The Agency came into being in 1996 and was established as a result of the Environment Act 1995, which combined the powers and duties of the former National Rivers Authority, Her Majesties Inspectorate of Pollution and the Waste Disposal Authorities into the EA.

What we do

Who we are

We are the biggest organisation protecting and improving the environment in England and Wales.

We have around 12,000 members of staff and a budget of almost £900 million. We were set up under the Environment Act 1995 and given certain duties and powers.

We are a public body - around 60 per cent of our funding comes from Government, and most of the rest comes from various charges schemes. We are independent, but we work closely with Government to get the best possible results for the environment.

Although we work across England and Wales, we have regional offices working closely with other regional bodies to develop the right solutions for local environments. We also have area offices working with local authorities and others to tackle the immediate environmental issues in your area. Our work includes:

• Protecting people from flood - last year we increased flood protection to around 30,000 properties by building or improving our flood defences
• Working with industry to protect the environment and human health - since 1990 we have reduced the amount of sulphur dioxide released into the air by 75 per cent. Sulphur dioxide can create acid rain and damage people's health.
• Concentrating our effort on higher risk businesses - those that run run potentially hazardous operations, or whose performance just isn't coming up to scratch
• Helping business use resources more efficiently - over half of the waste produced by business we regulate is nor being put to other use, including recycling and producing energy.
• Taking action against those who don't take their environmental responsibilities seriously - every year we bring hundreds of offenders to justice, leading to millions of pounds of fines.
• Looking after wildlife - we complete around 400 projects every year to improve the places threatened species live. Over the last 25 years there has been a six-fold increase in the places otters can be found in England
• Helping the people get the most out of their environment, including boaters and anglers. We sell over a million rod licences a year, many to young people coming into the sport for the first time. All the money we raise goes straight back into improving the places people fish.
• Working with farmers to build their role as guardians of the environment, tackling pollution we cannot see as well as adding to the beauty of the countryside.
• Helping to improve the quality of inner city areas and parks by restoring rivers and lakes.
• Influencing and working with Government, industry and local authorities to make the environment a priority.