Reinventing Environmental Regulation: Lessons from Project XL
Project XL (eXcellence and Leadership) was the flagship effort by the Clinton administration for 'cleaner, cheaper, and smarter' regulation. Under Project XL, business promised better performance in exchange for a regulatory approach focused more on results than means, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) measuring pollution reduction across rather than at individual sources within a facility. Reinventing Environmental Regulation is a compelling account of the breakdown in...
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Project XL (eXcellence and Leadership) was the flagship effort by the Clinton administration for 'cleaner, cheaper, and smarter' regulation. Under Project XL, business promised better performance in exchange for a regulatory approach focused more on results than means, with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) measuring pollution reduction across rather than at individual sources within a facility. Reinventing Environmental Regulation is a compelling account of the breakdown in negotiations to implement Project XL at a tape manufacturing plant of 3M, a company widely recognized as environmentally progressive. Marcus, Geffen, and Sexton discuss the conflicting goals of participants, the influences of personality and organizational culture, and complications caused by changes in 3M’s external business environment. They compare the 3M case with EPA negotiations involving Intel, Merck, and Weyerhaeuser, finding similarly contentious, though less fatal disagreements about the meaning of 'superior environmental performance.' In common with other recent proposals, Project XL emphasized cooperative, flexible regulatory approaches. Reinventing Environmental Regulation demonstrates the difficulty of putting these appealing ideas into practice, while offering encouragement for continued innovations.
1Environmental Policy in Transition12Quid Pro Quo and the Birth of Project XL103Conflicting Goals244Complicating Factors465Drafting the 3M Proposal586Gaining EPA Support for the Agreement757Trying To Overcome Deadlock: The Practical Impediments898Intel, Merck, and Weyerhaeuser: Three XL Projects That Gained Approval1119Comparing the Approved Projects with 3M's Proposal14710Roadblocks to Cooperative Solutions15911Creating a Platform for Experiments179App. A: Comparable Actions Test197App. BNext Steps at 3M-Hutchinson202App. C: A More Unambiguous Definition of Superior Environmental Performance?205References211Acknowledgements223Index227About the Authors241
