The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, our trusted link for December, 2020

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an independent executive agency established in 1970 by President Richard Nixon. To insure a cleaner, healthier environment, the EPA performs research, monitors the water, air, products, and land across the U.S. It sets safety standards, writes regulations, and works with the states to enforce them.  Its accomplishments include setting clean air standards that led to innovations including catalytic converters limiting dangerous toxins like DDT and asbestos reducing use of lead in paint and gasoline the fuel economy testing program.  More than half the EPA employees are engineers, scientists and environmental protection specialists. The sectors they research for environmental and health impact include agriculture, forestry, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and utilities for water, sewage, and electricity. Resources they provide to the public include AirNow.gov, a real-time guide to local air quality, including fire maps Drinking water reports Brownfield grants for cleaning up contaminated properties Education on reducing lead exposure, mold threats, radon, bed bugs, and other problems Grants for research, monitoring, and training Small business contracts and funding for environmental protection projects Their basic research programs include climate change ecosystems safer chemicals Over a dozen Hotlines are available for reporting and inquiring about issues including asbestos, drinking water, oil pollution, pesticides, and toxic substances.  In addition to subscribing to their news releases, you can follow their work on Facebook Twitter in English and Spanish YouTube

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