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National
United States
42 USC CHAPTER 55 - NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

-CITE-
42 USC CHAPTER 55 - NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY 01/19/04

-EXPCITE-
TITLE 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 55 - NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

-HEAD-
CHAPTER 55 - NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

-MISC1-
Sec.
4321. Congressional declaration of purpose.

SUBCHAPTER I - POLICIES AND GOALS
4331. Congressional declaration of national environmental
policy.
4332. Cooperation of agencies; reports; availability of
information; recommendations; international and
national coordination of efforts.
4333. Conformity of administrative procedures to national
environmental policy.
4334. Other statutory obligations of agencies.
4335. Efforts supplemental to existing authorizations.

SUBCHAPTER II - COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
4341. Omitted.
4342. Establishment; membership; Chairman; appointments.
4343. Employment of personnel, experts and consultants.
4344. Duties and functions.
4345. Consultation with Citizens' Advisory Committee on
Environmental Quality and other representatives.
4346. Tenure and compensation of members.
4346a. Travel reimbursement by private organizations and
Federal, State, and local governments.
4346b. Expenditures in support of international activities.
4347. Authorization of appropriations.

SUBCHAPTER III - MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
4361, 4361a. Repealed.
4361b. Implementation by Administrator of Environmental
Protection Agency of recommendations of "CHESS"
Investigative Report; waiver; inclusion of status of
implementation requirements in annual revisions of
plan for research, development, and demonstration.
4361c. Staff management.
(a) Appointments for educational programs.
(b) Post-doctoral research fellows.
(c) Non-Government research associates.
(d) Women and minority groups.
4362. Interagency cooperation on prevention of environmental
cancer and heart and lung disease.
4362a. Membership of Task Force on Environmental Cancer and
Heart and Lung Disease.
4363. Continuing and long-term environmental research and
development.
4363a. Pollution control technologies demonstrations.
4364. Expenditure of funds for research and development
related to regulatory program activities.
(a) Coordination, etc., with research needs and
priorities of program offices and
Environmental Protection Agency.
(b) Program offices subject to coverage.
(c) Report to Congress; contents.
4365. Science Advisory Board.
(a) Establishment; requests for advice by
Administrator of Environmental Protection
Agency and Congressional committees.
(b) Membership; Chairman; meetings; qualifications
of members.
(c) Proposed environmental criteria document,
standard, limitation, or regulation; functions
respecting in conjunction with Administrator.
(d) Utilization of technical and scientific
capabilities of Federal agencies and national
environmental laboratories for determining
adequacy of scientific and technical basis of
proposed criteria document, etc.
(e) Member committees and investigative panels;
establishment; chairmenship.
(f) Appointment and compensation of secretary and
other personnel; compensation of members.
(g) Consultation and coordination with Scientific
Advisory Panel.
4366. Identification and coordination of research,
development, and demonstration activities.
(a) Consultation and cooperation of Administrator
of Environmental Protection Agency with heads
of Federal agencies; inclusion of activities
in annual revisions of plan for research, etc.
(b) Coordination of programs by Administrator.
(c) Joint study by Council on Environmental Quality
in consultation with Office of Science and
Technology Policy for coordination of
activities; report to President and Congress;
report by President to Congress on
implementation of joint study and report.
4366a. Omitted.
4367. Reporting requirements of financial interests of
officers and employees of Environmental Protection
Agency.
(a) Covered officers and employees.
(b) Implementation of requirements by
Administrator.
(c) Exemption of positions by Administrator.
(d) Violations; penalties.
4368. Grants to qualified citizens groups.
4368a. Utilization of talents of older Americans in projects
of pollution prevention, abatement, and control.
(a) Technical assistance to environmental agencies.
(b) Pre-award certifications.
(c) Prior appropriation Acts.
4368b. General assistance program.
(a) Short title.
(b) Purposes.
(c) Definitions.
(d) General assistance program.
(e) No reduction in amounts.
(f) Expenditure of general assistance.
(g) Procedures.
(h) Authorization.
(i) Report to Congress.
4369. Miscellaneous reports.
(a) Availability to Congressional committees.
(b) Transmittal of jurisdictional information.
(c) Comment by Government agencies and the public.
(d) Transmittal of research information to the
Department of Energy.
4369a. Reports on environmental research and development
activities of Agency.
(a) Reports to keep Congressional committees fully
and currently informed.
(b) Omitted.
4370. Reimbursement for use of facilities.
(a) Authority to allow outside groups or
individuals to use research and test
facilities; reimbursement.
(b) Rules and regulations.
(c) Waiver of reimbursement by Administrator.
4370a. Assistant Administrators of Environmental Protection
Agency; appointment; duties.
4370b. Availability of fees and charges to carry out Agency
programs.
4370c. Environmental Protection Agency fees.
(a) Assessment and collection.
(b) Amount of fees and charges.
(c) Limitation on fees and charges.
(d) Rule of construction.
(e) Uses of fees.
4370d. Percentage of Federal funding for organizations owned
by socially and economically disadvantaged
individuals.
4370e. Working capital fund in Treasury.
4370f. Availability of funds after expiration of period for
liquidating obligations.

-SECREF-
CHAPTER REFERRED TO IN OTHER SECTIONS
This chapter is referred to in sections 1437x, 2243, 3547, 4374,
4852, 5159, 5304, 6508, 7276c, 7616, 7916, 8302, 10133, 10134,
10161, 10165, 10168, 10196, 10247, 12838 of this title; title 7
section 2814; title 10 sections 2391, 2667, 7439; title 12 sections
1715z-13a, 1715z-22; title 15 sections 719f, 719h, 793; title 16
sections 1a-5, 410hh, 460ii-4, 460qq, 460lll, 470h-2, 471j, 497b,
497c, 539m-1, 544o, 797d, 839d, 1434, 1455, 1536, 1602, 1604,
2403a, 2705, 3164, 3232, 3233, 3636, 4403, 4404, 6236, 6513, 6514,
6517, 6554; title 22 section 277d-45; title 23 sections 108, 134,
135, 182, 206, 323; title 25 sections 458aaa-8, 640d-26, 4115,
4226; title 30 sections 185, 1292; title 33 sections 59c-2, 59c-3,
59j-1, 59k, 59n, 59o, 59y, 59bb, 59bb-1, 59cc, 59dd, 59ff, 59gg,
59hh, 59jj, 701b-13, 1293a, 1344, 1371, 1504, 1505; title 43
sections 390h-1, 421h, 1351, 1577, 1597, 1638, 1652, 1723, 1866,
1904, 2006, 2223, 7276c; title 45 sections 917, 1010, 1207, 1212;
title 49 sections 5304, 5305, 5309, 47171, 70304; title 50 section
2566.

-End-



-CITE-
42 USC Sec. 4321 01/19/04

-EXPCITE-
TITLE 42 - THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE
CHAPTER 55 - NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

-HEAD-
Sec. 4321. Congressional declaration of purpose

-STATUTE-
The purposes of this chapter are: To declare a national policy
which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man
and his environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or
eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the
health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the
ecological systems and natural resources important to the Nation;
and to establish a Council on Environmental Quality.

-SOURCE-
(Pub. L. 91-190, Sec. 2, Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 852.)


-MISC1-
SHORT TITLE
Section 1 Pub. L. 91-190 provided: "That this Act [enacting this
chapter] may be cited as the 'National Environmental Policy Act of
1969'."


-TRANS-
TRANSFER OF FUNCTIONS
Enforcement functions of Secretary or other official in
Department of the Interior related to compliance with system
activities requiring coordination and approval under this chapter,
and enforcement functions of Secretary or other official in
Department of Agriculture, insofar as they involve lands and
programs under jurisdiction of that Department, related to
compliance with this chapter with respect to pre-construction,
construction, and initial operation of transportation system for
Canadian and Alaskan natural gas transferred to Federal Inspector,
Office of Federal Inspector for Alaska Natural Gas Transportation
System, until first anniversary of date of initial operation of
Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System, see Reorg. Plan No. 1 of
1979, Secs. 102(e), (f), 203(a), 44 F.R. 33663, 33666, 93 Stat.
1373, 1376, effective July 1, 1979, set out in the Appendix to
Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. Office of Federal
Inspector for the Alaska Natural Gas Transportation System
abolished and functions and authority vested in Inspector
transferred to Secretary of Energy by section 3012(b) of Pub. L.
102-486, set out as an Abolition of Office of Federal Inspector
note under section 719e of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS FUNCTIONS
For assignment of certain emergency preparedness functions to
Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency, see Parts 1, 2,
and 16 of Ex. Ord. No. 12656, Nov. 18, 1988, 53 F.R. 47491, set out
as a note under section 5195 of this title.


-MISC2-
NECESSITY OF MILITARY LOW-LEVEL FLIGHT TRAINING TO PROTECT NATIONAL
SECURITY AND ENHANCE MILITARY READINESS
Pub. L. 106-398, Sec. 1 [[div. A], title III, Sec. 317], Oct. 30,
2000, 114 Stat. 1654, 1654A-57, provided that: "Nothing in the
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.)
or the regulations implementing such law shall require the
Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of a military department to
prepare a programmatic, nation-wide environmental impact statement
for low-level flight training as a precondition to the use by the
Armed Forces of an airspace for the performance of low-level
training flights."

POLLUTION PROSECUTION
Pub. L. 101-593, title II, Nov. 16, 1990, 104 Stat. 2962,
provided that:

"SEC. 201. SHORT TITLE.
"This title may be cited as the 'Pollution Prosecution Act of
1990'.

"SEC. 202. EPA OFFICE OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION.
"(a) The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
(hereinafter referred to as the 'Administrator') shall increase the
number of criminal investigators assigned to the Office of Criminal
Investigations by such numbers as may be necessary to assure that
the number of criminal investigators assigned to the office -
"(1) for the period October 1, 1991, through September 30,
1992, is not less than 72;
"(2) for the period October 1, 1992, through September 30,
1993, is not less than 110;
"(3) for the period October 1, 1993, through September 30,
1994, is not less than 123;
"(4) for the period October 1, 1994, through September 30,
1995, is not less than 160;
"(5) beginning October 1, 1995, is not less than 200.
"(b) For fiscal year 1991 and in each of the following 4 fiscal
years, the Administrator shall, during each such fiscal year,
provide increasing numbers of additional support staff to the
Office of Criminal Investigations.
"(c) The head of the Office of Criminal Investigations shall be a
position in the competitive service as defined in 2102 of title 5
U.S.C. or a career reserve position as defined in 3132(A) of title
5 U.S.C. and the head of such office shall report directly, without
intervening review or approval, to the Assistant Administrator for
Enforcement.

"SEC. 203. CIVIL INVESTIGATORS.
"The Administrator, as soon as practicable following the date of
the enactment of this Act [Nov. 16, 1990], but no later than
September 30, 1991, shall increase by fifty the number of civil
investigators assigned to assist the Office of Enforcement in
developing and prosecuting civil and administrative actions and
carrying out its other functions.

"SEC. 204. NATIONAL TRAINING INSTITUTE.
"The Administrator shall, as soon as practicable but no later
than September 30, 1991 establish within the Office of Enforcement
the National Enforcement Training Institute. It shall be the
function of the Institute, among others, to train Federal, State,
and local lawyers, inspectors, civil and criminal investigators,
and technical experts in the enforcement of the Nation's
environmental laws.

"SEC. 205. AUTHORIZATION.
"For the purposes of carrying out the provisions of this Act
[probably should be "this title"], there is authorized to be
appropriated to the Environmental Protection Agency $13,000,000 for
fiscal year 1991, $18,000,000 for fiscal year 1992, $20,000,000 for
fiscal year 1993, $26,000,000 for fiscal year 1994, and $33,000,000
for fiscal year 1995."

REORGANIZATION PLAN NO. 3 OF 1970

EFF. DEC. 2, 1970, 35 F.R. 15623, 84 STAT. 2086, AS AMENDED PUB. L.
98-80, SEC. 2(A)(2), (B)(2), (C)(2)(C), AUG. 23, 1983, 97 STAT.
485, 486
Prepared by the President and transmitted to the Senate and the
House of Representatives in Congress assembled, July 9, 1970,
pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 9 of Title 5 of the United
States Code.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF AGENCY
(a) There is hereby established the Environmental Protection
Agency, hereinafter referred to as the "Agency."
(b) There shall be at the head of the Agency the Administrator of
the Environmental Protection Agency, hereinafter referred to as the
"Administrator." The Administrator shall be appointed by the
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(c) There shall be in the Agency a Deputy Administrator of the
Environmental Protection Agency who shall be appointed by the
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The
Deputy Administrator shall perform such functions as the
Administrator shall from time to time assign or delegate, and shall
act as Administrator during the absence or disability of the
Administrator or in the event of a vacancy in the office of
Administrator.
(d) There shall be in the Agency not to exceed five Assistant
Administrators of the Environmental Protection Agency who shall be
appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of
the Senate. Each Assistant Administrator shall perform such
functions as the Administrator shall from time to time assign or
delegate. [As amended Pub. L. 98-80, Sec. 2(a)(2), (b)(2),
(c)(2)(C), Aug. 23, 1983, 97 Stat. 485, 486.]

SEC. 2. TRANSFERS TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
(a) There are hereby transferred to the Administrator:
(1) All functions vested by law in the Secretary of the Interior
and the Department of the Interior which are administered through
the Federal Water Quality Administration, all functions which were
transferred to the Secretary of the Interior by Reorganization Plan
No. 2 of 1966 (80 Stat. 1608), and all functions vested in the
Secretary of the Interior or the Department of the Interior by the
Federal Water Pollution Control Act or by provisions of law
amendatory or supplementary thereof [see 33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.].
(2)(i) The functions vested in the Secretary of the Interior by
the Act of August 1, 1958, 72 Stat. 479, 16 U.S.C. 742d-1 (being an
Act relating to studies on the effects of insecticides, herbicides,
fungicides, and pesticides upon the fish and wildlife resources of
the United States), and (ii) the functions vested by law in the
Secretary of the Interior and the Department of the Interior which
are administered by the Gulf Breeze Biological Laboratory of the
Bureau of Commercial Fisheries at Gulf Breeze, Florida.
(3) The functions vested by law in the Secretary of Health,
Education, and Welfare or in the Department of Health, Education,
and Welfare which are administered through the Environmental Health
Service, including the functions exercised by the following
components thereof:
(i) The National Air Pollution Control Administration,
(ii) The Environmental Control Administration:
(A) Bureau of Solid Waste Management,
(B) Bureau of Water Hygiene,
(C) Bureau of Radiological Health,

except that functions carried out by the following components of
the Environmental Control Administration of the Environmental
Health Service are not transferred: (i) Bureau of Community
Environmental Management, (ii) Bureau of Occupational Safety and
Health, and (iii) Bureau of Radiological Health, insofar as the
functions carried out by the latter Bureau pertain to (A)
regulation of radiation from consumer products, including
electronic product radiation, (B) radiation as used in the healing
arts, (C) occupational exposures to radiation, and (D) research,
technical assistance, and training related to clauses (A), (B), and
(C).
(4) The functions vested in the Secretary of Health, Education,
and Welfare of establishing tolerances for pesticide chemicals
under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended, 21
U.S.C. 346, 346a, and 348, together with authority, in connection
with the functions transferred, (i) to monitor compliance with the
tolerances and the effectiveness of surveillance and enforcement,
and (ii) to provide technical assistance to the States and conduct
research under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended
[21 U.S.C. 301 et seq.], and the Public Health Service Act, as
amended [42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.].
(5) So much of the functions of the Council on Environmental
Quality under section 204(5) of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969 (Public Law 91-190, approved January 1, 1970, 83 Stat.
855) [42 U.S.C. 4344(5)], as pertains to ecological systems.
(6) The functions of the Atomic Energy Commission under the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended [42 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.],
administered through its Division of Radiation Protection
Standards, to the extent that such functions of the Commission
consist of establishing generally applicable environmental
standards for the protection of the general environment from
radioactive material. As used herein, standards mean limits on
radiation exposures or levels, or concentrations or quantities of
radioactive material, in the general environment outside the
boundaries of locations under the control of persons possessing or
using radio-active material.
(7) All functions of the Federal Radiation Council (42 U.S.C.
2021(h)).
(8)(i) The functions of the Secretary of Agriculture and the
Department of Agriculture under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and Rodenticide Act, as amended (7 U.S.C. 135-135k) [7 U.S.C. 136
et seq.], (ii) the functions of the Secretary of Agriculture and
the Department of Agriculture under section 408(l) of the Federal
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, as amended (21 U.S.C. 346a(l)), and
(iii) the functions vested by law in the Secretary of Agriculture
and the Department of Agriculture which are administered through
the Environmental Quality Branch of the Plant Protection Division
of the Agricultural Research Service.
(9) So much of the functions of the transferor officers and
agencies referred to in or affected by the foregoing provisions of
this section as is incidental to or necessary for the performance
by or under the Administrator of the functions transferred by those
provisions or relates primarily to those functions. The transfers
to the Administrator made by this section shall be deemed to
include the transfer of (1) authority, provided by law, to
prescribe regulations relating primarily to the transferred
functions, and (2) the functions vested in the Secretary of the
Interior and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare by
section 169(d)(1)(B) and (3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954
(as enacted by section 704 of the Tax Reform Act of 1969, 83 Stat.
668); but shall be deemed to exclude the transfer of the functions
of the Bureau of Reclamation under section 3(b)(1) of the Water
Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. [former] 466a(b)(1)).
(b) There are hereby transferred to the Agency:
(1) From the Department of the Interior, (i) the Water Pollution
Control Advisory Board (33 U.S.C. [former] 466f) [see 33 U.S.C.
1363], together with its functions, and (ii) the hearing boards
provided for in sections 10(c)(4) and 10(f) of the Federal Water
Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. [former] 466g(c)(4);
466g(f)). The functions of the Secretary of the Interior with
respect to being or designating the Chairman of the Water Pollution
Control Advisory Board are hereby transferred to the Administrator.
(2) From the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, the
Air Quality Advisory Board (42 U.S.C. 1857e) [42 U.S.C. 7417],
together with its functions. The functions of the Secretary of
Health, Education, and Welfare with respect to being a member and
the Chairman of that Board are hereby transferred to the
Administrator.

SEC. 3. PERFORMANCE OF TRANSFERRED FUNCTIONS
The Administrator may from time to time make such provisions as
he shall deem appropriate authorizing the performance of any of the
functions transferred to him by the provisions of this
reorganization plan by any other officer, or by any organizational
entity or employee, of the Agency.

SEC. 4. INCIDENTAL TRANSFERS
(a) So much of the personnel, property, records, and unexpended
balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds employed,
used, held, available or to be made available in connection with
the functions transferred to the Administrator or the Agency by
this reorganization plan as the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget shall determine shall be transferred to the
Agency at such time or times as the Director shall direct.
(b) Such further measures and dispositions as the Director of
Office of Management and Budget shall deem to be necessary in order
to effectuate the transfers referred to in subsection (a) of this
section shall be carried out in such manner as he shall direct and
by such agencies as he shall designate.

SEC. 5. INTERIM OFFICERS
(a) The President may authorize any person who immediately prior
to the effective date of this reorganization plan held a position
in the executive branch of the Government to act as Administrator
until the office of Administrator is for the first time filled
pursuant to the provisions of this reorganization plan or by recess
appointment, as the case may be.
(b) The President may similarly authorize any such person to act
as Deputy Administrator, authorize any such person to act as
Assistant Administrator, and authorize any such person to act as
the head of any principal constituent organizational entity of the
Administration.
(c) The President may authorize any person who serves in an
acting capacity under the foregoing provisions of this section to
receive the compensation attached to the office in respect of which
he so serves. Such compensation, if authorized, shall be in lieu
of, but not in addition to, other compensation from the United
States to which such person may be entitled.

SEC. 6. ABOLITIONS
(a) Subject to the provisions of this reorganization plan, the
following, exclusive of any functions, are hereby abolished:
(1) The Federal Water Quality Administration in the Department of
the Interior (33 U.S.C. [former] 466-1).
(2) The Federal Radiation Council (73 Stat. 690; 42 U.S.C.
2021(h)).
(b) Such provisions as may be necessary with respect to
terminating any outstanding affairs shall be made by the Secretary
of the Interior in the case of the Federal Water Quality
Administration and by the Administrator of General Services in the
case of the Federal Radiation Council.

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE
The provisions of this reorganization plan shall take effect
sixty days after the date they would take effect under 5 U.S.C.
906(a) in the absence of this section.

MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT
To the Congress of the United States:
I transmit herewith Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970, prepared
in accordance with chapter 9 of title 5 of the United States Code
and providing for an Environmental Protection Agency. My reasons
for transmitting this plan are stated in a more extended
accompanying message.
After investigation, I have found and hereby declare that each
reorganization included in Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970 is
necessary to accomplish one or more of the purposes set forth in
section 901(a) of title 5 of the United States Code. In particular,
the plan is responsive to section 901(a)(1), "to promote the better
execution of the laws, the more effective management of the
executive branch and of its agencies and functions, and the
expeditious administration of the public business;" and section
901(a)(3), "to increase the efficiency of the operations of the
Government to the fullest extent practicable."
The reorganizations provided for in the plan make necessary the
appointment and compensation of new officers as specified in
section 1 of the plan. The rates of compensation fixed for these
officers are comparable to those fixed for other officers in the
executive branch who have similar responsibilities.
Section 907 of title 5 of the United States Code will operate to
preserve administrative proceedings, including any public hearing
proceedings, related to the transferred functions, which are
pending immediately prior to the taking effect of the
reorganization plan.
The reorganization plan should result in more efficient operation
of the Government. It is not practical, however, to itemize or
aggregate the exact expenditure reductions which will result from
this action.
Richard Nixon.
The White House, July 9, 1970.

MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT
To the Congress of the United States:
As concern with the condition of our physical environment has
intensified, it has become increasingly clear that we need to know
more about the total environment - land, water and air. It also has
become increasingly clear that only by reorganizing our Federal
efforts can we develop that knowledge, and effectively ensure the
protection, development and enhancement of the total environment
itself.
The Government's environmentally-related activities have grown up
piecemeal over the years. The time has come to organize them
rationally and systematically. As a major step in this direction, I
am transmitting today two reorganization plans: one to establish an
Environmental Protection Agency, and one to establish, within the
Department of Commerce, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (EPA)
Our national government today is not structured to make a
coordinated attack on the pollutants which debase the air we
breathe, the water we drink, and the land that grows our food.
Indeed, the present governmental structure for dealing with
environmental pollution often defies effective and concerted
action.
Despite its complexity, for pollution control purposes the
environment must be perceived as a single, interrelated system.
Present assignments of departmental responsibilities do not reflect
this interrelatedness.
Many agency missions, for example, are designed primarily along
media lines - air, water, and land. Yet the sources of air, water,
and land pollution are interrelated and often interchangeable. A
single source may pollute the air with smoke and chemicals, the
land with solid wastes, and a river or lake with chemical and other
wastes. Control of the air pollution may produce more solid wastes,
which then pollute the land or water. Control of the
water-polluting effluent may convert it into solid wastes, which
must be disposed of on land.
Similarly, some pollutants - chemicals, radiation, pesticides -
appear in all media. Successful control of them at present requires
the coordinated efforts of a variety of separate agencies and
departments. The results are not always successful.
A far more effective approach to pollution control would:
- identify pollutants.
- trace them through the entire ecological chain, observing and
recording changes in form as they occur.
- Determine the total exposure of man his environment.
- Examine interactions among forms of pollution.
- Identify where in the ecological chain interdiction would be
most appropriate.
In organizational terms, this requires pulling together into one
agency a variety of research, monitoring, standard-setting and
enforcement activities now scattered through several departments
and agencies. It also requires that the new agency include
sufficient support elements - in research and in aids to State and
local anti-pollution programs, for example - to give it the needed
strength and potential for carrying out its mission. The new agency
would also, of course, draw upon the results of research conducted
by other agencies.

COMPONENTS OF THE EPA
Under the terms of Reorganization Plan No. 3, the following would
be moved to the new Environmental Protection Agency:
- The functions carried out by the Federal Water Quality
Administration (from the Department of the Interior).
- Functions with respect to pesticides studies now vested in the
Department of the Interior.
- The functions carried out by the National Air Pollution
Control Administration (from the Department of Health,
Education, and Welfare).
- The functions carried out by the Bureau of Solid Waste
Management and the Bureau of Water Hygiene, and portions of
the functions carried out by the Bureau of Radiological Health
of the Environmental Control Administration (from the
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare).
- Certain functions with respect to pesticides carried out by
the Food and Drug Administration (from the Department of
Health, Education, and Welfare).
- Authority to perform studies relating to ecological systems
now vested in the Council on Environmental Quality.
- Certain functions respecting radiation criteria and standards
now vested in the Atomic Energy Commission and the Federal
Radiation Council.
- Functions respecting pesticides registration and related
activities now carried out by the Agricultural Research
Service (from the Department of Agriculture).
With its broad mandate, EPA would also develop competence in
areas of environmental protection that have not previously been
given enough attention, such, for example, as the problem of noise,
and it would provide an organization to which new programs in these
areas could be added.
In brief, these are the principal functions to be transferred:
Federal Water Quality Administration. - Charged with the control
of pollutants which impair water quality, it is broadly concerned
with the impact of degraded water quality. It performs a wide
variety of functions, including research, standard-setting and
enforcement, and provides construction grants and technical
assistance.
Certain pesticides research authority from the Department of the
Interior. - Authority for research on the effects of pesticides on
fish and wildlife would be provided to the EPA through transfer of
the specialized research authority of the pesticides act enacted in
1958. Interior would retain its responsibility to do research on
all factors affecting fish and wildlife. Under this provision, only
one laboratory would be transferred to the EPA - the Gulf Breeze
Biological Laboratory of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries. The
EPA would work closely with the fish and wildlife laboratories
remaining with the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife.
National Air Pollution Control Administration. - As the principal
Federal agency concerned with air pollution, it conducts research
on the effects of air pollution, operates a monitoring network, and
promulgates criteria which serve as the basis for setting air
quality standards. Its regulatory functions are similar to those of
the Federal Water Quality Administration. NAPCA is responsible for
administering the Clean Air Act, which involves designating air
quality regions, approving State standards and providing financial
and technical assistance to State Control agencies to enable them
to comply with the Act's provisions. It also sets and enforces
Federal automotive emission standards.
Elements of the Environmental Control Administration. - ECA is
the focal point within HEW for evaluation and control of a broad
range of environmental health problems, including water quality,
solid wastes, and radiation. Programs in the ECA involve research,
development of criteria and standards, and the administration of
planning and demonstration grants. From the ECA, the activities of
the Bureaus of Water Hygiene and Solid Waste Management and
portions of the activities of the Bureau of Radiological Health
would be transferred. Other functions of the ECA including those
related to the regulation of radiation from consumer products and
occupational safety and health would remain in HEW.
Pesticides research and standard-setting programs of the Food and
Drug Administration. - FDA's pesticides program consists of setting
and enforcing standards which limit pesticide residues in food. EPA
would have the authority to set pesticide standards and to monitor
compliance with them, as well as to conduct related research.
However, as an integral part of its food protection activities, FDA
would retain its authority to remove from the market food with
excess pesticide residues.
General ecological research from the Council on Environmental
Quality. - This authority to perform studies and research relating
to ecological systems would be in addition to EPA's other specific
research authorities, and it would help EPA to measure the impact
of pollutants. The Council on Environmental Quality would retain
its authority to conduct studies and research relating to
environmental quality.
Environmental radiation standards programs. - The Atomic Energy
Commission is now responsible for establishing environmental
radiation standards and emission limits for radioactivity. Those
standards have been based largely on broad guidelines recommended
by the Federal Radiation Council. The Atomic Energy Commission's
authority to set standards for the protection of the general
environment from radioactive material would be transferred to the
Environmental Protection Agency. The functions of the Federal
Radiation Council would also be transferred. AEC would retain
responsibility for the implementation and enforcement of radiation
standards through its licensing authority.
Pesticides registration program of the Agricultural Research
Service. - The Department of Agriculture is currently responsible
for several distinct functions related to pesticides use. It
conducts research on the efficacy of various pesticides as related
to other pest control methods and on the effects of pesticides on
non-target plants, livestock, and poultry. It registers pesticides,
monitors their persistence and carries out an educational program
on pesticide use through the extension service. It conducts
extensive pest control programs which utilize pesticides.
By transferring the Department of Agriculture's pesticides
registration and monitoring function to the EPA and merging it with
the pesticides programs being transferred from HEW and Interior,
the new agency would be given a broad capability for control over
the introduction of pesticides into the environment.
The Department of Agriculture would continue to conduct research
on the effectiveness of pesticides. The Department would furnish
this information to the EPA, which would have the responsibility
for actually licensing pesticides for use after considering
environmental and health effects. Thus the new agency would be able
to make use of the expertise of the Department.

ADVANTAGES OF REORGANIZATION
This reorganization would permit response to environmental
problems in a manner beyond the previous capability of our
pollution control programs. The EPA would have the capacity to do
research on important pollutants irrespective of the media in which
they appear, and on the impact of these pollutants on the total
environment. Both by itself and together with other agencies, the
EPA would monitor the condition of the environment - biological as
well as physical. With these data, the EPA would be able to
establish quantitative "environmental baselines" - critical if we
are to measure adequately the success or failure of our pollution
abatement efforts.
As no disjointed array of separate programs can, the EPA would be
able - in concert with the States - to set and enforce standards
for air and water quality and for individual pollutants. This
consolidation of pollution control authorities would help assure
that we do not create new environmental problems in the process of
controlling existing ones. Industries seeking to minimize the
adverse impact of their activities on the environment would be
assured of consistent standards covering the full range of their
waste disposal problems. As the States develop and expand their own
pollution control programs, they would be able to look to one
agency to support their efforts with financial and technical
assistance and training.
In proposing that the Environmental Protection Agency be set up
as a separate new agency, I am making an exception to one of my own
principles: that, as a matter of effective and orderly
administration, additional new independent agencies normally should
not be created. In this case, however, the arguments against
placing environmental protection activities under the jurisdiction
of one or another of the existing departments and agencies are
compelling.
In the first place, almost every part of government is concerned
with the environment in some way, and affects it in some way. Yet
each department also has its own primary mission - such as resource
development, transportation, health, defense, urban growth or
agriculture - which necessarily affects its own view of
environmental questions.
In the second place, if the critical standard-setting functions
were centralized within any one existing department, it would
require that department constantly to make decisions affecting
other departments - in which, whether fairly or unfairly, its own
objectivity as an impartial arbiter could be called into question.
Because environmental protection cuts across so many
jurisdictions, and because arresting environmental deterioration is
of great importance to the quality of life in our country and the
world, I believe that in this case a strong, independent agency is
needed. That agency would, of course, work closely with and draw
upon the expertise and assistance of other agencies having
experience in the environmental area.

ROLES AND FUNCTIONS OF EPA
The principal roles and functions of the EPA 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.
One natural question concerns the relationship between the EPA
and the Council on Environmental Quality, recently established by
Act of Congress.
It is my intention and expectation that the two will work in
close harmony, reinforcing each other's mission. Essentially, the
Council is a top-level advisory group (which might be compared with
the Council of Economic Advisers), while the EPA would be an
operating, "line" organization. The Council will continue to be a
part of the Executive Office of the President and will perform its
overall coordinating and advisory roles with respect to all Federal
programs related to environmental quality.
The Council, then, is concerned with all aspects of environmental
quality - wildlife preservation, parklands, land use, and
population growth, as well as pollution. The EPA would be charged
with protecting the environment by abating pollution. In short, the
Council focuses on what our broad policies in the environment field
should be; the EPA would focus on setting and enforcing pollution
control standards. The two are not competing, but complementary -
and taken together, they should give us, for the first time, the
means to mount an effectively coordinated campaign against
environmental degradation in all of its many forms.

NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION
The oceans and the atmosphere are interacting parts of the total
environmental system upon which we depend not only for the quality
of our lives, but for life itself.
We face immediate and compelling needs for better protection of
life and property from natural hazards, and for a better
understanding of the total environment - and understanding which
will enable us more effectively to monitor and predict its actions,
and ultimately, perhaps to exercise some degree of control over
them.
We also face a compelling need for exploration and development
leading to the intelligent use of our marine resources. The global
oceans, which constitute nearly three-fourths of the surface of our
planet, are today the least-understood, the least-developed, and
the least-protected part of our earth. Food from the oceans will
increasingly be a key element in the world's fight against hunger.
The mineral resources of the ocean beds and of the oceans
themselves, are being increasingly tapped to meet the growing world
demand. We must understand the nature of these resources, and
assure their development without either contaminating the marine
environment or upsetting its balance.
Establishment of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration - NOAA - within the Department of Commerce would
enable us to approach these tasks in a coordinated way. By (continued)