STATE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SURFACE MINING CONTROL AND RECLAMATION ACT OF 1977.

Congressional architects of environmental policy in the 1970s sought to resolve air, water, and land-based pollution problems by using a policy approach termed "partial preemption." A major objective was to maintain a significant policy-making role for U.S. state officials and, at the same time, attain federal environmental quality standards. The relative locus of political control varies according to the type of partial pre-emption adopted, i.e., compulsory or voluntary. Voluntary forms of partial pre-emption encourage but do not require state participation in federal environmental programs.