Second-Order Devolution or Local Activism? Local Air Agencies Revisited

In response to calls from previous scholarship for further bottom-up examination of local government roles in environmental policy, the authors revisit local air agencies to examine two separate phenomena occurring in environmental federalism: one from the top down (second-order devolution) and one from the bottom up (local activism). Using survey data from local air agencies on devolved authorities to set air quality standards and to enforce federal and/or state standards, the authors identify three different types of local agencies: state administrative subunits (only enforcement authority), fully devolved agencies (authority to both set and enforce standards), and activist agencies (neither authority). Further findings indicate that state administrative subunits and fully devolved agencies are likely functions of second-order devolution, while activist agencies are likely functions of local activism. Conclusions suggest that both top-down and bottom-up approaches to environmental federalism are shaping local government roles in environmental management.