What is the significance of the environmental protection agency

Description: Sustaining the quality and supply of our water resources is essential to safeguarding human health. More than million people living in the United States rely on the safety of tap water provided by public water systems that are subject to national drinking water standards. While promoting sustainable management of drinking water infrastructure, we will provide needed oversight and technical assistance to states, tribes, and territories, so that their water systems comply with or exceed existing standards and are able to comply with new standards.

We will also promote the construction of infrastructure that brings safe drinking water into the homes of small, rural, and disadvantaged communities and increase efforts to guard the nation's critical drinking water infrastructure.

In addition, EPA is actively working Agency-wide and with external partners and stakeholders to implement a multi-faceted drinking water strategy. With this approach, EPA seeks to: address chemicals and contaminants by group, as opposed to working on a chemical-by-chemical basis; foster the development of new drinking water treatment technologies; use the authority of multiple statutes in addressing drinking water contamination; and, encourage collaboration with states and tribes to share more complete data from monitoring at public water systems.

SDWIS Prime is designed to assist regulatory agencies with their implementation of the public water system supervision PWSS program, as well as improve the efficiency of sharing drinking water data among states, tribes, and the Agency. This will allow for better targeting of federal and state funding and technical assistance resources, and improve data quality while increasing public access to drinking water data. Science-based water quality criteria are essential to protect our public water systems, groundwater and surface water bodies, and recreational waters.

These criteria are the foundation for state and tribal tools to safeguard human health such as public advisories for beaches, fish consumption, and drinking water. Over the next 4 years, we will expand that science to improve our understanding of emerging potential waterborne threats to human health, develop new criteria, and validate testing methods that provide quicker results and enable faster action on beach safety.

Natural gas plays a key role in our clean energy future. Hydraulic fracturing is a key way to recover natural gas from sources. EPA is working with state and tribal organizations, along with other federal agencies, to develop and implement voluntary strategies for encouraging the use of alternatives to diesel in hydraulic fracturing and improving compliance with other Class II regulations, including possible risks from induced seismic events and the risk from radionuclides in disposal wells.

EPA is also continuing to work with state, tribal, and industry representatives to make UIC Class II regulations and information more transparent and to implement best practices and promote coordination between UIC and oil and gas agencies. Statement: By September 30, , EPA will provide technical assistance and other tools to 75 urban communities to advance green infrastructure planning and implementation efforts to increase local climate resilience and water quality protections in stormwater infrastructure.

EPA will also provide tools and training for operators of small water utilities to improve resilience in drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems. Trainings will be targeted based on regional threats, such as drought and flooding. Description: The uninterrupted delivery of safe drinking water is an integral element in maintaining the public health of the nation. Improvements in the drinking water sector preparedness to prevent and mitigate the duration and severity of interruptions to the delivery of safe drinking water continues to be necessary in light of evolving stresses, whether attributed to natural, accidental, or intentional circumstances or aging or stressed infrastructure.

Extreme weather events, sea level rise, shifting precipitation patterns and temperature variability, all intensified by climate change, have significant implications for the sustainability of the water sector.

By planning for, assessing and adapting to these challenges, the water sector can fulfill their public health and environmental missions and begin the process of becoming climate ready. The agency has developed green infrastructure tools and resources for communities to use in planning their long-term stormwater actions.

Drinking water and wastewater utilities must remain operational in the face of all hazards if we are to preserve the many gains in public health and environmental protection which have been realized from the water sector. As with the other lifeline sectors, the water sector is at risk from a multitude of threats spanning natural disasters, climate change, cyber-attacks, and terrorism.

The amendments to the SDWA required drinking water systems serving more than 3, people to submit a vulnerability assessment to EPA. However, Congress required that such systems prepare a vulnerability assessment as a one-time mandate, not a recurring one. The statutory requirements also excluded water systems serving fewer than 3, people and all wastewater systems.

Small and larger scale incidents have triggered the activation of eighty-six percent of these agreements. Despite this success, enhancing resilience competes with many other priorities within the water sector, notably, regulatory compliance, aging infrastructure, and funding inadequacies.

As such, EPA continues to try to lower the barriers to adopting resilience measures by providing innovative, easy to use software tools and in person, nationwide training sessions to help water systems of all sizes and types to enhance their resilience.

In addition to motivating the water sector, EPA must be mindful of the evolving threats to the water sector. Such threats will jeopardize the ability of the water sector to continue to fulfill its public health and environmental missions unless the sector manages to improve its resilience to all hazards. In response, EPA has undertaken a national effort to enhance resilience—with an emphasis on severe drought, flooding, cybersecurity, and climate change—through the provision of planning tools, training sessions, and direct technical assistance.

Stormwater is an increasing water infrastructure challenge. As more land is developed with impervious surfaces, the amount of stormwater that communities must manage continues to grow.

Stormwater is a significant source of water pollution, contributes to sewer overflows, and causes local flooding. As the climate changes, more precipitation and more intense rain events in certain portions of the country will further strain community stormwater management systems.

In the west and southwest increasing drought conditions will emphasize the need for communities to use rain as a beneficial water resource before in can become polluted stormwater runoff. Statement: Protect, restore, and sustain the quality of rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands on a watershed basis, and sustainably manage and protect coastal and ocean resources and ecosystems.

Description: People and the ecological integrity of aquatic systems rely on healthy watersheds. While promoting sustainable management of municipal wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, we will work with federal, state, and local partners to bring appropriate and effective solutions to small, rural, and disadvantaged communities. EPA will continue to promote robust planning that includes an assessment of green, sustainable alternatives, and will continue to work with municipalities on implementing the integrated planning process for wastewater and stormwater management on a case-by-case basis.

We will also work more aggressively to reduce and control pollutants that are discharged from industrial, municipal, agricultural, and stormwater sources, and vessels, as well as to implement programs to prevent and reduce pollution that washes off the land during rain events. By promoting green infrastructure and sustainable landscape management, EPA will help restore natural hydrologic systems and the health of aquatic ecosystems to reduce pollution from stormwater events.

These data will support EPA and our partners in identifying priority actions to protect and restore water quality and in assessing whether collective efforts are improving water quality over time as water conditions are altered in response to climate change.

Over the next 4 years, EPA will continue efforts to restore water bodies that do not meet water quality standards, preserve and protect high-quality aquatic resources, and protect, restore, and improve wetland acreage and quality. The Agency will improve the way existing tools are used, explore how innovative tools can be applied, and enhance efforts and cross-media collaboration to protect and prevent water quality impairment in healthy watersheds.

The Agency will use the National Aquatic Resource Survey to track the effectiveness of these combined efforts at protecting and improving water quality over time. Programs for controlling nonpoint sources of pollution are key to reducing the number of impaired waters nationwide. The programs provide a multi-faceted approach to the problem, combining innovative development strategies to help leverage traditional tools.

EPA is collaborating closely with USDA as it implements this program, and is now requiring states to assess water quality results in NWQI watersheds through Section grant funds or other funding sources. Development and implementation of total maximum daily loads TMDLs for CWA Section d listed impaired waterbodies is a critical tool for meeting water quality restoration goals.

The CWA d listing and TMDL program has engaged with states to implement a new year vision for the program to more effectively achieve the water quality goals of each state.

As part of this effort, EPA will continue to encourage states to identify priority waters for assessment, for development of TMDLs and other restoration plans for impaired segments, and for pursuit of protection approaches for unimpaired waters.

EPA will work with states and other partners to develop and implement activities and watershed plans to restore and protect these waters. In partnership with states, tribes, and local communities, EPA is implementing a clean water strategy that explores ways to improve the condition of the urban waterways that may have been overlooked or under-represented in local environmental problem solving.

The Agency will continue to play an active role as a member of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership to promote more efficient and effective use of federal resources and build new partnerships with states, tribes, local entities, and the private sector.

EPA will also lead efforts to restore and protect aquatic ecosystems and wetlands, particularly in key geographic areas[4], to address complex and cross-boundary challenges. EPA will continue to work with and involve states, tribes, and interested stakeholders to set and achieve goals in these geographic areas. EPA will continue to work with states, tribes, and stakeholders in the Mississippi River Basin on nutrient pollution that is affecting the health of the Gulf of Mexico.

Further, given the environmental catastrophe resulting from the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, EPA will continue to take necessary actions to support efforts of federal and state trustees in the natural resource damage assessment to restore the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.

EPA shares in the role of being a Natural Resource Trustee with responsibility to conduct the natural resource damage assessment for the spill. Monitoring in the Gulf of Mexico under the National Aquatic Resource Survey will be important to fully document the long-term impacts of the spill and track the recovery of wetland and near-shore estuarine resources.

This long-term effort by EPA and the states is an important complement to the project-specific and special-focus monitoring efforts underway as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and BP Research funds. EPA is working with state, tribal, and local governments, as well as other partners, to implement actions addressing climate change challenges to the protection of water infrastructure, coastal and ocean waters, watersheds, and water quality.

EPA is also defining actions that states can take starting in to adapt core clean water and drinking water programs e. Technology Market Opportunities: EPA is working both internally and with external partners and stakeholders to discuss plans for advancing innovative technologies that will be important to the continued protection and restoration of waters. Statement: By September 30, , EPA will engage with an additional ten states for a total of 30 states and three tribes to improve small drinking water system capability to provide safe drinking water, an invaluable resource.

The delivery of safe drinking water is often taken for granted and is extremely undervalued. More than , public water systems provide drinking water to the approximately million persons in the U.

Many of the communities that operate these small systems face a number of challenges in their ability to reliably administer, operate, and assure adequate and long term funding capacity in order to provide safe drinking water to their customers. EPA will work closely with state primacy agencies, tribes, and other organizations to implement a series of efforts to address these challenge areas and strengthen the capacity of small systems to sustainably provide safe water to the public now and in the future.

Since the Amendments, states have implemented a variety of activities to assist small systems with their compliance challenges and enhance their technical, managerial, and financial capacity. In FY , EPA re-energized its small systems focus with the intent to work more closely with state programs to improve public water system sustainability and public health protection for persons served by small water systems.

EPA also partnered with other federal agencies that work with small systems, such as USDA-Rural Development, or offer resources that can assist small systems with workforce challenges, such as the Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs. Through these and other efforts, EPA has worked with states to continue to enhance their Capacity Development programs to improve small system capabilities.

The Optimization program helps states and tribes prioritize their technical assistance resources by identifying which public water systems are in most need of help based on water quality and public health risk and most effectively apply a range of compliance and technical assistance tools to enable small water systems to meet and sustain compliance requirements and optimization goals.

This is being done through a series of ongoing field training activities. The program originally focused on optimizing surface water treatment plant performance to improve finished water quality lower microbial risk ; more recently these concepts have been applied to control Disinfection By-Products DBPs in the treatment plant and distribution system, and are now being piloted to address groundwater systems, distribution system water age and storage challenges, and systems that utilize membrane filtration.

The Optimization Program and the Capacity Development Program have been working together to identify opportunities for collaboration and integration of core program activities. Combined, these programs provide resources, guidelines, technical assistance and a framework to the states to assist them in managing their drinking water programs and helping small systems. Statement: By September 30, , percent of the states will have updated nonpoint source management programs that comport with the new Section grant guidelines that will result in better targeting of resources through prioritization and increased coordination with USDA.

Description: The Clean Water Act Section Program is a vital source of support for the management of nonpoint source NPS pollution — excess nitrogen, phosphorus, pathogens and sediments that are the primary cause of pollution in the vast majority of impaired waterways across the Country.

NPS pollution comes from many diffuse sources and can include excess fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural lands and residential areas; oil, grease and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production; sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks; bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes and faulty septic systems, among others.

Because resources are limited and NPS pollution comes from diverse sources that differ by state and locale, strategic use of Section funds is essential to achieving the best water quality outcomes for this limited natural resource. In EPA took steps to strengthen the Section program, issuing revised national guidelines for Section grants to states. Effectively utilizing limited resources for such a diverse set of pollution problems requires setting priorities, sustaining priority efforts over time, and substantial leveraging with other programs and partners.

EPA will work with states to ensure that the commitments and milestones in their management program are reflected in annual Section workplans. This priority goal is a continuation of the work achieved under the goal that 50 percent of states with outdated NPS management programs would update their programs in accordance with new Section grant guidelines that EPA released in April Significant progress has been made, but additional work remains. This priority goal will track the continued progress of states updating their NPS Management Programs.

Under the FY priority goal, 22 states must update their programs. Seven states already had updated programs that meet the guidance. This FY priority goal is that all state NPS management programs will be current and aligned with the new grant guidelines by September Moving forward beyond FY , states are required to review and update their program every five years to keep them relevant.

Statement: Clean up communities, advance sustainable development, and protect disproportionately impacted low-income and minority communities. Prevent releases of harmful substances and clean up and restore contaminated areas. Statement: Support sustainable, resilient, and livable communities by working with local, state, tribal, and federal partners to promote smart growth, emergency preparedness and recovery planning, redevelopment and reuse of contaminated and formerly contaminated sites, and the equitable distribution of environmental benefits.

Description: EPA supports the goals of urban, suburban, and rural communities to grow in ways that improve the environment, human health, and quality of life for their residents. By making sustainable infrastructure investments, communities can successfully build innovative and functional systems on neighborhood streets and sidewalks to deal with the runoff from stormwater and still provide easy access for pedestrians, bicyclists, on-street parking, and other beneficial uses.

By adopting local planning and zoning codes that account for the environmental impacts of development, the private sector can more easily construct market-ready green buildings serving a range of housing needs.

Communities also can benefit from tools, technology, and research that better engage citizens and inform local decision making to support smart and sustainable growth. These goals are not mutually exclusive. Sustainable and livable communities balance their economic and natural assets so that the diverse needs of residents can be met with limited environmental impacts. For example, EPA has been working with the U. Department of Transportation DOT since to align federal resources and improve the environmental outcomes from development.

Through technical assistance, grants, and training, these three agencies have worked together to assist hundreds of communities to plan for and invest in growth that improves access to affordable housing, increases transportation options, and expands choices for all citizens.

The brownfields program also provides funding for state and tribal environmental response programs as well as outreach and technical assistance to communities. Area-wide planning approaches for brownfields work help to identify important local factors in a coordinated manner: viable end uses of individual or groups of brownfield properties; beneficial air and water infrastructure investments in these areas; and, added environmental improvements in the surrounding area to revitalize the community.

Taken together, these efforts will enhance the livability and economic vitality of neighborhoods in and around brownfield properties. In addition to the brownfields activities, EPA promotes livable communities though its efforts to prevent chemical accidents. EPA's risk management program requires facilities with one or more covered chemicals in a process to analyze the potential for accidental releases and possible consequences, develop an accident prevention program, and coordinate with the community to ensure that all are prepared for responding to a release.

There are approximately 13, active RMPs currently on file. These include:. Statement: Conserve resources and prevent land contamination by reducing waste generation and toxicity, promoting proper management of waste and petroleum products, and increasing sustainable materials management. Description: To prevent future environmental contamination and to protect the health of the estimated 20 million people living within a mile of hazardous waste management facilities[1], EPA and its state partners continue their efforts to issue, update, or maintain Resource Conservation and Recovery Act RCRA permits for approximately 20, hazardous waste units such as incinerators and landfills at these facilities.

EPA also will issue polychlorinated biphenyl PCB cleanup, storage, and disposal approvals each year since this work cannot be delegated to the states or tribes. With the October promulgation of the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act, improving and modernizing hazardous waste transportation and tracking has become an important Agency focus. EPA will be working with state agencies, other partners and stakeholders, and the public to implement the requirements of the new law.

These include the use of electronic tracking e-Manifest , which will provide superior data availability, transparency, and cost savings when compared with the use of paper manifests, and the establishment of an advisory board to provide recommendations to the Agency on the implementation of this new e-Manifest approach. These strategies are focused on using less environmentally intensive and toxic materials and employing downstream solutions, like reuse and recycling, to conserve our resources for future generations.

Food Waste Challenge to address sustainable food management from farm to final disposition. These efforts—to identify and reduce or minimize the impact of waste and capture resultant GHG benefits through more sustainable materials management throughout all life-cycle stages from extraction of raw materials through end of life —are critical, along with other activities, for offsetting the use of virgin materials. To reduce the risk posed by underground storage tanks USTs located at more than , facilities throughout the country, EPA and states are working to ensure that every UST system is inspected at least once every 3 years and all facility operators are trained.

As fuel types change, UST systems must be equipped to safely store the new fuels. Statement: Prepare for and respond to accidental or intentional releases of contaminants and clean up and restore polluted sites for reuse. Description: Challenging and complex environmental problems persist at many contaminated properties.

These include contaminated soil, sediment, and groundwater that can cause human health concerns. From the inception of the respective programs to the end of FY , , sites were made RAU, corresponding to over 2. There are multiple benefits associated with cleaning up contaminated sites: reducing mortality and morbidity risk; preventing and reducing human exposure to contaminants; making land available for commercial, residential, industrial, or recreational reuse; and, promoting community economic development.

A study suggests that Superfund cleanups reduce the incidence of congenital anomalies in infants of mothers living within 2, meters of a site by roughly percent. The study found that when sites are cleaned up and deleted from the National Priorities List NPL , properties within 3 miles of the sites experience an More than different actions were conducted under ICI from FY through FY by the various land cleanup programs involved in the effort.

These actions to improve efficiency and effectiveness are now part of current business procedures and cleanup processes. EPA's Superfund program is undertaking a comprehensive review of all aspects of the program. The goal of this review is to determine the best way to maintain the program's effectiveness in protecting human health and the environment by more efficiently managing its site cleanup process and program resources.

Another challenge to protecting our land resources from contamination is pollution from leaking underground storage tanks USTs. While considerable progress has been made to clean up leaks from USTs, a backlog of over 80, sites remains and the number of cleanups per year is decreasing. To understand the makeup of remaining UST releases and the decline in the number of cleanups per year, EPA conducted a two-phase, data-driven analysis of UST cleanups as of and The study compiled and analyzed available data from 14 state [L]UST programs and identified key findings and potential opportunities to help reduce the number of remaining UST cleanups.

To address new and existing LUST sites, EPA, in partnership with state and tribal programs, is developing and implementing strategies to address technical challenges, leverage best practices, and support management, oversight, and enforcement activities. In addition, EPA has implemented improvements in the LUST prevention program by increasing inspection frequency and other prevention efforts, and there has been a corresponding decrease in new confirmed releases.

The efforts of the prevention program and the continued reduction in new confirmed releases, along with the earlier detection of releases, will remain critical factors in backlog reduction.

Throughout this work, EPA is enhancing its engagement with local communities and stakeholders so that they may meaningfully participate in decisions on land cleanup, emergency response, and management of hazardous substances and waste. Enhancing community engagement helps to ensure transparent and accessible decision-making processes, to deliver information that communities can use to participate effectively, to improve EPA responsiveness to community perspectives, and to ensure timely cleanup decisions.

In recent years, the U. Maintaining our preparedness level and ensuring that emergency responders are able to address chemical spills, unplanned releases of other hazardous materials, and other catastrophes are vital responsibilities.

Consistent with the government-wide National Response Framework and the National Disaster Recovery Framework, EPA prepares for the possibility of multiple, simultaneous, nationally significant incidents across several regions and provides guidance and technical assistance to state, tribal, and local planning and response organizations.

EPA recognizes the important role of state and local emergency responders and works with them to strengthen their preparedness and provide technical assistance when significant man-made or natural incidents strain their staffing and budget resources. Hazardous waste programs are intended to provide permanent solutions to contamination at sites or facilities to the extent practicable.

As appropriate, EPA must incorporate emerging science into decision making to maintain its commitment to provide permanent solutions. Statement: Directly implement federal environmental programs in Indian country and support federal program delegation to tribes.

Provide tribes with technical assistance and support capacity development for the establishment and implementation of sustainable environmental programs in Indian country. Description: Under federal environmental statutes, EPA is responsible for protecting human health and the environment in Indian country. Approximately 56 million acres are held in trust by the United States for various Indian tribes and individuals.

Over 10 millon acres of individually owned lands are still held in trust for allotees and their heirs. In collaboration with our tribal government partners, EPA will engage in a two-part strategy for strengthening human health and environmental protection in Indian country.

First, EPA will ensure that its environmental protection programs are implemented in Indian country either by EPA or through implementation of environmental programs by tribes themselves. Second, EPA will provide resources through grant funds and technical assistance for federally-recognized tribes to create and maintain effective environmental program capacity.

Tribal environmental and human health needs are significant. EPA, along with over four federal departments and agencies, provides a range of federal water infrastructure programs to tribes, consistent with our legal authorities and the federal trust responsibility.

There is a broad spectrum among tribes with respect to population, culture, income, geography, economic development, environmental program management expertise, and priorities. EPA also recognizes that many tribes may not have the capacity to implement programs in a manner similar to a state, where programmatically available.

Further, the decision to be treated in a manner similar to a state TAS is voluntary, and may not be a priority to a tribe. Currently, over tribes are not eligible for jurisdictional reasons to receive a TAS designation to implement federally authorized environmental protection programs, yet they are partnering with EPA to build programmatic capacity in other ways. EPA continues to play a critical role in ensuring environmental protection in Indian country.

Statement: Clean up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of communities. By , an additional 18, sites will be made ready for anticipated use protecting Americans and the environment one community at a time. Description: Problem or opportunity being addressed. There are multiple benefits associated with cleaning up contaminated sites and making them ready for reuse: reducing mortality and morbidity risk; preventing and reducing human exposure to contaminants; making land available for commercial, residential, industrial, or recreational reuse; and promoting community economic development.

When sites are ready for anticipated reuse, communities are able to reclaim them for ecological, recreational, commercial, residential and other productive purposes. Statement: Reduce the risk and increase the safety of chemicals and prevent pollution at the source.

Statement: Reduce the risk and increase the safety of chemicals that enter our products, our environment, and our bodies. EPA employs a variety of strategies under several statutes to ensure the safety of chemicals, adequately protect against unreasonable public health or environmental risks, and foster sustainability.

EPA uses predictive techniques to assess the safety of new chemicals in the face of information limitations imposed by TSCA. This effort led to the identification of a set of more than 80 chemicals TSCA work plan chemicals for further assessment. EPA believes that these are the chemicals most in need of risk assessment and that adequate data exist for that purpose.

The first five risk assessments for TSCA work plan chemicals were made available by EPA for public and peer review less than a year after they were publicly identified for assessment. Assessments of 23 additional chemicals—including 20 flame retardants—were announced in Looking forward, EPA plans to assess all of the remaining work plan chemicals to initiate risk management actions as appropriate, and identify additional work plan chemicals for subsequent priority assessment.

At the same time, two newly developed electronic tools will greatly improve data quality and public accessibility. Planned enhancements to CIS will extend electronic reporting to nearly all required TSCA submissions and integrate the system with scientific tools, dashboards, and models used in making chemical management decisions. EPA will make major strides in guarding against exposure to chemicals that continue to pose potential risks to human health and the environment even after their hazards have been identified and certain uses have been phased out.

For example, to continue to reduce childhood blood lead levels, EPA is working in partnership with states and tribes to certify hundreds of thousands of renovators and contractors on lead hazard management. More than , individuals have been certified by EPA alone, and nearly , firms have been certified by EPA and the states through April Certification coupled with public outreach is intended to expand public awareness of lead-based paint risks as well as the requirements for the use of lead-safe practices in renovation, remodeling, and painting activities in millions of older homes.

On a broader scale, EPA is looking comprehensively across statutes to determine the best tools to apply to specific problems. In addition, EPA is continuing its work to increase the safety of chemicals and prevent pollution on an international scale.

EPA is working collaboratively with stakeholders both domestically and internationally to develop approaches to better assess nanomaterials[5], including work with the OECD on internationally harmonized test guidelines. Over the next 4 years, EPA will manage a comprehensive pesticide risk reduction program through science-based registration and reevaluation processes, a worker safety program, certification and training activities, and support for integrated pest management.

To ensure the continued effectiveness of the various chemical programs, EPA will conduct several evaluations over the next 4 years. In FY , the Agency will evaluate the effectiveness of recently implemented efficiencies to the registration review process to identify further enhancements and efficiencies to the process.

Search EPA Archive. Reorganization Plan No. Skip to main content. EPA History. Contact Us. The Origins of EPA. We celebrate EPA's "birthday" every December 2. What actually happened on December 2, ? President Nixon signed Reorganization Plan No.

The U. B is the correct answer. Studies have also shown that the Clean Air Act saves hundreds of thousands of lives every year, while saving Americans trillions of dollars in healthcare costs. At the time, factories regularly discharged pollution and sewage directly into rivers—around 70 percent of which was completely untreated—killing aquatic life and turning waterways into cesspools. Outcry about water pollution led to the passage of the Clean Water Act in , and the EPA was charged with enforcing it.

The act made it unlawful to dump pollution into navigable waters without a permit and sought to make all U. The EPA set standards for how clean water should be, and worked with local authorities and companies to design programs to clean wastewater, redesign sewer systems, and restore degraded rivers and lakes. Last year, the EPA and U.

Army Corps of Engineers issued a rule that wetlands and streams are integral parts of waterways , and so also fall under the purview of the Clean Water Act. This is one of the EPA policies that Scott Pruitt and the new administration has vowed to overturn, a promise that threatens wetland habitat that birds and wildlife rely upon as feeding grounds during lengthy migrations and throughout the year. While black smoke is a rarer sight today than it was in , not all pollution is visible to the human eye.

Fossil fuel-powered industries continue to emit colorless greenhouse gases—such as carbon dioxide and methane—into the atmosphere. These pollutants prevent heat in our atmosphere from escaping to space, and as a result the planet is warming and its climate is changing, with dire consequences.

Rising temperatures threaten the habitats birds need by redistributing their food and shelter, while rising seas encroach inland and put wetlands and beaches at risk. In North America, climate change threatens the survival of over bird species , according to Audubon scientists. In that case, the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.

Since then, the agency has set standards for limiting carbon emissions from cars and new factories, and in it announced the Clean Power Plan to work with states to reduce emissions from existing power plants. The Clean Power Plan aims reduce U. Then in , the EPA passed a rule to reduce methane pollution , which is hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of warming ability. Both rules have been challenged in the courts. The Clean Power Plan is currently on hold after electrical utilities, 28 states including Oklahoma led by Scott Pruitt , and others challenged it last year ; the D.

Circuit appeals court will rule on it any day now, and the case will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court regardless of the outcome.

And more than a dozen states have sued the EPA over the methane rule , too, including—you guessed it—Oklahoma and Pruitt.