EPA, TVA, and pollution control: a comparative analysis of intragovernmental policy implementation

Thesis/Dissertation · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:6731039

Durant, R F

Of late the substance, organization, and context of federal policies have been altered. This study examines one manifestation of these developments; the burgeoning necessity of one federal agency having to hold another accountable to national policy goals. Its analytical focus is the Environmental Protection Agency's experience with the Tennessee Valley Authority during the former's implementation of the Clean Air Act and the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Specifically examined are EPA's efforts to apply SO/sub 2/ and thermal pollution control policies to the TVA power program during the 1970's. Using a comparative case study design, the divergent responses of TVA to the implementation efforts of EPA - relatively swift compliance with thermal-pollution policy and protracted noncompliance with SO/sub 2/ policy - are compared and contrasted. The analysis is guided by two sets of research questions. One set seeks to assess the nature of the intragovernmental implementation process, as well as the implications of the EPA/TVA cases for emerging policy implementation theory. The second set of questions addresses the implications of intragovernmental policy implementation for the administrative state. The study both supports the importance of, and suggests refinements to, several factors found to condition implementation in other contexts. Those refined include policy/mission proximity, complexity of joint action, dispositions of actors, and validity of causal theory.

• OSTI ID: 6731039
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
296000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power
500600 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Regulations-- (-1989)
520600 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Regulations -- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
IMPLEMENTATION
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
POLLUTION
TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY
THERMAL POLLUTION
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS
WATER POLLUTION