Regional Goals

Abstract

As a representative of EPA in the role of the Regional Administrator, I frequently feel like a middle man between the idealistic goals and timetables of the Congress and the practical problems of the states and local agencies in implementing air pollution control. As many of you know, EPA is one of the most decentralized of the federal agencies. Regional offices of EPA have much more authority to initiate action programs and allocate funds than do regional offices of HEW, HUD, or almost any other federal agency. This strong regional approach has sometimes been criticized as antithetical to a unified national approach to environmental policy. It has been said that you can’t run a national air program with ten idi-osyncracies. I disagree. I believe it is difficult or impossible to develop a program legislatively or administratively which is nationally uniform and yet recognizes the idiosyncracies of local situations and needs.