Federal-State Environmental Agency Relationships: A Weak Confederacy

Abstract

The relationship between state and federal environmental agencies has changed significantly over the last several years as concepts of "devolution" and increased local control have gained increasing political force. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) no longer speaks in terms of strong federal environmental authority, but discusses state-federal relationships in terms of "partnerships" and "win-win" situations. States, including Georgia, regularly express their unwillingness to undertake environmental programs and responsibilities which are not uniformly required of all states. As a result, the relationship between federal and state agencies, and their respective roles in responding to water quality issues has become less clear. Citizens must play an increasingly important role in overseeing the actions of the environmental agencies, and must push for state-federal agreements, including Performance Partnership Agreements (PPA), which state with particularity the respective roles of state and federal environmental agencies.