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International Collaboration for Environmental Results
Table of Contents
International Collaboration for Environmental Results
- Reduce Air Pollution
- Improve Water Quality
- Protect the Marine Environment
- Reduce Exposure to Toxic Chemicals
Since its establishment in 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has improved the quality of life for all Americans by safeguarding their air, water, land, and health. The domestic successes of the EPA's public health and environmental protection programs - including the Acid Rain Program, the Toxic Release Inventory, and countless initiatives co-sponsored by citizens, businesses, and state, local, and tribal governments-have been particularly significant. In the last 35 years, for example, air pollution has decreased by over 50 percent in the United States, even as our gross domestic product has more than doubled.
Addressing issues at home is only part of the environmental equation, for we live in a global environment made up of interdependent ecosystems and pollution that can cross political boundaries. The water quality of a lake here in the United States is affected not only by pollutants from neighboring communities, industries, and farms, but also by pollutants emitted thousands of miles away. Similarly, the depletion of natural resources in one nation can have environmental and economic ramifications in many other countries.
OIA helps safeguard the health and environmental safety of individuals at home by leading the EPA's efforts to address global environmental issues. Working with the experts from EPA's program and regional offices, other government agencies, and other nations and international organizations, OIA identifies environmental issues of mutual concern and helps implement technical and policy options to address them internationally.
Through international cooperation and collaboration, OIA leverages financial and human resources for the greater environmental good. The key to sustaining and enhancing the environmental progress made, both domestically and internationally, are the combined successful efforts of national, tribal, state and local governments, international organizations, nations, the private sector and concerned citizens.
OIA addresses a wide-range of international environmental issues to:
