Worries of climatic changes and its consequences have necessitated the formation of several organizations to put a restraint on human activities that cause global warming. President Richard Nixon in 1970 issued an executive order for the formation of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at the federal level. The sole purpose of this agency was to protect the plight of humans by ensuring sustainable environmental friendly operations were encouraged and harmful ones restricted. The organization was to operate through an outlined structure with departments. Nonetheless, the agency does not operate in a free space, it works in an environment heated with politics and other factors that affect its operations.
The Organizational Structure of EPA
The office of the administrator is the highest office at EPA. The administrator provides logistical and leadership support to EPA including its programs towards environment protection. Below this, EPA at the broad level is divided into two sections. These are the regional wing and the headquarters (“EPA Organizational Chart,” n.d). At the headquarters, the office of administration and resource management provides national leadership, manages contracts, grants, protection of EPA’s structural facilities among other duties. This branch is followed by other departments like office of air and radiation, chemical safety and pollution prevention, chief financial officer, enforcement and compliance assurance, environmental information, office of water, office of research and development, office of inspector general, office of general counsel, office of environmental information and office of international and tribal affairs (“EPA Organizational Chart,” n.d).
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The agency also has a regional office within the US, which includes region 1 at Boston, 2 in New York, 3 in Philadelphia, 4 in Atlanta, 5 in Chicago, 6 in Dallas, 7 in Kansas City, 8 in Denver, 9 in San Francisco and 10 in Seattle. The inspector general’s office is an independent office within EPA (“EPA Organizational Chart,” n.d). It is mandated with the broad duty of ensuring the agency operates efficiently through conduction of audits and evaluations of the performance of the various departments, investigation of both the contractors and agency. This makes the office of inspector general at a significant position of ensuring that wastage of resources, abuse and fraud cases are eliminated. Therefore, it is the center of operations at the EPA.
Impact of human resource management on climate change
The office of administration and resource management (OARM) is charged with the duty of human resource management. In the past, EPA has accepted failure to conduct an effective workload assessment. Workload assessment is paramount in human resource management as it will help in determining the number of workers needed and the skills required. The organization admitted lack of established policies that would aid in determining workforce based on the magnitude of workload. Also, the agency indicated that the task force was on a decline in the financial years of 2012 through 2015 resulting in a loss of 2,100 positions (“Management Challenges,” 2017). The failure on the part of human resource management to conduct a thorough audit of its workforce and to establish relevant policies to guide taskforce determination based on workload is necessary if EPA is still devoted to its mission.
Budget
Management of events and programs by EPA requires sufficient funding from the federal government. EPS' budget of 2016 was slightly higher than that of the previous year with a margin of $452 (“EPA Budget,” 2015). This was a positive indicator of the government’s commitment to support EPA in its mission to secure a suitable environment for human beings. Such a progress in hearty funding would ensure the success of EPA. This has changed in the trump’s administration who has proposed to conduct major cuts in EPA finance.
Reduction of funds will cripple the operations of EPA and delay most of is programs leading to a climatic catastrophe in the near future. The 2019 budget is massively reduced by a percentage 23% when compared to the budget of 2018. EPA is only awarded over six million US dollar in 2019 budget (“EPA budget,” 2018). This does not reflect the increasing demand for environmental protection responsibilities and burden. The budget is paltry $6.16 and lower than 2016 and 2018 budgets allocations.
Effects of politics on EPA management
EPA although an independent body suffers numerous political challenges in delivering its goals to the public. The office of the president has greatly demeaned the EPA as though it was a meaningless agency draining the coffers of the American people. The presidency instead of giving moral support to EPA has gone on a rampage to belittle movements towards a sustainable environment by use of scathing political rhetoric. Besides the president’s continual attacks on climate conservation movements, EPA is faced with unpredictable future. The Congress made an attempt to pass the bill that was intended to terminate EPA on 31 December 2018 (“ H.R.861,” n.d) . Such efforts to remove EPA affect the management as it demoralizes its ambition to see a better, safer and healthy environment.
Conclusion
The organizational structure of EPA is comprehensive and well-structured to deal with environmental challenges. However, the performance of EPA has been hindered greatly by the political climate particularly in Trump’s presidency. The financial cuts slapped on EPA and the failure to conduct a comprehensive workforce audit factors that are contributing to EPA’s inability to perform effectively. Therefore, EPA should take correctional measures to boost its task force and lobby for more financial support from the government.
References
EPA Organizational Chart. (n.d). Retrieved May 3, 2018, from https://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-organization-chart
FY 2016 EPA budget in brief (2015). Retrieved May 3, 2018, from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-02/documents/fy_2016_bib_combined_v5.pdf
FY 2019 EPA budget in brief (2018). Retrieved May 3, 2018, from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-02/documents/fy-2019-EPA-bib.pdf
H.R.861. To terminate the Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved May 3, 2018, from https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/861/all-info
EPA's Fiscal Year 2017 Management Challenges (2017) . Retrieved May 3, 2018, from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2017-05/documents/_epaoig_20170518-17-n-0219.pdf
