Environmental Protection Agency
- proper noun
- /ˌɛnvəˈrɒnməntəl prəˈtɛkʃən ˈeɪdʒənsi/
- Formal
- The Environmental Protection Agency conducts regular inspections to ensure compliance with environmental standards.
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA)
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Examples
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About three weeks ago, the Environmental Protection Agency encountered slightly elevated radiation levels in the Lafayette Street area.
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According to the Environmental Protection Agency, new regulations will help protect endangered species.
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For the last three years, I worked at the Environmental Protection Agency.
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...released this week by the Environmental Protection Agency.
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The research was funded by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which also published the results.
Academic text (1999) -
The Environmental Protection Agency says it did not find any alarming results from 12 more wells it tested earlier this year.
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However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had not established standards in this area.
Academic text (1999) -
One important source of information for conducting environmental media advocacy campaigns is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory.
Academic text (1993) -
Some assistance programs, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (U.S. EPA's) Partners for the Environment, offer incentives and expertise.
Academic text (1999) -
The Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for enforcing laws that reduce air pollution.
Synonyms
A United States government group that makes rules to reduce pollution and protect the environment
An agency of the United States government that protects the environment by limiting pollution
Surface Forms
Morphology
environmental + protection + agency
The meaning 'an agency that protects the environment' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'environmental' (relating to the environment), 'protection' (preventing harm), and 'agency' (an organization). Although the full institutional detail (that it is a U.S. federal regulator) is a proper-name-specific fact, a B1 learner who knows the constituent words will understand it refers to an organization whose role is to protect the environment.
Etymology
Environmental Protection Agency is a U.S. government office whose name says its job. Environmental means the air, water and land, protection means to guard them, and agency means an official group that makes and checks rules, so it exists 'to reduce pollution' and keep people healthy.