West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection

**Welcome** The **West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection** (WVDEP) enforces state and federal environmental laws in West Virginia to help protect our air, water, and land. With the enactment of Senate Bill 217 during a special session of the West Virginia Legislature, the Division of Environmental Protection was established in October 1991. Following years of restructuring and reorganizing, the Division was elevated to a cabinet-level agency in 2001, and thus the Division of Environmental Protection became the Department of Environmental Protection. The WVDEP’s mission is to promote a healthy environment. To do this, the agency uses more than 800 employees in nine locations around the state to administer programs that allow industry and the environment to coexist.