U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Region 2

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Region 2

Community, Environment

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About Region 2

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was established by Congress and the President in 1970 to protect human health and the environment. Today, EPA employs about 17,000 people across the country, many of whom work out of its 10 regional offices and its numerous laboratories. EPA Region 2 consists of New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and seven federally-recognized Indian Nations.

The region’s more than 31 million residents are primarily concentrated in urban areas. Nearly 85 percent live in New York State, containing the largest and most densely populated city in the country and New Jersey, the most densely populated state. In Puerto Rico, approximately one-third of the more than 3.5 million residents live in and around the city of San Juan.

The region is home to unique and largely intact ecosystems such as the New Jersey Pine Barrens, the Adirondack State Park (the largest publicly protected area in the mainland US), the Hudson River, Niagara Falls, the Caribbean National Forest and the Virgin Islands National Park.

These ecosystems present diverse environmental management challenges. EPA works hard in the region to ensure clean air, pure water and better-protected land. Our efforts help provide for healthy communities and ecosystems, compliance with environmental regulations and environmental stewardship.

History

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was created in 1970, through an executive reorganization plan, as an independent regulatory agency responsible for the implementation of federal laws designed to protect the environment.

According to the publication "The Guardian: Origins of the EPA," President Nixon declared his intention to establish the Environmental Protection Agency with Reorganization Plan Number 3, dated July 9, 1970. Reorganization Plan Number 3 can be found in the Congressional Record, Vol 116, H 6523 (91st Congress, 2nd Session).

The EPA's mission would include:

"The establishment and enforcement of environmental protection standards consistent with national environmental goals... The conduct of research on the adverse effects of pollution and on methods and equipment for controlling it; the gathering of information on pollution; and the use of this information in strengthening environmental protection programs and recommending policy changes... assisting others, through grants, technical assistance and other means, in arresting pollution of the environment... assisting the Council on Environmental Quality in developing and recommending to the President new policies for the protection of the environment."

After being cleared through hearings in the Senate and House of Representatives, the EPA came into being on December 2, 1970.