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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Interview with James (Jim) Seif

Jim Seif, former Regional Administrator in EPA’s Region 3 and Secretary of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection discusses his experiences during a 45-year career in environmental regulation.

Chapter 1: Setting the Stage Historically

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

Hank Habicht discusses the historical context in which he came to EPA to work with Bill Reilly as the Deputy Administrator

Chapter 1: Beginning a New Agency

(13 minutes) From Bill Ruckelshaus and some of his closest aides recall the Opening Months of the New Agency in 1970

The panel discusses the sense of excitement with the opening of the Agency's doors and the expectations of the public. They talk about getting the Assistant Administrators on board and establis...

Chapter 1: A New Approach to a Large Mission but a Small Budget

(14 minutes) From The Underground Storage Tank Program's Early Management Challenges

Ron 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: Commissioner of the Federal Water Pollution Control Administration

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

David Dominick describes his tenure as head of the Water Pollution Control program in the Department of the Interior, his battles with Assistant Secretary Carl Klein, the efforts of Murray Stein, A...

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."

Toxic Substances: A Half Century of Progress

From Toxic Substances: A Half Century of Progress
Categories: Toxics

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.

FYI: Background Reading

From Superfund, Jun. 1981
Categories: RCRA, Toxics

Environmental Almanac: November/December, 1979: Winter of the Monarchs

From Ethics and the Environment, Nov. 1979

Facing a Tough Issue: An FDA View by James S. Benson

From Pesticides and Food Safety, May. 1990
Categories: Pesticides

EPA Gets Ocean Ship

From Technology and the Environment, Sep. 1979
Categories: Research

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!