The First
 Five Years
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
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                                    The First Five Years
The U S  Environmental Protection
Agency celebrates its fifth
anniversary on December 2, 1975

The decision to create a Federal
Environmental Protection Agency.
with responsibility for protecting the
environment as a single, interrelated
system, was one of the major
responses to the environmental
challenge

Today all levels of government have
environmental programs Industry
now considers environmental
safeguards a necessary part of doing
business Environmental education
is taught in schools Environmental
law and environmental engineering
are growing specialities

In five short years environmental
protection has been woven into the
fabric of  our society It has become
an'integral part of the way we think
and the way we live

There is  mounting evidence that the
quality of the environment is
improving significantly  Salmon and
trout are returning to many rivers.
public beaches are reopening, the
persistent smog over our cities is
beginning to abate There is still a
tremendous job ahead if the Nation
is to realize its hopes of  a clean
environment  But these first five
years have planted us firmly on the
road to that goal

Russell E Tram
Administrator
U S Environmental
Protection Agency
History may well record that the
beginning of the decade of the
Seventies marked the turning point
in the misuse of our living
environment  Governments at all
levels geared  up for an attack on
environmental problems Citizens
from every walk of  life mobilized to
enhance the environment both for
themselves and for posterity
Industries, great and small, began to
embrace a new view of corporate
responsibility for protecting the
environment  International bodies
began planning in earnest for
global pollution control
THE UNITED STATES
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
AGENCY was formed in December
1970, by order of the President  with
the consent of the Congress, as an
independent agency by bringing
together various Federal pollution
control activities that had been
scattered among a  number of
departments and agencies  EPA sets
standards, determines how much
pollution is tolerable, establishes
timetables to  bring polluters into line
with the standards, and enforces
environmental laws EPA conducts
an extensive environmental research
program, provides technical,
financial, and managerial help to
State, regional and municipal
pollution control agencies and
allocates funds for constructing
sewage treatment facilities

During THE FIRST FIVE YEARS of
the integrated, coordinated Federal
attack on pollution. Congress
enacted increasingly stringent laws,
and put more money into laws
These laws, combined with strict
enforcement  by EPA have led to a
significant improvement in
environmental quality

This improvement could not have
been achieved without the deep and
continuing support of the public In
tvery walk  of life. Americans have
shown that they care about the
environment

EPA encourages active citizen
participation in the planning and
execution of its environmental
programs  It encourages citizen
groups to make a case for the
environment at public hearings on
new laws and regulations. Federal.
State or local Indeed, citizen care,
concern and participation are
central to improvement in the quality
of life
                    t
As long as individual Americans
understand that air and water are
public gifts,  not private property, and
are willing to work to protect and
preserve their natural environmental
heritage, the cause will persevere
For the environment belongs to
everybody, and  it is everybody's
business

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Things Are Looking Up
More than 97 percent of all
municipalities and industries
discharging into our lakes and
streams are either complying  with
pollution control standards or are on
definite water clean-up schedules
backed by strong penalties for
violations

Of 20.000 major stationary sources of
air pollution (industries, powerplants,
municipal incinerators, etc ) 16.190.
or 84 percent, are complying  with air
pollution regulations or are meeting
an abatement schedule.

The  amount of hydrocarbons  and
carbon monoxide in the exhausts of
1976 automobiles is 85 percent less
than the pre-1968 uncontrolled cars
and  with gasoline mileage as  good
as the uncontrolled cars.

A decade ago Lake Erie was waiting
at death's door. Florida's Escambia
Bay  wasn't far behind- Today, thanks
to Federal. State and local efforts.
fish  life not only survives but  is
thriving.

Sulfur dioxide concentrations have
been reduced by  roughly 25 percent
nationally since 1970 This
improvement is particularly evident
in major metropolitan areas

Salmon are  being caught in
Michigan's Grand River more  than 30
miles upstream from Lake Michigan,
an area where only sucker and carp
survived before Trout,  perch, coho
and  chinook salmon abound in the
lake
Demonstration projects are
underway in several cities to test the
feasibility of converting trash to fuel
for heating and electric power

The national average for particulate
matter (dust, smoke, soot) dropped
14 percent between 1970-71 and
this trend continued into 1974.

EPA has registered 1.200 compounds
for pesticide use  It has banned, as
hazardous to human health, only
three — DDT, aldrin and dieldrin —
and is in the process of banning two
others — chlordane and heptachlor

The oil slicks, scum and chemical
odors which plagued the Kanawha
River near Charleston, West Virginia,
are gone

In areas where there is sufficient data
to define a trend,  concentrations of
photochemical oxidants (smog) have
significantly diminished; the Los
Angeles and San Francisco areas are
cases in point.

For the first time in 100 years Atlantic
salmon appear to be returning  to the
Connecticut River.
By 1980 at least 25 major American
cities will be involved in some form
of resource recovery from  municipal
trash.

Lake County beaches near Chicago.
closed by pollution in  1969. were
reopened in the summer of 1975

Noise standards have been set for
big trucks and standards are being
developed for airports,  locomotives
and other noise sources
From  its establishment through the
end of 1974 EPA has brought more
than 6,200 enforcement actions
against violators of air, water and
pesticide  pollution laws. Fines  and
penalties imposed totalled more than
$9 million.

Denver's South Platte River is no
longer the polluted, trash strewn
eyesore it was a decade ago.

Nationwide, the number of
measurements of excessive carbon
monoxide in community air has
dropped 50 percent

And at the old Grist Mill on Hop
Brook in Marlborough,
Massachusetts, the miller can see
through the water to the bottom of
his wheel for the first time in his  23
years  at the site

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A Look Ahead
These are just a few examples of the
tangible returns on the Nation's
investment in pollution abatement,
and the number of returns is growing
daily. More and more Americans
will feel, smell, see, hear and
experience environmental
improvement
But the Nation has only just begun
the task. It has taken decades to
reach the level of pollution we face
today, and it will take many years to
restore the environment to an
acceptable level of quality. In many
ways the road will be more difficult
as more is learned about the
complex reactions and interactions
of pollutants and  their impact on
public health and welfare
What can be expected over the next
few years, as the  result of present
efforts, is that most of the Nation's
waters will be cleaned up  for
recreation, and that the air in most
areas will be better than the national
standards EPA has established
Specifically, these are the
developments we can anticipate:
•  Stronger  bonds of cooperation
among Federal. State and local
governments in jointly attacking and
solving environmental problems
•  Achievement of the goal written
into the Federal Water Pollution
Control Act Amendments of 1972.
that water wherever possible shall be
clean enough by 1983 for swimming
and other recreational uses, and
clean enough for the protection and
propagation of fish, shellfish and
wildlife.

• Attainment of the national
ambient air quality standards in
many air quality  control regions that
now fall short of  these goals

• A more pronounced trend away
from environmental clean-up to
prevention of environmental
degradation. Already industry is
cooperating by producing cleaner-
running and smaller cars, less
wasteful  of fuel  Industry is  also
making process changes in
manufacturing that conserve more
energy and eliminate waste, rather
than relying solely on end-of-the-
pipe cleanup devices There will be
more recycling of materials  and
fewer throwaway products

• Finally, the Nation can expect a
continuation of the strong public
participation that has marked
environmental  improvement in the
past half-decade of EPA's history. All
the opinion polls confirm that the
public's support  of environmenta1
programs remains very high, despite
the fuel and economic difficulties of
recent times. The Agency's  concern
now is to encourage interested
citizens to continue to rally  behind
the great laws enacted over  the past
five years, and to make sure these
laws achieve their  goals.

Environmental control came into
being as a grass-roots movement
That is where its strength still lies.
With the support and cooperation
of private citizens  who care about
the quality  of their own lives and
those of  their children and
grandchildren, EPA can and will
fulfill its  mission of enhancing and
protecting the Nation s
environment.
 GPO 896-822

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OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS (A-107)
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON. D.C. 20460
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE $300
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
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