California Environmental Protection Agency
Logo of CalEPA
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| Agency overview | |
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| Formed | July 17, 1991 |
| Headquarters | 1001 I Street Sacramento, California |
| Employees | 4,550 permanent staff |
| Annual budget | $1.8 billion (2011) |
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| Child agencies | |
| Website | http://www.calepa.ca.gov/ |
The California Environmental Protection Agency, or CalEPA, is a state cabinet-level agency within the government of California. The mission of CalEPA is to restore, protect and enhance the environment, to ensure public health, environmental quality and economic vitality.
The current Secretary for Environmental Protection (Secretary of CalEPA) is Matt Rodriquez, and is a member of Governor Jerry Brown's cabinet. The Office of the Secretary heads CalEPA and is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the activities of one office, two boards, and three departments dedicated to improving California’s environment.
The Secretary of CalEPA is also directly responsible for coordinating the administration of the Unified Program and certifying Unified Program Agencies. The CalEPA Unified Program coordinates, and makes consistent the administrative requirements, permits, inspections, and enforcement activities of six environmental and emergency response programs. The state agencies responsible for these programs set the standards for their program while local governments implement the standards. To date, there are 83 Certified Unified Program Agencies (CUPAs), who are accountable for carrying out responsibilities previously handled by approximately 1,300 different state and local agencies.
CalEPA should not be confused with the similarly named federal United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
CalEPA was created by Governor Pete Wilson by Executive Order W-5-91 in 1991, following on a "Big Green" initiative Wilson proposed during the 1990 state gubernatorial elections, promising a cabinet-level agency to oversee state environmental regulations and research. Following inter-agency reorganizations led by the governor with review by both houses of the California State Legislature, the agency became a cabinet department on July 17, 1991.
CalEPA, and its departmental California Air Resources Board, were one of the key supporters of the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, making the state the first in the United States to cap all greenhouse gas emissions from major industries.
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