Science for Environmental Protection The Road Ahead (2012) / Chapter Skim
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Summary
Pages 3-14
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From page 3... ...
In anticipation of future environmental science and engineering challenges and technologic advances, EPA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to assess the overall capabilities of the agency to develop, obtain, and use the best available scientific and technologic information and tools to meet persistent, emerging, and future mission challenges and opportunities.
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From page 4... ...
The Clean Air Act and other statutory mandates give rise to the need for improved scientific and technical information on health exposures and effects, on ecologic exposures and effects, on ambient and emission monitoring techniques, on atmospheric chemistry and physics, and on pollution-prevention and emission-control methods for hundreds of pollutants present in both indoor and outdoor environments. EPA also faces the critical challenge of helping to find efficient and effective approaches to mitigating climate change and improving
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From page 5... ...
As progress has been made in solving local problems and as more has been learned about the health and environmental consequences of chronic lowlevel exposures to diverse and disperse physical and chemical stressors, environmental science and engineering has begun to focus on impacts over wider geographic areas. The spatial and temporal scales required to understand emerging environmental issues vary widely, and their range is widening as more is learned about the systems and feedback loops underlying the observed phenomena.
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From page 6... ...
In addition to updating water-quality standards and addressing health studies and swimmer surveys, EPA has begun to use PCR techniques to understand coastal pollution, address polluted sediments, decrease response time for detecting polluted waters, and improve protection of public health on beaches and coastlines. Such advances as the deployment of quantitative PCR require linking biology, mathematics, health, the environment, and policy to support substantial interdisciplinary research focused on problem-solving and systems thinking.
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From page 7... ...
BUILDING SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN THE 21st CENTURY As a regulatory agency, EPA applies many of its resources to implementing complex regulatory programs, including substantial commitments of scientific and technical resources to environmental monitoring, applied health and environmental science, risk assessment, benefit–cost analysis, and other activi
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From page 8... ...
Amid this inherent tension, science in EPA generally and in EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) in particular strives to support the needs of the agency's present regulatory mandates and timetables, to identify and lay the intellectual foundations that will allow the agency to meet current and emerging environmental challenges, to determine the main environmental research problems on the US environmental-research landscape, to sustain and continually rejuvenate a diverse inhouse scientific staff to support the agency, and to strike an appropriate balance between inhouse and extramural research investment.
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From page 9... ...
Data are acquired as needed and synthesized to generate knowledge about key outcomes. This knowledge is incorporated into an array of systems tools and solutions-oriented synthesis approaches to formulate policies that best improve public health and the environment while taking account of social and economic impacts.
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From page 10... ...
Many analytic systems tools can contribute to analyzing and evaluating complex scenarios, including life-cycle assessment; cumulative risk assessment; social, economic, behavioral, and decision sciences; and synthesis research. Regardless of the analytic systems tools used, it is important to characterize and integrate information on both human health and ecosystem effects.
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From page 11... ...
ENHANCED LEADERSHIP AND CAPACITY IN THE US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY To implement the key strategies described above and the framework illustrated in Figure S-1, strong science leadership and capacity in EPA are essential. The committee has identified four key areas where enhanced leadership and capacity can strengthen the agency's ability to address current and emerging environmental challenges and to take advantage of new tools and technologies to address them.
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From page 12... ...
Strengthened scientific capacity inside and outside the agency. Optimizing resources, creating and benefiting from scientific exchange zones, and leading innovation through transdisciplinary collaborations will require forwardthinking and resourceful scientific leadership and capacity at various levels in the agency.
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From page 13... ...
The agency's multi-disciplinary science workforce of 6,000 is bolstered by strong ties to academic research institutions and science advisers representing many sectors of the scientific community. A highly competitive fellowship program also provides a pipeline for future environmental science and engineering leaders and enables the agency to attract graduates who have state-of-the-art training.
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From page 14... ...
As this report underscores, there is an increased recognition of the need for cross-disciplinary training and of the need to expand the capacity in social and information sciences. In addition, EPA will continue to need leadership in traditional core disciplines, such as statistics, chemistry, economics, environmental engineering, ecology, toxicology, epidemiology, exposures science, and risk assessment.
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