Introduction
Starting in June 1970, EPA today is the biggest social entity operating, in the USA, to protect the natural phenomenon that prevails between the environment and humans’ health. Employing over 17,000 employees, they work as a conglomerate, formed by a league of businesses, media people, social activists, scientists, and highly motivated individuals. Other volunteering includes engineers from different disciplines, professional policy analysts, litigators, public affairs officers, and different data analysts and programmers.
The White House had worked along Congress to make sure EPA meets the growing needs of clean water, unpolluted air, and land. EPA has structurally empowered the federal government to take necessary steps against the pollutants which are one way or the other, harming the environment and causing a threat to humans’ health. So EPA was the body that was now responsible to rectify the damages made to nature, and educating the Americans in making the environment cleaner and healthier.
Responsibilities
EPA is primarily responsible for environmental assessments, research of new ways to overcome the identified problems, and then communicating those methods through training and education. It is responsible to formulate and regulate environmental laws, which protect humans’ health and preserve nature, and then those laws are enforced in collaboration with the Department of Justice, State, and Tribal governments. Furthermore, they communicate those laws and strictly monitor government, corporate, and all others dealing with nature. In case of any violation, EPA has the authority to fine the culprit, enforce sanctions, or can take other appropriate measures as well.
Projects and Acts
The list of projects EPA has initiated includes Energy Star, Pesticide Registration, Environmental Impact Statement Review, Oil pollution Prevention, Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative, Fuel Economy Testing and Results, Clean Air Act, Water Sense, Safe Drinking Water, and many more. Moreover, EPA also monitors regularly the Greenhouse emissions, Mercury emissions (Hazardous and solid wastes Act), Air Pollution level (Air Pollution Control Act), Water Pollution levels (Water Pollution Control Act), level of pesticides acceptable (Food Quality Protection Act) and levels of the chemical in the wastes discharged (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System – NPDES). In collaboration with other agencies, working one way or the other with nature, EPA has regulated laws governing every form of nature, including air, water, land, endangered species, and hazardous wastes that severely affect living beings.
Research and Education
Nationwide, EPA has 27 laboratories where the science heads experiment with the samples of water and air collected from various locations across the country. Moreover, under certain conditions, they experiment to invent new economical and convenient ways of controlling pollution and ensuring environmentally friendly solutions. Recently, EPA studied the exposure of school children to sunlight and the chances of skin cancer associated with it, under their SunWise School Program. After the education phase, the participants were observed to have made some behavioral changes that could minimize the chances of skin cancer; and this was termed the cost-saving move of the program. The information collected was communicated to pediatricians, who can communicate to patients multiple ways to avoid sun exposure; hence parents can educate their children about certain precautionary measures which can have a sizable impact on reducing future skin cancer incidences.
References
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2009). Web.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2009), Learn the Issues. Web.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2009), Science & Technology. Web.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2009), Laws & Regulations. Web.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2009), About EPA. Web.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2009), NPDES. Web.
Wikipedia, (2009), United States Environmental Protection Agency. Web.
Kyle, W., Jessica; Hammitt, K., James; Lim, W., Henry; Geller, C., Alan; Jordan, H., Luke; Maibach, W., Edward; De Fabo, C., Edward & Wagner, C., Mark, (2008). Economic Evaluation of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s SunWise Program: Sun Protection Education for Young Children. Pediatrics, Vol. 121 No. 5, pp. e1024-e-1084. Web.