Book Description

A former EPA chief attorney traces the tumultuous history of the agency’s enforcement efforts from the Nixon through the second Bush administrations. Based on 190 personal interviews with present and former enforcement officials at EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice, and key congressional staff members—along with extensive research among EPA documents and secondary sources—this book vividly recounts the often-tumultuous history of EPA’s enforcement program. It also analyzes some important questions regarding EPA’s institutional relationships and the Agency’s working environment. This revised and updated edition adds substantial new chapters examining EPA enforcement during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. Its treatment of issues of civil service decline and the applicability of captive agency theory is also new and original. The first published work to treat the historical evolution of EPA enforcement, this book provides a candid inside glimpse of a crucial aspect of the work of an important federal agency. “Explores the agency’s strengths and weaknesses . . . With insight and intimate knowledge of enforcement and compliance, Mintz relates an interesting story.” —Ecology Law Quarterly