Regulating hazardous wastes under U.S. environmental federalism: The role of state resources

Wesley Blundell, Mary Evans and Sarah L. Stafford

Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2021, vol. 108, issue C

Abstract: We explore the extent to which variation in states' resources devoted to environmental protection leads to variation in environmental outcomes, specifically the monitoring and enforcement of large hazardous waste facilities regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Results from our instrumental variables regressions suggest that the average state responds to a reduction in its per-facility environmental agency budget by decreasing the fraction of large RCRA facilities receiving inspections and enforcement actions. We also find evidence that a reduction in a state's environmental budget may result in a substitution away from resource-intensive on-site inspections to lower-cost off-site inspections. If the latter type of inspection is relatively less effective in detecting violations, then this substitution is likely to lead to poorer environmental outcomes. Overall our results suggest that decreases in EPA funding for state environmental agencies and further devolution of responsibility for environmental programs to states may result in lower levels of environmental protection in some areas.

Keywords: Q53; Q58; H76; H77 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:108:y:2021:i:c:s0095069621000474

DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2021.102464

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