The Law And Policy Of Environmental Federalism

How should we strike a balance between the benefits of centralized and local governance, and how important is context to selecting the right policy tools? This uniquely broad overview of the field illuminates our understanding of environmental federalism and informs our policy-making future. Professor Kalyani Robbins has brought together an impressive team of leading environmental federalism scholars to provide a collection of chapters, each focused on a different regime. This review of many varied approaches, including substantial theoretical material, culminates in a comparative analysis of environmental federalism and consideration of what each system might learn from the others. The Law and Policy of Environmental Federalism includes clear descriptive portions that make it a valuable teaching resource, as well as original theory and a depth of policy analysis that will benefit scholars of federalism or environmental and natural resources law. The value of its analysis for real-world decision-making will make it a compelling read for practitioners in environmental law or fields concerned with federalism issues, including those in government or NGOs, as well as lobbyists.

Passing the Buck is the first in-depth study of the impact of federalism on Canadian environmental policy. The book takes a detailed look at the ongoing debate on the subject and traces the evolution of the role of the federal government in environmental policy and federal-provincial relations concerning the environment from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. The author challenges the widespread assumption that federal and provincial governments invariably compete to extend their jurisdiction. Using well-researched case studies and extensive research to support her argument, the author points out that the combination of limited public attention to the environment and strong opposition from potentially regulated interests yields significant political costs and limited political benefits. As a result, for the most part, the federal government has been content to leave environmental protection to the provinces. In effect, the federal system has allowed the federal government to pass the buck to the provinces and shirk the political challenge of environmental protection.

The centralisation of environmental regulation has led to inflexibility on America's federal government as it attempts to respond to various problems. This analysis of current policies proposes a restructuring of the environmental regulatory authority to lead to better environmental enforcement.

Giving particular attention to intergovernmental working relationships, this revised edition of Federalism and Environmental Policy has been significantly updated to reflect the changes that have taken place since the highly praised first edition. Denise Scheberle examines reasons why environmental laws seldom work out exactly as planned. Casting federal-state working relationships as "pulling together," "coming apart," or somewhere in-between, she provides dozens of observations from federal and state officials. This study also suggests that implementation of environmental policy is a story of high stakes politics—a story rich with contextual factors and as fascinating as the time the policy was formulated. As four very different environmental programs unfold—asbestos (updated to include the fallout from the World Trade Center), drinking water, radon, and surface coal mining—Scheberle demonstrates how programs evolve differently, with individual political, economic, logistical, and technical constraints. The policy implementation framework developed for the book provides the lens through which to compare environmental laws. Federalism and Environmental Policy goes beyond the contents of policy to explore the complex web of federal-state working relationships and their effect on the implementation of policy. It is unique in how it portrays the nuts-and-bolts, the extent to which the state and federal offices work together effectively—or not. Examining working relationships within the context of program implementation and across four different environmental programs offers a unique perspective on why environmental laws sometimes go awry.

This timely volume challenges the notion that because climate change is inherently a global problem, only coordinated actions on a global scale can lead to a solution. It considers the perspective that since climate change itself has both global and local causes and implications, the most effective policies for adapting to and mitigating climate change must involve governments and communities at many different levels. Federalism—the system of government in which power is divided among a national government and state and regional governments—is well-suited to address the challenges of climate change because it permits distinctive policy responses at a variety of scales. The chapters in this book explore questions such as what are appropriate relationships between states, tribes, and the federal government as each actively pursues climate-change policies? How much leeway should states have in designing and implementing climate-change policies, and how extensively should the federal government exercise its preemption powers to constrain state activity? What climate-change strategies are states best suited to pursue, and what role, if any, will regional state-based collaborations and associations play? This book examines these questions from a variety of perspectives, blending legal and policy analyses to provide thought-provoking coverage of how governments in a federal system cooperate, coordinate, and accommodate one another to address this global problem. Navigating Climate Change Policy is an essential resource for policymakers and judges at all levels of government who deal with questions of climate governance. It will also serve as an important addition to the curriculum on climate change and environmental policy in graduate and undergraduate courses and will be of interest to anyone concerned with how the government addresses environmental issues.

Environmental Protection: Law and Policy, widely respected for its intellectual breadth and depth, is an interdisciplinary and international overview of the fundamental issues of Environmental Law, incorporating history, theory, litigation, regulation, policy, science, economics, and ethics. It includes a complete introduction to the history of environmental protection; laws and regulations; regulatory design strategies; policy objectives; and analysis of constitutional federalism and related policy questions concerning the design and implementation of environmental protection programs. Coverage includes the major federal pollution control laws (the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, CERCLA, and more); climate change (a chapter discussing important scientific, policy, and program design questions); natural resource management issues (two chapters focusing on the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act); and national forest management. New to the Eighth Edition: Thoroughly updated coverage, including how various actors—Congress, the President, political and career staff at agencies such as EPA, and regulatory beneficiaries—influence shifts in environmental law and policy, including Trump Administration initiatives that raise novel administrative and environmental law issues that have been or are likely to be addressed by the courts Coverage of evolving agency approaches to the scope of Clean Water Act mandates through repeal of or revisions to the "waters of the United States" rule, and of controversies surrounding the Trump Administration's climate change policies, including repeal of the Clean Power Plan and its announced withdrawal from the 2015 Paris climate agreement to which virtually every other nation is a party Inclusion of new principal cases such as the Supreme Court's decision in Michigan v. EPA, which addressed the role of cost in regulation, and the Third Circuit's decision in American Farm Bureau Federation v. EPA, which involved implementation of the total maximum daily load program under the Clean Water Act Comprehensive treatment of 2016 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act, the first major revisions to a core environmental statute enacted by Congress in 20 years Treatment of compliance and enforcement issues and their importance to the development and implementation of environmental law Coverage of ongoing controversial litigation in courts throughout the country on application of the public trust doctrine to force government action to mitigate climate change through controls on greenhouse gas emissions Professors and students will benefit from: Thorough and nuanced treatment of the history of environmental protection, existing laws, regulations, and cases, regulatory design strategies, and current and developing policy objectives Broad-based international and interdisciplinary approach incorporating science, economics, and ethics Coverage of major federal pollution control laws Landmark and cutting-edge cases Notes and questions Charts and graphics Numerous exercises and problems Distinguished authorship with extensive practical, scholarly, and teaching experience

Within the United States, minority and low-income communities currently bear a disproportionate amount of risk associated with pollution and other harmful environmental practices. The environmental justice movement is working to change this fact, promoting the fair and non-discriminatory treatment of all people with respect to environmental issues, policies, and regulations. This fascinating and timely volume explores the relationship between environmental justice and the government, offering a comprehensive introduction to the legal, economic, and philosophical concerns involved in pursuing environmental justice goals within a federalist system. The authors discuss two case studies in their investigation of the complex interactions between environmental justice and government. These analyses offer a comprehensive view of both the siting and regulation of polluting activities, as well as a discussion of the effects on major natural resources such as clean air and drinking water. In each case, the authors both describe current government responses to the problem and offer specific recommendations regarding what actions should be taken in the future. This authoritative book will make an invaluable addition to courses in environmental law and policy. Professionals and policymakers working in disciplines such as law, economics, environmental science, philosophy and political science will also find this a comprehensive and critical reference.