The Environmental Protection Agency

Ecology, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as spelled out

He announced it was the first symbolic act of “the environmental decade.” Between the years of 1970 and 1972, Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency and signed laws including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Another thing he did was sign executive orders and international agreements on environmental issues. In early 1973, an international conference was held to discuss endangered species. The product of the conference was the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. The U.S. needed a new legislation to meet some of the agreement’s provisions and it led to the Endangered Species Act. In Nixon’s State of the Union speech in 1973, he called for stronger wildlife protection. The results of these environmental laws and international agreements made the public extremely happy. Even though Nixon’s intentions were selfish when he got involved in environmental concerns, he responded unquestionably positive. All his hard work helped pave the way for a cleaner society.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency or EPA was initially proposed in 1970 by then President Richard Nixon. The agency was created to build on other environmental regulations enacted by the federal government and to consolidate those efforts to be managed by one government agency. It was also a reaction to the public’s growing concern over pollution and other environmental issues. Chemical waste was commonly released into bodies of water creating unsafe drinking water and rivers catching fire. Industrial air pollution, such as acid rain and smog, was also affecting manufacturing cities with coal-powered plants. There was little serious regulation on pollution until major environment laws started being passed by Congress in the early sixties.

The environmental protection agency has been stepping up its mandate of ensuring safer and better environment for not only the business operators, buts also the society as a whole. In order to achieve this goal of environmental protection, there has been the creation of environmental protection agency that has ensured that all the businesses, irrespective of their size and type, strive to ensure that the environment is protected for the benefit of current and future generations.

This was the first declaration by federal government identifying that it was the rights of states and local governments to be responsible for controlling air pollution. The government took the health and public welfare of Americans seriously by passing the Air Pollution Act, but ironically, the federal government was not in any form engaging in air pollution clean up or prosecuting those responsible for pollution. This act did not reduce any of the smog in the atmosphere, nor did it make it easier for states with low funding to tackle their own city’s air pollution problems. The unseen long term benefits of this act were the federal research funds implemented to conduct air pollution research which eventually structured the Clean Air Act of

It also significantly expanded federal enforcement. Also, the Environmental Protection Agency was established on December 2, 1970 for the purpose of consolidating pertinent federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities into one agency that ensures environmental protection.[9]

The inception of U.S. Environmental policy most notably began under the Presidency of Richard Nixon; Nixon oversaw the passage of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and the creation of the Environmental Policy Act (EPA). The Clean Water Act of 1972, in particular, enacted stringent laws to prevent pollutants from entering navigable waters, outlawing open sewers from dumping crud into a local stream and the law also protects land that filters and purifies water as it flows by. The Landmark law passed in 1972, however, has not impeded the pending water crisis facing the U.S. today. The United States must take immediate measures in order to combat the problem; given that the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence now ranks water scarcity as a major threat to national security; right next to Terrorism (Sullivan). The United States should reform the Clean Water Act of 1972 to look for any deficiencies in the law.

The federal government has wisely divided up their branches into individual departments. This choice has allowed for the federal government to be more organized. Every federal government department is incredibly important to the United States; there is not one greater than the other. However, the departments under the environmental category have accomplished many fantastic projects that have created a healthier living space for the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the environmental category will be dissected into two main sections: the history of the department and the major responsibilities of the department.

The EPA is the agency responsible for setting all of the regulations and rules for drinking water. These regulations apply to individuals, businesses, state and local governments, non-profit institutions etc. Congress passes laws to govern the U.S but they have authorized the EPA and other federal agencies to help them put the laws into effect and to make sure they are as effective as possible. The first two steps in this process consists of Congress writing and the president approving a bill. Then the act must be “codified” by applying it to the United States Code. The United States Code is basically a list of permanent laws for the U.S. As soon as the law has been made official, agencies like the EPA begin to create regulations for the specific law to make it apply to individuals, businesses, and local governments; all of this to make the law work for everyone every day. The regulations set standards for each aspect of daily life that go along with the law. For example, the EPA will come up with specific levels of sulfur dioxide that is allowed in our air to coincide with the Clean Air Act to protect human health and the environment. The regulations in this example would tell industries and businesses exactly how much sulfur dioxide they can emit into the air

In reading several articles, discretion on the part of the agencies seems to be controversial. Nevertheless, there is checks and balance in place on regulatory agencies. According to Ushistory.org (2015), the president appoints positions in these agencies, but the president does not directly control most of them. However, Congress has the power to create, alter, and reorganize agencies (Ushistory.org, 2015). Congress is responsible for providing funding and oversight, in which regulatory agencies are open to investigation and legal review by the

In the 1970’s there was growing confusion regarding environmental policy due to certain states creating environmental protection laws which were largely ineffective. To ease confusion, fix national guidelines, and monitor and enforce them President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA functions under three federal departments: the Interior, Agriculture, and Health, Education and Welfare departments. The original role of the EPA was to administrate the Clean Air Act which was enacted to reduce the air pollution caused by vehicles and industry. The EPA has since grown to enforce at least 12 major statutes such as: ocean dumping laws, safe drinking water, insecticides, and asbestos hazards in

With Republican President, Donald Trump, and the Republican Party holding the majority of both chambers of the 115th Congress, passing environmental protection legislation doesn’t seem to be a priority (or even a thought). Not only are Congress and the President ignoring environmental protection, but they have also worked together to reverse current environmental protection regulations. Normally, repealing any form of legislation is a lengthy and challenging task. However, during the spring of 2017, the Legislative and Executive branches were able to quickly and easily get rid of two environmental protection rules. This ease of change definitively had do with the legislation being bureaucratic agency rules and laws. Though, not only were

PPA empowered EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) to develop and co-ordinate all pollution – prevention strategies

The industrial revolution in the 1800s enhanced the lives of the American citizens. No longer were cultivation and farming a chief concern; instead, manufacturing and machinery were the major improvements of that time. Still today, big corporations are looking for the next big thing that could aid citizens in their everyday lives. What is often ignored, however, are the environmental factors that are being affected by the decisions made by these industries. Harmful acid rain, smog, and buried nuclear wastes diseased the Northern continent where some places were deemed uninhabitable to the public because of the threatening health risks. Environmental laws and agencies were then created in the 1970s to shift the impact that corporations have on the environment. The unchecked power that big corporations have exhausted has enhanced the decline of environmental stability and initiated many territorial restrictions due to the careless actions of the company.

Those who get a job with the EPA will protect public health and the environment. There are many different offices within the EPA, such as the Offices of Air, Water and Enforcement and Compliance. Over half of EPA employees are highly educated professionals such as engineers, scientists and policy analysts. In order to get hired by the EPA, job candidates will need strong academic credentials, leadership skills and commitment to the community.