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About Us
The Office of General Counsel (OGC) is the chief legal advisor to EPA, providing legal support for Agency rules and policies, case-by-case decisions (such as permits and response actions), and legislation.
In addition, OGC lawyers, together with attorneys in the U.S. Department of Justice's Environment and Natural Resources Division , represent the Agency in court challenges to agency actions (such as regulations), appeals of enforcement cases, and Supreme Court litigation. OGC lawyers carry out these functions not only with respect to EPA’s environmental programs, but also in connection with EPA’s day-to-day operations, including entering into contracts, awarding grants, managing property and money, and working with EPA’s employees.
The primary role of OGC lawyers is to provide legal advice to EPA and to articulate the Agency’s legal positions in the federal courts and before other tribunals and organizations. OGC lawyers do not generally provide legal advice to the public and do not serve as counsel to members of the public.
The head of OGC is EPA’s General Counsel who is appointed by the President. The General Counsel has at least one deputy who is responsible for the management of OGC and for overseeing the ethics program for the Agency. The rest of OGC is divided into ten offices:
- four law offices that provide legal counsel and litigation support for EPA’s major environmental programs (water, waste, air, and pesticides and toxics)
- three law offices that provide legal advice and support in other areas
that are a critical part of EPA’s function:
- cross-cutting environmental issues (such as international issues, and compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act)
- civil rights and finance issues
- issues concerning EPA’s day-to-day operations
- an office that is responsible for providing legal advice on and assisting in the development of EPA’s alternative dispute resolution programs
- an office that manages administrative activities such as OGC's budget, human resources, computer systems, and law library
The Ethics Office coordinates and manages the Agency's ethics program to ensure high ethical standards for EPA employees.
OGC works closely with the Offices of Regional Counsel (ORCs) in each of the EPA Regions on legal issues that arise in permits, approvals of state environmental programs, response actions, enforcement actions, Regional operations, and other Regional activities. In this way, OGC and the ORCs help ensure that the Agency takes consistent legal positions nationwide.