Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

U.S. government agency that sets and enforces national pollution-control standards. It was established by Pres. Richard Nixon (1970) to supersede a welter of confusing and ineffective state environmental laws. Its early accomplishments include banning the use of DDT (1972), setting deadlines for the removal of lead from gasoline (1973), establishing health standards for drinking water (1974), and monitoring fuel efficiency in automobiles (1975). The EPA's enforcement was in large part responsible for a decline of one-third to one-half in most air-pollution emissions in the U.S. from 1970 to 1990, and during the 1980s the pollution standards index improved by half in major cities; water quality and waste disposal also improved significantly. The EPA also oversees the cleanup of abandoned waste sites through Superfund. Its existence has resulted in heightened awareness and concern for the environment worldwide.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

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Žepa

Žepa (Cyrillic: Жепа) is a village in the east of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the municipality of Rogatica. Žepa is located northeast of Rogatica itself, southwest of Srebrenica and northwest of Višegrad. It lies on the small river Žepa that flows into the Drina river nearby, in a valley between the mountains Javor and Devetak.

In 1991 the population of Žepa was 2,441 with 2,330 Bosniaks (95%), 103 Serbs and 8 Yugoslavs.

During the War in Bosnia (1992-1995), Žepa became one of three Bosniak enclaves in eastern Bosnia surrounded by the Serbs, along with Srebrenica a short distance downstream and Goražde farther upstream, after other towns such as Foča, Bratunac and Zvornik were ethnically cleansed. The military commander of the Žepa enclave was Avdo Palić. In April 1993 Žepa was declared a United Nations safe area and had a small Ukrainian Army unit of UNPROFOR stationed there. In July 1995, the town was captured by the Army of Republika Srpska who expelled the population.