The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established in July of 1970, a landmark year for environmental concerns, having been preceded by the passing of the National Environmental Policy Act in January and the first Earth Day celebrations in April. President Richard Nixon and Congress, working together in response to the growing public demand for cleaner air, land, and water, sought to create a new agency of the federal government structured to make a coordinated attack on the pollutants that endanger human health and degrade the environment. The EPA was charged with repairing the damage already done to the environment and with instituting new policies designed to maintain a clean environment.

The EPA's mission is "to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment." At the time the EPA was formed, at least fifteen programs in five different agencies and cabinet-level departments were...