Spillovers of State Policy Innovations: New York's Hazardous Waste Regulatory Initiatives

States are often seen as policy laboratories where innovations are tried that may later be adopted by other states or the federal government. Engendering such experiments may, however, promote spillovers on other states. We analyze several of New York State's policy initiatives from the 1980s that were intended to influence the selection of waste management technologies by hazardous waste generators. Time series analysis of hazardous waste manifest data reveals that constraints on land disposal of certain wastes and a tax on hazardous waste generation and disposal were associated with shifts to lower-risk technologies for waste management. The policies also constrained imports to in-state land disposal facilities and may have led to increased exports for incineration and recycling, thus shifting some of the risks of hazardous waste to other jurisdictions with less stringent regulations or lower taxes on waste generation and management.