Canada. Environmental Protection Service : The Environmental Protection Service emerged out of a series of internal reorganizations within Environment Canada. In response to growing public concerns about pollution, water quality and other environmental issues, the federal government created the Department of Environment in 1970. Initially, the department was a loose amalgam of units transferred from other departments. Beginning in 1971, however, the department underwent the first of a series of internal reorganizations designed to produce a uniform and coordinated response to environmental issues.
Created in 1971, the Environmental Protection Service (EPS) was responsible for toxic chemical management, air and water pollution control, environmental emergencies and waste management. The EPS drafted and applied regulations and other necessary measures to enforce federal legislation on environmental protection. Additionally, it acted as a consultative agency for federal departments in charge of administering environmental laws and served as a liaison between the public and the department for environmental protection matters.
Originally comprising five programs: the water pollution control program, the air pollution control program, the environmental protection program, the emergency response program and the federal activities protection program, the EPS continually evolved. In 1973, during a major restructuring of the department, three key programs were implemented: fisheries and oceans, administration and environmental services, including the EPS. In 1975, an environment conservation program was set up in the EPS. This program focussed on four major areas: federal activities, environmental contaminants, solid waste management and environmental emergencies. The following year, the environment conservation program was restructured and was henceforth called the Environmental Impact Control Directorate. However, the new Directorate pursued the same goals. In July 1980, a new program, toxic chemical management, was implemented in the EPS. Its mission was to co-ordinate federal and provincial government activities related to preventing and controlling the dissemination of dangerous levels of toxic chemicals in the environment. Finally, in 1985, the EPS merged with the Environmental Conservation Service (ECS), until then responsible for inland waters, wildlife and lands.
In 1995, the EPS and the ECS were once again separated to operate as distinct units. They continued as such until approximately 2005, when further departmental changes saw the transformation of the EPS and the ECS into new organizational areas.