Can Regulation Work? : The Implementation of the 1972 California Coastal Initiative Book

The implementation process of state regulatory statutes is examined in depth in this volume, both generally and in the specific case of the 1972 California coastal initiative. Based on a review of the literature on policy implementation and regulatory policymaking, the authors develop a general conceptual framework of the implementation process and then apply this framework to one of the most novel and comprehensive state-level land use statutes, the California Coastal Zone Conservation Act of 1972. They provide a history of the act, from the first perceived need for regulation through debate, drafting, and implementation. The volume examines the external and internal factors that affected the Coastal Commissions; the process of permit review; the impact of the Commissions' permit decisions on public access to the ocean and on housing prices; the development of the 1975 California Coastal plan and its revision by the legislature; the Commissions' activities in a new political environment after 1976; and the nationwide implications of the California Coastal Commissions for the effective implementation of regulatory policy.