ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
The purpose of the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) is to protect and enhance the
environment in the present and for future gen-
erations to the fullest extent possible under the
laws enacted by Congress. The mission of the
agency is to control and abate POLLUTION in the
areas of air, water, solid waste, noise, radiation,
and toxic substances. The mandate of the EPA is
to mount an integrated, coordinated attack on
environmental pollution in cooperation with
state and local governments.
The Environmental Protection Agency was
established in the EXECUTIVE BRANCH as an
independent agency pursuant to REORGANIZA-
TION PLAN No. 3 of 1970, effective December 2,
1970. The EPA was created to permit coordi-
nated and effective governmental action on
behalf of the environment. The EPA endeavors
to abate and control pollution systematically, by
proper integration of a variety of research,mon-
itoring, standard setting, and enforcement activ-
ities. As a complement to its other activities, the
EPA coordinates and supports research and
antipollution activities by state and local gov-
ernments, private and public groups, individu-
als, and educational institutions. The EPA also
reinforces efforts among other federal agencies
with respect to the impact of their operations on
the environment, and it is specifically charged
with publishing its determinations when those
hold that a proposal is unsatisfactory from the
standpoint of public health or welfare or envi-
ronmental quality. In all, the EPA is designed to
serve as the advocate of the public for a livable
environment.
Air, Noise, and Radiation Programs
The air quality activities of the agency
include development of national programs,
technical policies, and regulations for AIR POL-
LUTION control; development of national stan-
dards for air quality; emission standards for new
stationary sources and emission standards for
hazardous pollutants; technical direction, sup-
port, and evaluation of regional air quality activ-
ities; and provision of training in the field of air
pollution control. Related activities include
study, identification, and regulation of noise
sources and control methods; technical assis-
tance to states and agencies having radiation
protection programs; and a national surveil-
lance and inspection program for measuring
radiation levels in the environment.
Water and Waste Management Programs
The water quality activities of the EPA repre-
sent a coordinated effort to restore the waters of
the nation. The functions of this program
include development of national programs,
technical policies, and regulations for WATER
POLLUTION control and water supply; water
quality standards and effluent guidelines devel-
opment; technical direction, support, and evalu-
ation of regional water activities; development
of programs for technical assistance and tech-
nology transfer; and provision of training in the
field of water quality.
Solid Waste Emergency Response Programs
The Office of Solid Waste and Emergency
Response provides policy, guidance, and direc-
tion for the agency’s solid waste and emergency
response programs. The functions of these pro-
grams include development of program policy;
development of hazardous waste standards and
regulations; enforcement of applicable laws and
regulations; guidelines and standards for land
disposal of hazardous wastes; analyses on the
recovery of useful energy from solid waste; and
provision of technical assistance in the develop-
ment, management, and operation of waste
management activities.
Legal and Enforcement Counsel
The Office of the Assistant Administrator for
Enforcement has the following functions: (1)
provides policy direction to enforcement activi-
ties in air, water, toxic substances, hazardous and
solid waste management, radiation, and noise
control programs; (2) plans and coordinates
enforcement conferences, public hearings, and
other legal proceedings; and (3) engages in other
activities related to enforcement of standards to
protect the environment of the nation.
Pesticides and Toxic Substances Programs
The Office of Assistant Administrator for
Toxic Substances is responsible for development
of national strategies for the control of toxic
substances; criteria for assessing chemical sub-
stances, standards for test protocols for chemi-
cals, rules and procedures for industry
reporting, and regulations for the control of
substances deemed to be hazardous to man or
the environment; and evaluation and assess-
ment of the impact of new chemicals and chem-
icals with new uses to determine the hazard and,
if needed, develop appropriate restrictions. It
also coordinates with the activities of other
agencies under the Toxic Substances Control Act
(15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. [1976]) for the assess-
ment and control of toxic substances.Additional
activities include control and regulation of pes-
ticides and reduction in their use to ensure
human safety and protection of environmental
quality; establishment of tolerance levels for
pesticides that occur in or on food; monitoring
of pesticide residue levels in food, humans, and
nontarget fish and wildlife and their environ-
ments; and investigation of pesticide accidents.
Research and Development
The Office of the Assistant Administrator for
Research and Development is responsible for a
national research program in pursuit of techno-
logical controls of all forms of pollution. It
directly supervises the research activities of the
national laboratories of the EPA and gives tech-
nical policy direction to those laboratories that
support the program responsibilities of the
regional offices of the EPA. Close coordination
of the various research programs is designed to
yield a synthesis of knowledge from the biologi-
cal, physical, and social sciences that can be
interpreted in terms of total human and envi-
ronmental needs. General functions include
management of selected demonstration pro-
grams; planning for agency environmental qual-
ity monitoring programs, coordination of
agency monitoring efforts with those of other
