EPA and its Federal, State, local, and community partners have made enormous progress in protecting the Nation's health and environment. From reducing mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants to doubling the fuel economy of our cars and trucks, the Agency is working to save tens of thousands of lives each year. Further, EPA has removed over a billion tons of pollution from the air and produced hundreds of billions of dollars in benefits for the American people. For example:

Highlights of EPA's Regulatory Plan

EPA's 40 years of environmental and health protection demonstrate our Nation's ability to create jobs while we clean our air, water, and land. Clean air, clean water, and healthy workers are all essential to American businesses. Moreover, innovations in clean technology are creating new jobs right now. Addressing climate change calls for coordinated national and global efforts to research alternative fuels and other emission reduction technologies and requires strong partnerships across economic sectors and around the world. Similarly, energy consumption and higher costs underscore the need to promote alternative energy sources and invest in new technologies.

Seven Guiding Priorities

The EPA's success depends on supporting innovation and creativity in both what we do and how we do it. To guide the Agency's efforts, Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has established seven guiding priorities. These priorities are enumerated in the list that follows, along with recent progress and future objectives for each.

1. Taking Action on Climate Change

While the EPA stands ready to help Congress craft strong, science-based climate legislation that addresses the spectrum of issues, the Agency will deploy existing regulatory tools as they are available and warranted. Using the Clean Air Act, EPA will continue to develop greenhouse gas standards for both mobile and stationary sources.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for Automobiles and Trucks. Last year, EPA issued joint regulations with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that will improve fuel economy and reduce GHG emissions from light-duty vehicles for the 2012 to 2016 model years and from heavy-duty engines and vehicles. Building on that success, the two agencies are now developing a rule that will require further improvements in light-duty vehicles for the model years 2017 to 2025.

Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards for Power Plants. In 2012, EPA will also continue to develop common-sense solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from large stationary sources like power plants.

2. Improving Air Quality

Since passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments in 1990, nationwide air quality has improved significantly for the six criteria air pollutants for which there are national ambient air quality standards. Long-term exposure to air pollution can cause cancer and damage to the immune, neurological, reproductive, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems.

Reviewing and Implementing Air Quality Standards. Despite progress, millions of Americans still live in areas that exceed one or more of the national standards. Ground-level ozone and particle pollution still present challenges in many areas of the country. This year's regulatory plan describes efforts to review the primary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulates.

Tier 3 Vehicle and Fuel Standards. EPA plans to propose new vehicle emission and fuel standards to further reduce NOx, PM, and air toxics. These standards will address the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) "anti-backsliding" provision, which requires the Agency to assess the air quality impacts of renewable fuel mandates and take steps to mitigate them. These standards will also help states to achieve air quality standards.

Cleaner Air From Improved Technology. EPA continues to address toxic air pollution under authority of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. The centerpiece of this effort is the "Maximum Achievable Control Technology" (MACT) program, which requires that all major sources of a given type use emission controls that better reflect the current state of the art.

3. Assuring the Safety of Chemicals

One of EPA's highest priorities is to make significant and long-overdue progress in assuring the safety of chemicals. Using sound science as a compass, EPA protects individuals, families, and the environment from potential risks of pesticides and other chemicals.

Enhancing EPA's Current Chemicals Management Program Under the Toxic Substances Control Act. EPA continues to target priority chemicals for action and to identify both concerns that the chemicals may present and actions the Agency will take to address those concerns. EPA is undertaking a range of actions to address potential risks, including establishing for the first time criteria for the use of TSCA's section 5(b)(4) authority and proposing actions under TSCA to gather additional information on nanoscale chemical materials.

Enhancing Agricultural Worker Protection and Strengthening Pesticide Applicator Safety. EPA is developing a proposal to strengthen the existing agricultural worker protection regulation, which is designed to protect agricultural farm workers and pesticide handlers by improving pesticide safety training for workers and protections from exposure during work activities. This proposal will also address key environmental justice concerns for a population that is disproportionately affected by pesticide exposure. In addition, EPA expects to propose changes to the existing regulations for certifying the competency of pesticide applicators to apply pesticides safely. Both of these rules also aim to protect child and adolescent agricultural workers.

4. Cleaning Up Communities

EPA supports urban, suburban, and rural community goals of improving environmental, human health, and quality-of-life outcomes through partnerships that also promote economic opportunities, energy efficiency, and revitalized neighborhoods. Sustainable communities balance their economic and natural assets so that the diverse needs of local residents can be met now and in the future with limited environmental impacts. EPA accomplishes these outcomes by working with communities, other Federal agencies, States, and national experts to develop and encourage development strategies that have better outcomes for air quality, water quality, and land preservation and revitalization.

5. Protecting America's Waters

We have made considerable progress in cleaning up many of America's waters, but water quality and enforcement programs face on-going challenges. These challenges demand both traditional and innovative strategies.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. EPA proposed a regulation that would collect information about concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). CAFOs are a significant source of nutrient pollution and pathogens in U.S. watersheds. The information that would be collected under the proposed rule would allow EPA to increase water quality protection through better implementation of the NPDES permitting program for CAFOs. The proposed regulation would apply to all permitted and unpermitted CAFOs. EPA co-proposed a regulation that would only collect information from CAFOs in targeted areas, if EPA determined such collection was necessary based on specified factors, such as water quality concerns.

Streamlining. EPA intends to review the regulations that apply to the issuance of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, which are the wastewater permits that facility operators must obtain before they discharge pollutants to any water of the United States. EPA plans to update specific elements of the existing NPDES in order to better harmonize regulations and application forms, improve permit documentation and transparency, and provide clarifications to the existing regulations.

6. Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism and Working for Environmental Justice.

Environmental Justice in Rulemaking. EPA released "Plan EJ 2014" in September 2011. This Plan, which marks the 20^th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 12898 on environmental justice, is EPA's overarching strategy for advancing environmental justice. It seeks to protect the environment and health in overburdened communities, empower communities to take action to improve their health and environment, and establish partnerships with local, State, tribal, and Federal governments, and organizations to achieve healthy and sustainable communities. The Plan is an important and positive step toward meeting EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson's priority to work for environmental justice and protect the health and safety of communities that have been disproportionately impacted by pollution.

Children's Health. EPA continues to lead efforts to protect children from environmental health risks, in accordance with Executive Order 13045. To accomplish this, EPA intends to use a variety of approaches, including regulation, enforcement, research, outreach, community-based programs, and partnerships to protect pregnant women, infants, children, and adolescents from environmental and human health hazards.

7. Building Strong State and Tribal Partnerships

EPA's success depends more than ever on working with increasingly capable and environmentally conscious partners. While the Agency works with the States and tribes on the day-to-day mission of environmental protection, declining tax revenues and fiscal challenges are pressuring State agencies and tribal governments to do more with fewer resources. EPA is supportive of State and tribal capacity to ensure that programs are consistently delivered nationwide. This provides EPA and its intergovernmental partners with an opportunity to further strengthen their working relationship and, thereby, more effectively pursue their shared goal of protecting the Nation's environment and public health.

Recognizing the Right of Tribes as Sovereign Nations. In FY 2009, EPA Administrator Jackson reaffirmed the Agency's Indian Policy, which recognizes that the United States has a unique legal relationship with tribal governments based on treaties, statutes, Executive orders, and court decisions. EPA recognizes the right of tribes as sovereign governments to self-determination and acknowledges the Federal Government's trust responsibility to tribes.

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The priorities described above will guide EPA's work in the years ahead. They are built around the challenges and opportunities inherent in our mission to protect health and the environment for all Americans. This mission is carried out by respecting EPA's core values of science, transparency, and the rule of law. Within these parameters, EPA carefully considers the impacts its regulatory actions will have on society.

Retrospective Review of Existing Regulations

Just as today's economy is vastly different from that of 40 years before, EPA's regulatory program is evolving to recognize the progress that has already been made in environmental protection and to incorporate new technologies and approaches that allow us to accomplish our mission more efficiently and effectively. A central goal, consistent with January's Executive Order 13563, is to identify methods for reducing unjustified burdens and costs. In August, EPA released a plan for periodically reviewing EPA's existing regulations. The Agency intends to apply the principles and directives of EO 13563 to both retrospective reviews of existing regulations and the development of new regulations. As called for by Executive Order 13563, EPA intends to seek ways "to determine whether...regulations should be modified, streamlined, expanded, or repealed so as to make the Agency's regulatory program more effective or less burdensome in achieving the regulatory objectives."

The EPA's Final Plan for Retrospective Reviews of Existing Regulations (Retrospective Review Plan) describes a large number of burden-reducing, cost-saving reforms, including 35 priority initiatives. Some of these have recently been completed; others are in process; still others are in their earliest stages. The potential economic savings are significant. For example, a recently proposed rule may eliminate redundant air pollution control requirements now imposed on gas stations; that rule would save $87 million annually. Taken as a whole, recent reforms, already finalized or formally proposed, are anticipated to save up to $1.5 billion over the next 5 years. Other reforms described in the Retrospective Review Plan, including efforts to streamline requirements and to move to electronic reporting, could save more.

Pursuant to section 6 of Executive Order 13563 "Improving Regulation and Regulatory Review" (Jan. 18, 2011), the following Regulation Identifier Numbers (RINs) have been identified as associated with retrospective review and analysis in EPA's final Retrospective Review Plan. Some of the entries on this list may be completed actions, which do not appear in The Regulatory Plan. However, more information can be found about these completed rulemakings in past publications of the Unified Agenda on Reginfo.gov in the Completed Actions section for the Agency. These rulemakings can also be found on Regulations.gov. The final Agency plan can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/regdarrt/retrospective/.

Rules Expected to Affect Small Entities

By better coordinating small business activities, EPA aims to improve its technical assistance and outreach efforts, minimize burdens to small businesses in its regulations, and simplify small businesses' participation in its voluntary programs. Actions that may affect small entities can be tracked on EPA's Regulatory Development and Retrospective Review Tracker (http://www.epa.gov/regdarrt/) at any time. This Plan includes a number of rules that may be of particular interest to small entities: