The environment and the health of the surrounding population go hand in hand. The Environmental Protection Agency takes on this very important mission of protecting both. The EPA's mission statement states: "The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Small Business Programs is intended to support the protection of human health and the environment by advocating and promoting compliance concerns commercial, regulatory and environmental issues of small businesses and socio-economically disadvantaged people". minority businesses and academic institutions (US Environmental Protection Agency, 2010).” The impact of its mission can be clearly defined as it examines the impact of air, water and soil contamination on human health. The EPA operates under a series of laws and regulations designed to serve as a foundation for the protection of the environment and the health of the public. Congress allows the EPA to write regulations to support ideas for implementing those regulations. For this reason they are known as a regulatory agency. These regulations fall into two categories: laws and executive orders (EOs) that affect environmental protection and laws and executive orders that affect the regulatory process. The quality of the air we breathe in every day is essential to our health, so the EPA Clean Air Act provides the foundation to support the quality of the air we breathe. One of the goals of the law was to establish and achieve NAAQS in every state by 1975 to address risks to public health and welfare posed by certain air pollutants. The establishment of these pollutant standards was accompanied by directions to states to develop State Implementation Plans (SIPs), applicable to appropriate industrial sources in the state... midway through the document... Works Cited CLINTON, W.J. ( 1997, April 21). Executive Order 13045. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN FROM ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND SAFETY RISKS. Washington, DC, District of Columbia, United States of America.EPA. (2009, December 29). Retrieved January 15, 2011, from Toxicity and Exposure Assessment for Children's Health: http://www.epa.gov/teach/US Environmental Protection Agency. (2011, January 13). Retrieved January 20, 2011, from Summary of Clean Air Act 42 USC §7401 et seq. (1970): http://www.epa.gov/lawsregs/laws/caa.html United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2010, September 30). Retrieved January 13, 2011, from Mold and Moisture: http://www.epa.gov/mold/US Environmental Protection Agency. (2010, December 13). Retrieved January 20, 2011, from US EPA Human Health: http://cfpub.epa.gov/eroe/index.cfm?fuseaction=list.listByChapter&ch=49