U.S. GOVERNMENT | A resilient balance of institutions
22 April 2008
U.S. Agency Charged with Protecting, Enhancing Environment
Environmental Protection Agency coordinates U.S. anti-pollution efforts
Washington -- During the 1960s, as American rivers darkened with industrial pollutants and clouds of smog settled around U.S. cities, a new sense of environmental awareness crept into the national consciousness and public pressure increased on lawmakers to stop the contamination and find ways to restore the country’s natural resources. Congress responded with laws like the 1967 Air Quality Act and the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, but the government lacked a central authority to address environmental concerns.
That changed on July 9, 1970, when an executive order of President Richard Nixon combined existing offices in different federal agencies to create the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a single, independent agency tasked with coordinating the federal attack on pollutants that threaten human health and degrade the environment. The new agency’s mandate included repairing damage already done to American natural resources and establishing new criteria for improving and protecting the U.S. environment.
Nearly all federal laws enacted to protect natural resources and biodiversity now are administered and enforced primarily by the EPA. One major exception is the Endangered Species Act, which is administered by the Department of Interior’s Federal Fish and Wildlife Service. (See “Key U.S. Environmental Law Helps Save Species from Extinction.”)
The EPA, which began operation on December 2, 1970, conducts environmental assessments, research and educational programs. It also has set national standards under a variety of environmental laws and enforces them through fines, sanctions and even criminal penalties. The agency works in consultation with state, tribal and local governments, to which it delegates some responsibility for issuing permits, monitoring the environment and enforcing laws and regulations. It also works with industries and all levels of government in a wide variety of voluntary pollution prevention programs and energy conservation efforts.
The agency currently employs nearly 18,000 people in its Washington headquarters, 10 regional offices and 27 laboratories. It has an annual operating budget of more that $7 billion and is led by an administrator (currently Stephen Johnson), who holds Cabinet rank in the Bush administration. More than half of EPA staff members are engineers, scientists and environmental protection specialists, but the agency also employs lawyers and other legal professionals as well as specialists in public affairs, finance and computer technology.
EPA activities include:
• Developing and enforcing regulations to protect the environment and human health from pollutants;
• Providing financial assistance to support state environmental programs as well as environmental research and education programs by nonprofit entities and educational institutions;
• Performing research to assess environmental conditions, address future environmental problems, integrate the work of scientific partners (nations, private-sector organizations and academia) and advance the science and technology of risk assessment and risk management; and
• Sponsoring partnerships and programs with industry, communities and state and local governments on voluntary pollution prevention programs and energy conservation efforts.
In additional to restricting pollution (the waste material from human activities), the EPA also is charged with regulating certain materials with the potential to do serious harm to environmental and human health throughout all stages of manufacture, use and disposal. These materials include toxic chemicals and pesticides.
Additional information about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is available on the agency’s Web site.
