This report examines the Superfund cleanup programs of all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The Study provides a snapshot of state statutes, program organizations, staffing, funding, expenditures, cleanup standards and cleanup activities.
This report examines the role that federal environmental regulations play in the context of the federal-state standard setting relationship. Chapter one provides an overview of how federal regulations relate to standard setting. Chapter two identifies the general policy consequences of allowing state program flexibility. Chapter three examines how federal regulations currently provide for flexibility in this relationship. Chapter four evaluates the techniques used by the federal government to afford or restrain flexibility.
ELI conducts an independent evaluation of the first experimental Environmental Performance Agreements between five states and the EPA. This new system for state-federal cooperation in which the EPA oversees state implementation of the federal environmental statutes was launched in 1995. The principal findings of this report are based on a close review and analysis of the texts of the agreements signed by the EPA and the five states.
This report discusses specific lessons learned from the Acid Rain Program, contained in Title IV of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA), that apply to an emissions cap and allowance trading system for greenhouse gases (GHGs). Chapter II discusses the basic design features in applying an emissions cap and allowance trading system to emissions of CO2, methane and other GHGs. Chapter III evaluates lessons from Title IV, and discusses specific issues in establishing a similar regulatory system for GHGs.
This report discusses state and local air initiatives based on the 1990 Amendment to the Clean Air Act to improve air quality. These include new market incentives, permit requirements, enforcement tools, and greater citizen involvement. Information is taken from 21 case studies, with a focus on determining how and why particular state and local air initiatives have been successful and what specific results have been achieved in terms of reduced air emissions.
The Colloquium on Federal-State Relationships in Environmental Enforcement was held on November 29 and 30, 1990, at Westfields, Virginia. The Colloquium, convened by the Environmental Law Institute, was sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to serve as a first step in reevaluating the roles and enhancing the effectiveness of federal, state, and local governments in environmental enforcement.
This process of interaction and mutual influence among various groups within a society -- the public, business interests, and government -- characterizes a functioning democratic system. Yet such effective interaction is impossible without the free exchange of full and accurate information that can form the basis of individual and collective changes in behavior. Access to information -- in the context of legal and social structures that are conducive to constructive change -- thus fuels the democratic process, in environmental protection as in other aspects of self-government.
