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Project XL is built on the simple premise that in many cases companies know their business a whole lot better than the government does; that they understand how best to reduce their own pollution; that we will all benefit if private enterprise brings its energy, its innovation, its creativity to the task of reducing pollution …. President Clinton 1If it isn't illegal, it isn't XL. Motto of EPA staff 2The 1994 Republican electoral revolution crystallized and accelerated a trend in environmental policymaking that began at the beginning of the decade: "reinventing" the ways that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does business.The Clinton Administration's decision to offer its own alternatives to more radical efforts suggested by congressional Republicans means that the methods and goals of reinvention will dominate the debate for the foreseeable future, and that the various work groups, pilot projects, scholarly reviews, and legislative proposals now involve virtually all of the interests affected by EPA's programs and legal authority.3 Among the most widely publicized reinvention initiatives is Project XL, developed by EPA in response to industry and municipal demands for greater regulatory flexibility.Hailed by the President and Vice President at a press conference on November 3, 1995, Project XL-standing for "excellence and leadership"-now involves four distinct initiatives: one focused on large manufacturing companies; a second designed for "industry-wide" or "sector-based" projects; a third involving federal agencies; and a fourth emphasizing local government, "community-based" initiatives.4 This Dialogue discusses the first and best-developed initiative, the socalled facilities XL. 5 The Dialogue argues that the concept of site-specific alternative compliance plans has the potential to make regulation more efficient and effective if implemented within the framework of strong "baseline" standards designed to protect human health and the environment and to treat industrial competitors fairly.Unfortunately, Project XL is damaging the reputation of site-specific, industrial self-regulation 6 in the short term; further eroding public trust in government; undermining EPA efforts to control and [26 ELR 10528] prevent pollution; and erecting barriers to competition in some of our more important industries.The Dialogue urges several reforms of the Project, including a definition of superior environmental performance that would determine the acceptability ofall projects, standardized disclosure of the key assumptions underlying project proposals, a prohibition on crossmedia and cross-pollutant emissions trading without clearly demonstrated environmental benefits, a better process for public participation, and the maintenance of rigorous enforcement as protection against noncompliance with site-specific plans.
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