In 1970, President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA as a response to confusing and ineffective laws put in place by communities and states. The goal of the EPA was to fix national environmental guidelines and then be able to monitor and enforce those guidelines. After the agency was created, the functions of three already existing federal departments (the departments of Interior, Agriculture, and Health) were transferred to the EPA. As a new agency, they were first in charge of the enacting the Clean Air Act which was put in place to lower the amount of air pollution from factories and motor vehicles. Other policies they put in place were the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act and the Clean Water Act,