Enforcing the Law: Case of the Clean Water Acts: Case of the Clean Water Acts

Hunter and Waterman's important work is the most comprehensive analysis available of the Environmental Protection Agency's enforcement of the Clean Water Act and its amendments. The book uses extensive EPA data, including a survey of federaland state-level environmental officials, to examine enforcement from the perspective of government personnel. Emphasis is on what is done, how it is done, and why it is done. By combining detailed documentation of regulatory implementation with surveys of the views of federal and state officials, industry representatives, and environmental activists, this study illuminates a process of pragmatic enforcement - that is, the way bureaucrats actually do their jobs. The book examines the operation of pollution control policy over two decades and several presidential administrations; shows the pragmatic nature of regulatory enforcement, mixing adherence with due discretion; and considers the effectiveness of both punitive and incentive-based policies in different contexts.

Susan Hunter is associate professor of political science at West Virginia University.