Laws, Regulations, Guidance and Dockets

Protecting the world around us takes everyone doing their share. Look around your community and you will find volunteers starting recycling programs, cleaning up streams, and planting trees. This same spirit of environmental stewardship can also be seen in the private sector, where companies are adopting green business practices that are good for the environment, as well as for the bottom line.

EPA encourages and facilitates such voluntary efforts to protect the environment, but sometimes we also must write mandatory requirements called regulations. While Congress passes the laws that govern the United States, Congress has also authorized EPA and other government agencies to create and enforce regulations in order to put those laws into effect. EPA regulations cover a range of environmental and public health protection issues, from setting standards for clean water to specifying cleanup levels for toxic waste sites to controlling air pollution from industry and other sources.

We invite stakeholders to share in the development of EPA regulations. We want our rules to be practical and fair for the American people. This online brochure provides an in-depth overview of how EPA writes regulations, and how your voice can influence the policies that shape our environmental future.

Environmental Laws: The Origin of Regulations

Examine how Congress writes environmental laws and EPA provides the technical, operational, and legal details needed to carry them out.

Developing Regulations: From Start to Finish

Learn the general process by which EPA creates new regulations, including commencement, options selection, and receiving public comments.

Important Considerations that Guide Decision-Making

Investigate some major factors that must be accounted for when creating regulations that are scientifically sound, cost-effective, fair, and successful in achieving environmental goals.

When Regulation is Not Needed

Read about alternatives to regulation that EPA sometimes uses to achieve superior environmental results.

Improving the Process: Setting the Stage for Future Regulatory Actions

Review EPA's recent activities to help our regulatory process grow and evolve in ways that will better protect human health and the environment.

 

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