1. The Role of Information in Environmental
Regulation:
Science in the
Service of Society?
Rónán
Kennedy!
!
Law School, !
National University of Ireland Galway!

2. Information in
Environmental Regulation
l “Information” is fundamental!
l Source: usually physical sciences!
l Raw material for decision-making process!
l Gives rise to FOI, public access to information!
l Advent of ICT: greater scope for information
processing in environmental regulation!

3. Promise of ICT for Environmental
Regulation
l More rigourous!
l Large-scale tracking of pollution emissions!
l ‘Data mining’!
l Information dissemination!
l Better understanding, visualisation, forecasting...!

4. Promise of ICT for Environmental
Regulation
Expands scope and span of control!
l
Improves functioning of markets !
l
More specialised, decentralised and sophisticated
l
regulatory organizations!
Transparency can help avoid distortions of the political
l
process!

5. Science, policy and law connection
Not a linear or coherent relationship!
l
Inadequate scientific literacy ('bad science')!
l
Scientific models used in legislation may not be !
l
• accurate!
• up-to-date!
• ‘objective’!

6. Problems with Information in
Environmental Regulation
Information ‘Quality’ in the regulatory process: data as a
l
political football!
Impact of Information?!
l
• Toxics Release Inventory shows potential!
• But success due to under-reporting, gaming?!

7. Thematic Issues
l Paradox of transparency: more can be less!
l ‘Agile’ regulation?!
l More iterative processes!
l How to gather enough data?!
l “Mash-ups”!
l Privacy!

8. Conclusion
l Development of “informational governance”?!
l ‘the idea that information is fundamentally
restructuring processes, institutions and practices of
environmental governance’ (Mol)!
l But inequalities of power persist!
l The state remains relevant!
l Expensive infrastructure required!