EPA Policies The Environmental Protection Agency has intensified its mandate to ensure a better and safer environment not only for economic operators, but also for society as a whole. To achieve this environmental protection goal, an Environmental Protection Agency was created which ensured that all businesses, regardless of their size and type, work to ensure that the environment is protected for the benefit of current and future generations . Regulatory measures concern emissions from industries as well as products resulting from certain industries. The agency sets some rules that try to standardize emissions in terms of quantity, and if companies prove unable to reduce the level of emissions, more taxes are imposed, in order to help reverse the harmful effects using other means (Lieberman, 2010). When more tariffs are imposed, one of those most affected is the business community. Such entrepreneurs have to spend more to be able to operate in any region. This increases production costs and most companies are forced into insolvency due to rising pollution tariffs. The other impact of environmental regulations is on economic costs. Because the agency issues specific allowable emissions, companies must reduce production to reduce emissions. Failure to account for production rates causes companies to be taxed more and this in turn reduces their returns. As production is reduced, companies lose enormous amounts of money, and due to reduced returns, most employees are laid off (Meyer, 1995). Although in the past it was thought that this regulation only affected large investors, in reality it is an unbalanced competition. As a result, regulated products have experienced less competition and alternatives have experienced strong competition. It is therefore evident that while regulations are intended to protect the health and lives of humanity, they indirectly affect their lives through distorted economics. Works Cited Lieberman, B. (2010). Impact on Small Businesses of EPA Risk Finding. Retrieved from http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2010/01/small-business-impact-of-the-epa-endangerment-findingMeyer, S. M. (1995). The economic impact of environmental regulation. Retrieved from http://web.mit.edu/polisci/mpepp/Reports/Econ%20Impact%20Enviro%20Reg.pdfMiller, N., Snyder, L., & Stavins, R. (2003). The effects of environmental regulation on the diffusion of technology: the case of chlorine production. Cambridge, MA: Center for Business and Government.