A standard format for use in the analysis of environmental policy

There have been several methodologies for environmental impact assessment and management planning available for many years. These methodologies have centred round a fairly standard format for their core or central documents: environment impact statements and management plans, respectively. At the same time, methodologies have been slow to evolve in the broader field of environmental policy analysis. These methodologies possibly could be improved if a standard format for the core document, often a discussion paper, could be developed. In this paper a proposed standard format is deduced from those available for environmental impact statements and management plans and then tested on a case study: the analysis of coastal policy in Victoria, Australia. As a result of this study, modifications are made and a revised standard format for environmental policy analysis is suggested. © 1992 Academic Press Limited.