History

en español

Born in the wake of elevated concern about environmental pollution, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency opened its doors in downtown Washington, D.C., on December 2, 1970. EPA was established to consolidate in one agency a variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. EPA's mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment—air, water, and land—upon which life depends. For more than 30 years, the EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people.

EPA marked its 35th anniversary on December 2, 2005. From regulating auto emissions to banning the use of DDT; from cleaning up toxic waste to protecting the ozone layer; from increasing recycling to revitalizing inner-city brownfields, EPA's achievements have resulted in cleaner air, purer water, and better protected land.

• Timeline of EPA accomplishments

• Column by Region 1 Administrator Robert Varney: EPA's 35-Year Legacy and Future Promise

• The origins of EPA

• EPA's Administrators -- view oral history interviews, portraits, photos, biographies, and articles both about them and authored by them

• Past EPA Anniversaries

• EPA's Strategic Plan

• EPA's FY 2005 Performance and Accountability Report

• 2003 Draft Report on the Environment