Cal/EPA Office of the Secretary

In 1991, California's environmental authority was unified in a single Cabinet level agency--the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA). This brought the Air Resources Board (ARB), State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), Regional Water Quality Control Boards (RWQCBs) and the Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) under an umbrella agency with the newly created Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR).

Cal/EPA's Office of the Secretary heads Cal/EPA and is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the activities of all five Boards, Departments, and Offices (BDOs) shown below.

The Secretary does not direct policies and decisions of the Boards, Departments and Office on a day-to-day basis. As an officer of the Governor’s Cabinet with statutory responsibility (Gov. Code sections 12850-12856) to coordinate and supervise the overall performance of the Agency, the Secretary provides the vision and leadership that focuses the efforts of the Boards, Departments and Office of Cal/EPA on the goals of the Administration.

The specific functions to be performed within the Office of the Secretary of Cal/EPA include budget review, review of personnel management, enforcement coordination, information management coordination, strategic planning and pollution prevention.

In addition to these agency duties, the Legislature has given the Office of the Secretary several specific programmatic responsibilities, which are listed below with links to further information:

• Unified Program
• Children’s Environmental Health
• Enforcement
• Environmental Justice
• Environmental Management and Sustainability Project
• Environmental Protection Indicators for California (EPIC)
• Quality Improvement

About Cal/EPA