Summary
EnviroSource.com directs you to all of the U.S. state environmental laws and regulations available on the Internet (all 50 states), and provides regulatory contacts and contacts for obtaining hardcopy laws and regulations either for free or purchase. Canadian regional laws and regulations are also covered.
The following is a summary of what is provided by the EnviroSource.com category State/Regional - Laws and Regulations:
1. Laws/Statutes/Codes/Acts
2. State/Regional EPA Regulations
3. Other Regulations (administrative code/rules - regulations for all agencies in a U.S. state and information on the state's official register)
4. Canadian Gazette sites (regional registers)
5. Legislative Information
6. U.S. State Courts/Judicial
7. Commercial Vendors of Regulatory Information
8. Directories that provide overviews, summaries and supporting documentation)
9. Indexes such as the Canadian Environmental Statutes and Regulations Index and the Canadian Environmental Laws and Regulations Index
Note: Listings in this category have limited searchability by technical words.
Staying Up-to-Date on Laws
State law changes are relatively infrequent. EnviroSource.com links you to the most up-to-date postings of laws - generally labeled as code or compiled statute sites. For the latest changes which might not be incorporated into these sites, EnviroSource.com links you to state legislative sites. EnviroSource.com also provides you with contacts for questions on changes to each state's laws and contacts for obtaining hardcopy laws. Purchasing from the state or one of their contractors is generally cheaper than going through an alternative commercial vendor.
Using and Staying Up-to-Date on Regulations
EnviroSource.com links you to the most up-to-date postings of regulations. There are generally two types of Internet postings we link you to:
1. "State EPA" regulation postings (on their Web site), i.e. regulations from the agency in each state responsible for the state's primary environmental programs
2. Administrative code/rules postings - generally includes all state agency regulations (including the "State EPA")
EnviroSource.com also provides you with regulatory contacts for information on how up-to-date and comprehensive the postings are and contacts for obtaining hardcopy regulations. If regulations are not posted online, it is important to note that many state agencies will provide sections of the regulations via fax for free (longer sections or complete titles will generally need to be purchased). Purchasing from the state or one of their contractors is generally cheaper than going through an alternative commercial vendor.
Regulations for all state agencies can be found at administrative code/rules sites as referenced above, and if not, see Web sites referenced in the EnviroSource.com category State/Regional - Agencies (state agencies often post their regulations at their own Web site).
Where to Find State Program Summaries
State program summaries can be very useful in orienting yourself to the regulatory arena for a particular state. Those located on the Internet are referenced in the EnviroSource.com category State/Regional - Laws and Regulations. These Internet sources may originate from the following sources (or if not on the Internet can be obtained from):
- Summaries provided by books (see the category Books/CD-ROMs).
- Law firms that staff environmental attorneys sometimes publish pamphlets or brochures that provide summaries of their state's environmental programs (statutes, agencies, etc.). The pamphlets may be available for free upon request (see the category Law Firms).
- State guides written by government agencies for small business sometimes contain a summary of the state's environmental programs. Contact the state "department of trade and economic development", "small business assistance office", or similar (see the categories State/Regional - Agencies, State/Regional - Assistance Groups, and State/Regional - Libraries).
- State Bar Associations can be a good source for information on state environmental programs (see the category State/Regional Laws and Regulations).
State environmental statutory programs generally follow the federal scope of coverage. However, states may enact additional laws and regulations that are at least as stringent as the federal requirements.
State agencies sometimes simply adopt the federal requirements by reference, and sometimes they will re-issue the federal requirements in their own language and reference system. When federal requirements are re-issued it can be difficult to find the state components that are more stringent than the federal. Methods to identify more stringent state components include reading the entire text of state requirements and comparing them to the federal, discussion with agency contacts, and review of publications that provide state program summaries.
Use of EnviroSource is bound by our Terms and Conditions policy.