Environmental Protection Policy and Law: A list of Federal State, and International Internet Resources

	This Congressional Research Service Report is made available to the public by THE COMMITTEE FOR THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT 1725 K Street, NW, Suite 212, Washington, D.C. 20006 (202) 530-5810 cnie@cnie.org
	Congressional Research Service Report for Congress

Environmental Protection Policy and Law: A List of Federal, State, and International Internet Resources

Summary

This report identifies selected Internet sites that provide factual and statutory information on environmental protection. This lists of sites, broad and introductory, is s intended to assist those having questions about environmental protection laws and regulations and those seeking information on various types of pollution and environmental quality. Included are the addresses of major U.S. government World Wide Web (WWW) sites, links to state and international agencies, and international treaties. Research and advocacy groups are not included. This report will be updated periodically as new sites are developed.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Home Page. This is the gateway address for all of the Agency Internet sites available to the public. The EPA has made extensive use of the Internet to provide access to press releases, reports on environmental quality, laws, and regulations. There is also information about programs, initiatives, policies, and the data collected by the EPA's offices. (In addition to the Home Page, we are also providing Internet addresses and brief descriptions of some of the major EPA offices below.)
http://www.epa.gov

National Environmental Publication Information. Provides Internet access to the full text of over 6,000 EPA reports and publications.
http://wwwepa.gov/epahome/publications.htm

Office of Air and Radiation. Coverage includes air quality, vehicle emissions, acid rain, indoor air pollution, and the ozone layer.
http://www.epa.gov/oar/oarhome.html

Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Coverage includes the offices of the EPA involved in enforcing and measuring compliance with regulations.
http://www.epa.govloeca/index.html

Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances. Coverage includes pollution prevention programs and activities, pesticide regulation, toxic substances, and the Toxic Release Inventory.
http://www.epa.gov/internet/oppts

Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. Coverage includes Superfund, hazardous waste regulation, brownfields, municipal solid waste, underground storage tanks, and oil spills.
http://www.epa.gov/swerrims/

Office of Water. Coverage includes water quality, wastewater management, wetlands, watersheds, coastal zones, and oceans.
http://www.epa.gov/OW

Regional Offices. The 10 regional offices of EPA are responsible for the execution of the Agency's programs in selected states. These offices also act as the local contact point for citizens, businesses, and local governments. http://www.epa.gov/epahome/locate2.htm

Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Two databases produced by the Agency for Toxic Substances Disease Registry, HazDat and ToxFAQs, provide brief, factual information on the possible health effects of various chemicals.
http://www.atsdrl.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/atsdrhome.html

Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State. OES is the Department of State's focal point for foreign policy as it relates to environmental regulation and protection.
http://www.state.gov/www/global/oes

Council on Environmental Quality, Executive Office of the President. Established under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, CEQ has the responsibility for ensuring that federal agencies include environmental impact in the design of projects and programs.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/CEQ

Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice. Responsible for litigation concerning the protection, use, and development of the nation's natural resources.
http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/enrd-home.html

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The NOAA Home Page provides Internet access to the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, the National Ocean Service, and NOAA Fisheries. All three study and report on the health and safety of the atmospheric, coastal, and ocean environments.
http://www.noaa.gov

National Response Center, U.S. Coast Guard. This office is the main contact point and coordinator of federal and local response to hazardous chemical spills on water and on land.
http://www.nrc.uscg.mil/nrchp.htm

Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. The office that coordinates wetland, soil conservation, water protection, and other programs or the USDA.
http://www.nrcs.usda.gov

Office of Environmental Security, U.S. Department of Defense. The office of the Department of Defense that coordinates environmental protection and restoration programs at military facilities.
http://www.acq.osd.mil/ens

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps of Engineers' projects and studies play an important role in protecting rivers, lakes, and coastlines.
http://www.usace.army.mil

Environmental Resource Center. A commercial Internet site providing access to the state office in each state that is primarily responsible for the environmental protection activities of the state.
http://www.ercweb.com/st8agen.htm

State Environmental Departments. An EPA resource providing links to the conservation and environmental protection departments of each state.
http://www.epa.gov/regional/federal/envrolst.htm

State Watershed Contacts. Produced by Purdue University, this site provides directory information for state agencies, regional federal offices, and research centers.
http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/Contacts/Contacts.html

Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators. This site provides information on ASIWPCA task forces, activities, and publications as well as information on state and federal activities of importance to members.
http://www.asiwpca.org

Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials. This Internet site supports agencies working in recycling, municipal solid waste, hazardous waste programs, and Superfund.
http://www.astswmo.org

Association of State Drinking Water Administrators. Provides access to state-level drinking water activities and programs.
http://www.asdwa.org/html

Environmental Council of the States. A useful Internet site for tracking trends, innovations, partnerships, and other environmental protection activities at the state level.
http://www.sso.org/ecos/

State and Territorial Air Pollution Program Administrators. A commercially-produced Internet site providing access to members of STAPPA and the Association of Local Air Pollution Control Officials.
http://www.4hcleanair.org

EPA - Regulations. Includes access to the annual Unified Agenda of regulatory and deregulatory actions of all federal regulatory agencies, dockets of supporting documentation relating to proposed rules, proposed rules, proposed regulations, and codified regulations.
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/rules.html

EPA Laws. Provides a list of and links to the major laws and statutes that form the legal basis for the programs and activities of the EPA.
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/laws.html

GPO Access. Through this gateway the U. S. Government Printing Office provides full text access to the U.S.budget, the U.S Government Manual, the Code of Federal Regulations, the Federal Register; the US Code, Commerce Business Daily, and current and past legislation.
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aaces002.html

Indiana University Virtual Library - Environmental Law. Provides links to full text documents available over the Internet and selected national and international Internet sites with a legal focus.
http://www.law.inidana.edu/1aw/v-lib/envlaw.html

National Archives - Federal Register. Regulatory actions - including agency notices, executive orders, proposed regulations, and final regulations. All appear in the Federal Register. The Federal Register is published every workday by the Government Printing Office. This site provides access to the Internet version.
http://www.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/aces140.html

National Archives - Code of Federal Regulations: After regulations are finalized they are published in the Code of Federal Regulations. This site provides access to the Internet version.
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/index.html

Pace Virtual Environmental Law library. Provides coverage of federal and state laws governing environmental protection.
http://www.law.pace.edu/env/vell6.html

THOMAS - U.S. Congress on the Internet. Maintained by the Library of Congress this site provides access to the text and status of current and past legislation. It also provides access to the text of current and past Congressional Records and committee reports.
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas2.html

U.S. House of Representatives. Information about individual Representatives and the activities of House committees.
http://www.house.gov

U.S. Senate. Information about individual Senators and the activities of Senate committees.
http://www.senate.gov

Center for International Earth Science Information Network. Supported by Columbia University, this site provides access to data and studies on population, resource, and environmental issues.
http://www.ciesin.org

Center for International Environmental Law. CIEL is part of the American University Washington College of Law. This site provides access to financial, trade, legal, and regulatory information with an international scope.
http://www.econet.apc.org/ciel/index.html

Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Created as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in order to address concerns and conflicts over the environment. Coverage includes efforts among the United States, Canada and Mexico to protect and improve the environment.
http://www.cec.org

Environmental Treaties and Resource Indicators. Produced by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network, this Web site provides browsing and searching access to the full text of environmental agreements and treaties.
http://sedac.ciesin.org/entri/

Pace Virtual Environmental Law Library. Provides full text of international treaties, conventions and agreements. In addition, there is a comparative law section and policy statements for many foreign countries.
http://www.law.pace.edu/env/vell6.html

United Nations Environment Programme. UNEP is the section of the United Nations that focuses on environmental concerns with a global impact. This is also a useful gateway to descriptions of international issues and programs.
http://www.unep.org

This document was produced by the Congressional Research Service. The Committee for the National Institute for the Environment (CNIE) has made these reports available to the public at large, but the CRS is not affiliated with the CNIE or the National Library for the Environment.
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