Purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Term Paper Sample)

Business Regulations
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Business Regulations
Introduction
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was established under the directives of the federal government with the mission of protecting human and environmental health. The headquarter of the agency is based in Washington, D.C. EPA also creates several ideals and decrees of encouraging the well-being of people in the overall population and the environment (Hunter & Waterman, 2016). The agency was developed in response to extensive public environmental concerns, which gained momentum in the 1950s and 1960s. After its creation, EPA has always sought towards protecting and conserving the natural environment, improving the health of people, and researching the impacts of and mandating the necessary regulations on the use of pollutants. The essay will discuss the purpose of the agency and how it directly impacts the business.
Purpose of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The Environmental Protection Agency controls the making, distribution, and use of chemicals and other forms of pollutants (Samet et al., 2017). It is charged with the responsibility of determining harmless acceptance levels for elements and contaminants in food and water. The body also enforces its research conclusions by incorporating penalties, approvals, and other forms of measures to the public and business entities (Hunter & Waterman, 2016). Under Trump`s government, the most recent regulations by the Environmental Protection Agency were the control of carbon emission from power plants, vehicles, and other sectors of the economy that contribute to climate change.
The Environmental Protection Agency oversees several programs that have the motive of promoting energy efficiency, environmental growth, sustainable growth, and proper air and water quality. These programs also aim at preventing various forms of pollution in the United States. The most common programs are the Energy Star, Water Sense, National Pollutant Discharge Removal System, Smart Growth, and the EPA Safer Choice programs (Hunter & Waterman, 2016). The Energy Star program was formed with the objective of helping the consumers to select the most effective energy-saving and efficient appliances for home and business use. The Water Sense program encourages people to have efficiency in water through systems and technologies such as high-efficiency toilets, irrigation systems, and faucets (Samet et al., 2017).
The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System is a program that controls the discharge of various pollutants in the United States waters. The Smart Growth Program of the EPA helps in supporting continuous community development. The EPA Safer Choice program provides guidelines for product labeling requirements, and it allows the customers to choose products that are chemically safe without sacrificing on the functions and quality.
Apart from developing the programs, the Environmental Protection Agency also establishes and runs various strategies of preventing, controlling, and responding to oil spill occurrences, regulating air pollution, and predicting the levels of air pollution. It also encourages the making of fuel-efficient automobiles. The EPA also enforces key laws in the United States, such as the Clean Air law, State Environmental Education law and Clean Water Act (Hunter & Waterman, 2016). The Clean Air law was formed to fight air pollution from manufacturing companies and automobiles. The Clean Water law was established to regulate municipal and industrial and wastewater effluents. It also provides grants for establishing sewage-treatment facilities. 
The agency also has the mandate of detecting and preventing environmental crimes, monitoring the levels of pollution in the United States, and formulating various standards of handling hazardous waste products and chemicals in pollutants. EPA has been enforcing key statues in the country, such as laws of regulating uranium tailings, dumping in the ocean, providing safe drinking to the public, controlling the use of insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, and asbestos hazards (Miller, 2017). The agency has also been successful in making agreements with vehicle producers to mount catalytic converters in cars. The converters help in reducing the releases of the unburned hydrocarbons by a significant percentage.
The enforcements of the Environmental Protection Agency have been accountable for a reduc