EPA, You Don't Look a Day Over 39

December 2, 2010

Administrator Jackson on the job

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency! Since its creation in 1970, the agency has worked hard to protect America’s air, water and environment. But the job is far from over. Defenders had the opportunity to ask Administrator Lisa Jackson how she thinks the EPA has changed in the past four decades, and what challenges it faces ahead:

DoW: How has the role of the EPA evolved over time?

LJ: When EPA began, Americans were facing a rash of very visible pollution in their air, water and land. We’ve come a long way in cleaning up the obvious problems and setting standards for environmental stewardship that people expect us to maintain. We must hold on to those gains while we take up less-obvious challenges like pollutants that threaten our health, but that you need a microscope to see, or long-term challenges like climate change. We also want to make sure we continue to expand the conversation on environmentalism and reach out to as many communities as possible.

DoW: What do you think are the biggest responsibilities of the agency?

LJ: The responsibilities of the EPA have been the same for the past four decades: to protect human health and the environment through the best science, unwavering transparency and adherence to the law. That has been our mission for 40 years, and it’s what will continue our success in the next 40 years.

DoW: What is the EPA’s role in the America’s Great Outdoors program and how will it help protect natural resources and wildlife?

LJ: For 40 years, it’s been EPA’s chief mission to maintain the health of our great outdoors. This Initiative allows us to sharpen our focus, strengthen our partnerships, and add a new chapter in our quest to preserve the places Americans cherish. Through the Initiative, we’re seeking to reconnect Americans – especially children – to the outdoors and learn what we can do to better to preserve our land and water.

DoW: Since you’ve been at EPA, what has been the greatest advance in protecting and improving the nation’s water quality, and what do you see as the greatest challenge ahead of you?

LJ: There have been a number of them. We began with historic investments in clean water and drinking water infrastructure, starting with almost $6 billion from the Recovery Act invested in more than 3,000 projects across the nation. We’ve initiated new clean-up efforts in the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay and called for innovative new ways to confront today’s water challenges. Pollution from stormwater runoff is one of the great challenges ahead of us, and something we have been active on through strategies like green infrastructure development.