EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is federal agency charged with protecting human health and with safeguarding the natural environment: air, water, and land. On July 9, 1970, Richard Nixon transmitted Reorganization Plan No. 3 to the U.S. Congress by executive order, creating the EPA as a single, independent, agency from a number of smaller arms of different federal agencies. Prior to the establishment of the EPA, the federal government was not structured to make a coordinated attack on the pollutants which harm human health and degrade the environment. The EPA was assigned the task of repairing the damage already done to the natural environment and to establish new criteria to guide Americans in making a cleaner, safer America.

The agency conducts environmental assessment, research, and education. It has the primary responsibility for setting and enforcing national standards under a variety of environmental laws, in consultation with state, tribal, and local governments. It delegates some permitting, monitoring, and enforcement responsibility to U.S. states and Native American tribes. EPA enforcement powers include fines, sanctions, and other measures.

EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C. EPA comprises 17,000 people in headquarters program offices, 10 regional offices, and 27 laboratories across the country. More than half of its staff are engineers, scientists, and environmental protection specialists; other groups include legal, public affairs, financial, and computer specialists.

Each EPA regional office is responsible within its states for implementing the Agency’s programs, except those programs that have been specifically delegated to states.

Region 1 – responsible within the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

Region 2 – responsible within the states of New Jersey and New York in addition it’s also responsible for the US territories of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Region 3 – responsible within the states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

Region 4 – responsible within the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Region 5 – responsible within the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Region 6 – responsible within the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Region 7 – responsible within the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Region 8 – responsible within the states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.

Region 9 – responsible within the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and the territories of Guam and American Samoa.

Region 10 – responsible within the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

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