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Cooperative Federalism Under The Surface Mining Control And Reclamation Act: Is This Any Way To Run A Government, Mark Squillace

West Virginia Law Review

One of the hallmarks of the environmental legislation passed by Congress in the 1970s was its increased reliance on a regulatory framework that has come to be known as "cooperative federalism." Under the cooperative federalism model, the states are given the opportunity to assume all or part of the responsibility for a regulatory program if they submit to the appropriate federal agency a program that satisfies certain standards set down by Congress or agency implementing regulations. As an incentive to encourage states to accept such responsibility, these statutes typically provide for partial federal funding of the program. States may, of …