Taking Environmental Protection to the Next Level: An Assessment of the U.S. Environmental Services Delivery System

摘要

This report begins with a detailed examination of the entire Clean Water Act, including how it has been administered over the years. Then, it examines the Chesapeake Bay clean-up approach-the science it has developed, the best practices it has identified to get at the main sources of pollution that remain mostly unaddressed, the governmental landscape it must navigate to get the needed action, and how it has gone about organizing the key stakeholders- first within the entire interstate watershed, then within each state, and finally within the 36 tributary areas where implementation action must be taken to achieve a healthy Bay. The Chesapeake Bay approach is then compared with some relevant cases elsewhere in the U.S. These examinations were undertaken using an analytical framework that combines the 'tools of Government' approach with logic models and stakeholder analysis. The Academy Panel believes this method of analysis can be helpful in evaluating many other programs that are experiencing a shift from simply administering individual programs to taking on accountability for overall outcome-oriented results.