Government agencies practice inter-agency consultation to ensure that broader governmental activities align with their missions and objectives. Consultation allows agencies to express their preferences and interests, but also may create administrative burden and procedural delay. To explore the conditions under which agencies choose to review activities proposed by fellow government actors, this research focuses on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), California’s environmental impact assessment law. We conceptualize the CEQA review network as a two-mode network, in which each review agency is linked to particular projects, and use two-mode exponential random graph models to test a series of hypotheses about agency, project, and agency-project dyadic characteristics that shape the choice to review. We find that projects located in sites with socioeconomically vulnerable residents or higher levels of background pollution garner more consultation. Agencies are more likely to provide consultation when their expertise aligns with the project’s impact, and are less likely to review a project with agencies that possess the same expertise. This research highlights variations underlying interagency consultation and helps understand how agencies try to influence other agencies’ decisions.

中文翻译：

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环境影响评价机构咨询网络

政府机构进行机构间协商，以确保更广泛的政府活动与其使命和目标保持一致。协商允许各机构表达自己的偏好和利益，但也可能造成行政负担和程序延误。为了探讨各机构选择审查其他政府行为者提出的活动的条件，本研究重点关注加州环境质量法案 (CEQA)，即加州的环境影响评估法。我们将 CEQA 审查网络概念化为一个双模式网络，其中每个审查机构都链接到特定项目，并使用双模式指数随机图模型来检验一系列关于机构、项目和机构-项目二元特征的假设这决定了审查的选择。我们发现，位于社会经济弱势居民或背景污染程度较高的地点的项目会获得更多咨询。当机构的专业知识与项目的影响相一致时，机构更有可能提供咨询，并且不太可能与拥有相同专业知识的机构一起审查项目。这项研究强调了机构间协商背后的差异，并有助于了解机构如何试图影响其他机构的决策。