Decision-making 2: Dilemmas in Designing Forest Practices Rules 1

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Today’s Agenda

• Updated themes• Decision-making theories

Case: 6% solution• policy design

– Tools - instrument choice– Configuration

• Forest Practices– Code– Results-based regulation– FRPA

• Conclusion

October 30, 2014 2

New Themes

• A major challenge for forest policy making is designing policies to accommodate spatial diversity

• Forest practices regulation in BC relies on a combination of vague performance objectives, practice requirements, and planning requirements. Measurability challenges have limited efforts to develop a results-based framework

October 30, 2014 3

Readings this week

October 28, 30 – Decision-making: Dilemmas in policy design: choice of instrument, making trade-offs, optimal precision of rules

Marty Luckert, David Haley, and George Hoberg, Policies for Sustainably Managing Canada’s Forests: Provincial Tenure, Stumpage Fees, and Forest Practices, (Vancouver: UBC Press, 2011), pp. 97-102 CONCEPTS OF POLICY DESIGN AS APPLIED TO FOREST PRACTICES, ACCOMMODATING SPATIAL DIVERSITY

Forest Practices Board, A Decade in Review: Observations on Regulation of Forest and Range Practices in British Columbia

HOW FRPA IS DESIGNED, IMPLEMENTATION CONSTRAINTS (NEXT WEEK) – not responsible for specific material on PR or effectiveness monitoring

October 28, 2014 Sustainable Forest Policy 4

Instrument Configuration

• formality - guidelines or rules?• transparency• simplicity• congruence: rule varies to match problem

October 30, 2014 5

Riparian Protection

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design challenge:

accommodating spatial diversity

Objective: congruent, but simple and clear

1. Vary the rules to account for different circumstances (Prescriptive congruence)

2. Rely on professional judgment (Professional delegation)

3. Rely on local plans (Geographical delegation)

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design challenge:

accommodating spatial diversity

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congruence transparency simplicity

Prescriptive congruence

good good poor

Professional delegation

good poor good

Geographical delegation

good medium medium

Sample Short answer question

• Using forest policy examples, describe the three approaches to accommodating spatial diversity.

October 28, 2014 Sustainable Forest Policy 9

Today’s Agenda

• Updated themes• Decision-making theories

Case: 6% solution• policy design

– Tools - instrument choice– Configuration

• Forest Practices– Code– Results-based regulation– FRPA

• Conclusion

October 30, 2014 10

BC Forest Practices: Evolution

• pre-1994 – guidelines and plans• 1995-2004 – Forest Practices Code (“the Code”)

– mix of planning and practice regulations

– considered overly costly, complex, and prescriptive by industry

– considered weak and inadequate by environmentalists

– very high compliance

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“results-based code” 2004

• Forest Range and Practices Act (2002)– Simplified planning structure

• eliminated approval of site level plans

– increased reliance on “forest stewardship plans” to propose results and strategies to meet specified government objectives

• Major design tension: – government’s desire to have strong default standards

– industry’s desire for maximum flexibility

October 30, 2014 Hoberg – Policy Framework 12

Why they stopped calling it “the code”

October 31, 2013 13

Result-based regulation - concept

• aka Performance-based regulation• Focus on objective• Leave means up to industry• 3 components:

– Characterize desired outcomes– Specify performance standards– Measure performance

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Result-based regulation – challenges in forestry

• For many forest values, we lack the specific knowledge to design measureable performance standards

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but still provide flexibility in choice of practice

Standards that are sufficiently specific to be clear and measurable

FRPA solution

• Rather than government-provided performance standards, require plans to include “results or strategies”

• If operators prefer not to develop their own, they choose government “default standards”

October 30, 2014 16

FRPA Design

1. Objectives established by government2. Some performance standards3. Forest Stewardship Plan prepared by

lisencee– measurable results and strategies to

meet objectives– may choose government “defaults”– reviewed and approved by government

4. Compliance and enforcement5. Professional Reliance6. Effectiveness Monitoring

October 30, 2014 17

FRPA Regulations - Objectiveshttp://www.for.gov.bc.ca/tasb/legsregs/frpa/frparegs/frparegs.htm

• Objectives for 10 values

• In regulation, not statute

– Soils

– Timber including forest health

– Wildlife

– Riparian

– Fish

– Community watershed

– Wildlife and biodiversity – stand

– Wildlife and biodiversity – landscape

– Visual Quality

– Cultural Heritage Resources

• “without unduly reducing the supply of timber from British Columbia's forests”

October 30, 2014 18

Example FPRA Objective: Riparian

The objective set by government for water, fish, wildlife and biodiversity within riparian areas is, without unduly reducing the supply of timber from British Columbia's forests, to conserve, at the landscape level, the water quality, fish habitat, wildlife habitat and biodiversity associated with those riparian areas.

October 30, 2014 19

FRPA Regulations http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/tasb/legsregs/frpa/frparegs/frparegs.htm

Performance-based regulation for fish passage (called a practice standard):

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Activities must not have a material adverse effect on fish passage in a fish stream

FRPA: Forest Stewardship Plans

• 5 year plan• Map of development activities proposed• Results and strategies to address 10 FRPA

values– Or reliance on defaults

• Reviewed and approved by government• Legal document, basis for enforcement

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FPRA “defaults” = Code rules

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Riparian Class

Riparian Management Area

(metres)

Riparian Reserve Zone (metres)

Riparian Management Zone

(metres)

S1-A 100 0 100

S1-B 70 50 20

S2 50 30 20

S3 40 20 20

S4 30 0 30

S5 30 0 30

S6 20 0 20

Forest Practices Board “Decade in Review)

• FSPs meet legal requirements• Too many results and strategies are not

measurable or verifiable• Poor vehicles for planning and public

involvement• Surprisingly little innovation: licencees adopt

default

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Consequence? Surprisingly little change from the Code

Sample exam question

• True or False: The key change when the BC government replaced the Forest Practices Code with the Forest Range and Practices Act is that the government established measurable, performance-based for a wide range of forest values.

October 30, 2014 24

Conclusion

• Design dilemmas – optimal specificity– Tradeoffs between

congruence, simplicity, transparency

• Due to measureability problems, FRPA not as results-based as envisioned

October 30, 2014 25

New Themes

• A major challenge for forest policy making is designing policies to accommodate spatial diversity

• Forest practices regulation in BC relies on a combination of vague performance objectives, practice requirements, and planning requirements. Measurability challenges have limited efforts to develop a results-based framework

October 30, 2014 26

October 30, 2014 27