The passage of the NEPA happened so fast, and the EPA (environmental protection agency) that formed as a result of the bill was organized so quickly, that the early years of the program saw disorganized, scattered offices and frustration amongst workers.
The first ever Earth Day is held in Washington on April, 22nd, 1970
The National Ad Council's Keep American Beautiful Campaign of 1971- featuring Chief Iron Eyes Cody.
March 1971 = The General Services Administration was able to move all of EPA's Washington workers into an office complex big enough to house them.
EPA's first adminstrator Attorney General, William D. Ruckelshaus, sums up EPA's formative years:
"We thought we had technologies that could control pollutants, keeping them below threshold levels at a reasonable cost, and that the only things missing in the equation were national standards and a strong enforcement effort. All of the nation's early environmental laws reflected these assumptions, and every one of these assumptions is wrong...The errors in our assumptions were not readily apparent in EPA's early days because the agency was tackling pollution in its most blatant form. The worst problems and the most direct ways to deal with them were apparent to everyone."
December 31st, 1972 = DDT Ban Takes Effect
From EPA.gov = What does the EPA do?
EPA works to develop and enforce regulations that implement environmental laws enacted by Congress. EPA is responsible for researching and setting national standards for a variety of environmental programs, and delegates to states and tribes the responsibility for issuing permits and for monitoring and enforcing compliance. Where national standards are not met, EPA can issue sanctions and take other steps to assist the states and tribes in reaching the desired levels of environmental quality.
List of Related Acts:
Air
* 1970 - Clean Air Act Extension PL 91-604
* 1976 - Toxic Substances Control Act PL 94-469
* 1977 - Clean Air Act Amendments PL 95-95
* 1990 - Clean Air Act Amendments PL 101-549
Water
* 1970 - Water Quality Improvement Act PL 91-224
* 1972 - Water Pollution Control Act PL 92-500
* 1974 - Safe Drinking Water Act PL 93-523
* 1976 - Toxic Substances Control Act PL 94-469
* 1977 - Clean Water Act PL 95-217
* 1987 - Water Quality Act PL 100-4
Land
* 1970 - Wilderness Act PL 91-504
* 1977 - Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act PL 95-87
* 1978 - Wilderness Act PL 98-625
* 1980 - Alaska Land Protection Act PL 96-487
* 1994 - California Desert Protection Act PL 103-433
* 1996 - Food Quality Protection Act
Endangered species
* 1972 - Marine Mammal Protection Act PL 92-522
* 1973 - Endangered Species Act PL 93-205
Hazardous waste
* 1970 - Resource Recovery Act PL 91-512
* 1976 - Resource Conservation and Recovery Act PL 94-580
* 1980 - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("Superfund") PL 96-510
* 1982 - Nuclear Waste Repository Act PL 97-425
* 1984 - Hazardous and Solid Wastes Amendments Act PL 98-616
* 1986 - Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act PL 99-499
* 2002 - Small Business Liability Relief and Brownfields Revitalization Act ("Brownfields Law") PL 107-118
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