ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 



Submitted by Stephen J. Gage, Acting Assistant Administrator for Research and Development 



EPA's Mission 



The aim of the U.S. Environmental Protection 

 Agency (EPA) is to protect the health and welfare 

 of the American people by controlling 

 environmental pollution hazards. The Agency sets 

 and maintains air and water pollution standards, 

 establishes drinking water standards, regulates the 

 sale and use of pesticides, sets standards for noise 

 and ambient radiation, develops techniques and 

 procedures for solid waste management, studies 

 toxic substances, conducts research, and demon- 

 strates new pollution control methods and technol- 

 ogy. 



EPA is an independent regulatory agency 

 formed under a reorganization plan on December 

 2, 1970, from components of several Federal de- 

 partments and agencies. Major Federal laws ad- 

 ministered by the Agency are shown in Table 1. 



The Agency has about 9,800 employees and an 

 annual operating budget of about $845 million. 



EPA also administers grants to the States for 

 construction of municipal sewage treatment facili- 

 ties. For fiscal years 1973 through 1976, Congress 

 authorized $18 billion for this program. In 1977, 

 EPA will spend $5.6 billion. 



The Administrator of EPA is assisted by a Depu- 

 ty and by six Assistant Administrators responsible 

 for planning and management, enforcement, water 

 and hazardous materials, air and waste manage- 

 ment, toxic substances, and research and develop- 

 ment. Offices that provide support services in- 

 clude: International Activities, Legislation, Feder- 

 al Activities, Public Affairs, Civil Rights, and Gen- 

 eral Counsel. To ensure that the agency is re- 

 sponsible to the needs of people, it has developed 

 a network of 10 regional offices. 



Table 1 . Summary of legislative authorities. 



Role of Research 



Source; EPA 

 1 76 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 



The Office of Research and Development 

 (ORD), under the direction of an Assistant Admin- 

 istrator, functions as the principal scientific com- 

 ponent of EPA. Its fundamental role is to produce 

 scientific data and technical tools on which to base 

 sound national policy in the development of effec- 

 tive pollution control strategies and the promulga- 

 tion of adequate and viable environmental stand- 

 ards. It is the responsibility of ORD to establish 

 programs that will provide answers to a myriad of 

 complex environmental questions, including: 



• How can we detect, identify, measure, and 

 monitor pollutants? 



• Where do pollutants come from, how do they 

 get there, and what happens on the way? 



• What levels of pollutant discharge from spe- 

 cific sources can be permitted while still at- 

 taining defined ambient quality standards? 



• What are the health and ecological effects of 

 pollutants on man, other life forms, and the 

 inanimate environment? 



