Greetings,

I was able to figure out how to identify the selected, or active, layer in
the AV8.1 TOC.  I found this code snippet among the samples:

        Dim pmxdoc As IMxDocument
        Dim pmap As IMap
        Dim pactiveview As IActiveView
        Dim pcontentsview As IContentsView
        Dim player As ILayer

        Set pmxdoc = Application.Document
        Set pmap = pmxdoc.FocusMap
        Set pactiveview = pmap

        ' This gets the selected layer
        Set pcontentsview = pmxdoc.CurrentContentsView
        Set player = pcontentsview.SelectedItem

Cheers,

Gary Ostroff, P.E.
Sr. Project Manager
HydroQual, Inc.
1 Lethbridge Plaza
Mahwah, NJ  07430
201.529.5151
http://www.hydroqual.com/GIS/GIS.htm

Gary Ostroff, P.E.
Co-Director
CommunityCartography
The Spatial Data Warehouse for the NYC Area!
http://www.ComCarto.com
1.877.MakeMap