Abstract: In the context of multitask and multiobjective governance,grassroots governments generally exhibit a characteristic of “adaptive implementation” in their environmental policies. Based on attention allocation theory, this paper builds up an analytical framework of “organizational missionenvironmental identity”. Through a multicase study approach, an empirical study was conducted on the types and underlying logic of grassroots governments environmental policy implementation. It is found in the study that the combination of the dual dimensions of organizational mission and environmental identity has shaped four differentiated types of environmental policy implementation: mutually beneficial type, selective type, initiative type, and incremental type. These types respond to the dual pressures of higherlevel requirements and public demands through adaptive and resilient strategies. Under attention overload, the organizational mission logic employs dualtrack mechanisms and identity adjustment mechanisms to cope with task pressures, while the environmental identity logic in the race to meet environmental standards constructs policy communities through local discourse mechanisms and subjectrelated mechanisms. This is the generative logic of “adaptive implementation”. Theoretically, this finding provides a new perspective on grassroots environmental policy implementation, and it also provides a vivid illustration of the strategic approaches employed by grassroots governments in implementing environmental policies, navigating the interplay between organizational mission and environmental identity.

Key words: policy implementation; environmental policy; attention allocation; environmental governance; typology