State/Federal Relations in Environmental Protection: How Will They Evolve in the 1980s?
The design of state/federal relations during the last decade has evolved largely in response to the carrot of substantial federal funding and the stick of federal requirements for the structure of state regulatory programs. The resultant relationship has been controversial and stormy; in the last 10 years, however, many trends in environmental degradation have been slowed and in some cases effectively reversed. It is certain that over the next decade federal funds will be increasingly scarce, and it is probable that regulatory requirements for state-administered programs will be eased.