The U.S. Department of Agriculture
The U.S. Department of Agriculture passes and enforces regulations relating to food, agriculture, natural resources, and related issues. The department encompasses 29 other regulatory agencies and offices, including other major environmental regulatory agencies such as the United States Forest Service. The Department of Agriculture plays a major role in the United States environmental regulatory regime, working to preserve natural resources, restored forests, improved watersheds, and healthy private working lands. The agency employees nearly 100,000 personnel at more than 4,500 locations across the United States, as well as abroad.
The Department of Agriculture was established on May 15, 1862, by President Abraham Lincoln. The agency operates under the statutory authority of Title 7 of the U.S. Code, Chapter 55, “the Department of Agriculture.”