Tragedy of the Wetlands Commons: What the Virginia Nontidal Wetlands Resources Act Says About the Future of Environmental Regulation
By Caleb A. Jaffe
INTRODUCTION
Environmentalists have tended to assume that strong, congressional legislation and a vigilant EPA are the best means to defend national, environmental concerns from state and local economic pressures. And, in many respects, they are right. There are critical, essential roles for the federal government and multi-state programs to play. But in the end, most environmental resources are state resources, and states must decide how to protect them. In this note, using the Virginia Nontidal Wetlands Resources Act of 2000 (“the Act”) as a case study, I assert that the next generation of environmental protections should be, and ultimately will be, crafted at the state level.
Therefore, the environmental community needs to refocus its efforts. It needs to realize that, pragmatically, federal controls cannot provide a detailed, comprehensive solution. Furthermore, environmentalists need to accept that the federal government is getting out of the command-and-control business, and that the best hope for environmental protection lies elsewhere. Environmentalists can succeed in lobbying state governments to rise to this challenge. The Commonwealth of Virginia is a conservative state, not known for adopting progressive, California-esque initiatives. Yet the Virginia Nontidal Wetlands Resources Act provides a promising beginning. It points the way to the future of environmental regulation.
Environmentalists have tended to assume that strong, congressional legislation and a vigilant EPA are the best means to defend national, environmental concerns from state and local economic pressures. And, in many respects, they are right. There are critical, essential roles for the federal government and multi-state programs to play. But in the end, most environmental resources are state resources, and states must decide how to protect them. In this note, using the Virginia Nontidal Wetlands Resources Act of 2000 (“the Act”) as a case study, I assert that the next generation of environmental protections should be, and ultimately will be, crafted at the state level.
Therefore, the environmental community needs to refocus its efforts. It needs to realize that, pragmatically, federal controls cannot provide a detailed, comprehensive solution. Furthermore, environmentalists need to accept that the federal government is getting out of the command-and-control business, and that the best hope for environmental protection lies elsewhere. Environmentalists can succeed in lobbying state governments to rise to this challenge. The Commonwealth of Virginia is a conservative state, not known for adopting progressive, California-esque initiatives. Yet the Virginia Nontidal Wetlands Resources Act provides a promising beginning. It points the way to the future of environmental regulation.