The Environmental Law Institute recently published an essay written by E&W Law partner Susan Bodine on cooperative federalism in a special edition of The Environmental Law Reporter. Her essay summarizes remarks she delivered at ELI’s Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review in Washington, D.C., earlier this year.
The essay responds to Professor Anthony Derron’s 2025 University of Pennsylvania Law Review article, Unwritten Administrative Law and the Regulatory Last Mile, which argues that weaknesses in state administrative law undermine cooperative federalism that most federal environmental laws embrace. He offers observations on state implementation of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and Clean Air Act (CAA) to support this premise.
Bodine challenges that premise, arguing that Derron’s critique rests on an inaccurate understanding of federal environmental law. She notes that many of the examples he uses to frame his argument are inapposite. “Many of the weaknesses he identifies in state administrative law are present in federal law as well,” Bodine says. More generally, she states the cooperative federalism model is more robust than he gives it credit for.
Read the full essay here: 2026 Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review issue, or access the full PDF issue below.
