Policy gridlock in waste management: Balancing federal and state concerns
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
- Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Current federal hazardous and low-level radioactive waste management policies fail to balance national concerns for policy consistency with state concerns for equity, discretion, and adequate resources. Failure to balance these competing values has resulted in {open_quotes}policy gridlock{close_quotes} - exemplified by conflicts over the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Acts. Both conflicts have resulted in recent U.S. Supreme Court litigation. After reviewing federal-state conflict in hazardous and low-level radioactive waste management, we propose that the solution to gridlock lies in modifying conjoint federalism. Conjoint federalism allows for joint responsibility for waste policy between federal and state governments, with state programs meeting minimum standards set by federal programs. However, conjoint federalism does not currently allow for sufficient state discretion, which is paramount for successful waste management programs. Specifically, Congress should expand conjoint federalism, to allow states to charge differential fees on imported hazardous waste as is done for low-level radioactive waste. This expansion would encourage waste minimization and better interstate planning.
- Research Organization:
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-84OR21400
- OSTI ID:
- 239304
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9307230-1; ON: DE96010634; TRN: 96:012914
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 1993 American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) annual research meeting and national training conference, San Francisco, CA (United States), 17-21 Jul 1993; Other Information: PBD: 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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