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.
Interview with Lee Thomas, EPA's 6th Administrator
Lee Thomas, EPA's 6th Administrator, served during one of the most critical periods in the agency's history A member of the Ruckelshaus "save EPA" management team, Thomas discusses his service as OSWER AA and then as successor to Ruckelshaus as Administrator. He talks at length about the issues that marked his tenure, including Chernobyl, Superfund reauthorization, Stratospheric Ozone, and Climate Change. In explaining his core values and management style, Lee offers encouragement to current EPA employees.
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 2: Move to Washington
(22 minutes) From David Dominick, Commissioner of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration (1969-1970)David Dominick describes the interesting days at the beginning of the Nixon Administration with the appointment of Wally Hickel, Governor of Alaska, as the Secretary of the Interior, and environmen...
Chapter 1: Introduction: A New Challenge for EPA
(10 minutes) From The Anthrax Cleanup on Capitol HillWorking 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...
Chapter 4: The California Federal Implementation Plan
(19 minutes) From Early Implementation of the Clean Air Act of 1970 in CaliforniaDavid Souten and William Ruckelshaus discuss the challenges of preparing a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) to meet the court mandate to develop a plan within 9 months to attain the standards by 1...
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. HERE ARE SOME SUGGESTED ARTICLES FOR YOU TO SAMPLE.
Safer Use of Rodent Baits
From Regulating Pesticides, Jun. 1984Categories: Other Federal Agencies, Pesticides, Policy and Planning
A Fact Sheet
From Waste Alert!, Feb. 1979Categories: Policy and Planning, Solid Waste, States, Toxics
A Forum: What Will It Take ...?
From NPS Pollution: Runoff of Rain and Snowmelt: Our Biggest Water Quality Problem, Nov. 1991Categories: Water: General
Good News for Waste Watchers by Roy Popkin
From Earth Day 1995: The 25th Anniversary, Jan. 1995Categories: Solid Waste
Books & Articles by Alumni
Some of the most detailed history of EPA is contained in books and articles written by alumni.
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 10. Living with Toxic Risks
From Borrowed Earth, Borrowed Time: Healing America's Chemical Wounds by Glenn E. SchweitzerCategories: Toxics
Chapter 4. Explaining Risks to an Aroused Public
From Borrowed Earth, Borrowed Time: Healing America's Chemical Wounds by Glenn E. SchweitzerCategories: Toxics
Chapter 2. Controlling 3000 chemicals: One by One
From Borrowed Earth, Borrowed Time: Healing America's Chemical Wounds by Glenn E. SchweitzerHistorical Documents
Some documents have made a big difference in the direction that EPA has taken through the years. Here we present some of them.
Reorganization Plan that Created EPA
From Reorganization Plan that Created 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
First Presidential Environmental Message (Nixon) 1970
From First Presidential Environmental Message (Nixon) 1970Search all history files.
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