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United States Environmental Protection Agency
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<p>The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an <a href="/facts/Independent_agency_of_the_United_States_government/XG5znCys">independent agency of the United States government</a> tasked with <a href="/facts/Environmental_protection/HoD7nCUq">environmental protection</a> matters. President <a href="/facts/Richard_Nixon/HS8uXAoC">Richard Nixon</a> proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on December 2, 1970, after Nixon signed an <a href="/facts/Executive_order/JwJJXBar">executive order</a>. The <a href="/facts/Reorganization_Plan_No._3/NCysmsEl">order establishing the EPA</a> was ratified by committee hearings in the House and Senate. </p><p>The agency is led by its <a href="/facts/Administrator_of_the_Environmental_Protection_Agency/paCxWlkv">administrator</a>, who is appointed by the <a href="/facts/President_of_the_United_States/oMsfmLb1">president</a> and approved by the <a href="/facts/United_States_Senate/VyzXHE01">Senate</a>. The current administrator is <a href="/facts/Lee_Zeldin/cg4lJI82">Lee Zeldin</a>. The EPA is not a <a href="/facts/Cabinet_of_the_United_States/2ouVJrjQ">Cabinet</a> department, but the administrator is normally given <a href="/facts/Cabinet_of_the_United_States/2ouVJrjQ">cabinet rank</a>. The EPA has its headquarters in <a href="/facts/Washington,_D.C./enXPK156">Washington, D.C.</a> There are regional offices for each of the agency's ten regions, as well as 27 laboratories around the country. </p><p>The agency conducts <a href="/facts/Environmental_assessment/LWNWaKJC">environmental assessment</a>, research, and education. It has the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing national standards under a variety of <a href="/facts/Environmental_law/wgFnMNQ6">environmental laws</a>, in consultation with state, tribal, and local governments. EPA enforcement powers include fines, <a href="/facts/Sanctions_(law)/tVGF40J8">sanctions</a>, and other measures. </p><p>It delegates some permitting, monitoring, and enforcement responsibility to <a href="/facts/U.S._state/PFwcRIYQ">U.S. states</a> and the <a href="/facts/List_of_federally_recognized_tribes/loQDd5s0">federally recognized tribes</a>. The agency also works with industries and all levels of government in a wide variety of voluntary pollution prevention programs and energy conservation efforts. </p><p>The agency's budgeted employee level in 2023 was 16,204.1 <a href="/facts/Full-time_equivalent/cIUeTn5m">full-time equivalent</a> (FTE). More than half of EPA's employees are engineers, scientists, and environmental protection specialists; other employees include legal, public affairs, financial, and information technologists. </p>