In recent years, new and more stringent environmental regulations have landed on the desks of mayors, city managers, city recorders and county commissioners. The breadth, complexity and cost of environmental requirements increased significantly throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s as new legislation was passed by Congress and the State Legislature. Local government involvement with environmental protection programs now includes both compliance with, and local enforcement of, regulations. Small communities especially are faced with tight budgets and limited staff resources to carry out these requirements.
Many local officials feel overwhelmed at times by the regulations.
The challenges of complying increase when the mandated requirements are difficult to understand and information is not readily available to help explain them. This guide is a quick reference to current federal and state environmental regulations. The guide includes references, website links, contacts, and resources in both state and federal agencies that can be called upon for more detailed information about a regulation, ways to comply with a regulation, and sources of technical assistance. This guide provides a summary of many of the basic environmental requirements that apply to local governments. Contacts and information are provided for the state agencies that are responsible for these programs.