If the author was the only person editing the file, and had a reasonable expectation of owning it for at least 6 months, then yes, start building a second envir

If the author was the only person editing the file, and had a reasonable expectation of owning it for at least 6 months, then yes, start building a second environment. But one antipattern might be that the file is being modified by other people, even if on paper he is the only owner. So while you create a test, someone you don't even know exists modifies prod right under you. Another antipattern is forever-changing ownership. You own it for 2 weeks. Then someone anonymous in some layer above you decides something else, and of it goes. Maybe they did bother to tell you you're not the owner anymore, maybe they only told the new owner. In these 2 weeks, you've got ownership of 3 new programs and lost it for 2 others. I've seen it happen. There is no way to build something stable in these circumstances. Management will need to provide some stability before the underlings can do any work. If you're living there, run away, you can't save them.