Our Mission and What We Do

Our Mission

The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.

EPA works to ensure that:

• Americans have clean air, land and water;
• National efforts to reduce environmental risks are based on the best available scientific information;
• Federal laws protecting human health and the environment are administered and enforced fairly, effectively and as Congress intended;
• Environmental stewardship is integral to U.S. policies concerning natural resources, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and international trade, and these factors are similarly considered in establishing environmental policy;
• All parts of society--communities, individuals, businesses, and state, local and tribal governments--have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in managing human health and environmental risks;
• Contaminated lands and toxic sites are cleaned up by potentially responsible parties and revitalized; and
• Chemicals in the marketplace are reviewed for safety.

EPA: US Environmental Protection Agency.

To accomplish this mission, we:

Develop and enforce regulations

When Congress writes an environmental law, we implement it by writing regulations. Often, we set national standards that states and tribes enforce through their own regulations. If they fail to meet the national standards, we can help them. We also enforce our regulations, and help companies understand the requirements.

Learn more:

• Regulations
• Enforcement

Give grants

Nearly half of our budget goes into grants to state environmental programs, non-profits, educational institutions, and others. They use the money for a wide variety of projects, from scientific studies that help us make decisions to community cleanups. Overall, grants help us achieve our overall mission: protect human health and the environment.

Learn more:

• Grants

Study environmental issues

At laboratories located throughout the nation, we identify and try to solve environmental problems. To learn even more, we share information with other countries, private sector organizations, academic institutions, and other agencies.

Learn more:

• EPA research

Sponsor partnerships

We don't protect the environment on our own. We work with businesses, non-profit organizations, and state and local governments through dozens of partnerships. A few examples include conserving water and energy, minimizing greenhouse gases, re-using solid waste, and getting a handle on pesticide risks. In return, we share information and publicly recognize our partners.

Teach people about the environment

Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility, and starts with understanding the issues. The basics include reducing how much energy and materials you use, reusing what you can and recycling the rest. There's a lot more about that to learn!

• Learn about environmental issues
• View our site for students and educators

Publish information

Through written materials and this website, EPA informs the public about our activities.

• Web publishing schedule

What we don't do

Some problems that seem like something we would handle are actually the responsibility of other federal, tribal, state or local agencies. It may be most appropriate for you to contact your city, county, or state environmental or health agency, or another federal agency, rather than EPA. For example:

• The Endangered Species Act is primarily managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
• The Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management addresses the problem of nuclear waste.

Read more about environmental concerns we don't handle, and suggestions for who might be able to help