This 1.5 credit module will introduce students to the roles that governmental agencies play in environmental protection at the federal and state levels in the United States. It will review the historical evolution of such entities as the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Interior as well as their state-level counterparts and explore how they address such issues as working across jurisdictional boundaries and environmental media of air, water, and land. Moreover, cases will be examined to study such issues as political control of agency staff and operations as well as response to legislative mandates to measure and advance performance. The module will allow students to select a case study for review in a short paper that will be presented at the end of the term.
