U.S. Federal Agency
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Environmental Protection Agency
agency
This agency's goals, progress, and results
Read the key documents that describe what this agency wants to achieve, its performance to date, and what it plans to learn through research and evaluation
Strategic plan Performance plan & report Learning agenda
Where is this agency headed?
Strategic goals are updated every four years and represent the broad outcomes and impacts an agency aspires to achieve over the course of an Administration's term. To advance those goals, agencies define more specific, targeted Objectives to complete.
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4YR Goal
1
Tackle the Climate Crisis: Cut pollution that causes climate change and increase the adaptive capacity of Tribes, states, territories, and communities
- Reduce Emissions that Cause Climate Change: Aggressively reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from all sectors while increasing energy and resource efficiency and the use of renewable energy
- Accelerate Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change Impacts: Deliver targeted assistance to increase the resilience of Tribes, states, territories, and communities to the impacts of climate change
- Advance International and Subnational Climate Efforts: Collaborate with Tribal, state, local, and international partners and provide leadership on the global stage to address climate change
4YR Goal
2
Take Decisive Action to Advance Environmental Justice and Civil Rights: Achieve tangible progress for historically overburdened and underserved communities and ensure the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income in developing and implementing environmental laws, regulations, and policies
- Promote Environmental Justice and Civil Rights at the Federal, Tribal, State, and Local Levels: Empower and build capacity of underserved and overburdened communities to protect human health and the environment
- Embed Environmental Justice and Civil Rights into EPA’s Programs, Policies, and Activities: Integrate environmental justice and civil rights in all of the Agency’s work to maximize benefits and minimize impacts to underserved and overburdened communities
- Strengthen Civil Rights Enforcement in Communities with Environmental Justice Concerns: Strengthen enforcement of and compliance with civil rights laws to address the legacy of pollution in overburdened communities
4YR Goal
3
Enforce Environmental Laws and Ensure Compliance: Improve compliance with the nation’s environmental laws and hold violators accountable
- Hold Environmental Violators and Responsible Parties Accountable: Use vigorous and targeted civil and criminal enforcement to ensure accountability for violations and to clean up contamination
- Detect Violations and Promote Compliance: Ensure high levels of compliance with federal environmental laws and regulations through effective compliance tools – including inspections, other monitoring activities, and technical assistance supported by evidence and advanced technologies
4YR Goal
4
Ensure Clean and Healthy Air for All Communities: Protect human health and the environment from the harmful effects of air pollution
- Improve Air Quality and Reduce Localized Pollution and Health Impacts: Reduce air pollution on local, regional, and national scales to achieve healthy air quality for people and the environment
- Reduce Exposure to Radiation and Improve Indoor Air: Limit unnecessary radiation exposure and achieve healthier indoor air quality, especially for vulnerable populations
4YR Goal
5
Ensure Clean and Safe Water for All Communities: Provide clean and safe water for all communities and protect our nation’s waterbodies from degradation
- Ensure Safe Drinking Water and Reliable Water Infrastructure: Protect public health from the risk of exposure to regulated and emerging contaminants in drinking and source waters by improving the reliability, accessibility, and resilience of the nation’s water infrastructure to reduce the impacts of climate change, structural deterioration, and cyber threats
- Protect and Restore Waterbodies and Watersheds: Address sources of water pollution and ensure water quality standards are protective of the health and needs of all people and ecosystems
4YR Goal
6
Safeguard and Revitalize Communities: Restore land to safe and productive uses to improve communities and protect public health
- Clean Up and Restore Land for Productive Uses and Healthy Communities: Clean up and restore contaminated sites to protect human health and the environment and build vibrant communities, especially in underserved and overburdened areas
- Reduce Waste and Prevent Environmental Contamination: Prevent environmental pollution by preventing releases, reducing waste, increasing materials recovery and recycling, and ensuring sustainable materials management practices
- Prepare for and Respond to Environmental Emergencies: Prevent, prepare, and respond to environmental emergencies and support other agencies on nationally significant incidents, working with Tribes, states, and local planning and response organizations
4YR Goal
7
Ensure Safety of Chemicals for People and the Environment: Increase the safety of chemicals and pesticides and prevent pollution at the source
- Ensure Chemical and Pesticide Safety: Protect the health of families, communities, and ecosystems from the risks posed by chemicals and pesticides
- Promote Pollution Prevention: Encourage the adoption of pollution prevention and other stewardship practices that conserve natural resources, mitigate climate change, and promote environmental sustainability