Our Mission
The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.
EPA works to ensure that:
- Americans have clean air, land and water;
- National efforts to reduce environmental risks are based on the best available scientific information;
- Federal laws protecting human health and the environment are administered and enforced fairly, effectively and as Congress intended;
- Environmental stewardship is integral to U.S. policies concerning natural resources, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and international trade, and these factors are similarly considered in establishing environmental policy;
- All parts of society--communities, individuals, businesses, and state, local and tribal governments--have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in managing human health and environmental risks;
- Contaminated lands and toxic sites are cleaned up by potentially responsible parties and revitalized; and
- Chemicals in the marketplace are reviewed for safety.
To accomplish this mission, we:
Develop and enforce regulations
When Congress writes an environmental law, we implement it by writing regulations. Often, we set national standards that states and tribes enforce through their own regulations. If they fail to meet the national standards, we can help them. We also enforce our regulations, and help companies understand the requirements.
Learn more:
- Regulations
- Enforcement
Give grants
Nearly half of our budget goes into grants to state environmental programs, non-profits, educational institutions, and others. They use the money for a wide variety of projects, from scientific studies that help us make decisions to community cleanups. Overall, grants help us achieve our overall mission: protect human health and the environment.
Learn more:
- Grants
Study environmental issues
At laboratories located throughout the nation, we identify and try to solve environmental problems. To learn even more, we share information with other countries, private sector organizations, academic institutions, and other agencies.
Learn more:
- EPA research
Sponsor partnerships
We don't protect the environment on our own. We work with businesses, non-profit organizations, and state and local governments through dozens of partnerships. A few examples include conserving water and energy, minimizing greenhouse gases, re-using solid waste, and getting a handle on pesticide risks. In return, we share information and publicly recognize our partners.
Teach people about the environment
Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility, and starts with understanding the issues. The basics include reducing how much energy and materials you use, reusing what you can and recycling the rest. There's a lot more about that to learn!
- Learn about environmental issues
- View our site for students and educators
Publish information
Through written materials and this website, EPA informs the public about our activities.
- Web publishing schedule
What we don't do
Some problems that seem like something we would handle are actually the responsibility of other federal, tribal, state or local agencies. It may be most appropriate for you to contact your city, county, or state environmental or health agency, or another federal agency, rather than EPA. For example:
- The Endangered Species Act is primarily managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management addresses the problem of nuclear waste.
Read more about environmental concerns we don't handle, and suggestions for who might be able to help
American Petroleum Institute
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Canadian Auto Workers Union
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European Agency for Safety and Health at Work
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) was set up to make Europe's workplaces safer, healthier and more productive. This is done by bringing together and sharing knowledge and information, to promote a culture of risk prevention.
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Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
Canadian Centre for Occupatioanl Health and Safety (CCOHS) promotes the total well-being - physical, psychosocial and mental health - of working Canadians by providing information, training, education, management systems and solutions that support health, safety and wellness programs.
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Canadian Labour Congress
Canadian Labour Congress brings together Canada’s national and international unions, the provincial and territorial federations of labour and 130 district labour councils.
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Center to Protect Workers' Rights
The Center to Protect Workers’ Rights (CPWR), now called The Center for Construction Research and Training, is an international leader in applied research, training, and service to the construction industry.
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Health and Safety Executive
Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is the national independent regulator and act in the public interest to reduce work-related death and serious injury across Great Britain’s workplaces.
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Institut Arbeit und Gesundheit der Deutschen Gesetzlichen Unfallversicherung
(IAG - Institute Work and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance)
The Institute for Work and Health of the German Social Accident Insurance (IAG) is a part of the DGUV Academy in Dresden, promoting safety and health at the workplace by training, research and development, and consultancy and to support the German Social Accident Insurance.
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Institut fur Arbeitsphysiologie
The Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) investigates potentials and risks of modern work on the basis of behavioural and life sciences. The results of our research are used to design new regulations and guidelines for a beneficial and healthy working environment.
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Institut National de Recherche et de Securite
Institut National de Recherche et de Securite (INRS) conducts study and research programmes to improve the health and safety of men and women at work in France, from toxicological hazards to physical and psychological well-being.
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Institute of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
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Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail
Established in Québec since 1980, the Institut de recherche Robert-Sauvé en santé et en sécurité du travail (IRSST) is a scientific research organization known for the quality of its work and the expertise of its personnel.
The Institute is a private, non-profit agency.
Its board of directors is composed of an equal number of trade union and employers' representatives, making it a joint body.
The Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CSST) provides most of the Institute's funding from the contributions it collects from employers.
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Institute for Science of Labour
The Institute is an independent non-profit-making research body under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan.
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Instituto Seguros Sociales
One of the largest organizations in the Columbian government the Instituto Seguros Sociales provides health services and guaranteed pensions to millions of Columbians.
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International Organization for Standardization
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is the world's largest developer and publisher of International Standards. ISO is a network of the national standards institutes of 160 countries, one member per country, with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland.
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National Fire Protection Association
The National Fire Protection Association is a nonprofit aimed at reducing the worldwide burden of fire and other hazards by providing and advocating consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education.
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Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund (now SUVA)
Suva, a non-profit company formerly known as the Swiss National Accident Insurance Fund, provides accident insurance products, and prevention and rehabilitation services for industrial trading and commercial enterprises in Switzerland.
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Tyoterveyslaitos
Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, FIOH, is a research and specialist organization in the field of occupational health and safety.
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United Food and Commercial Workers
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) has 1.3 million union members work in a range of industries, with the majority working in retail food, meatpacking and poultry, food processing and manufacturing, and retail stores.
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World Health Organization
Within the United Nations the World Health Organization (WHO) is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
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The American Industrial Hygiene Association
The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) is one of the largest international associations serving the need of occupational and environmental health and safety professional practicing industrial hygiene in industry, government, labor, academic institutions, and independent organizations.
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