State governments have equivalent state agencies by the same name, or with similar names such as the Department of Environmental Protection. The federal EPA enacts regulations and oversees the efforts of state environmental agencies when implementing federal laws on the local level. Environmental Permitting Environmental permitting programs regulate activities deemed to have potentially harmful effects on the physical environment in which we live.
Some environmental statutes promote the cleanup of past abuses of the environment.
Since the early 1970's, Congress has enacted numerous environmental protection statutes. Most of these statutes are implemented through extensive administrative regulations at the federal level, the state level, or at both levels of government. Many states have enacted environmental statutes that are different from the provisions of federal statutes. If the federal statutes provide more extensive protection of the environment, usually the provisions of state statutes are preempted by the federal legislation, requiring the more stringent federal standards to be applied in the state. A nuisance is a use of property that causes injury to others.