EPA Mission

In July of 1970, the White House and Congress worked together to establish the EPA in response to the growing public demand for a cleaner environment. The EPA's mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment – air, water, and land – upon which life depends. In pursuit of this mission, the EPA provides leadership in the nation's environmental science, research, education and assessment efforts.

The EPA employs roughly 18,000 highly educated, technically trained staff, spread between headquarters program offices, 10 regional offices, and 17 labs across the country. Region 9's headquarters in San Francisco, which covers the southwestern United States (Arizona, California, Nevada, and Hawaii) and extends into the Pacific Ocean well beyond Hawaii, is organized into six divisions covering major program activities:

• Air Division
• Water Division
• Waste Management Division
• Superfund Division
• Cross-Media Division (CMD)
• Policy and Management Division (PMD)

The Water Division is responsible for implementing programs to protect the public and the environment by preventing, reducing and regulating contamination of surface and ground water. A watershed approach is used to provide protection for public health and water resources including lakes, rivers, estuaries, oceans, and wetlands.