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Over 20 years have passed since Executive Order 12898 put environmental justice (EJ) issues on the policy agenda. Since this time, EJ has technically remained a policy priority at all levels of government. However, despite this apparent commitment to EJ, research has shown over the decades after the passage of the Executive Order, we still see persistent trends in inequality of air pollution exposure by race. This begs the question: are EJ policies actually working to create environmentally just outcomes? This article seeks to evaluate this question by examining the impact of state EJ policies on disproportionate exposure to air pollution, with the goal of understanding what types of state actions, if any, are associated with decreases in pollution inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine states' use of local clean air agencies and provide a preliminary assessment of what causes states to devolve air quality policy authority to the local level. Data from a unique comparative state survey shows that states vary widely in the number of local clean air agencies they employ and the amount of authority these agencies have to set standards, monitor air quality, and enforce regulations. Multivariate analyses suggest that second-order devolution is partly driven by a general propensity to decentralize policy authority, but that policy-specific factors relating to the problem and interest group environment affect devolution as well. These findings indicate that local agencies play an important role in U.S. air quality regulation, and that the dynamics of state devolution to local agencies deserve further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]