3 ms·

A someone outside of the US (and who never quite understood the state/federal divide!), I'm really curious about what state regulatory enforcement is in now. It

A someone outside of the US (and who never quite understood the state/federal divide!), I'm really curious about what state regulatory enforcement is in now. It seemed [0] that the recent Republican government aimed to make as much damage as possible to these safety nets. Are they still there and functional? [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policy_of_the_Donald_Trump_administration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_policy_of_the_Do...

Wohlf 5y ago
The states and larger cities have their own sets of regulations and enforcement agencies so it's not a simple question, but as best I can tell COVID restrictions and hiring issues have been a bigger blow to regulatory enforcement than the past administration, any changes they made would be marginal in comparison and are likely already undone by the new administration.
- xapata 5y ago
  It's not easy to hire good staff when budgets are cut.
rootusrootus 5y ago
> who never quite understood the state/federal divide This is key. The states in the US hold a huge amount of the actual power. As a practical matter the EPA will never be involved with something like this. It will be the state DEQ (or equivalent agency) that really has the teeth.
cogman10 5y ago
The original intent of the US foundation was that state be ran like nations are ran in the EU. That is, for the most part they are independent with a federal government that makes sure everyone plays nice. That all changed with the civil war and the 14th amendment. After that, the federal government gained a LOT of power that it didn't previously have. However, it's not something that was universal. In the US, federal still, for the most part, only deals with things that can be conceived to effect more than one state at the same time. There is, for example, no federal murder law. With that in mind, you have 50 states and for the most part, how the little things are handled are entirely up to each state. What a state will do in regards to regulations and safety nets is simply all over the board.
- danlugo92 5y ago
  From a non american viewpoint, I find it impressive that states like Florida and Texas have been able to do away with covid restrictions independently of all other states.
  - rdtsc 5y ago
    It’s a double-edged sword. California or other states might have more environmentally friendly legislation or support net neutrality and such. I lived in US and Europe and it is what it is. I can see the benefits and the downsides.
alistairSH 5y ago
Very generally, federal agencies write nation-wide minimum sets of regulations (which have to be based on laws passed by Congress, which in turn have to be grounded in allowances in the Constitution - powers not explicitly granted to the federal government belong to the people/states [see below]). Some of these federal agencies have enforcement officers, but nowhere near enough to police everything. In the case of the EPA, the rules relate to pollution, toxic materials, etc (lead paint, asbestos, petro-chemicals, etc). FDA is about food production and drug safety. OSHA is work-place safety. States (and cities, counties, etc) generally have their own building codes and enforcement agencies. But, the states still have to follow federal rules where they exist. So, in this case, there are EPA rules about lead paint handling. Very likely three are also OSHA rules dealing with worker safety when dealing with lead (wearing a respirator). And while the EPA might have some enforcement officers, they won't be interested in a single house renovation (more likely interested in factories, sky-scrapers, etc). OSHA also has enforcement, but a lot of that ends up being after-the-fact (ie somebody loses a limb, OSHA gets called, and shuts down a factory until remedial action taken). But, the local building inspectors office is able to enforce the EPA rules as well as local building codes. And there's probably a local work-place safety office as well. But, in the case of small construction jobs, local code enforcement is the easiest/fastest way to get something on-site changed. With respect to the Trump administration, you are correct - he went out of his way to install department heads who were either incompetent or had business goals opposed to the agency they were tasked with leading. [] - The 14th Amendment gives the federal government the power to ensure all people are protected equally under the law. Pretty darn broad power there. Similarly, the Commerce Clause in the Constitution grants the federal government the power to regulate trade between the states and other countries. Again, you can read that very widely - pretty much any serious level of commerce impacts more than one state.
PragmaticPulp 5y ago
> A someone outside of the US (and who never quite understood the state/federal divide!), I'm really curious about what state regulatory enforcement is in now. It seemed [0] that the recent Republican government aimed to make as much damage as possible to these safety nets. Are they still there and functional? These are city-level regulations, and they're almost completely isolated from politicking. Generally speaking: Most (but not all) news stories about US politics are greatly exaggerated. News media here competes for clicks, and the easiest way to get clicks is to transform every possible story into the biggest catastrophe possible. In reality, while parts of our regulatory structure need some attention and improvement, the United States isn't really an unregulated wasteland. Just try building anything that doesn't meet code and you'll be in hot water very quickly, regardless of where you live here.

Wohlf 5y ago

The states and larger cities have their own sets of regulations and enforcement agencies so it's not a simple question, but as best I can tell COVID restrictions and hiring issues have been a bigger blow to regulatory enforcement than the past administration, any changes they made would be marginal in comparison and are likely already undone by the new administration.

xapata 5y ago
It's not easy to hire good staff when budgets are cut.

rootusrootus 5y ago

> who never quite understood the state/federal divide This is key. The states in the US hold a huge amount of the actual power. As a practical matter the EPA will never be involved with something like this. It will be the state DEQ (or equivalent agency) that really has the teeth.

cogman10 5y ago

The original intent of the US foundation was that state be ran like nations are ran in the EU. That is, for the most part they are independent with a federal government that makes sure everyone plays nice. That all changed with the civil war and the 14th amendment. After that, the federal government gained a LOT of power that it didn't previously have. However, it's not something that was universal. In the US, federal still, for the most part, only deals with things that can be conceived to effect more than one state at the same time. There is, for example, no federal murder law. With that in mind, you have 50 states and for the most part, how the little things are handled are entirely up to each state. What a state will do in regards to regulations and safety nets is simply all over the board.

danlugo92 5y ago
From a non american viewpoint, I find it impressive that states like Florida and Texas have been able to do away with covid restrictions independently of all other states.
- rdtsc 5y ago
  It’s a double-edged sword. California or other states might have more environmentally friendly legislation or support net neutrality and such. I lived in US and Europe and it is what it is. I can see the benefits and the downsides.

alistairSH 5y ago

Very generally, federal agencies write nation-wide minimum sets of regulations (which have to be based on laws passed by Congress, which in turn have to be grounded in allowances in the Constitution - powers not explicitly granted to the federal government belong to the people/states [see below]). Some of these federal agencies have enforcement officers, but nowhere near enough to police everything. In the case of the EPA, the rules relate to pollution, toxic materials, etc (lead paint, asbestos, petro-chemicals, etc). FDA is about food production and drug safety. OSHA is work-place safety. States (and cities, counties, etc) generally have their own building codes and enforcement agencies. But, the states still have to follow federal rules where they exist. So, in this case, there are EPA rules about lead paint handling. Very likely three are also OSHA rules dealing with worker safety when dealing with lead (wearing a respirator). And while the EPA might have some enforcement officers, they won't be interested in a single house renovation (more likely interested in factories, sky-scrapers, etc). OSHA also has enforcement, but a lot of that ends up being after-the-fact (ie somebody loses a limb, OSHA gets called, and shuts down a factory until remedial action taken). But, the local building inspectors office is able to enforce the EPA rules as well as local building codes. And there's probably a local work-place safety office as well. But, in the case of small construction jobs, local code enforcement is the easiest/fastest way to get something on-site changed. With respect to the Trump administration, you are correct - he went out of his way to install department heads who were either incompetent or had business goals opposed to the agency they were tasked with leading. [] - The 14th Amendment gives the federal government the power to ensure all people are protected equally under the law. Pretty darn broad power there. Similarly, the Commerce Clause in the Constitution grants the federal government the power to regulate trade between the states and other countries. Again, you can read that very widely - pretty much any serious level of commerce impacts more than one state.

PragmaticPulp 5y ago

> A someone outside of the US (and who never quite understood the state/federal divide!), I'm really curious about what state regulatory enforcement is in now. It seemed [0] that the recent Republican government aimed to make as much damage as possible to these safety nets. Are they still there and functional? These are city-level regulations, and they're almost completely isolated from politicking. Generally speaking: Most (but not all) news stories about US politics are greatly exaggerated. News media here competes for clicks, and the easiest way to get clicks is to transform every possible story into the biggest catastrophe possible. In reality, while parts of our regulatory structure need some attention and improvement, the United States isn't really an unregulated wasteland. Just try building anything that doesn't meet code and you'll be in hot water very quickly, regardless of where you live here.