Federal Agencies
Well-known federal agencies include the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Election
Commission (FEC), and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). These agencies were created to serve
specific purposes. For instance, the FBI was created to investigate federal crimes. A federal crime is one that
violates federal criminal law, rather than a state’s criminal law. The EPA was created to combine federal
functions that were instituted protect the environment. The NLRB was created to carry out the National Labor
Relations Act of 1935.
The goal of federal agencies is to protect the public. The EPA was created in response to concerns about the
dumping of toxic chemicals in waterways and about air pollution. It began when the Cuyahoga River in Ohio
burst into flames without warning. President Richard Nixon presented a plan to reduce pollution from cars,
end the dumping of pollutants into waterways, tax businesses for some environmentally unfriendly practices,
and reduce pollution in other ways. The EPA was created by Congress in response to these environmental
concerns and President Richard Nixon’s plan. It is given the authority and responsibility to protect the
environment from businesses, so that the people can enjoy a clean and safe environment.
As mentioned in the previous section, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was created to protect the
consumer. It investigates and addresses activities that limit competition between businesses. The organization
enforces antitrust laws that prevent one organization from restraining competition or seeking to maintain
full control over a market. In December of 2006, the FTC ruled on the merger of America Online, Inc. (AOL) and
Time Warner, Inc. The FTC decided that the joining of these two companies would limit the ability of other
organizations to compete in the cable internet marketplace. The FTC ordered the merged company, AOL Time
Warner, to do certain things that permitted competitors to engage, including opening its system to
competitors’ internet services and not interfering with the transmission signal being passed through the
system. Doing so prevented the large company from shutting out its competitors. These are just a few
examples of administrative agencies that were created to protect the community from business activities that
could negatively impact the environment or the consumer.
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Chapter 10 Government Regulation
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