Terra Firma or Terra Incognita - Western Land Use, Hazardous Waste, and the Devolution of U.S. Federal Environmental Programs

A diverse group of stakeholders has suggested that U.S. federal environmental programs should be integrated more tightly with local land use planning entities to improve environmental decision making and enhance public involvement. Proponents of this argument have been particularly vocal in the western part of the country. This article uses the example of a Superfund site in California to examine several difficulties with marrying federal protection efforts with local land use. Diverse local interests, the existence of non-local stakeholders, and the absence of strong statutory language and adequate funding all complicate efforts at local involvement.