Sometimes lack of data may preclude quantification of a problem within a situation report even though it is self evidently severe. Latvia, for example, found a way around this difficulty: experts covering all the relevant disciplines were asked to come to a consensus on the choice of problems to be tackled in the first stage of the NEHAP. This pragmatic approach worked well. Another possibility is a system of weightings for relevant factors although such a system is likely to pose as many difficulties in its devising as it solves in its application.The situation report for a NEHAP should also assess the institutional and legal framework of a country regarding its adequacy for implementing actions. Action to put right inadequacies in the framework is as much part of an action programme as engineering projects or research, and requires a situation assessment as much as other environmental factors.