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January 27, 2020

Rationale and Analysis for Agency Selected, Part 1

Introduction

The United States Environmental Protection Agency is one of the federal agencies in the United States of America. The agency was created in 1970 in the wake of increased environmental pollution. At its formation, the primary intention was to make sure that there exists a single unit whose core responsibilities would be to facilitate environmental research as well as setting standards for environmental protection (Environmental Protection Agency, n.d). Besides, it was tasked with advising Congress on the necessary legislations that would improve environmental health. The primary mission of this agency is to promote human and environmental by enforcing existing laws or developing new policies. Over the years, this agency has been at the centre of the efforts to protect the environment by making sure that all Americans plays their roles in the environmental protection exercises. Most importantly, the organization carries out an environmental assessment to determine the existing and potential threats to the environment and to help develop rules, regulations and policies that would help to promote environmental health. EPA has its headquarters in Washington, D.C, but it also has regional offices. Today, the environmental health of the United States of America is an indication of the success of the agency. While there are still challenges associated with environmental pollution, it is undeniable hat EPA has contributed significantly to the protection of the American environment.

Agency Functions

· Enforce existing environmental laws; one of the primary responsibilities of EPA is to make sure that all Americans apply all environmental laws. The United States has a wide range of laws that are aimed at protecting the environment. In this regard, it makes sure that legal measures are taken against individuals and organizations that fail to adhere to environmental laws.

· Carry out environmental research; the evolving nature of environmental challenges makes it critical to change the approaches to environmental protection continually. The Environmental Protection Agency continually carries out research to establish the most suitable ways to address existing and predicted environmental threats.

· Advising Congress on environmental laws; the United States Environmental Protection Agency plays an important role in environmental legislation. It is the duty of this agency to advise Congress and other legislative bodies on various aspects of environmental law. The organization has many highly qualified professionals who have an understanding of environmental issues, and their contribution in this front is likely to be influential in environmental legislation (Hill, 2017). The input of the EPA in the legislative process is critical to the extent that it will make sure laws are in line with sound research and reality.

Agency News

Proposed Utah regional haze plan

Recently, the EPA received the Utah regional haze plan, and it intends to approve it in its entirety. In this plan, the Utah state government is seeing to curb emissions that come from PacifiCorp’s Hunter and Huntington power plants. While there was a federal plan for these two plants that were issued in 2016, they have been deemed to be ineffective and incapable of taming the environmental impacts of these emissions (Mylott, 2020). Specifically, the plan seeks to reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide in addition to other particles of matter that may be produced by the power plant. By approving this plan, the EPA will be paving the way for a process that may, in the long run, affect its personnel management. For example, after the implementation of the new policy document, the agency would have to have some of its personnel going to Utah to continually monitor the emissions from the power plants. Such a decision is likely to have adverse effects on personnel management at the agency. For instance, some professionals would have to be removed from some other projects, and they will be moved to the new project in Utah.

Plans to clean up the Detroit River area

Recently, EPA announced plans to spend $ 2.5 million to clean the Detroit River area. The primary mission of this plan was to “remediate contaminated sediment and create a substantial new habitat at the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park, a waterfront park being developed in Detroit” (Lippert, 2020). This process that is aimed at revitalizing the Detroit area waterfront is likely to demand a significant level of attention from the agency. The implication of this is that it will have to second some of its human resources to take part in the project. The implication of this is that the agency will have to change its human resources plans to align with the emerging needs. In the long run, the project will have impacts on personnel management at the agency.

The rationale for Selecting Agency

Environmental conservation is an incredibly important exercise. The quality of the environment is closely associated with the quality of human life. For humans to have a healthy and robust life, there is a need to have a clean environment. Today, there are many diseases that are associated with the pollution of the environment. For example, some studies suggest that some forms of cancers are caused by dirt in the environment. Thus, it is notable that since it is the responsibility of the Environmental Protection Agency to make sure the United States environment is clean and healthy, it plays a critical role in the promotion of the health and well-being of Americans. When the environment is ‘sick’, Americans will also be sick. The primary motivation for the selection of this agency is its massive contribution to the well-being of Americans. There is a need to understand the importance of this agency to Americans, so that appropriate measures may be adopted to facilitate it and enable it to perform its functions. At the moment, the agency faces a wide range of challenges such as financing, and there is a need to properly facilitate it so that it may be effective in the delivery of its mandate.

The second reason for the selection of this agency is the need to examine its relationship or collaboration with other agencies so that it can improve the delivery of its mandate. From the analysis above, it is evident that the Environmental Protection Agency cannot operate on its own. It must collaborate with other parties and organizations. For example, the agency works closely with the management of state governments to develop frameworks that may enable them to work towards the achievement of common goals. To be effective in its mandate, it is critical for the agency to cultivate a suitable working relationship with is partners.

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