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A new design for environmental policy? The use of interstate compacts to site radioactive waste disposal facilities
Abstract
The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act (LLRWPA) of 1980 represents the first attempt by Congress to legislatively solve the radioactive waste dilemma. The Act encouraged States to form compacts or regional authorities and build new waste facilities. This was to ensure economies of scale (as 50 sites were not needed) and also to distribute waste facilities more equitably. The Act incorporated a series of milestones, penalties and incentives to drive the compact process including giving compacts the ability to exclude out-of-compact waste after January 1, 1986. I analyze the LLRWPA by applying a framework developed from writings falling under the general title of policy design. Policy design represents an alternative approach to policy studies, placing emphasis on core elements of policies: the goals and context of policy, the social construction of target populations, agents and agency discretion and tools, rules and assumptions. Policy design seeks to externalize the policy process by stressing elements of policy that are generic in nature and can be found in all policies. Hence, all policies have goals, targets, agents who implement the policy and varying methods government employs to ensure compliance. The framework goes to the heart of the political process by stressing the importance of how the recipients of policy are viewed by lawmakers and the public and the ways in which government responds to societal problems. The design analysis details congressional expectations, uncovering the structural logic of the law that links the goals with the targets, agents and tools. Based on this analysis, a model of State adoption of compact legislation is then presented. The findings indicate regional considerations, state legislative capability and population are important indicators of compact adoption. States regarded as more capable and not located in a region with an operating waste facility were much less probable to adopt compact legislation than less capable states located in such a region. Thus, efforts regarding the efficacy of regional cooperation among states to solve environmental problems are called into question. Conclusions concerning the utility of the design framework and the assumptions Congress made are discussed fully and avenues for future research are suggested.
Subject Area
Public administration|Environmental science|Sanitation
Recommended Citation
Dodson, Anthony Lawrence, "A new design for environmental policy? The use of interstate compacts to site radioactive waste disposal facilities" (1995). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9600729.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9600729