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United States Environmental Protection Agency
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"EPA" and "Environmental Protection Agency" redirect here. For other uses, see EPA (disambiguation).
Environmental Protection Agency
EPA
Seal of the Environmental Protection Agency
Flag of the Environmental Protection Agency
Agency overview
Formed
December 2, 1970; 47 years ago (1970-12-02)
Headquarters
William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building
Washington, D.C., U.S.
38°53′38″N 77°01′44″W / 38.8939°N 77.0289°W / 38.8939; -77.0289Coordinates: 38°53′38″N 77°01′44″W / 38.8939°N 77.0289°W / 38.8939; -77.0289
Employees
15,376 (2016)[1]
Annual budget
$8,139,887,000 (2016)[1]
Agency executives
Scott Pruitt, Administrator
Mike Flynn, Acting Deputy Administrator
Website
www.EPA.gov
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or sometimes U.S. EPA) is an agency of the federal government of the United States which was created for the purpose of protecting human health and the environment by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress.[2] President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA and it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an executive order. The order establishing the EPA was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate. The agency is led by its Administrator, who is appointed by the President and approved by Congress. The current Administrator is Scott Pruitt. The EPA is not a Cabinet department, but the Administrator is normally given cabinet rank.
The EPA has its headquarters in Washington, D.C., regional offices for each of the agency's ten regions, and 27 laboratories. The agency conducts environmental assessment, research, and education. It has the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing national standards under a variety of environmental laws, in consultation with state, tribal, and local governments. It delegates some permitting, monitoring, and enforcement responsibility to U.S. states and the federally recognized tribes. EPA enforcement powers include fines, sanctions, and other measures. The agency also works with industries and all levels of government in a wide variety of voluntary pollution prevention programs and energy conservation efforts.
In 2016, the agency had 15,376 full-time employees.[1] More than half of EPA's employees are engineers, scientists, and environmental protection specialists; other employees include legal, public affairs, financial, and information technologists. In 2017 the Trump administration proposed a 31% cut to the EPA's budget to $5.7 billion from $8.1 billion and to eliminate a quarter of the agency jobs.[3]
Contents
[hide]
1 History
2 Organization
2.1 Offices
2.2 Regions
3 Related legislation
3.1 Air
3.2 Water
3.3 Land
3.4 Endangered species
3.5 Hazardous waste
3.6 Other
4 Programs
4.1 EPA Safer Choice
4.2 Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative
4.3 Energy Star
4.4 Smart Growth
4.5 Pesticides
4.6 Fuel economy
4.7 Air quality
4.8 Oil spill prevention program
4.9 Toxics Release Inventory
4.10 WaterSense
4.11 Drinking water
4.12 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
4.13 Radiation protection
4.14 Tools for Schools
4.15 Environmental Education
4.16 Environmental Impact Statement Reviews
4.17 Clean School Bus USA
4.18 Environmental justice
4.18.1 Barriers to enforcing environmental justice
5 Research vessel, 2004–2013
6 Advance identification
7 Freedom of Information Act processing performance
8 Controversies (1983–present)
8.1 Fiscal mismanagement, 1983
8.2 Political pressure and scientific integrity, 2001–present
8.3 Fuel economy, 2005–2010
8.4 Mercury emissions, 2005
8.5 Climate change, 2007–2010
8.6 Gold King Mine waste water spill, 2015
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading
12 External links
History[edit]
Stacks emitting smoke from burning discarded automobile batteries, photo taken in Houston in 1972 by Marc St. Gil (cs), official photographer of recently founded EPA
Same smokestacks in 1975 after the plant was closed in a push for greater environmental protection
Beginning in the late 1950s and through the 1960s, Congress reacted to increasing public concern about the impact that human activity could have on the environment.[4][5] Senator James E. Murray introduced a bill, the Resources and Conservation Act of 1959, in the 86th Congress. The 1962 publication of Silent Spring by Rachel Carson alerted the public about the detrimental effects on the environment of the indiscriminate use of pesticides.[6] In the years following, similar bills were introduced and hearings were held to discuss the state of the environment and Congress's potential responses. In 1968, a joint House–Senate colloquium was convened by the chairmen of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, Senator Henry M. Jackson, and the House Committee on Science and Astronautics, Representative George Miller, to discuss the need for and means of implementing a national environmental policy. In the colloquium, some members of Congress expressed a continuing concern over federal agency actions affecting the environment.[7]
The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA)[8] was modeled on RCA.[9] That bill would have established a Council on Environmental Quality in the office of the President, declared a national environmental policy, and required the preparation of an annual environmental report.[10][better source needed] President Nixon signed NEPA into law on January 1, 1970. The law created the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in the Executive Office of the President.[11] NEPA required that a detailed statement of environmental impacts be prepared for all major federal actions significantly affecting the environment. The "detailed statement" would ultimately be referred to as an environmental impact statement (EIS).
Ruckelshaus sworn in as first EPA Administrator.
On July 9, 1970, Nixon proposed an executive reorganization that consolidated many environmental responsibilities of the federal government under one agency, a new Environmental Protection Agency.[12] After conducting hearings during that summer, the House and Senate approved the proposal. The agency’s first Administrator, William Ruckelshaus, took the oath of office on December 4, 1970.[5]
EPA staff recall that in the early days there was "an enormous sense of purpose and excitement" and the expectation that “there was this agency which was going to do something about a problem that clearly was on the minds of a lot of people in this country,” leading to tens of thousands of resumes from those eager to participate in the mighty effort to clean up America’s environment.[13]
When EPA first began operation, members of the private sector felt strongly that the environmental protection movement was a passing fad. Ruckelshaus stated that he felt pressure to show a public which was deeply skeptical about government’s effectiveness, that EPA could respond effectively to widespread concerns about pollution.[14]
Organization[edit]
The EPA is led by an Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. As of 2017[update] Scott Pruitt is the 14th Administrator.[15]
Offices[edit]
Office of the Administrator (OA)[16][17] which as of March 2017 consisted of 11 divisions, the
Office of Administrative and Executive Services, Office of Children's Health Protection, Office of Civil Rights, Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, Office of the Executive Secretariat, Office of Homeland Security, Office of Policy, Office of Public Affairs, Office of Public Engagement and Environmental Education, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Science Advisory Board
Office of Administration and Resources Management (OARM)[18][19]
Office of Air and Radiation (OAR)[20]
Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP)[21]
Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO)[22]
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA)[23]
Office of Environmental Information (OEI)[24]
Office of General Counsel (OGC)[25]
Office of Inspector General (OIG)[26]
Office of International and Tribal Affairs (OITA)[27]
Office of Research and Development (ORD)[28] which as of March 2017 consisted of the
National Center for Computational Toxicology, National Center for Environmental Assessment,[29] National Center for Environmental Research, National Exposure Research Laboratory, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, National Homeland Security Research Center, National Risk Management Research Laboratory
Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM)[30]
which as of March 2017 consisted of the Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Office of Underground Storage Tanks, Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization, Office of Emergency Management, Federal Facilities Restoration and Reuse Office.
Office of Water (OW)[31] which as of March 2017 consisted of the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW), Office of Science and Technology (OST), Office of Wastewater Management (OWM) and Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds (OWOW).[32]
Regions[edit]
The administrative regions of the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Creating 10 EPA regions was an initiative that came from President Richard Nixon.[33] See Standard Federal Regions.
Each EPA regional office is responsible within its states for implementing the Agency's programs, except those programs that have been specifically delegated to states.
Region 1: responsible within the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont (New England).
Region 2: responsible within the states of New Jersey and New York. It is also responsible for the US territories of Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Region 3: responsible within the states of Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
Region 4: responsible within the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Region 5: responsible within the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Region 6: responsible within the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Region 7: responsible within the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.
Region 8: responsible within the states of Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
Region 9: responsible within the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the territories of Guam and American Samoa, and the Navajo Nation.[34]
Region 10: responsible within the states of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
Each regional office also implements programs on Indian Tribal lands, except those programs delegated to tribal authorities.
Related legislation[edit]
The laws below are general environmental protection measures, and may also apply to other units of the government, including the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture.
Air[edit]
1955: Air Pollution Control Act PL 84-159
1963: Clean Air Act PL 88-206
1965: Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Control Act PL 89-272
1966: Clean Air Act Amendments PL 89-675
1967: Air Quality Act PL 90-148
1970: Clean Air Act Extension PL 91-604
1977: Clean Air Act Amendments PL 95-95
1990: Clean Air Act Amendments PL 101-549
Water[edit]
1948: Water Pollution Control Act PL 80-845
1965: Water Quality Act PL 89-234
1966: Clean Waters Restoration Act PL 89-753
1970: Water Quality Improvement Act PL 91-224
1972: Federal Water Pollution Control Amendments of 1972 PL 92-500
1974: Safe Drinking Water Act PL 93-523
1977: Clean Water Act PL 95-217
1987: Water Quality Act PL 100-4
1996: Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996
Land[edit]
1964: Wilderness Act PL 88-577
1968: Wild and Scenic Rivers Act PL 90-542
1970: Wilderness Act PL 91-504
1977: Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act PL 95-87
1978: Wilderness Act PL 98-625
1980: Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act PL 96-487
1994: California Desert Protection Act PL 103-433
2010: California Desert Protection Act
Endangered species[edit]
1946: Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act PL 79-732
1966: Endangered Species Preservation Act PL 89-669
1969: Endangered Species Conservation Act PL 91-135
1972: Marine Mammal Protection Act PL 92-522
1973: Endangered Species Act PL 93-205
1979: Endangered Species Preservation Act PL 95 335
Hazardous waste[edit]
1965: Solid Waste Disposal Act PL 89-272
1970: Resource Recovery Act PL 91-512
1976: Resource Conservation and Recovery Act PL 94-580
1980: Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("Superfund") PL 96-510
1984: Hazardous and Solid Wastes Amendments Act PL 98-616
1986: Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act PL 99-499
2002: Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act ("Brownfields Law") PL 107-118
Other[edit]
1947: Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act PL 80-104
1969: National Environmental Policy Act PL 91-190
1972: Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act PL 92-516
1976: Toxic Substances Control Act PL 94-469
1982: Nuclear Waste Policy Act PL 97-425
1996: Food Quality Protection Act PL 104-170
Programs[edit]
A bulldozer piles boulders in an attempt to prevent lake shore erosion, 1973 (photograph by Paul Sequeira, photojournalist and contributing photographer to the Environmental Protection Agency's DOCUMERICA project in the early 1970s)
This section is missing information about several major EPA programs. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page. (October 2010)
It is worth noting that, in looking back in 2013 on the agency he helped shape from the beginning, Administrator William Ruckelshaus observed that a danger for EPA was that air, water, waste and other programs would be unconnected, placed in “silos,” a problem that persists more than 50 years later, albeit less so than at the start.[35]
EPA Safer Choice[edit]
The EPA Safer Choice label, previously known as the Design for the Environment (DfE) label, helps consumers and commercial buyers identify and select products with safer chemical ingredients, without sacrificing quality or performance. When a product has the Safer Choice label, it means that every intentionally-added ingredient in the product has been evaluated by EPA scientists. Only the safest possible functional ingredients are allowed in products with the Safer Choice label.
Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative[edit]
Through the Safer Detergents Stewardship Initiative (SDSI),[36] EPA's Design for the Environment (DfE) recognizes environmental leaders who voluntarily commit to the use of safer surfactants. Safer surfactants are the ones that break down quickly to non-polluting compounds and help protect aquatic life in both fresh and salt water. Nonylphenol ethoxylates, commonly referred to as NPEs, are an example of a surfactant class that does not meet the definition of a safer surfactant.
The Design for the Environment, which was renamed to EPA Safer Choice in 2015, has identified safer alternative surfactants through partnerships with industry and environmental advocates. These safer alternatives are comparable in cost and are readily available. CleanGredients[37] is a source of safer surfactants.
Energy Star[edit]
In 1992 the EPA launched the Energy Star program, a voluntary program that fosters energy efficiency. As of 2006, more than 40,000 Energy Star products were available including major appliances, office equipment, lighting, home electronics, and more. In addition, the label can also be found on new homes and commercial and industrial buildings. In 2006, about 12 percent of new housing in the United States was labeled Energy Star.[38]
The EPA estimates it saved about $14 billion in energy costs in 2006 alone. The Energy Star program has helped spread the use of LED traffic lights, efficient fluorescent lighting, power management systems for office equipment, and low standby energy use.[39]
Smart Growth[edit]
EPA's Smart Growth Program, which began in 1998, is to help communities improve their development practices and get the type of development they want. Together with local, state, and national experts, EPA encourages development strategies that protect human health and the environment, create economic opportunities, and provide attractive and affordable neighborhoods for people of all income levels.[40]
Pesticides[edit]
EPA administers the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (which is much older than the agency) and registers all pesticides legally sold in the United States.
Fuel economy[edit]
Manufacturers selling automobiles in the United States are required to provide EPA fuel economy test results for their vehicles and the manufacturers are not allowed to provide results from alternate sources.[citation needed] The fuel economy is calculated using the emissions data collected during two of the vehicle's Clean Air Act certification tests by measuring the total volume of carbon captured from the exhaust during the tests.[citation needed]
The testing system was originally developed in 1972 and used driving cycles designed to simulate driving during rush-hour in Los Angeles during that era. Until 1984 the EPA reported the exact fuel economy figures calculated from the test.[citation needed] In 1984, the EPA began adjusting city (aka Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule or UDDS) results downward by 10% and highway (aka HighWay Fuel Economy Test or HWFET) results by 22% to compensate for changes in driving conditions since 1972, and to better correlate the EPA test results with real-world driving. In 1996, the EPA proposed updating the Federal Testing Procedures[41] to add a new higher-speed test (US06) and an air-conditioner-on test (SC03) to further improve the correlation of fuel economy and emission estimates with real-world reports. In December 2006 the updated testing methodology was finalized to be implemented in model year 2008 vehicles and set the precedent of a 12-year review cycle for the test procedures.[42]
In February 2005, EPA launched a program called "Your MPG" that allows drivers to add real-world fuel economy statistics into a database on the EPA's fuel economy website and compare them with others and with the original EPA test results.[43]
The EPA conducts fuel economy tests on very few vehicles. "Just 18 of the EPA's 17,000 employees work in the automobile-testing department in Ann Arbor, Michigan, examining 200 to 250 vehicles a year, or roughly 15 percent of new models. As to that other 85 percent, the EPA takes automakers at their word—without any testing-accepting submitted results as accurate."[44] Two-thirds of the vehicles the EPA tests themselves are randomly selected and the remaining third is tested for specific reasons.
Although originally created as a reference point for fossil-fueled vehicles, driving cycles have been used for estimating how many miles an electric vehicle will get on a single charge.[45]
Air quality[edit]
The Air Quality Modeling Group (AQMG) is in the EPA's Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) and leads in the full range of air quality models, air pollution forecast, atmospheric dispersion modeling and other mathematical simulation techniques used in assessing the impacts of air pollution sources and control strategies. It serves other EPA headquarters staff, EPA regional Offices, and State and local environmental agencies, coordinates with the EPA's Office of Research and Development on the development of new models and techniques, and wider issues of atmospheric research and conducts modeling analyses to support policy and regulatory decisions of the EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS). It is located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Controlling air pollution helps diminish the risk of pollution-related diseases.
The EPA began regulating greenhouse gases (GHGs) from mobile and stationary sources of air pollution under the Clean Air Act (CAA) for the first time on January 2, 2011. Standards for mobile sources have been established pursuant to Section 202 of the CAA, and GHGs from stationary sources are controlled under the authority of Part C of Title I of the Act per Regulation of Greenhouse Gases Under the Clean Air Act. The BenMAP open-source tool, created by the agency, estimates the health benefits from improvements in air quality.
Oil spill prevention program[edit]
EPA’s oil spill prevention program includes the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) and the Facility Response Plan (FRP) rules. The SPCC Rule applies to all facilities that store, handle, process, gather, transfer, refine, distribute, use or consume oil or oil products. Oil products includes petroleum and non-petroleum oils as well as: animal fats, oils and greases; fish and marine mammal oils; and vegetable oils. It mandates a written plan for facilities that store more than 1,320 gallons of fuel above ground or more than 42,000 gallons below-ground, and which might discharge to navigable waters (as defined in the Clean Water Act) or adjoining shorelines. Secondary spill containment is mandated at oil storage facilities and oil release containment is required at oil development sites.[46]
Toxics Release Inventory[edit]
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a resource for learning about toxic chemical releases and pollution prevention activities reported by industrial and federal facilities. TRI data support informed decision-making by communities, government agencies, companies, and others.[47]
WaterSense[edit]
WaterSense is an EPA program launched in June 2006 to encourage water efficiency in the United States through the use of a special label on consumer products.[48] Products include high-efficiency toilets (HETs), bathroom sink faucets (and accessories), and irrigation equipment. WaterSense is a voluntary program, with EPA developing specifications for water-efficient products through a public process and product testing by independent laboratories.[49]
Drinking water[edit]
EPA ensures safe drinking water for the public, by setting standards for more than 160,000 public water systems nationwide. EPA oversees states, local governments and water suppliers to enforce the standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The program includes regulation of injection wells in order to protect underground sources of drinking water. Select readings of amounts of certain contaminants in drinking water, precipitation, and surface water, in addition to milk and air, are reported on EPA's Rad Net web site[50] in a section entitled Envirofacts.[51] Despite mandatory reporting certain readings exceeding EPA MCL levels may be deleted or not included.[52][53] In 2013, an EPA draft revision relaxed regulations for radiation exposure through drinking water, stating that current standards are impractical to enforce. The EPA recommended that intervention was not necessary until drinking water was contaminated with radioactive iodine 131 at a concentration of 81,000 picocuries per liter (the limit for short term exposure set by the International Atomic Energy Agency), which was 27,000 times the prior EPA limit of 3 picocuries per liter for long term exposure.[54]
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System[edit]
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program addresses water pollution by regulating point sources which discharge to US waters. Created in 1972 by the Clean Water Act, the NPDES permit program authorizes state governments to perform its many permitting, administrative, and enforcement aspects.[55] As of 2017, EPA has approved 46 states to administer all or portions of the permit program.[56] EPA regional offices manage the program in the remaining areas of the country.[55] The Water Quality Act of 1987 extended NPDES permit coverage to industrial stormwater dischargers and municipal separate storm sewer systems.[57]
See also: United States regulation of point source water pollution
Radiation protection[edit]
EPA has the following seven project groups to protect the public from radiation.[58]
Radioactive Waste Management[59]
Emergency Preparedness and Response Programs[60] Protective Action Guides And Planning Guidance for Radiological Incidents: EPA developed a manual as guideline for local and state governments to protect the public from a nuclear accident,[61] the 2017 version being a 15-year update.
EPA’s Role in Emergency Response – Special Teams[62]
Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (TENORM) Program[63]
Radiation Standards for Air and Drinking Water Programs[64]
Federal Guidance for Radiation Protection[65]
Tools for Schools[edit]
EPA's Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Program helps schools to maintain a healthy environment and reduce exposures to indoor environmental contaminants. It helps school personnel identify, solve, and prevent indoor air quality problems in the school environment. Through the use of a multi-step management plan and checklists for the entire building, schools can lower their students' and staff's risk of exposure to asthma triggers.[66]
Environmental Education[edit]
The National Environmental Education Act of 1990 requires EPA to provide national leadership to increase environmental literacy. EPA established the Office of Environmental Education to implement this program.[67]
Environmental Impact Statement Reviews[edit]
EPA is responsible for reviewing Environmental Impact Statements of other federal agencies' projects, under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).
Clean School Bus USA[edit]
Clean School Bus USA is a national partnership to reduce children's exposure to diesel exhaust by eliminating unnecessary school bus idling, installing effective emission control systems on newer buses and replacing the oldest buses in the fleet with newer ones. Its goal is to reduce both children's exposure to diesel exhaust and the amount of air pollution created by diesel school buses.[68]
Environmental justice[edit]
The EPA has been criticized for its lack of progress towards environmental justice. Administrator Christine Todd Whitman was criticized for her changes to President Bill Clinton's Executive Order 12898 during 2001, removing the requirements for government agencies to take the poor and minority populations into special consideration when making changes to environmental legislation, and therefore defeating the spirit of the Executive Order.[69] In a March 2004 report, the inspector general of the agency concluded that the EPA "has not developed a clear vision or a comprehensive strategic plan, and has not established values, goals, expectations, and performance measurements" for environmental justice in its daily operations. Another report in September 2006 found the agency still had failed to review the success of its programs, policies and activities towards environmental justice.[70] Studies have also found that poor and minority populations were underserved by the EPA's Superfund program, and that this situation was worsening.[69]
Barriers to enforcing environmental justice[edit]
This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
Many environmental justice issues are local, and therefore difficult to address by a federal agency, such as the EPA. Without strong media attention, political interest, or 'crisis' status, local issues are less likely to be addressed at the federal level compared to larger, well publicized incidents.
Conflicting political powers in successive administrations: The White House maintains direct control over the EPA, and its enforcements are subject to the political agenda of who is in power. Republicans and Democrats differ in their approaches to environmental justice. While President Bill Clinton signed the executive order 12898, the Bush administration did not develop a clear plan or establish goals for integrating environmental justice into everyday practices, affecting the motivation for environmental enforcement.[71][page needed]
The EPA is responsible for preventing and detecting environmental crimes, informing the public of environmental enforcement, and setting and monitoring standards of air pollution, water pollution, hazardous wastes and chemicals. "It is difficult to construct a specific mission statement given its wide range of responsibilities."[72][page needed] It is impossible to address every environmental crime adequately or efficiently if there is no specific mission statement to refer to. The EPA answers to various groups, competes for resources, and confronts a wide array of harms to the environment. All of these present challenges, including a lack of resources, its self-policing policy, and a broadly defined legislation that creates too much discretion for EPA officers.[73][page needed]
The EPA "does not have the authority or resources to address injustices without an increase in federal mandates" requiring private industries to consider the environmental ramifications of their activities.[74]
Research vessel, 2004–2013[edit]
OSV Bold docked at Port Canaveral, Florida
In March 2004, the U.S. Navy transferred USNS Bold (T-AGOS-12), a Stalwart class ocean surveillance ship, to the EPA. The ship had been used in anti-submarine operations during the Cold War, was equipped with sidescan sonar, underwater video, water and sediment sampling instruments used in study of ocean and coastline. One of the major missions of the Bold was to monitor for ecological impact sites where materials were dumped from dredging operations in U.S. ports.[75] In 2013, the General Services Administration sold the Bold to Seattle Central Community College (SCCC), which demonstrated in a competition that they would put it to the highest and best purpose, at a nominal cost of $5,000.[76]
Advance identification[edit]
Advance identification, or ADID, is a planning process used by the EPA to identify wetlands and other bodies of water and their respective suitability for the discharge of dredged and fill material. The EPA conducts the process in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and local states or Native American Tribes. As of February 1993, 38 ADID projects had been completed and 33 were ongoing.[77]
Freedom of Information Act processing performance[edit]
In the latest Center for Effective Government analysis of 15 federal agencies which receive the most Freedom of Information Act FOIA requests, published in 2015 (using 2012 and 2013 data, the most recent years available), the EPA earned a D by scoring 67 out of a possible 100 points, i.e. did not earn a satisfactory overall grade.[78]
Controversies (1983–present)[edit]
EPA headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Fiscal mismanagement, 1983[edit]
In 1982 Congress charged that the EPA had mishandled the $1.6 billion program to clean up hazardous waste dumps Superfund and demanded records from EPA director Anne M. Gorsuch. She refused and became the first agency director in U.S. history to be cited for contempt of Congress. The EPA turned the documents over to Congress several months later, after the White House abandoned its court claim that the documents could not be subpoenaed by Congress because they were covered by executive privilege. At that point, Gorsuch resigned her post, citing pressures caused by the media and the congressional investigation.[79] Critics charged that the EPA was in a shambles at that time.[80]
Gorsuch, appointed by Ronald Reagan, resigned under fire in 1983. Gorsuch based her administration of the EPA on the New Federalism approach of downsizing federal agencies by delegating their functions and services to the individual states.[81] She believed that the EPA was over-regulating business and that the agency was too large and not cost-effective. During her 22 months as agency head, she cut the budget of the EPA by 22%, reduced the number of cases filed against polluters, relaxed Clean Air Act regulations, and facilitated the spraying of restricted-use pesticides. She cut the total number of agency employees, and hired staff from the industries they were supposed to be regulating.[82] Environmentalists contended that her policies were designed to placate polluters, and accused her of trying to dismantle the agency.[83]
Political pressure and scientific integrity, 2001–present[edit]
In April 2008, the Union of Concerned Scientists said that more than half of the nearly 1,600 EPA staff scientists who responded online to a detailed questionnaire reported they had experienced incidents of political interference in their work. The survey included chemists, toxicologists, engineers, geologists and experts in other fields of science. About 40% of the scientists reported that the interference had been more prevalent in the last five years than in previous years. The highest number of complaints came from scientists who were involved in determining the risks of cancer by chemicals used in food and other aspects of everyday life.[84]
EPA research has also been suppressed by career managers.[85] Supervisors at EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment required several paragraphs to be deleted from a peer-reviewed journal article about EPA's integrated risk information system, which led two co-authors to have their names removed from the publication, and the corresponding author, Ching-Hung Hsu, to leave EPA "because of the draconian restrictions placed on publishing".[86] EPA subjects employees who author scientific papers to prior restraint, even if those papers are written on personal time.[87]
EPA employees have reported difficulty in conducting and reporting the results of studies on hydraulic fracturing due to industry[88][89][90] and governmental pressure, and are concerned about the censorship of environmental reports.[88][91][92]
In 2015, the Government Accountability Office stated that the EPA violated federal law with covert propaganda on their social media platforms. The social media messaging that was used promoted materials supporting the Waters of the United States rule, including materials that were designed to oppose legislative efforts to limit or block the rule.[93]
In February 2017, U.S. Representative Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) sponsored H.R. 861, a bill[94] to abolish the EPA by 2018. According to Gaetz, "The American people are drowning in rules and regulation promulgated by unelected bureaucrats. And the Environmental Protection Agency has become an extraordinary offender." The bill was co-sponsored by Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Steven Palazzo (R-Ms.) and Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.).[95]
Fuel economy, 2005–2010[edit]
In July 2005, an EPA report showing that auto companies were using loopholes to produce less fuel-efficient cars was delayed. The report was supposed to be released the day before a controversial energy bill was passed and would have provided backup for those opposed to it, but the EPA delayed its release at the last minute .[96]
In 2007, the state of California sued the EPA for its refusal to allow California and 16 other states to raise fuel economy standards for new cars.[97] EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson claimed that the EPA was working on its own standards, but the move has been widely considered an attempt to shield the auto industry from environmental regulation by setting lower standards at the federal level, which would then preempt state laws.[98][99][100] California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with governors from 13 other states, stated that the EPA's actions ignored federal law, and that existing California standards (adopted by many states in addition to California) were almost twice as effective as the proposed federal standards.[101] It was reported that Stephen Johnson ignored his own staff in making this decision.[102]
After the federal government had bailed out General Motors and Chrysler in the Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010, the 2010 Chevrolet Equinox was released with an EPA fuel economy rating abnormally higher than its competitors. Independent road tests[103][104][105][106] found that the vehicle did not out-perform its competitors, which had much lower fuel economy ratings. Later road tests found better, but inconclusive, results.[107][108]
Mercury emissions, 2005[edit]
In March 2005, nine states (California, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New Mexico and Vermont) sued the EPA. The EPA's Inspector General had determined that the EPA's regulation of mercury emissions did not follow the Clean Air Act, and that the regulations were influenced by top political appointees.[109][110] The EPA had suppressed a study it commissioned by Harvard University which contradicted its position on mercury controls.[111] The suit alleged that the EPA's rule exempting coal-fired power plants from "maximum available control technology" was illegal, and additionally charged that the EPA's system of cap-and-trade to lower average mercury levels would allow power plants to forego reducing mercury emissions, which they objected would lead to dangerous local hotspots of mercury contamination even if average levels declined.[112] Several states also began to enact their own mercury emission regulations. Illinois's proposed rule would have reduced mercury emissions from power plants by an average of 90% by 2009.[113] In 2008—by which point a total of fourteen states had joined the suit—the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the EPA regulations violated the Clean Air Act.[114]
In response, EPA announced plans to propose such standards to replace the vacated Clean Air Mercury Rule, and did so on March 16, 2011.[115]
Climate change, 2007–2010[edit]
Further information: Regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act
Wikinews has related news: EPA proposes using Clean Air Act to fight global warming
In December 2007, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson approved a draft of a document that declared that climate change imperiled the public welfare—a decision that would trigger the first national mandatory global-warming regulations. Associate Deputy Administrator Jason Burnett e-mailed the draft to the White House. White House aides—who had long resisted mandatory regulations as a way to address climate change—knew the gist of what Johnson's finding would be, Burnett said. They also knew that once they opened the attachment, it would become a public record, making it controversial and difficult to rescind. So they did not open it; rather, they called Johnson and asked him to take back the draft. Johnson rescinded the draft; in July 2008, he issued a new version which did not state that global warming was danger to public welfare. Burnett resigned in protest.[116]
A $3 million mapping study on sea level rise was suppressed by EPA management during both the Bush and Obama Administrations, and managers changed a key interagency report to reflect the removal of the maps.[117]
Gold King Mine waste water spill, 2015[edit]
In August 2015, the 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill occurred when EPA contractors examined the level of pollutants such as lead and arsenic in a Colorado mine,[118] and accidentally released over three million gallons of waste water into Cement Creek and the Animas River.[119]
See also[edit]
Environment portal
Politics portal
Environmental policy of the Donald Trump administration
AP 42 Compilation of Air Pollutant Emission Factors
Brownfield land
Environmental Technology Verification Program
EPA Methods
Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP Federation)
Green Sticker programs
MyEnvironment
Renewable energy
Stormwater
Volkswagen diesel scandal
References[edit]
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Jump up ^ Satterfield, John (30 June 2011). "Letter from Chesapeake Energy to EPA" (PDF). InsideEPA. Inside Washington Publishers. (subscription required). Retrieved 2012-05-19. Flowback and Produced water ... Chesapeake agrees that an indepth study of toxicity, the development of new analytic methods and tracers are not practical given the budget and schedule limitations of the study ... Wastewater Treatment and Waste Disposal ... Chesapeake believes there was unjustified emphasis on the surface disposal of produced water to treatment plants in the SAB's Review ... Chesapeake disagrees with the inclusion of water distribution network corrosion and burden of analyzing for contaminants by POTW's into the study.
Jump up ^ "The Debate Over the Hydrofracking Study's Scope". The New York Times. 3 March 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2012. While environmentalists have aggressively lobbied the agency to broaden the scope of the study, industry has lobbied the agency to narrow this focus
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Jump up ^ Wilson, Janet (2007-12-21). "EPA chief is said to have ignored staff". LATimes.com. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
Jump up ^ "2010 Chevrolet Equinox LT2 Full Test and Video". Edmunds InsideLine. 2009-09-29. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
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Further reading[edit]
EPA Alumni Association, "Protecting the Environment, A Half Century of Progress" – an overview of EPA’s environmental protection efforts over 50 years
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text:
Mass number
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The mass number (symbol A), also called atomic mass number or nucleon number, is the total number of protons and neutrons (together known as nucleons) in an atomic nucleus. It determines the atomic mass of atoms. Because protons and neutrons both are baryons, the mass number A is identical with the baryon number B as of the nucleus as of the whole atom or ion. The mass number is different for each different isotope of a chemical element. This is not the same as the atomic number (Z) which denotes the number of protons in a nucleus, and thus uniquely identifies an element. Hence, the difference between the mass number and the atomic number gives the number of neutrons (N) in a given nucleus: N=A−Z.[1]
The mass number is written either after the element name or as a superscript to the left of an element's symbol. For example, the most common isotope of carbon is carbon-12, or 12
C
, which has 6 protons and 6 neutrons. The full isotope symbol would also have the atomic number (Z) as a subscript to the left of the element symbol directly below the mass number: 12
6C
.[2] This is technically redundant, as each element is defined by its atomic number, so it is often omitted.
Mass number changes in radioactive decay[edit]
Different types of radioactive decay are characterized by their changes in mass number as well as atomic number, according to the radioactive displacement law of Fajans and Soddy. For example, uranium-238 usually decays by alpha decay, where the nucleus loses two neutrons and two protons in the form of an alpha particle. Thus the atomic number and the number of neutrons each decrease by 2 (Z: 92→90, N: 146→144), so that the mass number decreases by 4 (A = 238→234); the result is an atom of thorium-234 and an alpha particle (4
2He2+
):[3]
238
92U
→ 234
90Th
+ 4
2He2+
On the other hand, carbon-14 naturally decays by radioactive beta decay, whereby one neutron is transmuted into a proton with the emission of an electron and an anti-neutrino. Thus the atomic number increases by 1 (Z: 6→7) and the mass number remains the same (A = 14), while the number of neutrons decreases by 1 (N: 8→7).[4] The resulting atom is nitrogen-14, with seven protons and seven neutrons:
14
6C
→ 14
7N
+
e−
+
ν
e
Another type of radioactive decay without change in mass number is emission of a gamma ray from a nuclear isomer or metastable excited state of an atomic nucleus. Since all the protons and neutrons remain in the nucleus unchanged in this process, the mass number is also unchanged.
Mass number and isotopic mass[edit]
The mass number gives an estimate of the isotopic mass measured in atomic mass units (u). For 12C the isotopic mass is exactly 12, since the atomic mass unit is defined as 1/12 of the mass of 12C. For other isotopes, the isotopic mass is usually within 0.1 u of the mass number. For example, 35Cl (17 protons and 18 neutrons) has a mass number of 35 and an isotopic mass of 34.96885. The difference between mass number of an atom and its isotopic mass is known as the mass excess. Mass excess should not be confused with mass defect which is the difference between the mass of an atom and its constituent particles (namely protons, neutrons and electrons).
There are two reasons for mass defect/excess:
The neutron is slightly heavier than the proton. This increases the mass of nuclei with more neutrons than protons relative to the atomic mass unit scale based on 12C with equal numbers of protons and neutrons.
The nuclear binding energy varies between nuclei. A nucleus with greater binding energy has a lower total energy, and therefore a lower mass according to Einstein's mass-energy equivalence relation E = mc2. For 35Cl the isotopic mass is less than 35 so this must be the dominant factor.
Relative atomic mass of an element[edit]
The mass number should also not be confused with the standard atomic weight (also called atomic weight) of an element, which is the ratio of the average atomic mass of the different isotopes of that element (weighted by abundance) to the unified atomic mass unit.[5] This weighted average can be quite different from the near-integer values for individual isotopic masses.
For instance, there are two main isotopes of chlorine: chlorine-35 and chlorine-37. In any given sample of chlorine that has not been subjected to mass separation there will be roughly 75% of chlorine atoms which are chlorine-35 and only 25% of chlorine atoms which are chlorine-37. This gives chlorine a relative atomic mass of 35.5 (actually 35.4527 g/mol).
Moreover, the weighted average mass can be near-integer, but at the same time not corresponding to the mass of any natural isotope. For example, bromine has only two stable isotopes, 79Br and 81Br, naturally present in approximately equal fractions, which leads to the standard atomic mass of bromine close to 80 (79.904 g/mol),[6] even though the isotope 80Br with such mass is unstable.
References[edit]
Jump up ^ "How many protons, electrons and neutrons are in an atom of krypton, carbon, oxygen, neon,platnum, gold, etc...?". Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
Jump up ^ "Elemental Notation and Isotopes". Science Help Online. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
Jump up ^ Suchocki, John. Conceptual Chemistry, 2007. Page 119.
Jump up ^ Curran, Greg (2004). Homework Helpers. Career Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 1-56414-721-5.
Jump up ^ "IUPAC Definition of Relative Atomic Mass". International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry. Retrieved 2008-08-27.
Jump up ^ "Atomic Weights and Isotopic Compositions for All Elements". NIST.
Further reading[edit]
Bishop, Mark. "The Structure of Matter and Chemical Elements (ch. 3)". An Introduction to Chemistry. Chiral Publishing. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-9778105-4-3. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mass_number&oldid=819473668"
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values: عدد كتلي – Arabic

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Nonm mas – Haitian Creole
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