Independent Regulatory Agency Essay

An independent regulatory agency is simply defined as a federal bureau or organization that impose and enforce regulations free of political influence. These agencies are created by an act of Congress that are independent of the executive department (foreffectivegov.org). Independent regulatory agencies supervise these rules and regulations to help benefit the majority of the public population. Independent regulatory agencies have proven to be beneficial, especially to the executive branch, because these agencies are able to comprehend the complexity of these specific regulatory tasks and consists of commissioners that can provide that certain expertise to the matter at hand. These agencies have proven to fulfill the need of swift execution over public jurisdiction in …show more content…
Before the NRC was even created, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was in charge of any matters regarding nuclear regulation and activity. The AEC was disbanded in 1975 due to its perception as favoring and promoting the nuclear industry it was suppose to be regulating. Thus, the AEC dispersed into two successors, one of these successors becoming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. President Ford elected the first five commissioners of the NRC that had extensive and diversified backgrounds in the nuclear field. The NRC was assigned the duty to focus its attention on many comprehensive problems that were crucial in the protection of public health and safety. One of the main situations regarded by the NRC was to regulate radiation protection. The use of any nuclear materials for production or application presented the primary concern and danger of hazardous levels of radiation that could potentially be exposed towards workers or the general public . The NRC created and published standards to help inform the general public and anyone who was concerned of being exposed to radiation the safety precautions of the threats radiation can produce. These standards were composed of