ABSTRACT
Environmental federalism is the institutional structure by which national, state, and local governments share power for environmental protection. From its roots in the Constitution, federalism was adapted to fit the new demands of environmental regulation in the mid-20th century, although in doing so, it exposed inherent limitations in federal institutions. The author discusses this evolution and the related shifting of power between national and state governments from early American history, into the Cooperative Federalism and New Federalism eras, and finally, recent trends in the modern era. There is a particular focus on the logic behind decentralization, the partial preemption system for implementation of national environmental policies by states (i.e., primacy), and the inherent challenges that emerge when trying to coordinate an intergovernmental strategy for environmental protection.
