! asking!businesses!to!comply!with!one!set!of!factory\wide!standards!or!requirements!as! opposed!to!complying!with!multiple!and!possibly!overlapping!requirements!for!water! emissions,!air!emissions,!solid!waste!disposal,!etc.).368!!Anderson!describes!how!state! governments!are!able!to!manage!forestlands!more!efficiently!than!the!federal!government!and! Schoenbrod!argues!that!state!governments!are!able!to!clean!up!contaminated!waste!sites!far! more!cheaply!and!efficiently!than!can!the!federal!government.369!!It!should!be!recognized,!of! course,!that!more!efficient!(and!less!costly)!regulation!can!be!achieved!not!only!by!finding! better,!less!onerous!ways!to!meet!standards!but!also!by!lowering!standards.! ! When!it!comes!to!shale!gas!regulation,!the!states!reviewed!have!taken!a!variety!of!approaches! to!promoting!regulatory!efficiency.!!Texas,!for!example,!keeps!an!updated!record!of!how!long!it! takes!to!process!and!receive!a!drilling!permit;!at!the!time!of!writing,!the!state!would!grant!an! expedited!permit!in!7!business!days!and!a!standard!permit!in!14!business!days.370!!The!faster! that!permits!are!granted,!the!less!time!that!companies!have!to!keep!resources!idle,!thereby! saving!money.!!All!of!the!states!that!require!disclosure!of!hydraulic!fracturing!chemicals,! although!only!after!fracturing!has!been!completed,!are!acknowledging!that!requiring!disclosure! of!chemicals!that!will!be!used!prior!to!fracturing!would!impose!regulatory!inefficiency!on!shale! gas!operators!since!they!often!change!the!composition!of!the!fluid!as!the!learn!more!about!the! geology!of!the!well!while!the!drilling!and!fracturing!process!is!occurring.371! ! It!should!be!noted!here!that!one!argument!that!is!sometimes!made!for!regulatory!efficiency! calls!for!the!federal!government!to!implement!uniform!national!standards!in!order!to!preempt! the!varied!standards!that!can!be!set!by!the!fifty!states.!!Klass!explains!that!this!regulatory! approach!is!usually!applied!to!“nationwide!products”!(such!as!energy!efficiency!standards!for! appliances,!or!other!types!of!regulations!for!automobiles,!drugs,!medical!devices,!etc.)!so!that! manufacturers!are!not!forced!to!choose!between!customizing!products!for!each!state!or! choosing!only!a!subset!of!states!for!which!to!manufacture!products.372!!Klass!also!notes!that!the! approach!taken!by!the!federal!government!in!these!types!of!situations!is!not!one!of!“regulatory! federalism”!in!which!the!federal!government!sets!either!a!regulatory!floor!or!ceiling!and!allows! states!to!enact!stricter!(in!case!of!a!floor)!or!more!lenient!standards!(in!case!of!a!ceiling).373!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 368
!Barry!G.!Rabe,!“Power!to!the!States:!The!Promise!and!Pitfalls!of!Decentralization,”!38–40.! !Anderson!and!Hill,!“Environmental!Federalism:!Thinking!Smaller,”!xiv;!Schoenbrod,!“Why!States,!Not! EPA,!Should!Set!Pollution!Standards,”!262.! 370 !Railroad!Commission!of!Texas,!“Data!and!Statistics,!Drilling.”! 371 !Wiseman!and!Gradijan,!“Regulation!of!Shale!Gas!Development,!Including!Hydraulic!Fracturing,”!98– 99.! 372 !Klass,!“State!Standards!for!Nationwide!Products!Revisited,”!338.! 373 !Ibid.! 369
Chapter!5!–!Regulatory!Federalism!
91!