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Environmental Protection Agency (view source)
Revision as of 18:45, December 10, 2009
, 18:45, December 10, 2009format
The '''Environmental Protection Agency''' ('''EPA''') is an independent agency of the U.S. government to protect the natural resources (e.g., air, water and land) and endangered species. It was created by President [[Richard Nixon]] in 1970 and is part of the executive branch of the government.<ref>It was not created by act of Congress. [http://www.epa.gov/history/publications/origins6.htm Origins of the EPA: An Agency For The Environment]]</ref> EPA reports directly to the president. The primary mission of the EPA is to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment (air, water and land) of the nation. The EPA was established at a time of new awareness of the environment, with the goal of combing into a single agency many of the existing federal government activities of research and development, monitoring, setting of standards, compliance and enforcement related to protection of the environment.
The '''Environmental Protection Agency''' ('''EPA''') is an independent agency of the U.S. government to protect the natural resources (e.g., air, water and land) and endangered species. It was created by President [[Richard Nixon]] in 1970 and is part of the executive branch of the government.<ref>It was not created by act of Congress. [http://www.epa.gov/history/publications/origins6.htm Origins of the EPA: An Agency For The Environment]]</ref> EPA reports directly to the president. The primary mission of the EPA is to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment (air, water and land) of the nation. The EPA was established at atime of new awareness of the environment, with the goal of combing into a single agency many of the existing federal government activities of research and development, monitoring, setting of standards, compliance and enforcement related to protection of the environment.
The [[Obama Administration]] appointed [[Lisa P. Jackson]] to head the agency in 2009, with cabinet rank. Conservatives have been skeptical of the agency's liberal political agenda.
The [[Obama Administration]] appointed [[Lisa P. Jackson]] to head the agency in 2009, with cabinet rank. Conservatives have been skeptical of the agency's liberal political agenda.
It tries to play a mediating role in the debates between [[Conservation and environmentalism]].
==Budget==
Since 2000 the budget has held fairly steady at $7.6 to $8.4 billion (with no adjustment for inflation). In terms of objectives, 13% is budgeted for clean air and global climate change, 36% for clean and safe water, 24% for land preservation and restoration, 17% for healthy communities and ecosystems, and 11% for compliance and environmental stewardship.<ref>See [http://www.epa.gov/budget/2009/final_09_bib%20.pdf 2009 EPA Budget]</ref> In 2008 it has a staff of about 18,000 people in headquarters and departmental or divisional offices, 10 regional offices, and over 25 laboratories located across the nation. More than half of the staff are engineers, scientists and environmental protection specialists. The others include legal counsel, financial, public affairs and computer specialists.
Since 2000 the budget has held fairly steady at $7.6 to $8.4 billion (with no adjustment for inflation). In terms of objectives, 13% is budgeted for clean air and global climate change, 36% for clean and safe water, 24% for land preservation and restoration, 17% for healthy communities and ecosystems, and 11% for compliance and environmental stewardship.<ref>See [http://www.epa.gov/budget/2009/final_09_bib%20.pdf 2009 EPA Budget]</ref> In 2008 it has a staff of about 18,000 people in headquarters and departmental or divisional offices, 10 regional offices, and over 25 laboratories located across the nation. More than half of the staff are engineers, scientists and environmental protection specialists. The others include legal counsel, financial, public affairs and computer specialists.
==Greenhouse gases==
==Greenhouse gases==
In December 2009 the EPA officially declared that six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, "threaten the health and welfare of the American people". The decision could open the way for the [[Obama administration]] to impose its own curbs on emissions, although Congress may have the final say.
In December 2009 the EPA officially declared that six greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, "threaten the health and welfare of the American people". The decision could open the way for the [[Obama administration]] to impose its own curbs on emissions, although Congress may have the final say.
==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* Bornyasz, Linda Joy. "Politics of Enforcement at the Environmental Protection Agency." PhD dissertation U. of Pennsylvania 1999. 194 pp. DAI 2000 60(12): 4581-A. DA9953509 Fulltext: [[ProQuest Dissertations & Theses]]
* Bryner, Gary C. ''Blue Skies, Green Politics: The Clean Air Act of 1990 and Its Implementation'' (1995).
* Collin, Robert W. ''The Environmental Protection Agency: Cleaning Up America's Act'' (2005)
* DeLong, James. ''Out of Bounds and Out of Control: Regulatory Enforcement at the EPA'' (2002) 100pp; libertarian critique [http://www.amazon.com/Out-Bounds-Control-Regulatory-Enforcement/dp/1930865309/ref=pd_cp_b_1 excerpt and text search]
* DeLong, James. ''Out of Bounds and Out of Control: Regulatory Enforcement at the EPA'' (2002) 100pp; libertarian critique [http://www.amazon.com/Out-Bounds-Control-Regulatory-Enforcement/dp/1930865309/ref=pd_cp_b_1 excerpt and text search]
* Kraft, Michael E. "'U.S. Environmental Policy and Politics: from the 1960s to the 1990s," ''Journal of Policy History'' (2000) vol. 12 #1 pp 17-42
* Funke, Odelia. "Struggling with Integrated Environmental Policy: the EPA Experience." ''Policy Studies Review'' 1993 12(3-4): 137-161. Issn: 0278-4416 Fulltext: [[Ebsco]]
* Landry, Marc K. et al., eds. ''The Environmental Protection Agency: Asking the Wrong Questions: From Nixon to Clinton'' (1994) case studies on the Ozone Standard, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Clean Air Act (and its impact on the steel industry), the Superfund, Cancer Policy [http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Protection-Agency-Questions-Clinton/dp/0195086732/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260468941&sr=8-2#noop excerpt and text search]
* Harris, Richard A. and Milkas, Sidney M. ''The Politics of Regulatory Change: A Tale of Two Agencies.'' (1989). 334 pp.
* Hays, Samuel P. ''Beauty, Health, and Permanence: Environmental Politics in the United States, 1955-1985'' (1987).
* Kamieniecki, Sheldon, and Michael E. Kraft. ''Business and Environmental Policy: Corporate Interests in the American Political System'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Business-Environmental-Policy-Corporate-Comparative/dp/0262612186/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1204540076&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Kraft, Michael E. "U.S. Environmenal Policy and Politics: from the 1960s to the 1990s." ''Journal of Policy History'' 2000 12(1): 17-42. Issn: 0898-0306 Fulltext: [[Project Muse]]
* Kraft, Michael E. ''Environmental Policy and Politics'' (3rd ed 2006)
* Lacey, Michael J. ed. ''Government and Environmental Politics: Essays on Historical Developments Since World War Two'' (1989)
* Landry, Marc K. et al., eds. ''The Environmental Protection Agency: Asking the Wrong Questions: From Nixon to Clinton'' (1994) case studies on the Ozone Standard, Resouce Conservation and Recovery Act, Clean Air Act (and its impact on the steel industry), the Superfund, Cancer Policy [http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Protection-Agency-Questions-Clinton/dp/0195086732/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1260468941&sr=8-2#noop excerpt and text search]
* Lester, James P. ''Environmental Politics and Policy: Theories and Evidence'' (2nd ed. 1995)
* Lieber, Harvey. ''Federalism and Clean Waters: The 1972 Water Pollution Control Act.'' (1975). 288 pp.
* Marcus, Alfred A. ''Promise and Performance: Choosing and Implementing an Environmental Policy.'' (1980). 204 pp.
* O'Leary, Rosemary. ''Environmental Change: Federal Courts and the EPA'' (1993).
* Paehlke, Robert C. ''Environmentalism and the Future of Progressive Politics'' (1989)
* Plater, Zygmunt, et al. '' Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society'' (3rd ed. 2004), 1440pp legal cases [http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Law-Policy-Nature-Society/dp/0735541434/ref=sip_rech_dp_4 excerpt and text search]
* Plater, Zygmunt, et al. '' Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society'' (3rd ed. 2004), 1440pp legal cases [http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Law-Policy-Nature-Society/dp/0735541434/ref=sip_rech_dp_4 excerpt and text search]
* Russell, Edmund P., III. "Lost among the Parts per Billion: Ecological Protection at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1970-1993." ''Environmental History'' 1997 2(1): 29-51. Issn: 1084-5453
* Schoenbrod, David. ''Saving Our Environment from Washington: How Congress Grabs Power, Shirks Responsibility, and Shortchanges the People.'' (2005). 320 pp. Argues states and localities should assume many of EPA's roles
* Whitaker, John C. ''Striking a Balance: Environment and Natural Resource Policy in the Nixon-Ford Years'' (1976).
* [http://www.questia.com/library/science-and-technology/epa.jsp annotated bibliography]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Protection-Agency-Questions-Clinton/dp/book-citations/0195086732/ref=sid_dp_av?ie=UTF8&citeType=cited#cited additional books]
* [http://www.amazon.com/Environmental-Protection-Agency-Questions-Clinton/dp/book-citations/0195086732/ref=sid_dp_av?ie=UTF8&citeType=cited#cited additional books]
==References==
==References==
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<references/>
[[category:United States Government Agencies]]
[[category:United States Government Agencies]]