A bimonthly public policy magazine. In what promises to be a protracted struggle over who can best enforce the nation's environmental laws and provide for a cleaner environment, EPA and a growing number of state environmental agencies are at loggerheads over state efforts to introduce innovative new programs.
Environmental audits shift the focus away from Washington and towards state governments.
By providing incentives for companies to uncover, disclose, and correct their violations of environmental statutes, audits have opened up lines of communication between state regulatory agencies and the entities they monitor. And, as state regulatory officials are quick to point out, companies carrying out voluntary audits are much more efficient at uncovering violations than an army of inspectors. The Clinton administration opposes state audit laws and Congressional efforts to adopt a federal counterpart. According to Lieberman, EPA has engaged in an intimidation campaign against states with audit laws. None of these arguments stands up to scrutiny, Lieberman says.