Federal Courts and the EPA
Rosemary O'LearyEnvironmental Change examines the impact of hundreds of federal court decisions on the policies and administration of the EPA since its inception in 1970. Having surveyed over 2,000 federal court decisions, Rosemary O'Leary presents case studies of five important policy areas: water quality, pesticides, toxic substances, air quality, and hazardous wastes.
Compliance with court orders, O'Leary discovered, has become one of the EPA's top priorities, at times overshadowing congressional mandates and the authority of EPA administrators.
For an agency often caught between the White House and Congressional agendas, the competing interests of industry and environmental groups, and turf battles with other federal agencies, O'Leary argues, judicial decision making is crucial in the public policy process.
Environmental Change offers valuable information in the fields of public policy and environmental law.
"This volume makes an important contribution to the literature of law and public policy. It provides a wide-ranging look at an important and controversial agency as it has interacted with the courts and lawyers across the range of critical environmental policies. A very useful analysis."
—Phillip J. Cooper
"An interesting analysis of EPA's early history, coupled with an analysis of cross-pressures from corporations and environmental intervenor groups, makes the study valuable."
—Choice
"O'Leary, who teaches public administration at Syracuse University, presents case studies of judicial/EPA interaction in such environmental policy areas as water quality, hazardous waste, toxic substances, pesticides and air pollution. Moving from the specific to the general in the final chapter, she discusses the cumulative effects of federal court rulings on EPA policies and administration."
—Publishers Weekly
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