USEPA

EPA was founded December 2, 1970, employs 17,000 people across the country & deals with United States environmental issues both domestically & abroad. President Richard Nixon proposed & Congress supported "a strong, independent agency." that viewed "the environment as a whole." The President's charge to the first EPA Administrator [a 38-year-old Assistant Attorney General named William Ruckelshaus] was to treat "air pollution, water pollution and solid wastes as different forms of a single problem." The main purpose of the reorganization giving birth to EPA was to introduce a "broad systems approach [that]...would give unique direction to our war on pollution." Ruckelshaus said that he & EPA were starting with "no obligation to promote commerce or agriculture." By promising to enforce "reasonable standards of air quality," Ruckelshaus positioned himself as the government advocate of environmental progress; not merely a mediator between industry & the public. In fact, he envisioned for EPA a crucial role in the "development of an environmental ethic" among businessmen & citizens alike. EPA employees work at: HQ in Washington, DC, 10 regional offices [Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, & Seattle] & more than two dozen labs & field offices across the 50 states & 6 territories. EPA staff is highly educated, motivated & technically trained. More than half are engineers, scientists, & policy analysts. Many are also legal, public affairs, financial, information management & computer specialists. Only NASA staff hold more advance degrees than do EPA staff. EPA develops regulation & enforces [both civilly & criminally] statutes protecting human health & the environment. EPA promotes technical assistance & international coordination on environmental issues. EPA researches & sets standards for environmental programs & delegates those programs to states to assist in & perhaps one day take over EPA's mission.

Website

http://www.epa.gov/

External link for USEPA

Industry

Environmental Services

Company size

10,001 employees

Headquarters

Washington, DC

Type

Government Agency

Founded

1970

Specialties

Waste Regulation, Site Remediation, Protecting Human Health and the Environment, Air and Water Quality, Brownfields, Environmental Grants, EPAOrigin http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/epa/15c.htm, Radiation Protection, and environmental radioactive material measurement