Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) | Function, History, & Facts

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[{"p":1,"t":189191},{"p":1,"t":130266},{"p":9,"t":121632},{"p":1,"t":17668},{"p":1,"t":1981539},{"p":1,"t":186760},{"p":1,"t":453486},{"p":6,"t":482384},{"p":3,"t":1998888},{"p":1,"t":120781}], "sequence": 1, "topics": {} }); </script> <article class="article-content container-lg qa-content px-0 pt-0 pb-40 py-lg-20 content " data-topic-id="189191"> <div class="grid gx-0"> <div class="col-auto"> <div class="topic-left-rail md-article-drawer position-relative d-flex border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Environmental-Protection-Agency">Environmental Protection Agency</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <span class="toc-extra-link selected link-gray-900 mt-15"> Introduction </span> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Environmental-Protection-Agency/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Environmental-Protection-Agency">Quick Facts & Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a class="section-header link-gray-900 font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mb-10 mx-10" 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2025-02-27T00:00:00CST" >Feb 27, 2025</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Environmental-Protection-Agency/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button js-sections-inline-button module-spacing"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <button class="ai-ask-button btn btn-sm border-2 btn-outline-red-400 border-red-400 module-spacing js-inline-ai-ask-button p-10 ml-5"> Ask the Chatbot </button> </div> <div class="js-qf-module qf-module px-40 px-sm-20 py-15 mx-auto module-spacing font-14 bg-gray-50 rounded"> <div class="qf-title font-weight-bold font-14 mb-10 text-center"> Quick Facts</div> <div class="facts-list mt-10"> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Date: </dt> <dd>1970 - present</dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Areas Of Involvement: </dt> <dd><a href="/science/conservation-ecology">conservation</a></dd> <dd><a href="/topic/public-health">public health</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/air-pollution">air pollution</a></dd> <dd><a href="/science/water-pollution">water pollution</a></dd> <dd><a href="/technology/emission-control-system">emission control system</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> </div> <div class=""> <div class="js-fact mb-10 line-clamp clamp-3"> <dl> <dt>Related People: </dt> <dd><a href="/biography/Richard-Nixon">Richard Nixon</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Christine-Todd-Whitman">Christine Todd Whitman</a></dd> <dd><a href="/biography/Valdas-Adamkus">Valdas Adamkus</a></dd> </dl> <button class="js-more-btn d-none btn btn-unstyled font-12 bg-gray-50" aria-label="Toggle more/less fact data"> <em class="js-content link-blue">(Show more)</em> </button> </div> <div class="text-center"> <a class="btn btn-sm btn-link p-0" href="/facts/Environmental-Protection-Agency"> See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><div class="bg-gray-50 p-15 rounded module-spacing recent-news d-flex flex-column float-false"> <div> <h2 class="font-weight-bold font-14 m-0 d-inline"> News <span class="text-gray-600">•</span> </h2> <div class="recent-news-item first-recent-news-item d-inline"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/189191/4844558bece1e683da9246ee226c57b5" rel="nofollow">Congress votes to kill Biden-era methane fee on oil and gas producers</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Feb. 27, 2025, 8:41 PM ET (AP) <button class="btn btn-link d-inline p-0 font-12 js-toggle-recent-news"> <span class="text-gray-500">...</span><span>(Show more)</span> </button> </span> </div> </div> <div class="rest-of-recent-news-items"> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/189191/9260514fd1be2397d39a80dc054d19df" rel="nofollow">EPA backtracks on Trump comment about cutting staff by 65% but says major spending cuts are coming</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Feb. 27, 2025, 7:07 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/189191/9fc086f392716c1b7d2b32ab7db6cc7d" rel="nofollow">Scientists scorn EPA push to say climate change isn't a danger, say just look around at the world</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Feb. 27, 2025, 4:57 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/189191/960ceedcd9d55d2a658b5c6b270ee632" rel="nofollow">After a month of Trump's pro-oil and gas moves, Dems target his energy emergency</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Feb. 26, 2025, 9:06 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/189191/4b34246d5ca798154af08560fd94f7b9" rel="nofollow">EPA head urges Trump to reconsider scientific finding that underpins climate action, AP sources say</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Feb. 26, 2025, 5:45 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> Show less <em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_less"></em> </button> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="1" id="ref1"><span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph"><strong><span id="ref170586"></span>Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)</strong>, agency of the U.S. government that sets and enforces national <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/pollution-control" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">pollution-control</a> standards.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In 1970, in response to the welter of confusing, often ineffective environmental protection laws enacted by states and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="communities" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communities" data-type="MW">communities</a>, Pres. <span id="ref170587"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Richard-Nixon" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Richard Nixon</a> created the EPA to fix national guidelines and to monitor and enforce them. Functions of three federal departments—of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/US-Department-of-the-Interior" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Interior</a>, of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/US-Department-of-Agriculture" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Agriculture</a>, and of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/US-Department-of-Health-and-Human-Services" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Health, Education, and Welfare</a>—and of other federal bodies were transferred to the new agency. The EPA was initially charged with the administration of the <span id="ref170588"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Clean-Air-Act-United-States-1970" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Clean Air Act</a> (1970), enacted to abate <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/air-pollution" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">air pollution</a> primarily from industries and motor vehicles; the <span id="ref170589"></span>Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act (1972); and the <span id="ref170590"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Clean-Water-Act" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Clean Water Act</a> (1972), regulating municipal and industrial wastewater discharges and offering grants for building <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/wastewater-treatment" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">sewage-treatment</a> facilities. By the mid-1990s the EPA was enforcing 12 major statutes, including laws designed to control uranium mill tailings; ocean dumping; safe drinking water; <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/insecticide" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">insecticides</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/fungicide" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">fungicides</a>, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/rodenticide" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">rodenticides</a>; and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/asbestos-mineral" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">asbestos</a> hazards in schools.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">One of the EPA’s early successes was an agreement with automobile manufacturers to install <span id="ref170591"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/catalytic-converter" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">catalytic converters</a> in cars, thereby reducing emissions of unburned hydrocarbons by 85 percent. The EPA’s enforcement was in large part responsible for a decline of one-third to one-half in most air pollution emissions in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/United-States" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">United States</a> from 1970 to 1990, and during the 1980s the pollution standards index improved by half in major cities; significant improvements in water quality and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/excretion" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">waste disposal</a> also occurred. The <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="Comprehensive" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Comprehensive" data-type="MW">Comprehensive</a> Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (also called <span id="ref170592"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Superfund" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Superfund</a>), providing billions of dollars for cleaning up abandoned waste dumps, was first established in 1980, but the number of those waste sites and the difficulties of the cleanups remained <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="formidable" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/formidable" data-type="MW">formidable</a> for years thereafter.</p><div class="module-spacing"> </div><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Throughout the 1980s and ’90s the EPA continued to strengthen laws governing air and water quality and toxic substances. However, it also introduced new rules. The EPA’s accomplishments during this period included the requirement that all primary and secondary schools be tested for asbestos starting in 1982, the reauthorization of the Clean Water Act in 1987, the reauthorization of the Clean Air Act in 1990 with <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="amendments" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amendments" data-type="MW">amendments</a> that called for reductions in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/sulfur-dioxide" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">sulfur dioxide</a> generation and the phasing out of chemicals that deplete the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/ozone-layer" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">ozone layer</a>, and a rule requiring the removal of all remaining <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/lead-chemical-element" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">lead</a> in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/gasoline-fuel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">gasoline</a> starting in 1996. Other regulations introduced during this time included the Nuclear Waste Policy Act (1982) and the <span id="ref1176520"></span>Energy Star program (1992); the latter was <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="implemented" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implemented" data-type="MW">implemented</a> to rate the usage costs and energy <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="efficiency" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/efficiency" data-type="MW">efficiency</a> of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/technology/home-appliance" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">household appliances</a> and other electronic devices. This period also saw the development of the <span id="ref1176521"></span>Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), which allowed local communities to know the nature of the toxic chemicals produced by industries in their areas and assisted communities in developing emergency plans to deal with hazardous substance releases and exposures.</p><div class="one-good-fact-module"> </div><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span><span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">In the early 21st century the EPA’s role expanded to address <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/climate-change" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">climate change</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/global-warming" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">global warming</a>. In 2007 the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Supreme-Court-of-the-United-States" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">U.S. Supreme Court</a> ruled in a case brought by the state of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Massachusetts" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Massachusetts</a> against the EPA that failure to regulate <span id="ref1176522"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/greenhouse-gas" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">greenhouse gas</a> emissions from motor vehicles was contrary to the requirements of the Clean Air Act. As a result, the EPA was given the responsibility to develop strategies to manage emissions of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/carbon-dioxide" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">carbon dioxide</a> and five other greenhouse gases. Stemming from this <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="mandate" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mandate" data-type="MW">mandate</a>, the EPA worked with the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/US-Department-of-Transportation" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">U.S. Department of Transportation</a> to develop standards that would substantially increase vehicle fuel efficiency, and in 2011 it initiated a permitting program that placed the first limits on greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, refineries, and other large stationary sources. In 2022, however, the U.S. Supreme Court constrained the EPA’s authority in a challenge brought by the state of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/West-Virginia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">West Virginia</a>, ruling that the EPA could not, without additional authorization from the U.S. Congress, regulate power plants by <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="imposing" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/imposing" data-type="EB">imposing</a> caps on carbon and other greenhouse-gas emissions that would force industries to shift to cleaner power-generating technologies.</p><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span></section> <span class="md-signature font-12"><a href="/editor/The-Editors-of-Encyclopaedia-Britannica/4419">The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</a></span><span class="md-signature font-12">This article was most recently revised and updated by <a href="/editor/John-P-Rafferty/6747">John P. 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