80 About the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, created in 1967, is the national agency for environmental protection and nature conservation as well as outdoor recreation and hunting issues. Its key tasks are to present proposals for environmental policy and legislation to the Swedish Government and ensure that environmental policy decisions are implemented. The Agency complies with the ISO 14001 environmental management standard and EMAS for both direct and indirect environmental impact. The Swedish EPA supplies expert knowledge and proposals to central government in its national, EU and international work on environmental issues. Nationally the Agency regulates, sets standards and acts as a guide, coordinator and evaluator. Some 100 Swedish EPA employees are involved as experts and Swedish representatives in EU-related work and in international multilateral or bilateral cooperation. Funded by central government, the Swedish EPA is an independent authority acting on the basis of a government ordinance that defines its terms of reference. Areas of responsibility: > Providing guidance on environmental and regulatory issues to other national agencies as well as to regional and local authorities > Evaluating the effectiveness of different measures in attaining the National Environmental Quality Objectives and proposing new measures where necessary > Monitoring and reporting on the state of the environment > Developing environmental policy instruments, including environmental legislation > Appearing in courts of law (principally on licensing matters) > Promoting sustainable treatment of waste > Funding environmental research > Communicating expert knowledge > Funding environmental protection (i.e. liming of acidified lakes, site remediation and grants to local climate investment programmes) > Protecting land and water (including Natura 2000 sites) > Dealing with hunting and wildlife issues > Promoting outdoor recreation > Cooperating multilaterally and bilaterally with other countries For more information, see www.naturvardsverket.se