As the “New Style Agency”, the Federal Environmental Agency, also known as the UBA, has been much talked about since its formation in 1974. Since then, the UBA has often provided the initiative for German environmental policy, supplied the facts and made suggestions – for new regulations and limiting values as well as for new techniques and processes. Over the past twenty-five years, it has become a partner for the administration and industry, for associations and initiatives – and not least for the general public. Even if we were not always of the same opinion, and sometimes even ruffled each other’s feathers: The large number of congratulations which the UBA received on the occasion of its 25-year anniversary in July 1999, reiterates that we are on the right track.