Spark Plugs of Policy Implementation: Intergovernmental Relations and Public Participation in Florida's Acceler8 Initiative to Speed Everglades Restoration

Abstract:     
Implementation of environmental policy depends importantly on the cast of characters and the strategies they employ to 'make implementation unfold on their own terms.' Scheberle, Federalism and Environmental Policy 2 (2d. ed. 2004). Supported with funding from U.S. EPA, a research study at St. Thomas University has sought to identify the 'implementation energizers,' those state and federal agency officials and staff who, despite political and bureaucratic forces to the contrary, have served as the spark plugs for implementation of Everglades restoration since congressional adoption of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) in 2000. This paper describes the evolution of federal-state working relationships and concepts of environmental federalism to implement CERP. It focuses especially on Governor Bush’s initiative which began in 2004 to accelerate features of CERP using state funds and construction contracts ahead of planning and construction schedules of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and appropriations of the Congress. This program is known as Acceler8.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 31

Keywords: intergovernmental relations, environmental policy, Everglades, ecosystem, restoration

JEL Classification: H11, D73, K32

Accepted Paper Series