The organization of regulatory enforcement among grassroots inspectors

THE ORGANIZATION OF REGULATORY ENFORCEMENT AMONG GRASSROOTS INSPECTORS

Regulatory bureaucracies charged with controlling industry misconduct have two primary goals—obtaining rule-compliance to agency mandates and deterring violative behavior in the future. The realization of these objectives is a matter of program implementation at the agency's grassroots level. Since the early 1960s, regulatory policymakers and program administrators increasingly have selected implementation strategies that reflect a proactive, legalistic approach to enforcement. Within these agencies, grassroots personnel are mandated to enforce regulations in a uniform, non-discretionary manner. This study examines inspectors within a regulatory agency that mandated a stringently legalistic, non-discretionary enforcement style.

The Federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) was created in 1977 to regulate the surface effects of coal mining. Because of the serious environmental damages wrought in the past, policymakers and program administrators developed a decidedly stringent inspection and enforcement program. The study focuses on the organization of and the variation in regulatory enforcement styles among the OSM's grassroots inspectors. Four methodological strategies were used to examine the enforcement styles of inspectors. The analysis centers on a narrative history of the OSM's inspectorate.

Grassroots enforcement styles are examined in two of the OSM's five regional offices. Our findings indicate that during the agency's initial period as the primary regulatory authority distinct enforcement styles emerged within the two regions. An examination of intra-regional enforcement styles in one of the two regional offices selected for analysis indicates that intra-regional variations in enforcement styles also occurred.

In documenting variations in the enforcement styles among the OSM's inspectors, the local conditions that shaped the agency's enforcement styles are discussed. These determinants of enforcement styles are described and compared for each region in order to isolate those factors that appeared to have the most important impact. The findings suggest that, among other local conditions, firm size, complexity and level of compliance are important determinants of enforcement styles. Also, the enforcement preferences of mid-level managers were found to be important determinants of grassroots enforcement styles among the OSM's inspectorate.