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Protection Agency
What EPA Does
EPA leads the nation's environmental
science, research, education and assessment
efforts.
Develop and enforce regulations:
EPA works to develop and enforce
regulations that implement environmental
laws enacted by Congress. EPA is responsible
for researching and setting national standards
for a variety of environmental programs,
and delegates to states and tribes the
responsibility for issuing permits and
for monitoring and enforcing compliance.
Where national standards are not met,
EPA can issue sanctions and take other
steps to assist the states and tribes
in reaching the desired levels of environmental
quality.
Offer financial assistance:
In recent years, between 40 and 50 percent
of EPA's enacted budgets have provided
direct support through grants to State
environmental programs. EPA grants to
States, non-profits and educational institutions
support high-quality research that will
improve the scientific basis for decisions
on national environmental issues and help
EPA achieve its goals.
- EPA provides research grants and graduate
fellowships.
- The Agency supports environmental
education projects that enhance the
public's awareness, knowledge, and skills
to make informed decisions that affect
environmental quality.
- The Agency also offers information
for state and local governments and
small businesses on financing environmental
services and projects.
- EPA also provides other financial
assistance through programs as the Drinking
Water State Revolving Fund, the Clean
Water State Revolving Fund and the Brownfields
program.
Perform environmental research:
At laboratories located throughout the nation,
the Agency works to assess environmental
conditions and to identify, understand,
and solve current and future environmental
problems; integrate the work of scientific
partners such as nations, private sector
organizations, academia and other agencies;
and provide leadership in addressing emerging
environmental issues and in advancing the
science and technology of risk assessment
and risk management.
Sponsor voluntary partnerships and
programs: The Agency works through
its headquarters and regional offices with
over 10,000 industries, businesses, non-profit
organizations, and state and local governments,
on over 40 voluntary pollution prevention
programs and energy conservation efforts.
Partners set voluntary pollution-management
goals; examples include conserving water
and energy, minimizing greenhouse gases,
slashing toxic emissions, re-using solid
waste, controlling indoor air pollution,
and getting a handle on pesticide risks.
In return, EPA provides incentives like
vital public recognition and access to emerging
information.
Further environmental education:
EPA advances educational efforts to develop
an environmentally conscious and responsible
public, and to inspire personal responsibility
in caring for the environment.
Publish information: Through
written materials and this Web site, EPA
informs the public about our activities.
The above information was taken from the
Environmental
Protection Agency website.
