| In the aftermath of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, citizen advisory councils were established in Alaska, Maine and California to advise government and industry on the environmental management of the marine oil trade. This study evaluates the effectiveness of these councils in contributing to the policy process. The methods of this study include interviews, document analyses, and a mail survey. Interviews were conducted with respondents representing the councils, as well as respondents representing government and corporate entities holding responsibilities in the policy areas of interest to the councils (referred to here as key stakeholder organizations). In addition, the reports generated by the councils were analyzed, and a mail survey was administered to all of the council members.; This study finds that the councils have made important contributions both to the production of new knowledge in the policy process (including new knowledge on oil tanker and tug vessel operations, oil spill response operations, regional environmental conditions, and oil platform safety) and to the implementation of new safeguards against marine oil pollution (including changes in oil tanker navigation and escort procedures, the deployment of new tug vessels and new weather reporting equipment, and changes in U.S. law to facilitate transboundary oil spill response efforts).; This study identifies two major factors which affect the capacity of the councils to contribute to the policy process. First, technical and organizational resources in the form of staff and expert consultants play a pivotal role in allowing the councils to generate new knowledge in the policy process. Second, political context (the level of support which key stakeholder groups give to council proposals for policy change) plays a decisive role in affecting the capacity of the councils to secure the implementation of policy changes. |
