The EPA has primary responsibility for enforcing many of the environmental statutes and regulations of the United States. As such, the Agency is granted explicit enforcement authority in environmental statutes. Sometimes, however, that authority needs to be further refined or explained. In such cases, EPA may develop and implement policies and write guidance. In addition, EPA sometimes issues policy or guidance to encourage compliance with environmental requirements.
Policy documents represent EPA's official interpretation or view of specific issues. Guidance documents are published to further clarify regulations and to assist in implementation of environmental regulations.
EPA maintains a list of significant guidance documents as called for by the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Final Bulletin for Agency Good Guidance Practices
For every document, you may:
For Ohio, Ohio Revised Code 3745.30 requires that Ohio EPA maintain a centralized list of all policies used to implement environmental regulations. Each Ohio EPA division is responsible for maintaining such a document which is on file in the Central Office program locations and district offices. Many of these policy and guidance documents are also available on the Internet and can be accessed through individual division or office pages within Ohio EPA’s website.
