EPA Established with Research and Development Office as Core Function

President Nixon signed Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970, creating the Environmental Protection Agency and transferring laboratories, facilities, and research resources from multiple federal departments including the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture. Most transferred resources were placed under a dedicated research office that would become the Office of Research and Development. The Clean Air Act of 1970, signed the same month, acknowledged the foundational role of research in developing and implementing environmental policy.