decisions at the apex, followed by semi-conceptual or semi-strategic plans and programmes, culminating with detailed or specific project related decisions. See Figure 1.

Figure 1
The Technology Decision Hierarchy

It is imperative to understand these disjointed and incremental decision making processes, as well as the very diverse and specific needs of each phase when any tool is selected or designed to aid decision making at the local authority level.

Decision making at the apex is often confined to broad, strategic, policy type decisions, which are frequently politicized, while inadequate information may increase uncertainty levels. Decision making at this level is usually also characterized by time constraints, while information requirements are limited to conceptual and generic directions. Decision outcomes are (in most cases) policy type statements that are intended to give direction to lower tier decisions.

Critical concerns regarding the relationship between assessment tools and decision making at the top tiers include the following:

• EIAs are seldom done for decisions at this tier of decision making;
  
• EIAs are not designed to meet the challenges of decision making at this tier in part due to time constraints;
  
• EIAs are often commissioned too late to address issues that should have been resolved at the top tier.
  
• EIA is very seldom used to challenge policy level decisions with the result that many issues are foreclosed when EIAs are conducted.

General concerns over the delivery potential of EIAs include the following:

• Formal EIA systems do not always recognize the reality of tiered decision making, with a bias towards the third tier level of decision making;
  
• Third tier decisions are often foreclosed by higher tier decisions that are often not tested for sustainability;
  
• Third tier decision makers are often not mandated to question higher order decision issues such as:

- Is the technology really needed?
- What alternatives may be more efficient?
- What is the secondary, tertiary and cumulative impacts associated with the entire technology loop?
- EIAs very seldom investigate the issue of sustainable services delivery.

EnTA's Contribution to Multi-tiered Decision Making

EnTA is intended to augment Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs). It is designed to be an informal decision support tool to be used at the front end loading phases of the technology adoption decision making loop. EnTA is designed to be a flexible and informal tool that is best suited to meet the requirements of decision making at conceptual and strategic levels.

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