What is the Environmental Protection Agency?

The Environmental Protection Agency, commonly called the EPA, is the federal agency responsible for environmental protection in the United States. The EPA was created in 1970 under President Richard Nixon, who proposed it in response to growing public concern about pollution highlighted by events such as the Cuyahoga River fire in Cleveland in 1969 and the publication of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in 1962. William Ruckelshaus served as the first EPA Administrator.

The agency's headquarters is in Washington, D.C., and the EPA has 10 regional offices around the country plus laboratories and research facilities. The EPA employs roughly 14,000 people including scientists, engineers, attorneys, policy analysts, and inspectors.

The agency administers and enforces a long list of major environmental laws passed by Congress, including the Clean Air Act of 1970, which regulates air pollution from industrial sources, power plants, and motor vehicles; the Clean Water Act of 1972, which regulates discharges of pollutants into U.S. waters; the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, which sets standards for public drinking water systems; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, which regulates hazardous waste; the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA, also called Superfund), which addresses hazardous waste cleanup; the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976; the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which regulates pesticides; and many others.

The EPA sets national air quality standards for pollutants such as ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide, then works with states to develop plans for meeting those standards. The EPA regulates greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act, with policies that have shifted significantly between administrations. The EPA conducts environmental research, oversees the Superfund program for cleaning up contaminated sites, regulates pesticides used in agriculture and homes, addresses lead and other toxic substances, manages chemical safety reviews under the Toxic Substances Control Act, and partners with state environmental agencies that handle most day-to-day enforcement.

The EPA Administrator is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Recent Administrators include Scott Pruitt, Andrew Wheeler, Michael Regan, and Lee Zeldin. EPA policies have varied significantly between administrations, particularly on issues such as climate change, fuel economy standards, and federal land use, reflecting the agency's central role in some of the most contested policy debates in American government.