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U.S. public university campuses are held directly responsible for compliance with many of the same federal- and state-level environmental regulations as cities, including stormwater management. While operating as 'cities within cities' in many respects, campuses face unique constraints in achieving stormwater regulatory compliance. To compare the abilities of campuses to comply with stormwater regulations to municipalities, we conduct mixed-methods research using primary data from five University of California (UC) campuses. Public universities constituted over 20% of California's "nontraditional" permittees under the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4) regulation regime in 2013. We utilize semi-structured interviews with campus and regulatory officials, a survey of campus students and staff around support and willingness to pay for innovative stormwater management, and content analysis of campus stormwater management documents to examine challenges to public university stormwater compliance. We find that, despite their progressive environmental practices in other areas like energy and water conservation, even as compared to cities, stormwater management practices on the evaluated campuses are constrained by several factors: infrastructure financing limitations, lack of transparent and coordinated decision-making, a lack of campus resident involvement, and regulatory inflexibility. Our study provides new insights, both for understanding campuses as sustainable 'cities within cities' and more broadly for urban environmental compliance regimes globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the largest polity worldwide to legalize cannabis, California has implemented uniquely high environmental and land use standards for cannabis agriculture. To date, however, regulations have suffered from low compliance rates, especially among smaller, "legacy" farms that existed prior to legalization. Meanwhile, both licensed and unlicensed farms are increasing in size, thus increasing environmental pressures. Is there a way to achieve environmental objectives, farmer compliance, and an equitable transition away from illegal markets? In the largest US survey of cannabis farmers to date, we found farmers are open to strong environmental protections yet face significant barriers in meeting regulatory requirements. We present this opinion article to suggest several strategies to ameliorate compliance barriers by reducing associated learning, financial, and psychological costs. Taken together, these strategies present an unprecedented opportunity to model a new kind of agriculture centered on small-farm production and environmental stewardship—a model that indicates new directions for agriculture beyond cannabis. • California cannabis regulations have struggled to enroll and support farmers, particularly at smaller scales. • Barriers to and burdens of participation are key reason for non-participation. • Policy responses should lower barriers and burdens in ways that support equity and sustainability. • Policy responses should address financial, administrative, and psychological costs of legal market participation. • If successful, cannabis policy may be model for agricultural policy in time of socio-environmental crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]