Facilitating economic growth while avoiding damage to health and the environment concerns both emerging and mature democracies. This collaborative two-year study will test and further develop the hypothesis that the transition to democracy and free market economy in Poland has structural characteristics that can in the long run deemphasize the environment, health and safety (EH&S) interests. It has three main objectives. One is to identify major barriers to satisfying the EH&S concerns in Poland. These barriers are grounded in the pursuit of other national values related to economic growth, improved social welfare, development of civic society, and so on. The second is to identify regulatory approaches that can assist in protecting EH&S interests during the current societal transition and beyond. A final objective is to contribute to theory of industrial EH&S management in the context of major societal transitions. The research approach consists of empirical case analysis of the process of licensing of new and privatized industrial manufacturing facilities. It will be approached by (i) analysis of the policies, procedures and institutional missions in relation to permitting industrial facilities, and (ii) analysis of the specific process of implementation of official policies in the course of licensing four facilities. A heuristic model of facility licensing guides the faculity-based field work. Data collection includes interviews, review of relevant documents, analysis of EH&S performance indications, and observations during site visits. This research will produce articles and other publications and presentations that will assist decisionmakers in reconciling growth and environmental protection. It will contribute to the growing body of research on the adaptability and mitigative capacity of societies undergoing dramatic change, and generate data for international comparative studies of environmental hazard management.
