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Train's achievements and legacies
Q: What your lasting achievements as EPA Administrator?
MR. TRAIN: In a general sense, all through the various energy crises of the 1970s we succeeded in holding the environmental line. We never did get pushed back in any significant way. One of our main achievements was putting into place the National Pollution Discharge Elimination Permits (NPDEP) program. Despite Ed Muskie's opposition, we borrowed this program from legislation that long pre-dated any of the current environmental legislation. We latched onto it as a basis for imposing discharge limitations, wrote it into the Water Pollution Control Act, and put it into effect nationwide. It is really the basis of the Water Pollution Control Program which exists today. It was a huge achievement.
I don't say this to be pejorative about other periods in EPA history, but I think we did a pretty good job of building the credibility of the Agency from 1973 to 1977. We didn't have any major setbacks insofar as public confidence in the Agency was concerned. We were able to resolve political problems within the Administration and the White House in a way that did not diminish respect for the Agency. We also had good Congressional relations. Again, the most important thing we did was to build the credibility of the Agency with the public.