History of the EPA
Below we serve up glimpses of EPA's history in five different "flavors":
Oral History Videos
Alumni have recorded videos on a variety of subjects. Most videos are 45 to 60 minutes in length but are broken down into chapters for easier viewing. Transcripts and podcast versions of these videos are also provided.
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Bill Ruckelshaus and some of his closest aides recall the Opening Months of the New Agency in 1970
Bill Ruckelshaus, EPA's first Administrator, and three of his closest aides reminisce about the startup and earliest days of the new agency. Their recollections--some serious and some humorous--shed light on the decisions that laid the foundation for today's EPA.
Chapter 1: A New Approach to a Large Mission but a Small Budget
(14 minutes) From The Underground Storage Tank Program's Early Management ChallengesRon Brand describes the environmental challenges facing the new program and how they chose a franchising approach for dealing with their large management challenge.
Chapter 3: Working Against an Immovable Deadline
(8 minutes) From The Anthrax Cleanup on Capitol HillWorking seven days a week and 18 hours a day while overcoming obstacles ranging from hidden rooms to sudden breaches in containment, the response team begins the clean-up. Among the big...
Chapter 5: EPA Leadership and Staff
(3 minutes) From Reflections on US Environmental Policy: Interview with William K. ReillyBill Reilly discusses how his view of the EPA staff changed (in a favorable direction) once he arrived at the Agency. He also discusses his approach to choosing the Agency's political lea...
Chapter 1: Major Elements of the Legislation and their Historical Context
(33 minutes) From Early Implementation of the Safe Drinking Water ActIn this chapter the panelists discuss the context for the passage of the legislation and the major components of the program.
Half Century of Environmental Progress
High school and college students as well as others may not know about the major environmental problems and issues encountered in the United States in the latter half of the 20th century, how they were addressed, and the importance of continued vigilance in attacking remaining and evolving issues. This history of EPA has been written for them."
Waste Management: A Half Century of Progress
From Waste Management: A Half Century of ProgressCategories: RCRA
EPA Journals
For many years, EPA published the "EPA Journal" with interesting articles on a very wide variety of topics. The Association is slowly digitizing and categorizing these Journals. To date we have digitized 3034 articles.
In the U.S. Interest by Gareth Porter
From Sustainable Development: Linkages and Partnerships for the Developing World, Apr. 1993Categories: International
Newsline: Enforcement
From Profiles in Risk Assessment: New Science, New Contexts, Jan. 1993Categories: Enforcement, Pesticides, Water: General
Will the New Law Protect Public Health? by John R. Garrison
From The New Clean Air Act: What It Means to You, Jan. 1991Categories: Air: General, Economic Impact
Changing Perspectives: Starting Fresh with Environmental Education by Quentin Burdick
From EPA: The First Twenty Years, The Bald Eagle: A Treasure Preserved, Sep. 1990Categories: Congress, Education, Policy and Planning
Books & Articles by Alumni
Some of the most detailed history of EPA is contained in books and articles written by alumni.
Chapter 6. The States Begin to Take Charge
From Borrowed Earth, Borrowed Time: Healing America's Chemical Wounds by Glenn E. SchweitzerCategories: Toxics
Chapter 7. The Greening of Industry
From Borrowed Earth, Borrowed Time: Healing America's Chemical Wounds by Glenn E. SchweitzerCategories: Toxics
A History of the U.S. National Ambient Air Quaity Standards by John Bachmann
From A History of the U.S. National Ambient Air Quality Standards by John Bachmann
Chapter 3. The Uncertainty of Risk but the Reality of Cost
From Borrowed Earth, Borrowed Time: Healing America's Chemical Wounds by Glenn E. SchweitzerCategories: Toxics
Historical Documents
Some documents have made a big difference in the direction that EPA has taken through the years. Here we present some of them.
White House Fact Sheet re Creation of EPA
From White House Fact Sheet re Creation of EPA
Creation of EPA: Message to Congress
From Creation of EPA: Message to Congress
Interview with Alvin Alm in 1993
From Interview of Alvin Alm January 1994Categories: Congress, Economic Impact, Enforcement, Management of Agency, OMB, Other Federal Agencies
Reorganization Plan that Created EPA
From Reorganization Plan that Created EPASearch all history files.
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