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The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was founded in 1970 to set and enforce environmental standards, conduct research, fund educational initiatives, and support pollution abatement programs. It regulates and inspects any industry that has the potential to emit pollutants, enforces legislation affecting the environment, and funds private research programs. The EPA also maintains an extensive list of pollutants and acceptable levels, investigates sites, and establishes cleanup action plans. The agency aims to reduce pollution and unsafe practices for future generations.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is a government agency concerned with the American environment and its impact on human health. It was founded in 1970 under Richard Nixon in response to growing environmental concerns among Americans and often collaborates with other agencies for optimal results. EPA is responsible for setting and enforcing environmental standards under measures such as the Clean Air Act and employs 18,000 people across the United States to support its goals. In addition, the EPA conducts research, helps fund educational initiatives, and helps support voluntary pollution abatement programs across the United States.
The EPA is often thought of primarily as a regulatory agency. In addition to formulating important environmental regulations to establish pollution standards and cleanup programs, however, EPA also enforces them with the assistance of a large team of field agents. The EPA also enforces certain aspects of other legislation that affects America’s environment and has a large staff of attorneys and other legal professionals to ensure it does so properly and within the law. Any industry that has the potential to emit pollutants is subject to EPA regulation and inspection, and many industries work with the EPA to maintain high environmental standards.
In addition, EPA funds private research programs through grants and also conducts extensive research, supported by laboratories nationwide and well-trained environmental scientists. EPA’s research supports the proposed regulations and also helps the agency learn more about the environment and the fragile relationships that keep it stable. Using this research, EPA conducts public education programs on issues such as waste dumping, air pollutants, and environmental contamination.
Numerous programs are supported by the EPA including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), better known to most Americans as the Superfund. A Superfund site is designated as a toxic waste site that has been abandoned and requires cleanup, and the EPA will either take cleanup action or prosecute the responsible party so that the cleanup is paid for. The Superfund program began in 1980, in response to a large number of abandoned sites across the country that have been determined to be highly toxic, including former factories, mines and landfills.
To help it achieve its goals, the EPA maintains an extensive list of pollutants, their effects on human health and the environment, and acceptable levels at which they can be found. When the EPA investigates a site, soil, air and water samples are taken to determine what pollutants may be present and in what quantities, and after this determination is made, a cleanup action plan is established. if necessary. The EPA also works to reduce the overall amount of pollution and unsafe practices in the United States so that future generations can enjoy clean air, clean water, safe places to live and work, and a beautiful natural environment.
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