page_title: Environmental protection
section_title: United States
hierarchical_section_title: Environmental protection / Government / United States
caption_attribution_description: English: Yosemite valley, Yosemite National Park, California, USA. Français&#160;: Vallée de Yosemite. Parc national de Yosemite, Californie (États-Unis).
context_page_description: Environmental protection is the practice of protecting the natural environment by individuals, organizations and governments. Its objectives are to conserve natural resources and the existing natural environment and, where possible, to repair damage and reverse trends.
  Due to the pressures of overconsumption, population growth and technology, the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently. This has been recognized, and governments have begun placing restraints on activities that cause environmental degradation. Since the 1960s, environmental movements have created more awareness of the multiple environmental problems. There is disagreement on the extent of the environmental impact of human activity, so protection measures are occasionally debated.
context_section_description: Since 1969, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working to protect the environment and human health.
  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent public body under the aegis of the Department of Communications, Climate Action & Environment established under the Environmental Protection Agency Act, 1992.
  All US states have their own state-level departments of environmental protection, which may issue regulations more stringent than the federal ones.
  In January 2010, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson published via the official EPA blog her "Seven Priorities for EPA's Future", which were (in the order originally listed):
  Taking action on climate change
  Improving air quality
  Assuring the safety of chemicals
  Cleaning up [US] communities
  Protecting America's waters
  Expanding the conversation on environmentalism and working for environmental justice
  Building strong state and tribal partnerships
  As of 2019, it is unclear whether these still represent the agency's active priorities, as Jackson departed in February 2013, and the page has not been updated in the interim.
caption: Yosemite National Park in California, one of the first protected areas in the United States.
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