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The Environmental Protection Agency was established on December 2, 1970, to consolidate federal research, monitoring, standard-setting, and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. Since its creation, the EPA has worked to clean up and protect the environment by setting and enforcing regulations.

The Clean Water Act of 1972 aimed to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters. It implemented pollution control programs and established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into US waters.

The TSCA of 1976 gives the EPA the ability to track the 85,000 industrial chemicals currently produced or imported into the United States. EPA can require reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures.

Enacted in 1976, the RCRA gave the EPA authority to control hazardous waste from the cradle-to-grave. This includes the generation, transportation, treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. It also set forth a framework for the management of non-hazardous solid wastes.

Enacted on January 1, 1970, NEPA was one of the first laws ever written that establishes the broad national framework for protecting our environment. NEPA's basic policy is to assure that all branches of government give proper consideration to the environment prior to undertaking any major federal action that significantly affects the environment.

Passed in 1980, CERCLA created a tax on the chemical and petroleum industries and provided federal authority to respond directly to releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances that may endanger public health or the environment. It established a fund to clean up uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites and accidents, spills, and other emergency releases of pollutants.

EPCRA was enacted in 1986 to help communities plan for chemical emergencies. It requires industries to report on the storage, use and releases of hazardous substances to federal, state, and local governments.

The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a program for the conservation of threatened and endangered plants and animals and the habitats in which they are found. The lead federal agencies for implementing ESA include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service.

Originally passed in 1947, FIFRA underwent major revisions in 1972 by the EPA to regulate the use of pesticides through registration, distribution, sale, and use in the United States. It is intended to protect applicators, consumers, and the environment from potentially harmful pesticide misuse.