EPA's Origins: Duties Transferred to EPA from Other Federal Agencies

Department of the Interior (DOI)

  • Federal Water Quality Administration
  • Functions transferred to the Secretary by Reorganization Plan #2 of 1966 (80 Stat 1608)
  • Functions vested in the Secretary or Department by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
  • Functions vested in the Secretary by the Act of August 1, 1958, 72 Stat. 479, 16 U.S.C. 742d-1 (an act related to studies of the effects of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides upon fish and wildlife)
  • Functions vested by law in the Secretary administered by the Gulf Breeze Biological Laboratory of the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries at Gulf Breeze, Florida
  • The Water Pollution Control Advisory Board (33 U.S.C. 466f) , and the hearing boards provided for in sections 10(c)(4) and 10(f) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, as amended (33 U.S.C. 466g)

Department of Agriculture (USDA)

  • Functions of the Secretary or Department under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, as amended (7 U.S.C. 135-135k)
  • Functions of the Secretary or Department under section 408(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), as amended (21 U.S.C. 346a(l))
  • Functions vested by law in the Secretary or Department administered through the Environmental Quality Branch of the Plant Protection Division of the Agricultural Research Service

Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW)

  • Functions vested by law in the Secretary or Department administered through the Environmental Health Service, including:
    • The National Air Pollution Control Administration
  • The Environmental Control Administration, including:
    • Bureau of Solid Waste Management
    • Bureau of Water Hygiene
    • Bureau of Radiological Health
  • Functions vested in the Secretary for establishing tolerances for pesticides chemicals under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA)
  • The Air Quality Advisory Board (42 U.S.C. 1857e)

Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)

  • Functions of the AEC under the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, administered through its Division of Radiation Protection Standards, to the extent that such functions consist of establishing generally applicable environmental standards for protection of the general environment from radioactive material

Federal Radiation Council (FRC)

  • All functions of the Federal Radiation Council (42 U.S.C. 2021(h))

Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)

  • Functions of CEQ under section 204(5) of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (Public Law 91-190, approved Jan. 1, 1970, 83 Stat. 855), that pertain to ecological systems