The role of government

When the U.S. Congress began to pass environmental legislation in the early 1970s, it worked issue by issue, and often crisis by crisis. This symptom-by-symptom and crisis-by-crisis approach continued through the 1980s and early 1990s. The U.S. now has 16 major national environmental laws on the books, which are overseen by some 74 Congressional committees and subcommittees. There are thousands and thousands of pages of detailed, sometimes confusing environmental regulations. This fragmented approach has often resulted in pollution shifting. For example, pollutants have moved from air to water and water to land. It also has resulted frustration with the complex process of environmental regulation, and too little environmental protection at too high a cost. In recent years, EPA has been working in partnership with industry, government at the state and local level, and stakeholders representing environmental, community, and work force issues to prevent pollution at the source, prior to recycling, treatment, and disposal (USEPA, 1995).