In the United States of America, environmental management policy is based on the premise that those closest to the environmental problems are most familiar with them and best able to provide an effective enforcement presence in the field. At the same time, there is a natural human tendency to protect local jobs and investment that should not be allowed to occur by environmentally unsustainable practices. To implement the nationwide pollution-control program, most national laws provide for the national U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to delegate its authority to programmes of the 50 States that comprise the United States, provided that they are operating at or equivalent to USEPA’s national standards. While most day-to-day enforcement and compliance assurance activities are decentralised, USEPA maintains a parallel, national enforcement presence to ensure a fair and level competitive playing field throughout the country. [For a more complete description of environmental federalism in the United States, see the case study on “Vertical Designation of Enforcement Responsibilities for Enforcing Pollution-Control Laws in the United States”, following Guideline 41(a)
(i)].
Because of parallel national and sub-national enforcement authorities, a high level of coordination has been institutionalised by USEPA with state pollution-control programmes. The framework for coordinating national oversight of state programs and assessing state performance was formalised in the 1986 “Revised Policy Framework for State/EPA Enforcement Agreements.” The 10 USEPA Regional Offices and most of the 50 States enter into annual agreements that establish roles, responsibilities, and commitments for state enforcement and assistance to achieve compliance with the pollution-control laws. Criteria for good state performance are set, and USEPA uses these criteria to make the decision as to when to take national enforcement action within a State. The principle of “no surprises” obliges USEPA to consult with States on their activities and to work cooperatively with them. The annual agreements typically become part of national programme grants of funds to States. (USEPA’s national grants are an important financial incentive to ensure that States have the capacity to effectively implement State pollution-control programmes.)
Recognising the importance of States in environmental planning and implementation, USEPA began a new effort in the early 2000s to align national and state planning. Based on USEPA’s Strategic Plan, now each USEPA national programme office must prepare National Program Guidance with national priorities and measures of performance. Then, USEPA headquarters and the 10 Regional offices in consultation with the States prepare a biennial set of commitments for accomplishing the national plan and guidance at the sub-national level. Regions and States negotiate these commitments and express them in environmental grant or performance agreements, with precise outcome and output measures of state performance. These include measures for state enforcement and compliance if they are not already expressed in a separate State-USEPA Enforcement Agreement. EPA conducts national oversight of state environmental enforcement and compliance programmes, also based on the principles of the original Policy Framework and the controlling EPA-State agreements.
To facilitate coordination between national and sub-national authorities, it can be useful to establish task forces that include personnel from relevant federal agencies and state and local agencies. This can help to ensure more efficient and effective use of enforcement resources.