Reorganization Plan No. 3
Encyclopedia
Reorganization Plan No. 3 was an executive order submitted to the United States
Congress
on July 9, 1970 by President
Richard Nixon
establishing the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and setting forth the components of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). The order consolidated components from different Federal
agencies
to form the EPA, "a strong, independent agency
" that would establish and enforce federal environmental protection laws
. Unlike other agencies such as OSHA
, the EPA was not established by a single enabling act
of Congress.
in 1962, which is widely credited with helping to launch the environmental movement
. On January 28, 1969, eight days after Richard Nixon
became the 37th President, a blowout
on the ocean bottom near Union Oil
's Platform "A" on the Dos Cuadras field
leaked between 80,000 and 100000 barrels (15,898,729.5 l) of oil into the water of the Santa Barbara Channel
, near Santa Barbara, California
. The oil spill polluted a 60-mile stretch of coastline, harming marine wildlife and damaging the local fishing economy. The event led to widespread criticism of both Union Oil and the offshore oil drilling industry. On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day
brought millions of Americans together to peacefully demonstrate in support of environmental reform.
In April 1969, President Richard Nixon
addressed these environmental concerns by establishing the Environmental Quality Council in his cabinet, along with the complementary Citizens' Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality.
In December of the same year, Nixon received the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) from Congress, a bill that Congress stated was intended to "create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony" and to "assure for all Americans safe, healthful, productive, esthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings." The NEPA required any federal agency planning a project that would affect the environment to submit a report on the likely consequences of its plan. President Nixon signed the NEPA on New Year's Day 1970, declaring "that the 1970s absolutely must be the years when America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its air, its waters, and our living environment."
. The plan was originally approved under special Congressional procedures, but its legality was called into question due to the Supreme Court
decision in Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha
, 462 U.S. 919
(1983). Congress responded by enacting the Reorganization Plan in Public Law 98-614.
Under the terms of Reorganization Plan No. 3, the Environmental Protection Agency would be created to absorb these departments and agencies. From the Department of the Interior
, functions carried out by the Federal Water Quality Administration as well as pesticide studies would be moved to the EPA. From the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
, all or some duties of the National Air Pollution Control Administration, Bureau of Solid Waste Management, Bureau of Water Hygiene, Bureau of Radiological Health of the Environmental Control Administration, and certain functions with respect to pesticides carried out by the Food and Drug Administration
would be moved to the EPA. From the Department of Agriculture
, the responsibilities of the Agricultural Research Service
to register pesticides would be transferred. The new agency would also absorb the authority of the Council on Environmental Quality
to perform studies on ecological systems and the duties of the Atomic Energy Commission
and the Federal Radiation Council regarding radiation criteria and standards.
, declared that the agency had "a broad responsibility for research, standard-setting, monitoring and enforcement with regard to five environmental hazards; air and water pollution, solid waste disposal, radiation, and pesticides."
In Reorganization Plan No. 3, President Nixon outlined the following as the roles and functions of the EPA: establishing and enforcing environmental protection standards consistent with national environmental goals; conducting research on the adverse effects of pollution and on methods and equipment for controlling it, the gathering of information on pollution, and the use of this information in strengthening environmental protection programs and recommending policy changes; assisting others, through grants, technical assistance and other means in arresting pollution of the environment; and assisting the Council on Environmental Quality
in developing and recommending to the President new policies for the protection of the environment.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
on July 9, 1970 by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
establishing the Environmental Protection Agency
United States Environmental Protection Agency
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is an agency of the federal government of the United States charged with protecting human health and the environment, by writing and enforcing regulations based on laws passed by Congress...
(EPA) and setting forth the components of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , pronounced , like "noah", is a scientific agency within the United States Department of Commerce focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere...
(NOAA). The order consolidated components from different Federal
Federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...
agencies
Government agency
A government or state agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an intelligence agency. There is a notable variety of agency types...
to form the EPA, "a strong, independent agency
Independent agencies of the United States government
Independent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments...
" that would establish and enforce federal environmental protection laws
Environmental law
Environmental law is a complex and interlocking body of treaties, conventions, statutes, regulations, and common law that operates to regulate the interaction of humanity and the natural environment, toward the purpose of reducing the impacts of human activity...
. Unlike other agencies such as OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. It was created by Congress of the United States under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, signed by President Richard M. Nixon, on December 29, 1970...
, the EPA was not established by a single enabling act
Enabling act
An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it for authorization or legitimacy the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to carry out specific government policies in a modern nation...
of Congress.
Background
According to author Jack Lewis, the decade of the 1960s fostered a general consensus of the American public to increase protection and betterment of the environment. Rachel Carson published Silent SpringSilent Spring
Silent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin on 27 September 1962. The book is widely credited with helping launch the environmental movement....
in 1962, which is widely credited with helping to launch the environmental movement
Environmental movement
The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green politics, is a diverse scientific, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues....
. On January 28, 1969, eight days after Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
became the 37th President, a blowout
Blowout (well drilling)
A blowout is the uncontrolled release of crude oil and/or natural gas from an oil well or gas well after pressure control systems have failed....
on the ocean bottom near Union Oil
Unocal Corporation
Union Oil Company of California, dba Unocal is a defunct company that was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headquartered in El Segundo, California, United States.On August 10, 2005, Unocal merged...
's Platform "A" on the Dos Cuadras field
Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field
The Dos Cuadras Offshore Oil Field is a large oil and gas field underneath the Santa Barbara Channel about eight miles southeast of Santa Barbara, California. Discovered in 1968, and with a cumulative production of over 260 million barrels of oil, it is the 24th-largest oil field within California...
leaked between 80,000 and 100000 barrels (15,898,729.5 l) of oil into the water of the Santa Barbara Channel
Santa Barbara Channel
The Santa Barbara Channel is a portion of the Pacific Ocean which separates the mainland of California from the northern Channel Islands. It is generally south of the city of Santa Barbara, and west of the city of Ventura....
, near Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara, California
Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...
. The oil spill polluted a 60-mile stretch of coastline, harming marine wildlife and damaging the local fishing economy. The event led to widespread criticism of both Union Oil and the offshore oil drilling industry. On April 22, 1970, the first Earth Day
Earth Day
Earth Day is a day that is intended to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's natural environment. The name and concept of Earth Day was allegedly pioneered by John McConnell in 1969 at a UNESCO Conference in San Francisco. The first Proclamation of Earth Day was by San Francisco, the...
brought millions of Americans together to peacefully demonstrate in support of environmental reform.
In April 1969, President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
addressed these environmental concerns by establishing the Environmental Quality Council in his cabinet, along with the complementary Citizens' Advisory Committee on Environmental Quality.
In December of the same year, Nixon received the National Environmental Policy Act
National Environmental Policy Act
The National Environmental Policy Act is a United States environmental law that established a U.S. national policy promoting the enhancement of the environment and also established the President's Council on Environmental Quality ....
(NEPA) from Congress, a bill that Congress stated was intended to "create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony" and to "assure for all Americans safe, healthful, productive, esthetically and culturally pleasing surroundings." The NEPA required any federal agency planning a project that would affect the environment to submit a report on the likely consequences of its plan. President Nixon signed the NEPA on New Year's Day 1970, declaring "that the 1970s absolutely must be the years when America pays its debt to the past by reclaiming the purity of its air, its waters, and our living environment."
Reorganization plan and the formation of the EPA
Establishment
Reorganization Plan No. 3 was prepared by President Nixon and sent to the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled July 9, 1970, in agreement with the provisions of chapter 9 of title 5 of the United States CodeUnited States Code
The Code of Laws of the United States of America is a compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal laws of the United States...
. The plan was originally approved under special Congressional procedures, but its legality was called into question due to the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decision in Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha, 462 U.S. 919 , was a United States Supreme Court case ruling in 1983 that the one-house legislative veto violated the constitutional separation of powers.-Parties:...
, 462 U.S. 919
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1983). Congress responded by enacting the Reorganization Plan in Public Law 98-614.
Components of the EPA
In his message to Congress explaining his reasons for proposing Reorganization Plan No. 3, President Nixon stated that the national government was "not structured to make a coordinated attack on the pollutants which debase the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the land that grows our food." According to Nixon, the assigned duties and responsibilities regarding pollution control for the environment were spread out among many discrete departments, creating a structure that often defied "effective and concerted action." To create more of an interrelated and effective system for dealing with environmental pollution, he proposed "pulling together into one agency a variety of research, monitoring, standard-setting and enforcement activities now scattered through several departments and agencies."Under the terms of Reorganization Plan No. 3, the Environmental Protection Agency would be created to absorb these departments and agencies. From the Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...
, functions carried out by the Federal Water Quality Administration as well as pesticide studies would be moved to the EPA. From the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
United States Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America"...
, all or some duties of the National Air Pollution Control Administration, Bureau of Solid Waste Management, Bureau of Water Hygiene, Bureau of Radiological Health of the Environmental Control Administration, and certain functions with respect to pesticides carried out by the Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
would be moved to the EPA. From the Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
, the responsibilities of the Agricultural Research Service
Agricultural Research Service
The Agricultural Research Service is the principal in-house research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture . ARS is one of four agencies in USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area...
to register pesticides would be transferred. The new agency would also absorb the authority of the Council on Environmental Quality
Council on Environmental Quality
The Council on Environmental Quality is a division of the Executive Office of the President that coordinates federal environmental efforts in the United States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental and energy policies and initiatives...
to perform studies on ecological systems and the duties of the Atomic Energy Commission
United States Atomic Energy Commission
The United States Atomic Energy Commission was an agency of the United States government established after World War II by Congress to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. President Harry S...
and the Federal Radiation Council regarding radiation criteria and standards.
Role of the EPA
On December 16, 1976, the first Administrator of the EPA, William RuckelshausWilliam Ruckelshaus
William Doyle Ruckelshaus is an American attorney and, several times, U.S. government official. He served as the first head of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, was subsequently acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and then Deputy Attorney General of the United States...
, declared that the agency had "a broad responsibility for research, standard-setting, monitoring and enforcement with regard to five environmental hazards; air and water pollution, solid waste disposal, radiation, and pesticides."
In Reorganization Plan No. 3, President Nixon outlined the following as the roles and functions of the EPA: establishing and enforcing environmental protection standards consistent with national environmental goals; conducting research on the adverse effects of pollution and on methods and equipment for controlling it, the gathering of information on pollution, and the use of this information in strengthening environmental protection programs and recommending policy changes; assisting others, through grants, technical assistance and other means in arresting pollution of the environment; and assisting the Council on Environmental Quality
Council on Environmental Quality
The Council on Environmental Quality is a division of the Executive Office of the President that coordinates federal environmental efforts in the United States and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental and energy policies and initiatives...
in developing and recommending to the President new policies for the protection of the environment.
See also
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsThe Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United Kingdom...
- Department of Environment (New Brunswick)Department of Environment (New Brunswick)The Department of Environment is a part of the Government of New Brunswick. It is charged with planning land use, zoning development and waste management as well as the enforcement of environmental legislation and regulations....
- Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (New South Wales)
- Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland)Department of the Environment (Northern Ireland)The Department of the Environment is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive. The minister with overall responsibility for the department is the Minister for the Environment.-Aim:...
- Environment BureauEnvironment BureauThe Environment Bureau is an executive agency of the Government of Hong Kong responsible for developing policies in environmental protection, nature conservation; enforcing environmental legislation...
- Environment CanadaEnvironment CanadaEnvironment Canada , legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment Canada (EC) (French: Environnement Canada), legally incorporated as the Department of the Environment under the Department of the Environment Act Environment...
- Ministry of Environment (Pakistan)Ministry of Environment (Pakistan)The Ministry of Environment is a federal government agency in Pakistan. The ministry is headed by the Environment Minister of Pakistan. Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi is the current Environment Minister of Pakistan...
- Ministry of Environment (Peru)
- Ministry of Environment (South Korea)
- Ministry of Environment and Forests (Romania)
- Ministry of the Environment (Israel)
- Ministry of the Environment (Japan)Ministry of the Environment (Japan)The ' of Japan was formed in 2001 from the sub-cabinet level Environmental Agency established in 1971. The minister is a member of the Cabinet and is chosen by the Prime Minister, usually from the Diet., the current is Goshi Hosono...
- Ministry of the Environment (Ontario)Ministry of the Environment (Ontario)The Ministry of the Environment, established in 1972, is the portfolio in the Executive Council of Ontario responsible for addressing the environmental issues affecting the environmental protection of the Canadian province of Ontario and the World...
- United Nations Environment ProgrammeUnited Nations Environment ProgrammeThe United Nations Environment Programme coordinates United Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices. It was founded as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972 and has its...