EPA Alumni Association: 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. HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTIONS TO PEEK YOUR INTEREST

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David Dominick, Commissioner of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration (1969-1970)

David Dominick relates his coming to Washington from Cody, Wyoming as a young man and being appointed by Interior Secretary Wally Hickel to be the Commissioner of the Water program in the Department of the Interior, and his experiences there.

Chapter 1: Introduction and Background of the Development of Clean Air Legislation in the U.S.

(10 minutes) From Early Implementation of the Clean Air Act of 1970 in California

Dave Calkins summarizes the early history of air pollution control in the U.S. and the early Clean Air Acts that led to the passage of the landmark 1970 Clean Air Act. William Ruckelshaus tal...

Chapter 5: Management & Core Values

(23 minutes) From Interview with Lee Thomas, EPA's 6th Administrator

Lee Thomas describes his management style and the core values that have served him well both in government and the private sector. Lee closes with some encouragement for current EPA employees...

Chapter 3: Program Management & Public/Private Partnerships

(18 minutes) From Former Deputy Administrator Hank Habicht talks about management at EPA

Hank Habicht describes his approach to program management within EPA and the importance of Public/Private Partnerships, including specific program examples.

Chapter 1: Introduction: A New Challenge for EPA

(10 minutes) From The Anthrax Cleanup on Capitol Hill

Working under severe time pressure and under intense scrutiny by a nation still reeling from the 9/11 attacks just one week earlier, EPA and an interagency task force are given a challenge never be...

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."

Drinking Water: A Half Century of Progress

From Drinking Water: A Half Century of Progress
Categories: Water: Drinking

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. HERE ARE SOME SUGGECTED ARTICLES FOR YOU TO SAMPLE

Key EPA Officials Named

From New Directions, Jul. 1981
Categories: Management of Agency

The Environmental Education Advisory Council by Arva Jackson

From Looking Ahead at Environmental Education, Mar. 1995
Categories: Education

Views from Other Nations: India by Dilip R. Ahuja

From The Greenhouse Effect: What Can We Do About It?, Mar. 1990
Categories: Climate, International

Looking Ahead by Clifford Russell and Paul Portney

From Toward a Conserving Society, Jul. 1985
Categories: Enforcement, Policy and Planning, Public, The

Books & Articles by Alumni

Some of the most detailed history of EPA is contained in books and articles written by alumni.

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.

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History of the EPA — As Only We Alumni Can Tell It!