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Gina McCarthyEPA Administrator
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Mission
Overview
EPA works to ensure that:
- All Americans are protected from significant risks to human health and the environment where they live, learn and work;
- National efforts to reduce environmental risk are based on the best available scientific information;
- Federal laws protecting human health and the environment are enforced fairly and effectively;
- Environmental protection is an integral consideration in U.S. policies concerning natural resources, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and international trade, and these factors are similarly considered in establishing environmental policy;
- All parts of society - communities, individuals, businesses, and state, local and tribal governments - have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in managing human health and environmental risks;
- Environmental protection contributes to making our communities and ecosystems diverse, sustainable and economically productive; and
- The U.S. plays a leadership role in working with other nations to protect the global environment.
EPA’s FY 2014-2018 Strategic Plan provides a blueprint for advancing the Administrator's themes and the Agency’s mission. Issued in April 2014, the Plan identifies the measurable environmental and human health outcomes the public can expect over the next five years and describes how we intend to achieve those results. It sets forth five strategic goals for achieving these outcomes and four cross-agency strategies for changing the way the Agency works to achieve its results.
Goal 1: Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
Goal 2: Protecting America’s Waters
Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development
Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution
Goal 5: Protecting Human Health and the Environment by Enforcing Laws and Assuring Compliance
Strategy 1: Working Toward a Sustainable Future
Strategy 2: Working to Make a Visible Difference in Communities
Strategy 3: Launching a New Era of State, Tribal, Local, and International Partnerships
Strategy 4: Embracing EPA as a High-Performing Organization
The cross-agency strategy action plans provide more specific information on how EPA is implementing these strategies.
EPA’s FY 2014-2018 Strategic Plan also identifies the Agency’s FY 2014-2015 priority goals and the Agency has now established FY 2016-2017 priority goals. EPA’s priority goals advance the strategic goals in the Strategic Plan and are specific, measurable, and achievable within 18 to 24 months. These goals serve as near-term indicators of progress in key programmatic areas and have been established by the Administration as a central focus of its performance management framework.
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Strategic Goals & Objectives
Agencies establish a variety of organizational goals to drive progress toward key outcomes for the American people. Long-term strategic goals articulate clear statements of what the agency wants to achieve to advance its mission and address relevant national problems, needs, challenges and opportunities. Strategic objectives define the outcome or management impact the agency is trying to achieve, and also include the agency's role. Each strategic objective is tracked through a suite of performance goals, indicators and other evidence.
Strategic Goal:
Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
Statement:
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop adaptation strategies to address climate change, and protect and improve air quality.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Minimize the threats posed by climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and taking actions that help to protect human health and help communities and ecosystems become more sustainable and resilient to the effects of climate change.
Description:
EPA’s strategies to address climate change reflect the President’s call to action in his Climate Action Plan (June 2013), which, among other initiatives, tasks EPA with setting carbon dioxide (CO2) standards for power plants and applying the Agency’s authorities and other tools to address hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and methane. These strategies support the President's goal to reduce GHG emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020.[1] EPA and its partners are developing and implementing approaches to reduce GHG emissions domestically and internationally through cost-effective, voluntary programs while pursuing additional regulatory actions as needed. Our efforts address the following areas:
Mobile Sources
- Implementing three sets of GHG standards for vehicles and trucks, including: two sets of GHG standards for light-duty cars and trucks (model years 2012-2016 and 2017-2025); and the first set of standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses (model years 2014-2018). These emission standards, finalized jointly with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fuel economy standards, will result in substantial reductions in new vehicle GHG emissions from model years 2012 through 2025. (Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks is an FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal.[2])
- Carrying out the next phase of the GHG vehicle emission standards. Consistent with the President’s Climate Action Plan, the Agency plans to propose in March 2015 a second phase of fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emission standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles for model years 2018 and beyond, and plans to finalize the standards in March 2016. This second phase of regulations will build upon the success of the first phase and offer further opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease transportation fuel consumption, and is expected to benefit consumers and business by reducing the cost of transporting goods while spurring job growth and innovation in the clean energy technology sector.
- Assessing GHG control options for non-road sources, including evaluating whether and when to commence work on standards setting for GHG emissions from a wide range of non-road equipment, locomotives, marine vessels and aircraft, and transportation fuels.
Stationary Sources
- Using authority under Section 111(b) of the Clean Air Act, EPA issued a new proposal on September 20, 2013 for GHG performance standards for new power plants and will subsequently finalize that rule after consideration of public comment as appropriate. Using authority under Sections 111(b) and 111(d) of the Act, EPA will issue proposed GHG standards, regulations, or guidelines, as appropriate, for modified, reconstructed, and existing power plants by June 1, 2014, and finalize these standards, regulations, or guidelines by June 1, 2015.
- Collecting and publishing high-quality GHG emissions data from large direct emitters and suppliers of GHGs through the greenhouse gas reporting program to inform the public and support sound, data-driven, policy decisions on climate change.
- Implementing permitting requirements for facilities that emit large amounts of GHGs to encourage design and construction of more sustainable, efficient, and advanced processes that will contribute to a clean energy economy.
- Applying the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program to promote the use of low global warming potential HFCs and similar chemicals.
International and Other Efforts
- Implementing proven voluntary programs that maximize GHG reductions through the greater use of technologies, products, and practices that promote energy efficiency, and renewables programs and policies that benefit the environment and human health.
- Identifying and assessing substitute chemical and ozone-depleting substances and processes for their global warming potential.
- Collaborating with countries and other international partners to reduce methane emissions and deliver clean energy to markets around the world through the Global Methane Initiative.
- Collaborating with international partners to reduce short-lived climate pollutants, including methane, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons, through the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.
- Educating the public about a changing climate and actions people can take to reduce GHG emissions.
- Collaborating with state, local, and tribal governments on regulatory and policy initiatives, technical assistance, and voluntary programs related to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Adaptation
Much of EPA’s work is sensitive to weather and climate. Consequently, the various actions EPA takes to meet its obligations and achieve its goals, including promulgating regulations and implementing programs, take these variables into consideration. For example, potential increases in ground-level ozone due to a changing climate could make attainment or maintenance of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) more challenging. Similarly, attaining water quality standards will become more difficult as water temperatures increase in response to climate change.
EPA must adapt and plan for future changes in climate to continue fulfilling its statutory, regulatory, and programmatic requirements. The Agency will implement its Climate Change Adaptation Plan, and consider where it is appropriate to integrate and mainstream considerations of a changing climate into the full range of its programs to ensure they are effective under future climatic conditions. EPA will work with state, tribal, and local partners to enhance their capacity to adapt to a changing climate. Each of the EPA national programs and ten regional offices will implement new climate adaptation implementation plans to carry out the work called for in the Agency’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan. EPA will also continue to collaborate with the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the Council on Climate Change Preparedness and Resilience to support the development and implementation of climate change adaptation plans by all federal agencies.[3]
Adaptation initiatives undertaken by EPA national programs and regional offices will carry out key elements of the President’s Climate Action Plan (June 2013) and aim to increase the resilience of communities and ecosystems to climate change by increasing their ability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the impacts of a changing climate. EPA is encouraging and supporting smarter, more resilient investments by integrating considerations of climate change impacts and adaptive measures into major grant, loan, contract, and technical assistance programs, consistent with existing authorities. For example, EPA is integrating climate adaptation criteria into the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Funds and grants for brownfields cleanup. EPA is also partnering with states, tribes, and urban and rural communities to integrate climate change data, models, information, and other decision-support tools into their planning processes in ways that empower them to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to a changing climate. As an example, EPA developed a stormwater calculator that will enable users to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative strategies for limiting stormwater runoff that can overwhelm sewer systems and spill into rivers and streams, and to identify strategies that ensure the systems are effective under future climatic conditions.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
External influences on EPA’s efforts to improve air quality and address climate change issues include the evolution of state and local transportation and energy-related policies and the impacts of a changing climate, such as changes in rainfall amount and intensity, shifting weather and seasonal patterns, and increases in flood plain elevations and sea levels. Some of these external influences present significant challenges to the EPA’s work, whereas others, such as the growth of alternative energy sources and increased investments in energy efficiency, can improve local air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Endnotes:
- See http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/copenhagen_accord/application/pdf/unitedstatescphaccord_app.1.pdf.
- FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and trucks: Through September 30, 2015, EPA in coordination with Department of Transportation’s fuel economy standards program will be implementing vehicle and truck greenhouse gas (GHG) standards that are projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6 billion metric tons and reduce oil consumption by about 12 billion barrels over the lifetime of the affected vehicles and trucks.
- The U.S. Global Change Research Program coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and the implications of these changes for society, as mandated in the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-606) (http://www.globalchange.gov/about/global-change-research-act.html). In 2009, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration initiated the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force. When the President signed Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, in October 2009, he called on the Task Force to develop federal recommendations for adapting to climate change impacts both domestically and internationally. Executive Order 13514 is available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-signs-an-Executive-Order-Focused-on-Federal-Leadership-in-Environmental-Energy-and-Economic-Performance.
Priority Goal: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.
Statement:
Through September 30, 2017, EPA, in coordination with Department of Transportation’s fuel economy and fuel consumption standards programs, will implement vehicle and commercial truck greenhouse gas standards with a focus on industry compliance to ensure the significant reductions in greenhouse gases and oil consumption called for under the standards are realized. The light-duty and heavy-duty standards for model years 2012-2025 are projected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 6.3 billion metric tons and reduce U.S. oil consumption by more than 12.5 billion barrels over the lifetime of the affected vehicles and commercial trucks.
Description:
Combined with DOT’s fuel efficiency standards, EPA’s vehicle GHG standards enable historic progress to be made in reducing carbon pollution and addressing climate change which threatens the public health and welfare of the American people. These standards will cut GHG emissions by about 6 billion metric tons and reduce U.S. oil consumption by about 12 billion barrels while saving consumers more than $1.7 trillion at the gas pump over the lifetime of the light-duty vehicles for model year 2012-2025. For commercial trucks, the estimated combined standards will reduce CO2 emissions by about 270 million metric tons and save about 530 million barrels of oil over the life of model year 2014 to 2018.
For the passenger vehicle GHG and fuel economy standards, individual consumers will save an estimated $8,000 on fuel over the lifetime (i.e., approximately 200,000 average vehicle miles traveled (VMT)) of a model year (MY) 2025 vehicle. For the heavy-duty truck standards, the average operator of a semi-truck can pay for the technology upgrades in under a year, and have net savings of up to $73,000 over the lifetime of the truck
This FY 2016-2017 APG builds upon the successes of the related FY 2014-2015 and FY 2012-2013 Agency Priority Goals related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation activities. The FY 2012-2013 APG focused on the implementation of the first light-duty vehicle standards (MY 2012-2016) and preparing for the implementation of heavy-duty standards (MY 2014-2018The FY 2014-2015 APG focused on incorporating the light-duty GHG standards for model years 2017-2025 (finalized in August 2012) and transitioning from the voluntary early credit earning phase (i.e., credit banking/trading, off-cycle credits, air-conditioning improvement credits) to full implementation of the 2014-2018 heavy-duty rule.
The focus of the FY 2016-2017 APG will be on manufacturer compliance with the standards, the natural progression as the programs mature. EPA will continue to track issuing certificates and confirmatory testing but will also track new reporting metrics to capture compliance activities.
Priority Goal: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks.
Statement:
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Through September 30, 2015, EPA, in coordination with Department of Transportation’s fuel economy standards program, will be implementing vehicle and truck greenhouse gas standards that are projected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 6 billion metric tons and reduce oil consumption by about 12 billion barrels over the lifetime of the affected vehicles and trucks.
Description:
This Priority Goal advances the Strategic Plan objective to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the strategic measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from light duty vehicles and is a continuation of the FY 2012/2013 Priority Goal. The FY 2012/2013 Priority Goal focused on the implementation of the first light-duty vehicle standards (Model Years (MY) 2012-2016) and heavy-duty standards (MY 2014-2018) to address greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from transportation activities, which accounted for 27% of U.S. GHG emissions in 2010, with the largest source being from passenger cars, light-duty trucks and freight trucks. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, “Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change,” indicates that climate change is associated with increased flooding, prolonged drought, more severe heat waves, more frequent wildfires, and changes in wetland, forest, and grassland habitats. These events result in substantial economic consequences through the contamination of drinking water resources, impaired air and water quality and reduced capacity of ecosystems to provide the services to society that we depend upon.
It is important to continue this APG because both the light-duty (MY 2012-2016) and heavy-duty vehicle rules are in the early stages of implementation, and the real benefits of these rules will not be realized until later years. For light-duty rules, the implementation for vehicles started in 2012, and will ramp up each year until 2025. For the heavy-duty rule, EPA is in the early credit earning phase, and will start in 2014/2015 to implement the first standards and assess compliance for the 2014 model year. The next phase includes incorporating the GHG standards in the light-duty vehicle rule for model years 2017-2025 (finalized in August 2012) and transitioning from the voluntary early credit earning phase (i.e., credit banking/trading, off-cycle credits, air-conditioning improvement credits) of the heavy-duty rule to the implementation phase of the 2014 model year standards.
Statement:
Achieve and maintain health- and welfare-based air pollution standards and reduce risk from toxic air pollutants and indoor air contaminants.
Description:
Taking into account the most current health effects research findings[1], EPA has completed new, more health-protective national ambient air quality standards for particulate matter (December 2012), lead (October 2008), sulfur dioxide (June 2010), nitrogen dioxide (January 2010), and carbon monoxide (August 2011), and is currently reviewing the standard for ozone. Over the next 4 years, we will work with states and tribes to develop and implement plans to achieve and maintain these standards. Our efforts provide the tools and information necessary for EPA, states, and tribes to implement air quality standards and controls.
EPA will work with states and tribes to decrease the emissions that contribute to interstate transport of air pollution. These efforts will help many areas of the country attain the standards and achieve significant improvements in human health. Working with states and tribes, EPA will continue implementing cost-effective multi-state regional programs designed to control the significant contributions of power plant and other stationary source emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) to air quality problems (i.e., nonattainment and interference with maintenance of ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS) in downwind areas. Operating programs in 2014 will include the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) or a replacement program for control of transported ozone and PM2.5 pollution[2], in addition to the national acid rain SO2 and NOx emission reduction programs.
As we implement national air quality standards, we will seek ways to increase efficiency and maximize results. These efforts include: working with states to improve the state implementation plan approval process, including the use of full-cycle analysis (i.e., identifying specific actions along a time line needed to facilitate the timely issuance of implementation rules and guidelines); modernizing our training program for state, local, and tribal agencies through an e-learning system; and implementation of electronic emission reporting as part of the Agency’s E-Enterprise initiative.
Additionally, EPA will work to ensure that our efforts to improve air quality consider low-income and minority communities that are disproportionately impacted by pollution. The Agency will continue to implement the goals of the Environmental Justice (EJ) 2014 strategy that focus on protecting health in communities overburdened by pollution, empowering communities to take action to improve their health and environment, and establishing partnerships with local, state, tribal, and federal organizations to achieve healthy and sustainable communities.
EPA has finalized a number of air pollution control standards over the last decade that have substantially reduced, and will continue to reduce, PM, NOx, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), air toxics, and GHG emissions. These standards will cut emissions from new vehicles and engines by over 90 percent, with an estimated $290 billion in net health benefits by 2030. In addition, EPA partnership programs such as the SmartWay Transport program, are achieving important reductions in emissions from the existing fleet of diesel engines that are not subject to the new standards.[3]
Looking forward, EPA will collect and evaluate mobile source emission data to help guide future program priorities. Other factors to consider include the health and environmental effects of emissions and future advancements in technology that could provide opportunities for further emission reductions.
The Agency also recognizes the importance of fuels work and the critical need to understand the challenges and opportunities this work presents. EPA will continue to coordinate with the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Agriculture (USDA), and other interagency partners on these issues as appropriate. The Agency plans to focus on streamlining the implementation processes of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) program, including the annual standard-setting process and new fuel pathway approvals. EPA will also strengthen its oversight of industry compliance with RFS standards and core fuels and fuels additive registration mandates through a voluntary third-party quality assurance program to verify that renewable identification numbers (RINs) have been validly generated. In addition, proposed modifications to the exporter provisions of the RFS program will help to ensure that an appropriate number and type of RINs are retired whenever renewable fuel is exported.
Air toxics and other air pollutants can be widespread and/or community specific. They are emitted by large industry, small businesses, motor vehicles, and many other common activities. Although certain chemicals are ubiquitous throughout the country, in some areas of concentrated industrial and/or mobile source activity, concentrations may be significantly greater. To support effective air toxics reduction policies, EPA uses data from our national toxics monitoring network and from national and local assessments to provide key information to better characterize risks and assess priorities. EPA also leverages pollution prevention and green expertise to reduce air toxics emissions and associated risk.
EPA recognizes that air toxics pose unique challenges both nationally and at the community level, and we focus on relatively high-risk sources, pollutants, and exposure situations. EPA will continue to set and enforce control technology-based air toxics emissions standards and, where needed, amend those standards to address residual risk and technology advancements. These regulations are aimed at reducing toxic air pollution from stationary sources and targeted priority source categories, reducing pollution in communities, utilizing a more cost-effective “sector-based” approach, and providing tools to help communities and other stakeholders participate in rulemaking. Priority categories include petroleum refining, iron and steel manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, and Portland cement. EPA takes advantage of the natural overlap of certain air toxics and criteria pollutant rules and coordinates the development and implementation of Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards and New Source Performance Standards (NSPSs) where appropriate. By coordinating MACT standard development for specific source categories with other rulemaking efforts, EPA can substantially reduce the resources needed to develop standards; provide more certainty and lower cost for industry; simplify implementation for state, local, and tribal agencies; and, enhance cost-effective regulatory approaches. To address unacceptable risks that may remain after implementing national strategies, EPA works with states, tribes, and local agencies and organizations to understand the risks at the local level, target the problem areas, and tailor reduction strategies and approaches to the unique situations in those areas.
To improve indoor air quality, EPA deploys programs that educate the public about indoor air quality concerns, including radon, and promotes public action to reduce potential risks in homes, schools, and workplaces. Included among the people most exposed to indoor air pollutants are those most susceptible to the effects—the young, the elderly, and the chronically ill. In addition, EPA collaborates with state and tribal organizations, environmental and public health officials, housing, energy, and building organizations, school personnel who manage school environments, and health care providers who treat children prone to or suffering disproportionately from asthma. The focus of these efforts is to create, expand, and leverage systems already in place to support community efforts to address indoor air quality health risks.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
External factors that will affect air quality program implementation include the outcome of the appeal of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) decision and continuing legal challenges to stationary source rules.[4] Also, impacts from a changing climate may worsen existing indoor environmental problems and introduce new ones as temperatures change and the frequency and/or severity of adverse outdoor events increase. These impacts include increased mold from water damage and more time spent indoors where air may be of poorer quality.
Endnotes:
- U.S. EPA, 2006. Air Quality Criteria for Lead (2006) Final Report. EPA/600/R-05/144aF-bF. Available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=158823. U.S. EPA, 2008. Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Sulfur Oxides—Health Criteria (Final Report). EPA/600/R-08/047F. Available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=198843. U.S. EPA, 2008. Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen—Health Criteria (Final Report). EPA/600/R-08/071. Available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=194645.
- In 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded CAIR to EPA, but allowed the rule to remain in effect pending replacement by a valid rule. In August 2012, the same court vacated EPA’s replacement rule (CSAPR). The Agency successfully petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of the D.C. Circuit’s decision, and the Supreme Court is expected to issue its opinion on the merits by June 2014. Depending on the outcome of that appeal, CAIR’s ultimate replacement could be either CSAPR or the product of a new EPA rulemaking effort.
- Recent air pollution control standards include the Tier 2 Motor Vehicle Emissions Standards and Gasoline Sulfur Control Requirements (February 2001); the 2007 Heavy-Duty Engine and Vehicle Standards and Highway Diesel Fuel Sulfur Control Highway Rule (January 2001); the Tier 4 Emission Standards (June 2004); and Locomotive Engines and Marine Compression-Ignition Engines rule (June 2008).
- In an August 21, 2012 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the CSAPR and ordered EPA to continue implementing CAIR pending development of a valid replacement. The Agency successfully petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear an appeal of the D.C. Circuit’s decision, and the Supreme Court is expected to issue its opinion on the merits by June 2014. Please see http://www.epa.gov/crossstaterule/ for updates on CSAPR.
Statement:
Restore and protect the earth's stratospheric ozone layer and protect the public from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Description:
EPA will implement programs that reduce and control ozone-depleting substances (ODS), enforce rules on their production, import, and emission, and facilitate the transition to alternative products that reduce GHG emissions and save energy. EPA’s contributions to the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol will help to continue support for cost-effective projects designed to build capacity and eliminate ODS production and consumption in over 60 developing countries. EPA will also continue partnership programs that educate the public about the importance of protection from harmful ultraviolet radiation.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
Protection of the ozone layer is a global problem that cannot be solved by domestic action alone—all nations must also phase out the use of ODS. Much remains to be done in the U.S. and in the global community at large before the ozone layer will be considered safe for current and future generations. Critical emerging issues include the need to ensure that:
- Ozone depleting substances are replaced by alternatives that reduce overall risk to human health and the environment;
- Use of the agricultural fumigant methyl bromide is phased out in a manner that provides continued control of pests that threaten food supplies and other economically important products traded internationally by the U.S.[14]; and,
- Remaining ODS phaseout, including the 2013 and 2015 developing-country ODS reduction requirements, is appropriately supported in a manner that is both cost effective and climate friendly.[1]
Endnotes:
- All countries that are Parties to the Montreal Protocol have agreed to phase out their production and consumption of ozone depleting substances (ODS). The Multilateral Fund was set up by agreement among the Parties, and the Fund’s purpose is to assist developing countries to comply with these obligations. Contributions are made to the Multilateral Fund by developed countries, also referred to as donor countries under the Treaty.
Statement:
Minimize releases of radioactive material and be prepared to minimize exposure through response and recovery actions should unavoidable releases occur.
Description:
Recognizing the potential hazards of radiation, Congress charged EPA with the primary responsibility for protecting people and the environment from harmful and avoidable exposures. In fulfilling this responsibility, the Agency will review and update its radiation protection regulations and guidance and operate RadNet, the Agency’s national environmental radiation monitoring system. EPA will also maintain personnel expertise, capabilities, and equipment readiness of the radiological emergency response program, including the Agency’s Radiological Emergency Response Team. In addition, EPA will provide regulatory oversight of DOE’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), inspect WIPP waste generator facilities, and evaluate DOE’s compliance with EPA’s radioactive waste disposal standards and applicable environmental laws and regulations.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
There are several emerging issues and external factors that will have an impact on how we carry out our radiation program, including new designs and technologies for nuclear power plant facilities as well as new uranium extraction and processing technologies.
Priority Goals
Statement:
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Through September 30, 2015, EPA, in coordination with Department of Transportation’s fuel economy standards program, will be implementing vehicle and truck greenhouse gas standards that are projected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 6 billion metric tons and reduce oil consumption by about 12 billion barrels over the lifetime of the affected vehicles and trucks.
Description:
This Priority Goal advances the Strategic Plan objective to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the strategic measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from light duty vehicles and is a continuation of the FY 2012/2013 Priority Goal. The FY 2012/2013 Priority Goal focused on the implementation of the first light-duty vehicle standards (Model Years (MY) 2012-2016) and heavy-duty standards (MY 2014-2018) to address greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from transportation activities, which accounted for 27% of U.S. GHG emissions in 2010, with the largest source being from passenger cars, light-duty trucks and freight trucks. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, “Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change,” indicates that climate change is associated with increased flooding, prolonged drought, more severe heat waves, more frequent wildfires, and changes in wetland, forest, and grassland habitats. These events result in substantial economic consequences through the contamination of drinking water resources, impaired air and water quality and reduced capacity of ecosystems to provide the services to society that we depend upon.
It is important to continue this APG because both the light-duty (MY 2012-2016) and heavy-duty vehicle rules are in the early stages of implementation, and the real benefits of these rules will not be realized until later years. For light-duty rules, the implementation for vehicles started in 2012, and will ramp up each year until 2025. For the heavy-duty rule, EPA is in the early credit earning phase, and will start in 2014/2015 to implement the first standards and assess compliance for the 2014 model year. The next phase includes incorporating the GHG standards in the light-duty vehicle rule for model years 2017-2025 (finalized in August 2012) and transitioning from the voluntary early credit earning phase (i.e., credit banking/trading, off-cycle credits, air-conditioning improvement credits) of the heavy-duty rule to the implementation phase of the 2014 model year standards.
Statement:
By September 30, 2015 reduce reporting burdens to EPA by one million hours through streamlined regulations, provide real-time environmental data to at least two communities, and establish a new portal to service the regulated community and public.
Description:
Environmental regulators face ever growing needs to share information within and across agencies, reduce staff burden of data entry, reduce regulatory reporting burdens, and improve environmental and human health protection. There is also an increasing expectation from the public and regulated community for the use of on-line systems and the desire for data transparency and personalized access. Both federal and state agencies recognize that easier access to and use of environmental data will facilitate better environmental protection and decision-making while also increasing overall data transparency.
Consistent with the 2012 White House Digital Government Strategy and Executive Order 13563, EPA seeks to transform the way business is conducted. E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint initiative of states and EPA to improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public by maximizing the use of advanced monitoring and information technologies, optimizing operations, and increasing transparency. E-Enterprise will enable new environmental management approaches by modernizing EPA programs and regulations while streamlining and improving existing business processes. E-Enterprise will use the transformational capabilities of information and advanced monitoring technologies to identify and implement programmatic and service improvements.
These improvements will include “smart” tools and services that guide the regulated community in understanding and fulfilling their federal, state and, local regulatory reporting obligations, offer basic validations and error checking of entered information, and support electronic signature submissions. E-Enterprise projects that take advantage of tools and practices such as advanced monitoring technology and streamlined data collection will also expand the ability of the government, regulated entities, and the public to see and measure pollutant discharges, emissions and environmental conditions. A fundamental premise of E-Enterprise is that providing a more complete and integrated (cross media - air, water, and land) view of environmental data can support greener behavior of the public and regulated entities. For example, broad availability of high-speed internet allows real-time reporting of emissions and provides unprecedented opportunities for transparency and public involvement in matters affecting local environmental conditions. These technological advances will allow better tracking of environmental progress. Innovative technology can also help regulators improve compliance with environmental laws.
Strategic Goal:
Protecting America's Waters
Statement:
Protect and restore waters to ensure that drinking water is safe and sustainably managed, and that aquatic ecosystems sustain fish, plants, wildlife, and other biota, as well as economic, recreational, and subsistence activities.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Achieve and maintain standards and guidelines protective of human health in drinking water supplies, fish, shellfish, and recreational waters, and protect and sustainably manage drinking water resources.
Description:
Sustaining the quality and supply of our water resources is essential to safeguarding human health. More than 300 million people living in the United States rely on the safety of tap water provided by public water systems that are subject to national drinking water standards. Over the next 4 years, EPA will help protect human health and make America’s water systems sustainable and secure by:
- Providing financial assistance for public water system infrastructure to protect and maintain drinking water quality;
- Strengthening compliance with drinking water standards;
- Continuing to protect sources of drinking water from contamination and ensuring reliable supplies of drinking water as water temperatures increase (including addressing the harmful effects of algal blooms);
- Developing new and revising existing drinking water standards to address known and emerging contaminants that endanger human health; and,
- Supporting states, tribes, and territories in their oversight of public water systems in implementing these standards, and supporting water systems directly through provision of guidance, training, and information.
While promoting sustainable management of drinking water infrastructure, we will provide needed oversight and technical assistance to states, tribes, and territories, so that their water systems comply with or exceed existing standards and are able to comply with new standards. We will also promote the construction of infrastructure that brings safe drinking water into the homes of small, rural, and disadvantaged communities and increase efforts to guard the nation's critical drinking water infrastructure.
In addition, EPA is actively working Agency-wide and with external partners and stakeholders to implement a multi-faceted drinking water strategy. With this approach, EPA seeks to: address chemicals and contaminants by group, as opposed to working on a chemical-by-chemical basis; foster the development of new drinking water treatment technologies; use the authority of multiple statutes in addressing drinking water contamination; and, encourage collaboration with states and tribes to share more complete data from monitoring at public water systems. To this end, the Agency is replacing the federal and state components of EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) with a new system. SDWIS Prime is designed to assist regulatory agencies with their implementation of the public water system supervision (PWSS) program, as well as improve the efficiency of sharing drinking water data among states, tribes, and the Agency. This will allow for better targeting of federal and state funding and technical assistance resources, and improve data quality while increasing public access to drinking water data.
Science-based water quality criteria are essential to protect our public water systems, groundwater and surface water bodies, and recreational waters. These criteria are the foundation for state and tribal tools to safeguard human health such as public advisories for beaches, fish consumption, and drinking water. Over the next 4 years, we will expand that science to improve our understanding of emerging potential waterborne threats to human health, develop new criteria, and validate testing methods that provide quicker results and enable faster action on beach safety.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
EPA’s underground injection control (UIC) program provides a framework to ensure protection of underground sources of drinking water from endangerment related to the construction, operation, permitting, and closure of injection wells that place fluids underground for storage, disposal, enhanced recovery of oil and gas, or minerals recovery. Natural gas plays a key role in our clean energy future. Hydraulic fracturing is a key way to recover natural gas from sources. EPA will ensure proper oversight of hydraulic fracturing operations in cases where diesel fuel is used by implementing permitting guidance under SDWA's Class II UIC program for hydraulic fracturing. EPA is working with state and tribal organizations, along with other federal agencies, to develop and implement voluntary strategies for encouraging the use of alternatives to diesel in hydraulic fracturing and improving compliance with other Class II regulations, including possible risks from induced seismic events and the risk from radionuclides in disposal wells. EPA is also continuing to work with state, tribal, and industry representatives to make UIC Class II regulations and information more transparent and to implement best practices and promote coordination between UIC and oil and gas agencies.
Priority Goal: Advance resilience in the nation’s water infrastructure, while protecting public health and the environment, particularly in high-risk and vulnerable communities.
Statement:
By September 30, 2017, EPA will provide technical assistance and other tools to 75 urban communities to advance green infrastructure planning and implementation efforts to increase local climate resilience and water quality protections in stormwater infrastructure. EPA will also provide tools and training for 5000 operators of small water utilities to improve resilience in drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems. Trainings will be targeted based on regional threats, such as drought and flooding.
Description:
The uninterrupted delivery of safe drinking water is an integral element in maintaining the public health of the nation. Improvements in the drinking water sector preparedness to prevent and mitigate the duration and severity of interruptions to the delivery of safe drinking water continues to be necessary in light of evolving stresses, whether attributed to natural, accidental, or intentional circumstances or aging or stressed infrastructure. Extreme weather events, sea level rise, shifting precipitation patterns and temperature variability, all intensified by climate change, have significant implications for the sustainability of the water sector. By planning for, assessing and adapting to these challenges, the water sector can fulfill their public health and environmental missions and begin the process of becoming climate ready.
Under Presidential Policy Directive 21, the President has designated EPA as the Sector Specific Agency responsible for enhancing the resilience and preparedness of the nation’s water sector, which includes about 180,000 drinking water and wastewater utilities. Further, the Department of Homeland Security has designated the water sector to be one of four “lifeline” sectors, meaning that if a disruption of service occurs in any one of these four sectors, then a community or region will experience potentially significant consequences in terms of public health, the economy, and the other critical infrastructure sectors, many of which rely on the lifeline sectors.
EPA’s green infrastructure program works with communities to assess how green infrastructure can enhance their stormwater management systems and be an integral part of their climate resiliency strategy. The agency has developed green infrastructure tools and resources for communities to use in planning their long-term stormwater actions.
EPA’s efforts to improve the resilience of the water sector derive not only from these homeland security directives, but also from its core mission as an agency, viz., the protection of public health and the environment.
Drinking water and wastewater utilities must remain operational in the face of all hazards if we are to preserve the many gains in public health and environmental protection which have been realized from the water sector. As with the other lifeline sectors, the water sector is at risk from a multitude of threats spanning natural disasters, climate change, cyber-attacks, and terrorism.
The 2002 amendments to the SDWA required drinking water systems serving more than 3,300 people to submit a vulnerability assessment to EPA. However, Congress required that such systems prepare a vulnerability assessment as a one-time mandate, not a recurring one. The statutory requirements also excluded water systems serving fewer than 3,300 people and all wastewater systems.
EPA’s water security and resilience program has developed a robust array of successful tools, training, and direct technical assistance for the water sector to improve prevention, as well as enable appropriate situational response, including application of resources, to mitigate the interruption of delivery of safe drinking water to the nation’s consumers. For instance, under EPA’s leadership, the number of intrastate mutual aid compacts (peer-to-peer assistance networks) has increased from just three states in 2006 to 49 states in 2015. Small and larger scale incidents have triggered the activation of eighty-six percent of these agreements. Despite this success, enhancing resilience competes with many other priorities within the water sector, notably, regulatory compliance, aging infrastructure, and funding inadequacies. As such, EPA continues to try to lower the barriers to adopting resilience measures by providing innovative, easy to use software tools and in person, nationwide training sessions to help water systems of all sizes and types to enhance their resilience.
In addition to motivating the water sector, EPA must be mindful of the evolving threats to the water sector. Extreme weather events, the increasing impacts of climate change, and the almost omnipresent threat of cyber-attacks in particular will impose a daunting challenge to the water sector, as evident by several recent events: the persistent drought in California and much of the west, drought then extreme flooding in Texas, storm surge in New York and New Jersey from Hurricane Sandy, and cyber intrusions into water utilities’ operations. Such threats will jeopardize the ability of the water sector to continue to fulfill its public health and environmental missions unless the sector manages to improve its resilience to all hazards.
In response, EPA has undertaken a national effort to enhance resilience—with an emphasis on severe drought, flooding, cybersecurity, and climate change—through the provision of planning tools, training sessions, and direct technical assistance.
Stormwater is an increasing water infrastructure challenge. As more land is developed with impervious surfaces, the amount of stormwater that communities must manage continues to grow. Stormwater is a significant source of water pollution, contributes to sewer overflows, and causes local flooding. As the climate changes, more precipitation and more intense rain events in certain portions of the country will further strain community stormwater management systems. In the west and southwest increasing drought conditions will emphasize the need for communities to use rain as a beneficial water resource before in can become polluted stormwater runoff.
Statement:
Protect, restore, and sustain the quality of rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands on a watershed basis, and sustainably manage and protect coastal and ocean resources and ecosystems.
Description:
People and the ecological integrity of aquatic systems rely on healthy watersheds. EPA employs a suite of programs to protect and improve water quality in the nation’s watersheds—rivers, lakes, wetlands, and streams—as well as in our estuarine, coastal, and ocean waters. In partnership with states, territories, local governments, and tribes, EPA’s core water programs help:
- Protect, restore, maintain, and improve water quality by financing wastewater treatment infrastructure;
- Conduct monitoring and assessment;
- Establish pollution reduction targets;
- Update water quality standards;
- Issue and enforce discharge permits; and,
- Implement programs to prevent or reduce nonpoint source pollution.
While promoting sustainable management of municipal wastewater and stormwater infrastructure, we will work with federal, state, and local partners to bring appropriate and effective solutions to small, rural, and disadvantaged communities. EPA will continue to promote robust planning that includes an assessment of green, sustainable alternatives, and will continue to work with municipalities on implementing the integrated planning process for wastewater and stormwater management on a case-by-case basis.[1]
We will also work more aggressively to reduce and control pollutants that are discharged from industrial, municipal, agricultural, and stormwater sources, and vessels, as well as to implement programs to prevent and reduce pollution that washes off the land during rain events. By promoting green infrastructure and sustainable landscape management, EPA will help restore natural hydrologic systems and the health of aquatic ecosystems to reduce pollution from stormwater events.[2] The Agency is exploring innovative approaches to meeting the 21st century water quality challenges with streamlined permitting and oversight processes supported by modernized data management and technologies.
To provide information on the ecological and recreational condition of the nation’s waters and the key stressors impacting those waters, EPA will continue to work with states and tribes to implement the National Aquatic Resource Surveys, including the National Rivers and Streams Assessment, the National Coastal Condition Assessment, the National Wetland Condition Assessment, and the National Lakes Assessment.[3] These probability-based surveys provide nationally consistent and scientifically-defensible assessments of our nation's waters. These data will support EPA and our partners in identifying priority actions to protect and restore water quality and in assessing whether collective efforts are improving water quality over time as water conditions are altered in response to climate change.
Over the next 4 years, EPA will continue efforts to restore water bodies that do not meet water quality standards, preserve and protect high-quality aquatic resources, and protect, restore, and improve wetland acreage and quality. The Agency will improve the way existing tools are used, explore how innovative tools can be applied, and enhance efforts and cross-media collaboration to protect and prevent water quality impairment in healthy watersheds. The Agency will use the National Aquatic Resource Survey to track the effectiveness of these combined efforts at protecting and improving water quality over time.
Results from the National Aquatic Resource Survey reinforce EPA’s commitment to address nitrogen and phosphorus pollution as among the most serious and pervasive water quality problems. Programs for controlling nonpoint sources of pollution are key to reducing the number of impaired waters nationwide. The programs provide a multi-faceted approach to the problem, combining innovative development strategies to help leverage traditional tools. In addition to working with state, tribal, and local partners, EPA is collaborating with USDA to implement its National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) and collaborating on other geographically-based initiatives. Coordination of EPA’s nonpoint source (CWA Section 319) grant funds and USDA Farm Bill funds is intended to protect water quality more effectively from runoff from agricultural lands and demonstrate improved effectiveness. USDA launched the NWQI in FY 2012, which targets 5 percent of USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program resources for water quality improvements in 165 specific watersheds across the nation. EPA is collaborating closely with USDA as it implements this program, and is now requiring states to assess water quality results in NWQI watersheds through Section 319 grant funds or other funding sources.
Development and implementation of total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for CWA Section 303(d) listed impaired waterbodies is a critical tool for meeting water quality restoration goals. The CWA 303(d) listing and TMDL program has engaged with states to implement a new 10-year vision for the program to more effectively achieve the water quality goals of each state. The approach involves fostering effective integration across multiple programs, statutes, and agencies—CWA point and nonpoint source programs, other statutory programs within EPA’s jurisdiction (e.g., the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act [CERCLA], Resource Conservation and Recovery Act [RCRA], SDWA, and Clean Air Act [CAA]), and the water quality efforts of other federal agencies (e.g., the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Commerce). As part of this effort, EPA will continue to encourage states to identify priority waters for assessment, for development of TMDLs and other restoration plans for impaired segments, and for pursuit of protection approaches for unimpaired waters. EPA will work with states and other partners to develop and implement activities and watershed plans to restore and protect these waters.
In partnership with states, tribes, and local communities, EPA is implementing a clean water strategy that explores ways to improve the condition of the urban waterways that may have been overlooked or under-represented in local environmental problem solving. The Agency will continue to play an active role as a member of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership to promote more efficient and effective use of federal resources and build new partnerships with states, tribes, local entities, and the private sector.
EPA will also lead efforts to restore and protect aquatic ecosystems and wetlands, particularly in key geographic areas[4], to address complex and cross-boundary challenges. Key geographic areas in the national water program include the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico Border region, the Pacific Islands, Long Island Sound, the South Florida Ecosystem, the Puget Sound Basin, the Columbia River Basin, and the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary. EPA will continue to work with and involve states, tribes, and interested stakeholders to set and achieve goals in these geographic areas.
EPA is heading up a multi-agency effort to restore and protect the Great Lakes through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.[5] In other parts of the nation, we will focus on nutrient pollution, which threatens the long-term health of important ecosystems such as the Chesapeake Bay. EPA will continue to work with states, tribes, and stakeholders in the Mississippi River Basin on nutrient pollution that is affecting the health of the Gulf of Mexico. Further, given the environmental catastrophe resulting from the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, EPA will continue to take necessary actions to support efforts of federal and state trustees in the natural resource damage assessment to restore the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. EPA shares in the role of being a Natural Resource Trustee with responsibility to conduct the natural resource damage assessment for the spill. In addition, EPA is also a member of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, established under the RESTORE Act[6], to restore the ecosystem and economy of the Gulf Coast region. Monitoring in the Gulf of Mexico under the National Aquatic Resource Survey will be important to fully document the long-term impacts of the spill and track the recovery of wetland and near-shore estuarine resources. This long-term effort by EPA and the states is an important complement to the project-specific and special-focus monitoring efforts underway as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and BP Research funds.
To respond and adapt to the current and potential impacts of a changing climate on aquatic resources, including the current and potential impacts associated with warming temperatures, changes in rainfall amount and intensity, and sea level rise, EPA has developed a “National Water Program 2012 Strategy: Response to Climate Change.” This strategy sets out long-term goals and specific actions contributing to national efforts to prepare for, and build resilience to, impacts of a changing climate on water resources. EPA is working with state, tribal, and local governments, as well as other partners, to implement actions addressing climate change challenges to the protection of water infrastructure, coastal and ocean waters, watersheds, and water quality.[7] For example, EPA has developed the Climate Resilience Evaluation and Assessment Tool (CREAT) to help water utilities assess vulnerability to a changing climate and take response actions. EPA is also defining actions that states can take starting in 2015 to adapt core clean water and drinking water programs (e.g., state revolving loan funds, water quality standards, and drinking water sanitary surveys) to a changing climate.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
- Water Quality: Water quality programs face challenges such as increases in nutrient loadings and stormwater runoff, aging infrastructure, and population growth (which can increase water consumption and place additional stress on aging water infrastructures). The Agency is carefully examining the potential impacts of and solutions to these issues, including effects on water quality and quantity that could result in the long term from a changing climate. The Agency will continue implementing the National Aquatic Resource Surveys to support collection of nationally consistent data to support these efforts. The Agency will also continue to implement the WaterSense program as a means to help communities address challenges posed by water scarcity through demand management.[8]
- Population Density: In 2010, 52 percent of the U.S. population lived in coastal watershed counties which comprise less than 20 percent of the total land area of the U.S., excluding Alaska. The population density of coastal watershed counties is over five times greater than the corresponding inland counties. If current population trends continue, the already crowded U.S. coast will see population grow from 123 million people to nearly 134 million people by 2020, placing more of the population at increased risk from a changing climate and exposing these fragile coastal ecosystems to greater pressures. Population growth in coastal watershed counties is impacting water quality and other coastal resources within National Estuary Program (NEP) study areas. NEPs work to address the impacts of growth by focusing their long-term management and annual work plans on priorities such as stormwater management, reduction of excess nutrient loadings, and promotion of low-impact development and green infrastructure. Also, EPA’s climate-ready estuaries program provides the capacity for NEPs and coastal stakeholders to develop vulnerability assessments.[9]
Technology Market Opportunities: EPA is working both internally and with external partners and stakeholders to discuss plans for advancing innovative technologies that will be important to the continued protection and restoration of waters. Some key market opportunities for innovative technology to help address current and emerging water resource issues were identified in EPA’s “Blueprint for Integrating Technology Innovation into the National Water Program.”[10] They include:
- Energy reduction and recovery at drinking water and wastewater facilities;
- Nutrient recovery from wastewater;
- Improving and "greening" the nation's infrastructure;
- Water reuse;
- Improved and less expensive monitoring;
- Improving reliability of small drinking water systems;
- Technology evaluation and performance;
- Reducing water impacts from domestic energy production;
- Resiliency of water infrastructure; and,
- Improving water quality of oceans, estuaries, and watersheds.
Endnotes:
- For information on the Integrated Planning process, see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/integratedplans.cfm.
- For information on managing wet weather with green infrastructure, see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=298.
- For information on National Aquatic Resource Surveys, see http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/monitoring/aquaticsurvey_index.cfm.
- For more information on these programs and their performance measures, see the annual National Water Program Guidance, available at http://www.epa.gov/water/waterplan/index.html.
- Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is focused on toxic substances and areas of concern, invasive species, nearshore health and nonpoint source pollution, habitats and species, and integrated solutions to cross-cutting issues. Information is available at http://greatlakesrestoration.us/.
- Please see http://www.restorethegulf.gov/council/about-gulf-coast-ecosystem-restoration-council.
- EPA National Water Program 2012 Strategy: Response to Climate Change, information available at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/climatechange/2012-National-Water-Program-Strategy.cfm. United States Global Change Research Program, information available at http://www.globalchange.gov/resources/reports.
- For information on WaterSense, see http://www.epa.gov/watersense/.
- For information on climate-ready estuaries, see http://water.epa.gov/type/oceb/cre/index.cfm.
- “Blueprint for Integrating Technology Innovation into the National Water Program,” information is available at http://water.epa.gov/blueprint.cfm.
Priority Goal: Advance resilience in the nation’s water infrastructure, while protecting public health and the environment, particularly in high-risk and vulnerable communities.
Statement:
By September 30, 2017, EPA will provide technical assistance and other tools to 75 urban communities to advance green infrastructure planning and implementation efforts to increase local climate resilience and water quality protections in stormwater infrastructure. EPA will also provide tools and training for 5000 operators of small water utilities to improve resilience in drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems. Trainings will be targeted based on regional threats, such as drought and flooding.
Description:
The uninterrupted delivery of safe drinking water is an integral element in maintaining the public health of the nation. Improvements in the drinking water sector preparedness to prevent and mitigate the duration and severity of interruptions to the delivery of safe drinking water continues to be necessary in light of evolving stresses, whether attributed to natural, accidental, or intentional circumstances or aging or stressed infrastructure. Extreme weather events, sea level rise, shifting precipitation patterns and temperature variability, all intensified by climate change, have significant implications for the sustainability of the water sector. By planning for, assessing and adapting to these challenges, the water sector can fulfill their public health and environmental missions and begin the process of becoming climate ready.
Under Presidential Policy Directive 21, the President has designated EPA as the Sector Specific Agency responsible for enhancing the resilience and preparedness of the nation’s water sector, which includes about 180,000 drinking water and wastewater utilities. Further, the Department of Homeland Security has designated the water sector to be one of four “lifeline” sectors, meaning that if a disruption of service occurs in any one of these four sectors, then a community or region will experience potentially significant consequences in terms of public health, the economy, and the other critical infrastructure sectors, many of which rely on the lifeline sectors.
EPA’s green infrastructure program works with communities to assess how green infrastructure can enhance their stormwater management systems and be an integral part of their climate resiliency strategy. The agency has developed green infrastructure tools and resources for communities to use in planning their long-term stormwater actions.
EPA’s efforts to improve the resilience of the water sector derive not only from these homeland security directives, but also from its core mission as an agency, viz., the protection of public health and the environment.
Drinking water and wastewater utilities must remain operational in the face of all hazards if we are to preserve the many gains in public health and environmental protection which have been realized from the water sector. As with the other lifeline sectors, the water sector is at risk from a multitude of threats spanning natural disasters, climate change, cyber-attacks, and terrorism.
The 2002 amendments to the SDWA required drinking water systems serving more than 3,300 people to submit a vulnerability assessment to EPA. However, Congress required that such systems prepare a vulnerability assessment as a one-time mandate, not a recurring one. The statutory requirements also excluded water systems serving fewer than 3,300 people and all wastewater systems.
EPA’s water security and resilience program has developed a robust array of successful tools, training, and direct technical assistance for the water sector to improve prevention, as well as enable appropriate situational response, including application of resources, to mitigate the interruption of delivery of safe drinking water to the nation’s consumers. For instance, under EPA’s leadership, the number of intrastate mutual aid compacts (peer-to-peer assistance networks) has increased from just three states in 2006 to 49 states in 2015. Small and larger scale incidents have triggered the activation of eighty-six percent of these agreements. Despite this success, enhancing resilience competes with many other priorities within the water sector, notably, regulatory compliance, aging infrastructure, and funding inadequacies. As such, EPA continues to try to lower the barriers to adopting resilience measures by providing innovative, easy to use software tools and in person, nationwide training sessions to help water systems of all sizes and types to enhance their resilience.
In addition to motivating the water sector, EPA must be mindful of the evolving threats to the water sector. Extreme weather events, the increasing impacts of climate change, and the almost omnipresent threat of cyber-attacks in particular will impose a daunting challenge to the water sector, as evident by several recent events: the persistent drought in California and much of the west, drought then extreme flooding in Texas, storm surge in New York and New Jersey from Hurricane Sandy, and cyber intrusions into water utilities’ operations. Such threats will jeopardize the ability of the water sector to continue to fulfill its public health and environmental missions unless the sector manages to improve its resilience to all hazards.
In response, EPA has undertaken a national effort to enhance resilience—with an emphasis on severe drought, flooding, cybersecurity, and climate change—through the provision of planning tools, training sessions, and direct technical assistance.
Stormwater is an increasing water infrastructure challenge. As more land is developed with impervious surfaces, the amount of stormwater that communities must manage continues to grow. Stormwater is a significant source of water pollution, contributes to sewer overflows, and causes local flooding. As the climate changes, more precipitation and more intense rain events in certain portions of the country will further strain community stormwater management systems. In the west and southwest increasing drought conditions will emphasize the need for communities to use rain as a beneficial water resource before in can become polluted stormwater runoff.
Priority Goals
Statement:
By September 30, 2015, EPA will engage with an additional ten states (for a total of 30 states) and three tribes to improve small drinking water system capability to provide safe drinking water, an invaluable resource.
Description:
The responsibility for communities and public water systems to continuously provide safe drinking water is a key component of the Nation’s health and well-being. The delivery of safe drinking water is often taken for granted and is extremely undervalued. More than 156,000 public water systems provide drinking water to the approximately 305 million persons in the U.S. More than 97% of these public water systems serve fewer than 10,000 persons. Many of the communities that operate these small systems face a number of challenges in their ability to reliably administer, operate, and assure adequate and long term funding capacity in order to provide safe drinking water to their customers. These challenges include aging infrastructure, increased regulatory requirements, workforce shortages/high-turnover, increasing operational costs, and declining rate bases, and extreme natural disasters/weather events. EPA will work closely with state primacy agencies, tribes, and other organizations to implement a series of efforts to address these challenge areas and strengthen the capacity of small systems to sustainably provide safe water to the public now and in the future.
Trends and Milestone Status Updates:
Capacity Development Program: The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments established a strong emphasis on enhanced water system management to achieve and maintain technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) capacity of water systems. The Capacity Development Program establishes a framework within which states and water systems can work together to help systems achieve the SDWA’s public health protection objectives. The state Capacity Development programs are supported federally by the Public Water System Supervision state grant funds and the set-asides established in the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Since the 1996 Amendments, states have implemented a variety of activities to assist small systems with their compliance challenges and enhance their technical, managerial, and financial capacity.
In FY 2010, EPA re-energized its small systems focus with the intent to work more closely with state programs to improve public water system sustainability and public health protection for persons served by small water systems. As such, EPA launched the State/EPA Re-Energizing Workgroup to better understand state programs’ existing implementation efforts, evaluate barriers to water system capacity and identify areas where EPA and states need to collaborate to improve program implementation. The workgroup released its findings document in April 2011 http://water.epa.gov/type/drink/pws/smallsystems/upload/re-energizing_ap..., which identifies challenges faced by small systems and states in assisting them, best practices for assisting small systems, and other opportunities to further enhance state programs. In addition, four additional State/EPA workgroups were formed in FY 2011 and conducted further discussions of topics identified by states: promoting water system partnerships to improve system sustainability; opportunities to improve collaboration across various state and federal programs to increase efficiency and assist small systems; best practices for assessing managerial capacity of small systems and opportunities to increase asset management; approaches for addressing projected water sector workforce shortages.
In FY12, EPA launched two new EPA-state workgroups: Asset Management Workgroup and the Non-Community Water Systems (NCWS) Workgroup. EPA also partnered with other federal agencies that work with small systems, such as USDA-Rural Development, or offer resources that can assist small systems with workforce challenges, such as the Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs. Through these and other efforts, EPA has worked with states to continue to enhance their Capacity Development programs to improve small system capabilities.
Optimization Program: EPA’s Optimization Program or Area Wide Optimization Program (AWOP) provides a systematic approach for states and tribes to assess small water system performance, deliver needed technical assistance, measure the results of those efforts, and maintain performance at drinking water utilities. The Optimization program helps states and tribes prioritize their technical assistance resources by identifying which public water systems are in most need of help (based on water quality and public health risk) and most effectively apply a range of compliance and technical assistance tools to enable small water systems to meet (and sustain) compliance requirements and optimization goals. This is being done through a series of ongoing field training activities.
The Optimization Program was first piloted in 1998 in one EPA region with Drinking Water Program (DWP) staff from four states; the program is currently utilized by over 20 states with support from four EPA regions. The program originally focused on optimizing surface water treatment plant performance to improve finished water quality (lower microbial risk); more recently these concepts have been applied to control Disinfection By-Products (DBPs) in the treatment plant and distribution system, and are now being piloted to address groundwater systems, distribution system water age and storage challenges, and systems that utilize membrane filtration. Additionally, operators at systems that pursue optimization often possess the prioritization and problem solving skills to address “unexpected” challenges (e.g., natural disasters, security concerns) and longer term changes in water quality (e.g., due to the impact of climate change). The Optimization Program and the Capacity Development Program have been working together to identify opportunities for collaboration and integration of core program activities. Combined, these programs provide resources, guidelines, technical assistance and a framework to the states to assist them in managing their drinking water programs and helping small systems.
Statement:
By September 30, 2015, 100 percent of the states will have updated nonpoint source management programs that comport with the new Section 319 grant guidelines that will result in better targeting of resources through prioritization and increased coordination with USDA.
Description:
The Clean Water Act Section 319 Program is a vital source of support for the management of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution – excess nitrogen, phosphorus, pathogens and sediments that are the primary cause of pollution in the vast majority of impaired waterways across the Country. NPS pollution comes from many diffuse sources and can include excess fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural lands and residential areas; oil, grease and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production; sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks; bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes and faulty septic systems, among others. Because resources are limited and NPS pollution comes from diverse sources that differ by state and locale, strategic use of Section 319 funds is essential to achieving the best water quality outcomes for this limited natural resource.
In 2013 EPA took steps to strengthen the Section 319 program, issuing revised national guidelines for Section 319 grants to states. Key aspects of the new guidelines include 50% of a state’s 319 funds are devoted to on-the-ground projects to restore and protect waterways; strengthened incentives for leveraging of additional state and local funds; an emphasis on collaboration and leveraging with USDA; and a requirement that all states have updated NPS management programs with relevant goals and annual milestones to guide their investment of Section 319 funds. Effectively utilizing limited resources for such a diverse set of pollution problems requires setting priorities, sustaining priority efforts over time, and substantial leveraging with other programs and partners. The role of the states’ NPS Management Program is to provide a roadmap for doing just that.
A meaningful state NPS Management Program reflects the state’s goals, priorities, and key annual milestones and actions over a five-year period, which focuses resources to decrease pollution and protect high quality waters. The Plan describes how multiple state agencies and other partners, such as federal agencies, will coordinate, contribute, or leverage resources to meet the state’s articulated NPS goals and employ locally driven solutions that restore degraded waterways and revitalize communities. Because a state’s NPS management program spans five years, it provides a point of reference and an accountability framework for EPA to use in evaluating and approving annual Section 319 grant workplans. EPA will work with states to ensure that the commitments and milestones in their management program are reflected in annual Section 319 workplans.
This priority goal is a continuation of the work achieved under the 2012-2013 goal that 50 percent of states with outdated NPS management programs would update their programs in accordance with new Section 319 grant guidelines that EPA released in April 2013. Significant progress has been made, but additional work remains. This priority goal will track the continued progress of states updating their NPS Management Programs. Under the FY 2012-2013 priority goal, 22 states must update their programs. (Seven states already had updated programs that meet the guidance.) This FY 2014-2015 priority goal is that all state NPS management programs will be current and aligned with the new grant guidelines by September 2015. Moving forward beyond FY 2015, states are required to review and update their program every five years to keep them relevant.
Statement:
By September 30, 2015 reduce reporting burdens to EPA by one million hours through streamlined regulations, provide real-time environmental data to at least two communities, and establish a new portal to service the regulated community and public.
Description:
Environmental regulators face ever growing needs to share information within and across agencies, reduce staff burden of data entry, reduce regulatory reporting burdens, and improve environmental and human health protection. There is also an increasing expectation from the public and regulated community for the use of on-line systems and the desire for data transparency and personalized access. Both federal and state agencies recognize that easier access to and use of environmental data will facilitate better environmental protection and decision-making while also increasing overall data transparency.
Consistent with the 2012 White House Digital Government Strategy and Executive Order 13563, EPA seeks to transform the way business is conducted. E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint initiative of states and EPA to improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public by maximizing the use of advanced monitoring and information technologies, optimizing operations, and increasing transparency. E-Enterprise will enable new environmental management approaches by modernizing EPA programs and regulations while streamlining and improving existing business processes. E-Enterprise will use the transformational capabilities of information and advanced monitoring technologies to identify and implement programmatic and service improvements.
These improvements will include “smart” tools and services that guide the regulated community in understanding and fulfilling their federal, state and, local regulatory reporting obligations, offer basic validations and error checking of entered information, and support electronic signature submissions. E-Enterprise projects that take advantage of tools and practices such as advanced monitoring technology and streamlined data collection will also expand the ability of the government, regulated entities, and the public to see and measure pollutant discharges, emissions and environmental conditions. A fundamental premise of E-Enterprise is that providing a more complete and integrated (cross media - air, water, and land) view of environmental data can support greener behavior of the public and regulated entities. For example, broad availability of high-speed internet allows real-time reporting of emissions and provides unprecedented opportunities for transparency and public involvement in matters affecting local environmental conditions. These technological advances will allow better tracking of environmental progress. Innovative technology can also help regulators improve compliance with environmental laws.
Strategic Goal:
Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development
Statement:
Clean up communities, advance sustainable development, and protect disproportionately impacted low-income and minority communities. Prevent releases of harmful substances and clean up and restore contaminated areas.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Support sustainable, resilient, and livable communities by working with local, state, tribal, and federal partners to promote smart growth, emergency preparedness and recovery planning, redevelopment and reuse of contaminated and formerly contaminated sites, and the equitable distribution of environmental benefits.
Description:
EPA supports the goals of urban, suburban, and rural communities to grow in ways that improve the environment, human health, and quality of life for their residents.[1] With the support of partners working hand in hand across all levels of government, communities can grow in ways that also strengthen the economy, help them adapt to a changing climate, improve their resiliency to disasters, use public resources more efficiently, revitalize neighborhoods, and improve access to jobs and amenities. By making sustainable infrastructure investments, communities can successfully build innovative and functional systems on neighborhood streets and sidewalks to deal with the runoff from stormwater and still provide easy access for pedestrians, bicyclists, on-street parking, and other beneficial uses. By adopting local planning and zoning codes that account for the environmental impacts of development, the private sector can more easily construct market-ready green buildings serving a range of housing needs. Communities also can benefit from tools, technology, and research that better engage citizens and inform local decision making to support smart and sustainable growth.
EPA recognizes environmental justice, children’s health, and sustainable development are all at the intersection of people and place. These goals are not mutually exclusive. Throughout all our work to achieve more livable communities, EPA is committed to ensuring we focus on children’s health and environmental justice.[2] Recognizing that minority or low-income communities may face disproportionate environmental risks, we work to protect these communities from adverse health and environmental effects and to ensure they are given the opportunity to participate meaningfully in environmental decisions and efforts to plan for future growth and development that directly affect residents.[3] EPA’s ability to optimize the benefits of sustainability requires making environmental justice a normal part of how EPA does business rather than an ad hoc activity.
Sustainable and livable communities balance their economic and natural assets so that the diverse needs of residents can be met with limited environmental impacts. EPA’s community-based programs help to accomplish these goals by working with communities, other federal agencies, state, tribal, and regional governments, private and nonprofit sectors, and national experts to encourage equitable development strategies that have better outcomes for air quality, water quality, and land preservation and revitalization. In particular, EPA’s smart growth program delivers technical assistance to communities through contract- and grant-based programs to help them base their growth and development decisions on strategies that are smart, sustainable, and supportive of improved environmental, public health, and economic outcomes.
For example, EPA has been working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) since 2009 to align federal resources and improve the environmental outcomes from development. Through technical assistance, grants, and training, these three agencies have worked together to assist hundreds of communities to plan for and invest in growth that improves access to affordable housing, increases transportation options, and expands choices for all citizens.[4] All three agencies use a common set of “livability principles” to better coordinate their efforts and investments in a manner that will better protect the environment, promote equitable development, and help address the challenges of a changing climate.
EPA’s brownfields program emphasizes environmental and human health protection in a manner that stimulates economic development and job creation by awarding competitive grants to assess and clean up brownfield properties that are contaminated, or perceived to be contaminated, with hazardous substances and/or petroleum contamination and by providing job training opportunities, particularly in underserved communities.[5] A 2012 EPA program evaluation concluded that cleaning up brownfield properties leads to residential property value increases of 5.1 to 12.8 percent.[6] In addition, a 2011 study of five pilot projects revealed that cleaning up contaminated properties for neighborhood commercial use may contribute to a 32 to 57 percent reduction in vehicle miles traveled compared to alternative development scenarios.[7] This reduction results from increased accessibility of neighborhood-based services and goods, requiring less frequent trips by residents outside the immediate area.
The brownfields program also provides funding for state and tribal environmental response programs as well as outreach and technical assistance to communities. Area-wide planning approaches for brownfields work help to identify important local factors in a coordinated manner: viable end uses of individual or groups of brownfield properties; beneficial air and water infrastructure investments in these areas; and, added environmental improvements in the surrounding area to revitalize the community. Taken together, these efforts will enhance the livability and economic vitality of neighborhoods in and around brownfield properties.
In addition to the brownfields activities, EPA promotes livable communities though its efforts to prevent chemical accidents. EPA's risk management program requires facilities with one or more covered chemicals in a process to analyze the potential for accidental releases and possible consequences, develop an accident prevention program, and coordinate with the community to ensure that all are prepared for responding to a release. The facility must include this information in a Risk Management Plan (RMP) and submit this RMP electronically to EPA, which makes the information available to federal, state, and local officials (e.g., fire fighters) who work on chemical accident preparedness, prevention, and response. There are approximately 13,000 active RMPs currently on file.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
There are several external factors and emerging issues that may affect the overall success of the Agency’s brownfields, chemical risk management, and smart growth programs. These include:
- The continued challenges posed by foreclosures and vacant, blighted, and neglected properties. Increased attention may be required for the siting of new domestic manufacturing in formerly abandoned or blighted areas and the potential impacts on local communities.
- The impacts of increased extremes of weather on a community’s redevelopment and revitalization plans, including whether these projects are resilient enough to withstand the threat of flooding or loss of power from natural or man-made disasters.
- The lack of capacity in many tribal, local, regional, and state governments to adequately identify the environmental outcomes associated with land use and infrastructure decisions, particularly given the demands on already tight budgets.
- The importance of engaging in efforts that involve stakeholders beyond federal agencies. These efforts include supporting local responders, advancing additional chemical plant safety measures, and standardizing the best practices of industry leaders.
The need to explore how EPA’s legal authorities and policies can be used to further improve coordination among federal agencies and stakeholders in our efforts to identify and address the potential hazards in chemical plant safety.
End Notes:
- For more information about the impact of the built environment on the natural environment and public health, see “Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions Between Land Use, Transportation, and Environmental Quality (Second Edition, 2013)” at http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/built.htm.
- For more information about EPA’s focus on Environmental Justice, please see http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/index.html.
- For more information about the connections between smart growth and environmental justice, see “Creating Equitable, Healthy, and Sustainable Communities: Strategies for Advancing Smart Growth, Environmental Justice, and Equitable Development” (EPA 231-K-10-005, 2013) at http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/equitable_development_report.htm.
- For more information about the HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities, see http://www.sustainablecommunities.gov.
- For more information about EPA’s brownfields program, see http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.
- Kevin Haninger, Lala Ma, and Christopher Timmins. 2012. “Estimating the Impacts of Brownfields Remediation on Housing Property Values.” Duke Environmental Economics Working Paper Series. Working Paper EE12-08. The program evaluation is available at http://sites.nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/environmentaleconomics/files/2013/01/WP-EE-12-08.pdf.
- U.S. EPA, Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization, Air and Water Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment: A Study of Five Communities, April 2011, EPA-560-F-10-232.
Statement:
Conserve resources and prevent land contamination by reducing waste generation and toxicity, promoting proper management of waste and petroleum products, and increasing sustainable materials management.
Description:
To prevent future environmental contamination and to protect the health of the estimated 20 million people living within a mile of hazardous waste management facilities[1], EPA and its state partners continue their efforts to issue, update, or maintain Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permits for approximately 20,000 hazardous waste units (such as incinerators and landfills) at these facilities. EPA also will issue polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) cleanup, storage, and disposal approvals each year since this work cannot be delegated to the states or tribes. With the October 2012 promulgation of the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act, improving and modernizing hazardous waste transportation and tracking has become an important Agency focus. EPA will be working with state agencies, other partners and stakeholders, and the public to implement the requirements of the new law. These include the use of electronic tracking (e-Manifest), which will provide superior data availability, transparency, and cost savings when compared with the use of paper manifests, and the establishment of an advisory board to provide recommendations to the Agency on the implementation of this new e-Manifest approach.
As part of its sustainable materials management program, EPA is currently promoting three national strategies—the Federal Green Challenge, the Electronics Challenge, and the Food Recovery Challenge. These strategies are focused on using less environmentally intensive and toxic materials and employing downstream solutions, like reuse and recycling, to conserve our resources for future generations.[2] EPA is working with other federal agencies, state and tribal governments, and non-governmental organizations to promote sustainability goals through these and other initiatives. For example, EPA and USDA are partnering through the U.S. Food Waste Challenge to address sustainable food management from farm to final disposition.[3] Through this partnership, EPA is working to reduce food waste, which is the largest component (21 percent) of municipal solid waste discarded.[4] In keeping with the RCRA mandate to conserve resources and energy, and recognizing that an estimated 42 percent of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are attributable to materials management activities, EPA continues to create innovative strategies that emphasize sustainable materials management. These efforts—to identify and reduce or minimize the impact of waste and capture resultant GHG benefits through more sustainable materials management throughout all life-cycle stages (from extraction of raw materials through end of life)—are critical, along with other activities, for offsetting the use of virgin materials.[5,6]
To reduce the risk posed by underground storage tanks (USTs) located at more than 200,000 facilities throughout the country, EPA and states are working to ensure that every UST system is inspected at least once every 3 years and all facility operators are trained. As fuel types change, UST systems must be equipped to safely store the new fuels. For example, EPA is working to ensure biofuels are stored in compatible UST systems.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
EPA must be prepared to address significant waste management issues anticipated for the future.
- The potential impacts of a changing climate, including extreme weather events, such as tornadoes and hurricanes.
- Continued changes in technology and the emergence of new waste streams that result from new methods of domestic energy development, among other contributing sources.
- General trend away from landfills and toward the recycling of materials using new technologies that will require further evaluation.
Endnotes:
- Estimate drawn from OSWER Near Site Population Database, an internal EPA database that merges facility size and location information from RCRAInfo with population data, at the block and block group levels, from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2000 Census. The demographics were captured around the total number of facilities that have approved controls in place that result in the protection of this population (20 million people).
- For more information on the Federal Green Challenge, see http://www.epa.gov/federalgreenchallenge. For more information on the Electronics Challenge, see http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/smm/electronics/. For more information on the Food Recovery Challenge, see http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/smm/foodrecovery/.
- For more information on the U.S. Food Waste Challenge, see http://www.usda.gov/oce/foodwaste/index.htm.
- For more information, see EPA report, “Municipal Solid Waste Generation, Recycling, and Disposal in the United States: Facts and Figures for 2011,” at http://www.epa.gov/waste/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/MSWcharacterization_508_053113_fs.pdf.
- USEPA, Opportunities to Reduce or Avoid Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Materials and Land Management Practices, September 2009.
- For more information on sustainable materials management, see Sustainable Materials Management: The Road Ahead. EPA 530R-09-009. Available at http://www.epa.gov/smm/pdf/vision2.pdf.
Statement:
Prepare for and respond to accidental or intentional releases of contaminants and clean up and restore polluted sites for reuse.
Description:
Challenging and complex environmental problems persist at many contaminated properties. These include contaminated soil, sediment, and groundwater that can cause human health concerns. Together with our federal, state, and tribal partners, EPA’s Superfund program, RCRA corrective actions, leaking underground storage tank and brownfields cleanup programs, and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) cleanups of PCBs reduce risks to human health and the environment through site cleanup and the return of restored land to productive use. EPA is establishing an Agency Priority Goal for FY 2014-2015, which is a continuation of the Priority Goal for FY 2012-2013, to measure and report sites ready for anticipated use (RAU). RAU is an indicator that the local, state, or federal agency has determined that the necessary cleanup goals, engineering controls, and institutional controls have been implemented at the site to make it available for a community’s current or reasonably anticipated future use or reuse. EPA’s Superfund, RCRA corrective action, leaking underground storage tank (LUST), and brownfields cleanup programs all contribute to the Priority Goal to make sites ready for anticipated use.[1] Although each program establishes its own targets, the collective nature and combined overall target of the RAU Priority Goal offers an opportunity for EPA cleanup programs to work together to identify lessons learned, efficiencies, and opportunities to advance site cleanup. From the inception of the respective programs to the end of FY 2013, 441,333 sites were made RAU, corresponding to over 2.3 million acres.[2]
There are multiple benefits associated with cleaning up contaminated sites: reducing mortality and morbidity risk; preventing and reducing human exposure to contaminants; making land available for commercial, residential, industrial, or recreational reuse; and, promoting community economic development. A 2011 study suggests that Superfund cleanups reduce the incidence of congenital anomalies in infants of mothers living within 2,000 meters of a site by roughly 20-25 percent.[3] In another case, EPA contracted with researchers at Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh to conduct a study to determine the effects of Superfund site status on housing values. The study found that when sites are cleaned up and deleted from the National Priorities List (NPL), properties within 3 miles of the sites experience an 18.6 to 24.5 percent increase in value.[4]
Over the past 3 years, EPA has implemented the Integrated Cleanup Initiative (ICI) in an effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its land cleanup programs. More than 150 different actions were conducted under ICI from FY 2010 through FY 2012 by the various land cleanup programs involved in the effort. These actions to improve efficiency and effectiveness are now part of current business procedures and cleanup processes. For example, EPA initiated a series of project management pilots to explore options for accelerating the pace of Superfund site cleanups from the remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) phase of cleanup through site completion. Three of these pilots improved the remedial design/remedial action (RD/RA) process and were completed in FY 2012. EPA’s Superfund program will consider applying the time- and cost-saving approaches examined in these pilots wherever appropriate.[5]
EPA's Superfund program is undertaking a comprehensive review of all aspects of the program. The goal of this review is to determine the best way to maintain the program's effectiveness in protecting human health and the environment by more efficiently managing its site cleanup process and program resources. In the same spirit, in early 2013, EPA worked with state partners and stakeholders to pilot an ambitious effort to apply “Lean” principles to the facility investigation phase of RCRA corrective action cleanup as a means to accelerate the process for a typical facility by several years.[6] By applying Lean techniques, EPA expects to achieve performance improvements and to continue setting and achieving ambitious goals for environmental progress. The Agency will continue to solicit new ideas and practices to improve EPA’s cleanup programs.
Another challenge to protecting our land resources from contamination is pollution from leaking underground storage tanks (USTs). While considerable progress has been made to clean up leaks from USTs, a backlog of over 80,000 sites remains and the number of cleanups per year is decreasing. To understand the makeup of remaining UST releases and the decline in the number of cleanups per year, EPA conducted a two-phase, data-driven analysis of UST cleanups as of 2006 and 2009. The study compiled and analyzed available data from 14 state [L]UST programs and identified key findings and potential opportunities to help reduce the number of remaining UST cleanups. To address new and existing LUST sites, EPA, in partnership with state and tribal programs, is developing and implementing strategies to address technical challenges, leverage best practices, and support management, oversight, and enforcement activities. In addition, EPA has implemented improvements in the LUST prevention program by increasing inspection frequency and other prevention efforts, and there has been a corresponding decrease in new confirmed releases. The efforts of the prevention program and the continued reduction in new confirmed releases, along with the earlier detection of releases, will remain critical factors in backlog reduction.[7]
In addition to cleanup and revitalization, EPA’s hazardous waste programs also are working to reduce the energy use and environmental footprint during the investigation and remediation of hazardous waste sites. As part of this effort, EPA’s Superfund program evaluated its green remediation strategy to assess its experiences in implementing the strategy, to determine a baseline against which to measure future progress, and to develop the best metrics for measuring the program’s success. The evaluation’s findings are being used to prepare the next phase of the strategy to reduce the energy, water, and materials used during site cleanups while at the same time ensuring that protective remedies are implemented.[8]
Throughout this work, EPA is enhancing its engagement with local communities and stakeholders so that they may meaningfully participate in decisions on land cleanup, emergency response, and management of hazardous substances and waste. Enhancing community engagement helps to ensure transparent and accessible decision-making processes, to deliver information that communities can use to participate effectively, to improve EPA responsiveness to community perspectives, and to ensure timely cleanup decisions.
National preparedness is an essential component in EPA’s work that entails responding to large-scale emergencies that may involve chemicals, oil, biological agents, radiation, weapons of mass destruction, or natural catastrophes. In recent years, the U.S. has faced considerable challenges in responding to nationally significant incidents and large-scale emergencies, including Hurricane Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant emergency in Japan, and Hurricane Sandy. Maintaining our preparedness level and ensuring that emergency responders are able to address chemical spills, unplanned releases of other hazardous materials, and other catastrophes are vital responsibilities. Consistent with the government-wide National Response Framework and the National Disaster Recovery Framework, EPA prepares for the possibility of multiple, simultaneous, nationally significant incidents across several regions and provides guidance and technical assistance to state, tribal, and local planning and response organizations. EPA recognizes the important role of state and local emergency responders and works with them to strengthen their preparedness and provide technical assistance when significant man-made or natural incidents strain their staffing and budget resources.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
Hazardous waste programs are intended to provide permanent solutions to contamination at sites or facilities to the extent practicable. As appropriate, EPA must incorporate emerging science into decision making to maintain its commitment to provide permanent solutions.
- Complications can arise when new scientific information (e.g., new toxicity information or a new analytical method) calls into question previous determinations about the need for or the scope and methods of cleanup at a site. Such scientific and technological developments may complicate relations with affected communities, risk communication, site investigation, remedy selection, and resource allocation within the program.
- Changes in precipitation, sea level rise, and storm surge, for example, may impact remedies and alter their effectiveness. Some evidence of this was apparent during the Hurricane Sandy event along the coasts and waterways of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. EPA might appropriately consider the effects on planned, current, and completed cleanups that will occur from the impacts of a changing climate.
Endnotes:
- FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal: Clean up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of communities. By September 30, 2015, an additional 18,970 sites will be made ready for anticipated use, protecting Americans and the environment one community at a time. For the LUST program, data as to whether institutional controls are in place are unavailable. EPA is exploring with states whether the data can be made available.
- Although separate performance targets are not developed for the number of acres RAU, the acres RAU are reported at the end of each fiscal year.
- Janet Currie, Michael Greenstone, and Enrico Moretti. 2011. "Superfund Cleanups and Infant Health." American Economic Review, 101(3): 435-41.
- S. Gamper-Rabindran and C. Timmins. 2013. "Does cleanup of hazardous waste sites raise housing values? Evidence of spatially localized benefits," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.
- A recent directive from EPA’s Superfund program shares the lessons learned from these RD/RA pilot studies. This directive can be found at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/docs/ici/broader_applications_rd_ra_pilot_project_lessons_learned.pdf.
- Lean principles focus on identifying and enhancing valuable process steps while reducing wasteful steps. See also http://www.epa.gov/lean/government/index.htm.
- For more information, please see The National LUST Cleanup Backlog: A Study of Opportunities at http://www.epa.gov/swerust1/cat/backlog.html.
- More information about Superfund and green remediation at EPA is available at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/greenremediation.
Statement:
Directly implement federal environmental programs in Indian country and support federal program delegation to tribes. Provide tribes with technical assistance and support capacity development for the establishment and implementation of sustainable environmental programs in Indian country.
Description:
Under federal environmental statutes, EPA is responsible for protecting human health and the environment in Indian country. EPA’s commitment to tribal environmental and human health protection has been steadfast for nearly 30 years, as formally established in the Agency’s 1984 Indian Policy.[1] EPA works with over 560 federally-recognized tribes located across the United States to improve environmental and human health outcomes. Approximately 56 million acres are held in trust by the United States for various Indian tribes and individuals. Over 10 millon acres of individually owned lands are still held in trust for allotees and their heirs.[2] Difficult environmental and health challenges remain in many of these areas, including lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation, adequate waste facilities, and other environmental safeguards taken for granted elsewhere.
In collaboration with our tribal government partners, EPA will engage in a two-part strategy for strengthening human health and environmental protection in Indian country. First, EPA will ensure that its environmental protection programs are implemented in Indian country either by EPA or through implementation of environmental programs by tribes themselves. Second, EPA will provide resources through grant funds and technical assistance for federally-recognized tribes to create and maintain effective environmental program capacity.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
Tribal environmental and human health needs are significant. For example, the lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation for tribes continues to threaten the public health of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. Approximately 12 percent of AI/AN homes do not have safe water and/or basic sanitation facilities.[3] This is high compared to the non-native homes in the U.S. that lack such infrastructure. EPA, along with over four federal departments and agencies, provides a range of federal water infrastructure programs to tribes, consistent with our legal authorities and the federal trust responsibility.
There is a broad spectrum among tribes with respect to population, culture, income, geography, economic development, environmental program management expertise, and priorities. EPA also recognizes that many tribes may not have the capacity to implement programs in a manner similar to a state, where programmatically available. Further, the decision to be treated in a manner similar to a state (TAS) is voluntary, and may not be a priority to a tribe. Currently, over 200 tribes are not eligible for jurisdictional reasons to receive a TAS designation to implement federally authorized environmental protection programs, yet they are partnering with EPA to build programmatic capacity in other ways. EPA continues to play a critical role in ensuring environmental protection in Indian country.
Endnotes:
- The “EPA Policy for the Administration of Environmental Programs on Indian Reservations” can be found at http://www.epa.gov/tp/pdf/indian-policy-84.pdf.
- For more information, please see http://www.bia.gov/FAQs/index.htm.
- Indian Health Service, Sanitation Facilities Construction Program 2011 Annual Report.
Priority Goals
Statement:
Clean up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of communities. By 2015, an additional 18,970 sites will be made ready for anticipated use protecting Americans and the environment one community at a time.
Description:
Problem or opportunity being addressed
EPA’s Superfund, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action (CA), leaking underground storage tank (LUST), and Brownfields cleanup programs reduce risks to human health and the environment by assessing and cleaning up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of neighborhoods. Challenging and complex environmental problems, such as the presence or perceived presence of hazardous substances in soil, sediment, and groundwater, persist at many contaminated properties, and can threaten the health of American families.
There are multiple benefits associated with cleaning up contaminated sites and making them ready for reuse: reducing mortality and morbidity risk; preventing and reducing human exposure to contaminants; making land available for commercial, residential, industrial, or recreational reuse; and promoting community economic development. When sites are ready for anticipated reuse, communities are able to reclaim them for ecological, recreational, commercial, residential and other productive purposes.
Since EPA began collecting the number of sites ready for anticipated use (RAU) in FY2008, the cumulative number of sites RAU has increased. As of the end of FY2013, 441,333 sites were made ready for anticipated use, or approximately 83% of all sites.
|
Program |
FY14 Target |
FY15 Target |
|
Superfund |
55 |
55 |
|
RCRA CA |
80 |
80 |
|
LUST |
9,000 |
8,600 |
|
Brownfields |
550 |
550 |
|
Total |
9,685 |
9,285 |
Although each program establishes its own targets, the collective nature and combined overall target of the RAU Priority Goal offers an opportunity for EPA cleanup programs to work together to identify lessons learned, efficiencies and opportunities to advance site cleanup.
Efficiencies and cost savings
In an effort to improve the accountability, transparency, and effectiveness of EPA’s cleanup programs, EPA initiated the Integrated Cleanup Initiative, a multi-year effort to better use the most appropriate assessment and cleanup authorities to address a greater number of sites, accelerate cleanups where possible, and put those sites back into productive use while protecting human health and the environment. By using relevant tools available in each of the cleanup programs, including enforcement, EPA will better leverage the resources available to address needs at individual sites. EPA will focus on enforcement activities that are critical to ensuring that responsible parties are compelled to clean up contaminated sites, thereby preserving federal monies for clean up at sites where viable responsible parties do not exist.
Relationship to agency strategic goals and objectives
The Priority Goal directly supports EPA’s FY2014-2018 Strategic Plan, specifically Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development. Over the next several years, two of EPA’s priorities under this goal are to prevent and reduce exposure to contaminants and accelerate the pace of cleanups across the country. RAU is an indicator that the local, state, or federal agency has determined that cleanup goals and engineering and institutional controls have been implemented for the media that affects current and reasonably anticipated future use so that the sites are available for communities to use or reuse. Making contaminated sites ready for anticipated reuse also supports several of the Administrator’s Themes for EPA, including Making a Visible Difference in Communities across the Country; Launching a New Era of State, Tribal and Local Partnerships; and Working Toward a Sustainable Future. These connections are further described in the overview of our goal, as well as our description of goal partners.
Statement:
By September 30, 2015 reduce reporting burdens to EPA by one million hours through streamlined regulations, provide real-time environmental data to at least two communities, and establish a new portal to service the regulated community and public.
Description:
Environmental regulators face ever growing needs to share information within and across agencies, reduce staff burden of data entry, reduce regulatory reporting burdens, and improve environmental and human health protection. There is also an increasing expectation from the public and regulated community for the use of on-line systems and the desire for data transparency and personalized access. Both federal and state agencies recognize that easier access to and use of environmental data will facilitate better environmental protection and decision-making while also increasing overall data transparency.
Consistent with the 2012 White House Digital Government Strategy and Executive Order 13563, EPA seeks to transform the way business is conducted. E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint initiative of states and EPA to improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public by maximizing the use of advanced monitoring and information technologies, optimizing operations, and increasing transparency. E-Enterprise will enable new environmental management approaches by modernizing EPA programs and regulations while streamlining and improving existing business processes. E-Enterprise will use the transformational capabilities of information and advanced monitoring technologies to identify and implement programmatic and service improvements.
These improvements will include “smart” tools and services that guide the regulated community in understanding and fulfilling their federal, state and, local regulatory reporting obligations, offer basic validations and error checking of entered information, and support electronic signature submissions. E-Enterprise projects that take advantage of tools and practices such as advanced monitoring technology and streamlined data collection will also expand the ability of the government, regulated entities, and the public to see and measure pollutant discharges, emissions and environmental conditions. A fundamental premise of E-Enterprise is that providing a more complete and integrated (cross media - air, water, and land) view of environmental data can support greener behavior of the public and regulated entities. For example, broad availability of high-speed internet allows real-time reporting of emissions and provides unprecedented opportunities for transparency and public involvement in matters affecting local environmental conditions. These technological advances will allow better tracking of environmental progress. Innovative technology can also help regulators improve compliance with environmental laws.
Strategic Goal:
Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution
Statement:
Reduce the risk and increase the safety of chemicals and prevent pollution at the source.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Reduce the risk and increase the safety of chemicals that enter our products, our environment, and our bodies.
Description:
Chemical safety remains one of EPA’s highest priorities. EPA employs a variety of strategies under several statutes to ensure the safety of chemicals, adequately protect against unreasonable public health or environmental risks, and foster sustainability. These include:
- Acting under TSCA to ensure that new industrial and commercial chemicals do not pose unreasonable risk before they are introduced into commerce;
- Assessing existing chemicals already in use before TSCA took effect (62,000 chemicals were already in use in commerce before 1978) and acting to reduce identified risks and to identify and promote safer alternatives;
- Empowering the public and decision makers by making chemical safety information more widely available and usable;
- Acting under the Federal Insecticide, Rodenticide, and Fungicide Act (FIFRA) and the Endangered Species Act to ensure that pesticides are used safely and effectively; and,
- Developing and applying protocols to assess chemicals’ potential to interact with the endocrine system.
EPA uses predictive techniques to assess the safety of new chemicals in the face of information limitations imposed by TSCA. More daunting has been the challenge of assessing and acting where needed on the more than 60,000 existing chemicals “grandfathered” under the statute.[1] On that front, the Agency has made considerable progress in recent years, working in cooperation with stakeholders by using all available information to put these chemicals through a prioritization methodology. This effort led to the identification of a set of more than 80 chemicals (TSCA work plan chemicals) for further assessment. EPA believes that these are the chemicals most in need of risk assessment and that adequate data exist for that purpose. The first five risk assessments for TSCA work plan chemicals were made available by EPA for public and peer review less than a year after they were publicly identified for assessment. Assessments of 23 additional chemicals—including 20 flame retardants—were announced in 2013. Looking forward, EPA plans to assess all of the remaining work plan chemicals to initiate risk management actions as appropriate, and identify additional work plan chemicals for subsequent priority assessment. EPA is establishing an FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal for this effort.[2]
Recognizing the crucial role that the public, state, tribal, and local partners, institutions, and industry play in ensuring chemical safety, EPA has expanded web access to the Agency’s chemical information and assessment tools, with a focus on identifying safer chemicals. At the same time, two newly developed electronic tools will greatly improve data quality and public accessibility. These are the Chemical Information System (CIS), which will speed the Agency’s transition to electronic reporting and processing for required chemical safety information, and the interactive ChemView Portal, which will enable both internal and external users to access TSCA chemical data stored in EPA systems quickly and easily. Planned enhancements to CIS will extend electronic reporting to nearly all required TSCA submissions and integrate the system with scientific tools, dashboards, and models used in making chemical management decisions. In addition, EPA is working to expand the ChemView Portal to further broaden public access to TSCA chemical information, and has plans to enable faster, automated posting of non-confidential TSCA data to EPA’s public websites. These electronic tools are components of the Agency’s Next Generation Compliance initiative, aimed at designing more effective regulations that are easier to implement for improving compliance and environmental outcomes throughout the life cycle of hazardous materials; shifting toward electronic reporting by regulated entities to ensure more accurate, complete, and timely information; and expanding transparency.
EPA will make major strides in guarding against exposure to chemicals that continue to pose potential risks to human health and the environment even after their hazards have been identified and certain uses have been phased out. For example, to continue to reduce childhood blood lead levels, EPA is working in partnership with states and tribes to certify hundreds of thousands of renovators and contractors on lead hazard management. More than 461,000 individuals have been certified by EPA alone, and nearly 130,000 firms have been certified by EPA and the states through April 2013. Certification coupled with public outreach is intended to expand public awareness of lead-based paint risks as well as the requirements for the use of lead-safe practices in renovation, remodeling, and painting activities in millions of older homes.[3,4]
On a broader scale, EPA is looking comprehensively across statutes to determine the best tools to apply to specific problems. For example, the Agency is exploring how to use FIFRA and TSCA to ensure that drinking water is protected from pesticides and industrial chemicals, and that chemicals found in drinking water are being screened for endocrine disrupting properties using the authorities of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) (including issuance of test orders), the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), and FIFRA.
In addition, EPA is continuing its work to increase the safety of chemicals and prevent pollution on an international scale. This is being accomplished primarily through cooperative engagement with international bodies such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on scientific and technical issues. The key focus areas include harmonization of chemical test guidelines, regulatory coordination, negotiation, and implementation of global/regional standards, and instruments and assistance on pollution prevention activities. EPA is working collaboratively with stakeholders both domestically and internationally to develop approaches to better assess nanomaterials[5], including work with the OECD on internationally harmonized test guidelines.
Over the next 4 years, EPA will manage a comprehensive pesticide risk reduction program through science-based registration and reevaluation processes, a worker safety program, certification and training activities, and support for integrated pest management.
- EPA’s current pesticide review processes focus on ensuring that pesticide registrations comply with the Endangered Species Act and achieve broader Agency objectives for water quality protection. The review processes will continue to place emphasis on the protection of potentially sensitive populations, such as children, by reducing exposures from pesticides used in and around homes, schools, and other public areas.
- EPA’s new data requirement rule for antimicrobial pesticides will ensure that pesticide risk management decisions are based on the best available science and will contribute to a more efficient and transparent registration process through increased certainty about the data requirements. EPA’s review processes ensure that pesticides can be used safely and are available for use to maintain a safe and affordable food supply, to address public health outbreaks, and to minimize property damage that can occur from insects and pests.[6]
- EPA has reviewed its agricultural worker protection regulation and its pesticide applicator certification regulation and will publish for public comment proposed changes to both. The proposed rulemakings are designed to ensure improved pesticide worker safety standards and pesticide applicator competency standards in the coming years.
- EPA is implementing a comprehensive testing program to screen for chemicals’ potential to interact with the endocrine system.[7] In response to a recently concluded program evaluation, EPA has developed a comprehensive management plan for the endocrine disruptor screening program, providing a clear workplan, projected milestones, and vision for developing a more efficient and effective screening and testing program through the application of computational toxicology methods. Use of these methods may have the added benefit of helping to reduce the need for animal testing when conducting chemical screening and risk assessment.
To ensure the continued effectiveness of the various chemical programs, EPA will conduct several evaluations over the next 4 years. In FY 2014, EPA will initiate a review of critical factors that have an impact on the effectiveness of the Agency’s risk assessment efforts for TSCA work plan chemicals. In FY 2015, the Agency will evaluate the effectiveness of recently implemented efficiencies to the registration review process to identify further enhancements and efficiencies to the process. EPA will also conduct biennial reviews in 2015 and 2017 to determine whether the level of fees charged to the submitters of New Chemical Pre-Manufacture Notices and to the applicants for certification to perform lead renovation, repair, and painting work and lead abatement work are appropriate.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
As we look to the future, it is important to continue working together with Congress and stakeholders to modernize and strengthen the tools available under TSCA to prevent harmful chemicals from entering the marketplace and to increase confidence that those chemicals that remain are safe and do not endanger the environment or human health, especially for consumers, workers, and sensitive subpopulations like children. Potential legislative action to reauthorize TSCA is both a key external factor and a key emerging issue. Consistent with the Administration’s essential principles, EPA’s authority under TSCA should be modernized and strengthened to increase confidence that chemicals used in commerce are safe and do not endanger public health and welfare. EPA is committed to working with the Congress, members of the public, the environmental community, and industry to reauthorize TSCA.
On April 30, 2013, the National Academy of Sciences’ National Research Council (NRC) released its recommendations for assessing risks from pesticides to listed species under the Endangered Species Act and FIFRA. The Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Marine Fisheries Service are working collaboratively and expeditiously to review the report and identify improvements in the current scientific procedures used in evaluating the potential impacts of pesticides to endangered and threatened species. On November 13, 2013, the federal agencies released a white paper detailing an interim approach for implementing the panel’s recommendations.[8] We currently anticipate that implementation of the recommendations could take 18-36 months, which could have an impact on our progress in developing preliminary risk assessments and completing decisions for pesticides as part of the registration review program.
Finally, a number of chemical safety programs are affected by changing levels of economic activity. For example, EPA’s work in certifying firms to perform lead renovation, repair, and painting work depends partly on fluctuations in the level of demand for such services, which are related in turn to economic conditions in the housing market.
Endnotes:
- EPA chemical safety program information is available at http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/, http://www.epa.gov/oppt/newchems/, and http://www.epa.gov/oppt/nano/.
- FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal: Assess and reduce risks posed by chemicals and promote the use of safer chemicals in commerce. By September 30, 2015, EPA will have completed more than 250 assessments of pesticides and other commercially available chemicals to evaluate risks they may pose to human health and the environment, including the potential for some of these chemicals to disrupt endocrine systems. These assessments are essential in determining whether products containing these chemicals can be used safely for commercial, agricultural, and/or industrial uses.
- Information about childhood lead poisoning is available at www.epa.gov/lead.
- EPA Lead-Safe Certification Program, information available at http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/toolkits.htm.
- Nanomaterials are chemical substances or materials manufactured and used at a very small scale—down to 10,000 times smaller than a human hair. See also, www.nano.gov.
- EPA pesticides program information is available at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides.
- Information about the EPA endocrine disruptor screening program is available at http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/oscpendo/index.htm.
- The white paper is available at http://www.epa.gov/espp/2013/interagency.pdf.
Priority Goal: Assess and reduce risks posed by chemicals and promote the use of safer chemicals in commerce.
Statement:
By September 30, 2017, the EPA will complete more than 3,400 assessments of pesticides and other commercially available chemicals to evaluate risks they may pose to human health and the environment. These assessments are essential in determining whether products containing these chemicals can be used safely for commercial, agricultural, and/or industrial uses. For example, assessments can help determine the potential for chemicals to disrupt endocrine systems or to pose risks to honey bees and other pollinators by outdoor use of pesticides.
Description:
Improving chemical safety is one of the most critical aspects of EPA’s work to protect human health and the environment and advance a sustainable future. Three statutes provide EPA the authority to regulate chemicals: The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA) govern the regulation of pesticides and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) governs regulation of other commercial chemicals. This APG addresses a key component of EPA’s chemical strategy – using all available information to assess whether chemicals entering or already being used in commerce pose risks to human health and the environment. EPA’s work on this critical issue is organized into three components:
• Assessing pesticides safety and effectiveness in determining whether to register and re-evaluate them for commercial use. Pesticides distributed and sold in the United States must generally be registered by EPA, based on scientific data showing that they will not cause unreasonable risks to human health, workers, or the environment when used as directed on product labeling. The registration and registration review programs ensure that chemicals coming to and now available on the market meet current safety standards and, as the ability to assess risk evolves and as policies and practices change, all registered pesticides continue to meet the statutory standard of no unreasonable adverse effects, that is, continue to be safe when used according to the label. Although changes in science, public policy, and pesticide use practices will occur over time, such changes could impact EPA’s ability to make determinations in a timely manner.
Through the registration review program, the Agency periodically reevaluates (at least every fifteen years) pesticides to make sure that as change occurs, products in the marketplace can still be used safely. The Office of Pesticide Programs is continuously challenged to improve its processes, science, and information management while maintaining a collaborative and open process for decision-making to ensure safety to human health and the environment. Please refer to section 4 for a more detailed discussion of the challenges presented by implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) and White House Pollinator Health Strategy concerns. While challenging, implementing solutions to these issues will improve the Agency’s processes and allow for an open public venue for determining that products coming to market as well as those currently in the marketplace can be used safely.
• Assessing the safety of commercial chemicals, using the authorities of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
o TSCA Work Plan Assessments: As part of EPA’s chemical safety program, EPA has identified a work plan of chemicals for assessment. Originally released in March 2012, and updated in October 2014, EPA’s TSCA Work Plan helps focus and direct the activities of its Existing Chemicals Program. The Agency committed to assess the chemicals in every-day, wide spread use to which our people, our communities and our environment may be exposed, starting with those on the Work Plan. The findings of these assessments guide decisions on whether risk reduction actions are needed to address risks to human health or the environment from exposure to particular chemical uses or groups of chemicals. More information about the TSCA Work Plan is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/workplans.html.
o TSCA Section 5 (New Chemicals) Notice Assessments: In FY 2016 and FY 2017, the EPA will continue to fulfill its mandate under TSCA Section 5 to manage the potential risk to human health and the environment from chemicals to be introduced into the marketplace. Functioning as a “gatekeeper,” the EPA can identify conditions, up to and including a ban on production, to be placed on the use of a new chemical before it is entered into commerce. Anyone who plans to manufacture (including import) a new chemical substance for a non-exempt commercial purpose is required by section 5 of TSCA to provide EPA with notice before initiating the activity. This premanufacture notice, or PMN, can include information such as specific chemical identity, use, anticipated production volume, exposure and release information and existing available test data. Each year, the EPA receives approximately 1,000 new chemical notices under section 5, and must review and assess each PMN within 90 days of receipt. More information about the TSCA New Chemicals Program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/newchems/index.htm.
• Assessing whether chemicals have the potential to disrupt endocrine systems. Congress directed the agency to develop the Endocrine Disruptors Screening Program (EDSP) in accordance with the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. The agency is employing high-throughput and computational methods to evaluate endocrine activity to screen over 10,000 chemicals for potential endocrine activity using validated test methods. The program involves requiring registrants to generate screening data for chemicals suspected of having effects on the endocrine system. In setting up the EDSP, it took several years to determine the appropriate tests, establish protocols, issue tests orders requiring these data, develop the data and review the data. To date, about 50 pesticides have been tested and reviewed. When a chemical is determined to be an endocrine disruptor, it will be incorporated into risk assessments and considered in the risk management decision for the chemical.
Statement:
Conserve and protect natural resources by promoting pollution prevention and the adoption of other sustainability practices by companies, communities, governmental organizations, and individuals.
Description:
The 1990 Pollution Prevention Act established national policy for the use of P2 as the first choice in addressing pollution at the source. Time and experience have added to our understanding and appreciation of the value of preventing pollution before it occurs. P2 is central to all of EPA’s sustainability strategies, and EPA will continue to incorporate P2 principles into its policies, regulations, and actions.[1]
EPA strives to prevent pollution by fostering the development of P2 solutions and promoting increased use of those solutions. The results of these strategies include significant reductions in the use of hazardous materials, energy, and water and in the generation of greenhouse gases, as well as significant increases in the availability and use of safer chemicals and safer chemical products. EPA’s successful implementation of these strategies also enables businesses, governments, and other institutions to reduce their costs. These strategies are key elements of EPA’s approach to achieving a sustainable future. Specific activities conducted to implement these strategies include:
- Fostering the development of P2 innovations:
- Promoting green chemistry and green engineering, and developing educational curricula;
- Establishing technical criteria for chemical alternatives assessments;
- Participating in the development of voluntary consensus standards and other safer chemical products criteria, including participating in international cooperative efforts;
- Establishing greener purchasing and management practices (i.e., environmentally preferable purchasing); and,
- Incorporating P2 solutions in regulatory options or requirements.
- Promoting increased use of P2 innovations:
- Providing and promoting technical assistance, such as establishing Economy, Energy, and Environment (E3) Partnerships (in conjunction with the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, and Labor, and the Small Business Administration) or providing technical assistance on manufacturing, green sports, or other business sectors;
- Demonstrating the benefits of P2 solutions;
- Labeling safer products by working with key stakeholders through the Design for the Environment (DfE) program;
- Leveraging the power of federal purchasing; and,
- Coordinating with other P2 offices across the Agency with shared audiences or sustainability approaches, including ENERGY STAR, WaterSense, the sustainable materials management program, and other complementary programs between Goal 3 and Goal 4.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
The Agency’s multi-media P2 efforts are affected by changes in economic conditions. Much of EPA’s P2 work is voluntary, so success depends in part on participation levels by industry, government agencies, and members of the public.
Endnotes:
- EPA pollution prevention program information is available at http://www.epa.gov/p2/.
Priority Goal: Assess and reduce risks posed by chemicals and promote the use of safer chemicals in commerce.
Statement:
By September 30, 2017, the EPA will complete more than 3,400 assessments of pesticides and other commercially available chemicals to evaluate risks they may pose to human health and the environment. These assessments are essential in determining whether products containing these chemicals can be used safely for commercial, agricultural, and/or industrial uses. For example, assessments can help determine the potential for chemicals to disrupt endocrine systems or to pose risks to honey bees and other pollinators by outdoor use of pesticides.
Description:
Improving chemical safety is one of the most critical aspects of EPA’s work to protect human health and the environment and advance a sustainable future. Three statutes provide EPA the authority to regulate chemicals: The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA) govern the regulation of pesticides and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) governs regulation of other commercial chemicals. This APG addresses a key component of EPA’s chemical strategy – using all available information to assess whether chemicals entering or already being used in commerce pose risks to human health and the environment. EPA’s work on this critical issue is organized into three components:
• Assessing pesticides safety and effectiveness in determining whether to register and re-evaluate them for commercial use. Pesticides distributed and sold in the United States must generally be registered by EPA, based on scientific data showing that they will not cause unreasonable risks to human health, workers, or the environment when used as directed on product labeling. The registration and registration review programs ensure that chemicals coming to and now available on the market meet current safety standards and, as the ability to assess risk evolves and as policies and practices change, all registered pesticides continue to meet the statutory standard of no unreasonable adverse effects, that is, continue to be safe when used according to the label. Although changes in science, public policy, and pesticide use practices will occur over time, such changes could impact EPA’s ability to make determinations in a timely manner.
Through the registration review program, the Agency periodically reevaluates (at least every fifteen years) pesticides to make sure that as change occurs, products in the marketplace can still be used safely. The Office of Pesticide Programs is continuously challenged to improve its processes, science, and information management while maintaining a collaborative and open process for decision-making to ensure safety to human health and the environment. Please refer to section 4 for a more detailed discussion of the challenges presented by implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) and White House Pollinator Health Strategy concerns. While challenging, implementing solutions to these issues will improve the Agency’s processes and allow for an open public venue for determining that products coming to market as well as those currently in the marketplace can be used safely.
• Assessing the safety of commercial chemicals, using the authorities of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
o TSCA Work Plan Assessments: As part of EPA’s chemical safety program, EPA has identified a work plan of chemicals for assessment. Originally released in March 2012, and updated in October 2014, EPA’s TSCA Work Plan helps focus and direct the activities of its Existing Chemicals Program. The Agency committed to assess the chemicals in every-day, wide spread use to which our people, our communities and our environment may be exposed, starting with those on the Work Plan. The findings of these assessments guide decisions on whether risk reduction actions are needed to address risks to human health or the environment from exposure to particular chemical uses or groups of chemicals. More information about the TSCA Work Plan is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/workplans.html.
o TSCA Section 5 (New Chemicals) Notice Assessments: In FY 2016 and FY 2017, the EPA will continue to fulfill its mandate under TSCA Section 5 to manage the potential risk to human health and the environment from chemicals to be introduced into the marketplace. Functioning as a “gatekeeper,” the EPA can identify conditions, up to and including a ban on production, to be placed on the use of a new chemical before it is entered into commerce. Anyone who plans to manufacture (including import) a new chemical substance for a non-exempt commercial purpose is required by section 5 of TSCA to provide EPA with notice before initiating the activity. This premanufacture notice, or PMN, can include information such as specific chemical identity, use, anticipated production volume, exposure and release information and existing available test data. Each year, the EPA receives approximately 1,000 new chemical notices under section 5, and must review and assess each PMN within 90 days of receipt. More information about the TSCA New Chemicals Program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/newchems/index.htm.
• Assessing whether chemicals have the potential to disrupt endocrine systems. Congress directed the agency to develop the Endocrine Disruptors Screening Program (EDSP) in accordance with the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. The agency is employing high-throughput and computational methods to evaluate endocrine activity to screen over 10,000 chemicals for potential endocrine activity using validated test methods. The program involves requiring registrants to generate screening data for chemicals suspected of having effects on the endocrine system. In setting up the EDSP, it took several years to determine the appropriate tests, establish protocols, issue tests orders requiring these data, develop the data and review the data. To date, about 50 pesticides have been tested and reviewed. When a chemical is determined to be an endocrine disruptor, it will be incorporated into risk assessments and considered in the risk management decision for the chemical.
Priority Goals
Statement:
By September 30, 2017, the EPA will complete more than 3,400 assessments of pesticides and other commercially available chemicals to evaluate risks they may pose to human health and the environment. These assessments are essential in determining whether products containing these chemicals can be used safely for commercial, agricultural, and/or industrial uses. For example, assessments can help determine the potential for chemicals to disrupt endocrine systems or to pose risks to honey bees and other pollinators by outdoor use of pesticides.
Description:
Improving chemical safety is one of the most critical aspects of EPA’s work to protect human health and the environment and advance a sustainable future. Three statutes provide EPA the authority to regulate chemicals: The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA) govern the regulation of pesticides and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) governs regulation of other commercial chemicals. This APG addresses a key component of EPA’s chemical strategy – using all available information to assess whether chemicals entering or already being used in commerce pose risks to human health and the environment. EPA’s work on this critical issue is organized into three components:
• Assessing pesticides safety and effectiveness in determining whether to register and re-evaluate them for commercial use. Pesticides distributed and sold in the United States must generally be registered by EPA, based on scientific data showing that they will not cause unreasonable risks to human health, workers, or the environment when used as directed on product labeling. The registration and registration review programs ensure that chemicals coming to and now available on the market meet current safety standards and, as the ability to assess risk evolves and as policies and practices change, all registered pesticides continue to meet the statutory standard of no unreasonable adverse effects, that is, continue to be safe when used according to the label. Although changes in science, public policy, and pesticide use practices will occur over time, such changes could impact EPA’s ability to make determinations in a timely manner.
Through the registration review program, the Agency periodically reevaluates (at least every fifteen years) pesticides to make sure that as change occurs, products in the marketplace can still be used safely. The Office of Pesticide Programs is continuously challenged to improve its processes, science, and information management while maintaining a collaborative and open process for decision-making to ensure safety to human health and the environment. Please refer to section 4 for a more detailed discussion of the challenges presented by implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) and White House Pollinator Health Strategy concerns. While challenging, implementing solutions to these issues will improve the Agency’s processes and allow for an open public venue for determining that products coming to market as well as those currently in the marketplace can be used safely.
• Assessing the safety of commercial chemicals, using the authorities of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
o TSCA Work Plan Assessments: As part of EPA’s chemical safety program, EPA has identified a work plan of chemicals for assessment. Originally released in March 2012, and updated in October 2014, EPA’s TSCA Work Plan helps focus and direct the activities of its Existing Chemicals Program. The Agency committed to assess the chemicals in every-day, wide spread use to which our people, our communities and our environment may be exposed, starting with those on the Work Plan. The findings of these assessments guide decisions on whether risk reduction actions are needed to address risks to human health or the environment from exposure to particular chemical uses or groups of chemicals. More information about the TSCA Work Plan is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/workplans.html.
o TSCA Section 5 (New Chemicals) Notice Assessments: In FY 2016 and FY 2017, the EPA will continue to fulfill its mandate under TSCA Section 5 to manage the potential risk to human health and the environment from chemicals to be introduced into the marketplace. Functioning as a “gatekeeper,” the EPA can identify conditions, up to and including a ban on production, to be placed on the use of a new chemical before it is entered into commerce. Anyone who plans to manufacture (including import) a new chemical substance for a non-exempt commercial purpose is required by section 5 of TSCA to provide EPA with notice before initiating the activity. This premanufacture notice, or PMN, can include information such as specific chemical identity, use, anticipated production volume, exposure and release information and existing available test data. Each year, the EPA receives approximately 1,000 new chemical notices under section 5, and must review and assess each PMN within 90 days of receipt. More information about the TSCA New Chemicals Program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/newchems/index.htm.
• Assessing whether chemicals have the potential to disrupt endocrine systems. Congress directed the agency to develop the Endocrine Disruptors Screening Program (EDSP) in accordance with the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. The agency is employing high-throughput and computational methods to evaluate endocrine activity to screen over 10,000 chemicals for potential endocrine activity using validated test methods. The program involves requiring registrants to generate screening data for chemicals suspected of having effects on the endocrine system. In setting up the EDSP, it took several years to determine the appropriate tests, establish protocols, issue tests orders requiring these data, develop the data and review the data. To date, about 50 pesticides have been tested and reviewed. When a chemical is determined to be an endocrine disruptor, it will be incorporated into risk assessments and considered in the risk management decision for the chemical.
Strategic Goal:
Protecting Human Health and the Environment by Enforcing Laws and Assuring Compliance
Statement:
Protect human health and the environment through vigorous and targeted civil and criminal enforcement. Use Next Generation Compliance strategies and tools to improve compliance with environmental laws.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Pursue vigorous civil and criminal enforcement that targets the most serious water, air, and chemical hazards in communities to achieve compliance. Assure strong, consistent, and effective enforcement of federal environmental laws nationwide. Use Next Generation Compliance strategies and tools to improve compliance and reduce pollution.
Description:
Effective targeting of compliance monitoring and vigorous civil and criminal enforcement play a central role in achieving the goals EPA has set for protection of health and the environment. Targets for most of the enforcement measures will remain steady over the life of this Strategic Plan. For some other measures, the strategic direction outlined in this Plan will affect the targets, as described in the “Strategic Measurement Framework” section of this Plan. What remains constant is EPA’s focus on the cases that have the highest impact on protecting public health and the environment.
- Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality: EPA will continue to take effective actions to reduce air pollution from the largest sources, including coal-fired power plants and the cement, acid, glass, and other sectors, to improve air quality. Enforcement to cut toxic air pollution in communities improves the health of communities, particularly communities that are disproportionately affected by pollution. EPA will work to assure compliance by the energy extraction sector, where violations can lead to air and water impacts that pose a potential risk to human health. EPA will also work to ensure compliance with climate change standards, including the greenhouse gas reporting rules.
- Protecting America’s Waters: EPA has been working with states and cities to make progress on the most important water pollution problems. The Agency will continue to focus on getting raw sewage out of water and reducing pollution from stormwater runoff, using common sense and affordable approaches to tackle the most important problems first and incorporating green infrastructure for cost-effective reduction of pollution while enhancing communities. EPA is committed to working with communities to incorporate green infrastructure, such as green roofs, rain gardens, and permeable pavement, into permitting and enforcement actions to reduce stormwater pollution and sewer overflows where applicable. EPA, together with the states, continues to implement the Clean Water Act Action Plan[1] by ensuring the implementation of fundamental changes to the national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) program, such as coordinated permitting, compliance, and enforcement programs to protect and improve water quality. The enforcement program continues to address pollution from animal waste, take enforcement action to reduce pollution in large aquatic ecosystems like the Chesapeake Bay, and assist in revitalizing urban communities by protecting urban waters.
Enforcement also supports the goals of assuring safe drinking water for all communities, including in Indian country, and improving the quality of drinking water data reported by states to ensure compliance.[2]
- Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development: EPA protects communities by requiring responsible parties to conduct cleanups, saving federal dollars for sites where there are no other alternatives. Aggressively pursuing these parties to clean up sites ultimately reduces direct human exposures to hazardous pollutants and contaminants, provides for long-term human health protection, and makes contaminated properties available for reuse.
- Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution: Reforming chemical management and reducing exposure to pesticides and other toxics will help protect human health. Enforcement reduces direct human exposures to toxic chemicals and pesticides and supports long-term human health protection.
Criminal enforcement underlines our commitment to pursuing the most serious pollution violations. EPA’s criminal enforcement program will focus on cases across all media that involve serious harm or injury; hazardous or toxic releases; ongoing, repetitive, or multiple releases; serious documented exposure to pollutants; and violators with significant repeat or chronic noncompliance or prior criminal conviction. EPA's criminal enforcement program will continue to work collaboratively with its state and local law enforcement counterparts, as well as the U.S. Department of Justice. Many successful and important EPA criminal investigations result from enhanced coordination among all levels of government. An example is the prosecutions surrounding the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which led to the death of 11 people and was the largest marine oil spill in United States history. EPA's criminal enforcement program worked with multiple federal and state agencies and the U.S. Department of Justice, resulting in the single largest criminal resolution in the history of the United States as of 2013.
EPA shares accountability for environmental and human health protection with states and tribes. We work together to target the most important pollution violations and to ensure that companies that do the right thing and are responsible neighbors are not put at a competitive disadvantage. The Agency also has a responsibility to oversee EPA-authorized state and tribal implementation of federal laws to ensure that the same level of protection for the environment and the public applies across the country.
Enforcement can help to promote environmental justice by tackling noncompliance problems that disproportionately impact low-income, minority, and tribal communities. Ensuring compliance with environmental laws is particularly important in communities that are exposed to greater environmental health risks. EPA fosters community involvement by making information about compliance and government action available to the public. In addition to ensuring compliance and promoting environmental justice, EPA enforcement actions also result in companies investing in actions and equipment to control pollution, mitigating harm from past violations, and undertaking additional projects that benefit the environment and public health (known as supplemental environmental projects, or SEPs). EPA will continue to use all of these tools to protect communities.
In addition to vigorous enforcement of environmental laws, EPA is investing in Next Generation Compliance to take advantage of advances in pollution monitoring and information technology in order to reduce pollution and improve results. By building compliance drivers into regulations and permits, and using them across our compliance programs, these tools will enable EPA, states, and tribes to focus on the most serious environmental problems and to better protect communities.
Through the increased use of new information and monitoring technologies and other compliance strategies, Next Generation Compliance will allow us to identify pollution issues and will assist both government and industry to find and fix pollution and violation problems. Next Generation Compliance supports EPA’s new E-Enterprise initiative by promoting electronic reporting, advanced monitoring, and transparency. Electronic reporting allows for more accurate and timely information on pollution sources, as well as public access to pollution and compliance information. A new collaborative state-EPA effort, the E-Enterprise Leadership Council, is working to establish a joint approach on information technology and program management infrastructure issues. Confirming the accuracy and completeness of existing and future data that are collected and protecting confidential business information remain priorities for EPA, states, and tribes. In collaboration with states and in consultation with our tribal partners, E-reporting and advanced monitoring technologies will ultimately lead to better, more timely data for decision making and public transparency.
Next Generation Compliance also includes tools to help EPA design regulations and permits that will result in higher compliance and improved environmental outcomes. Regulations and permits are more likely to be implemented and compliance is likely to be higher when rules and permits are clear and easily understood, are provided in a user-friendly format, and contain built-in approaches that drive better compliance, such as improved monitoring, self- and third-party certifications, public disclosure/transparency, and easily monitored product designs or physical structures in facilities. EPA is also building on recent, measurable successes in innovative compliance efforts, such as the drinking water enforcement approach launched in 2010 that required public water systems with serious violations to return to compliance within 6 months or face an enforcement action by states or EPA. Use of this approach resulted in a decrease of approximately 75 percent in the number of public water systems classified as serious violators between January 2010 and October 2013. EPA is enhancing its ability to find and document violations through new targeting tools and data analysis to better identify, publicize, and respond to the most serious violations.
The Agency is also exploring innovative enforcement approaches such as providing electronic responses to electronically reported violations, and expanding the use of Next Generation Compliance tools in enforcement settlements. Through these and other Next Generation Compliance efforts, EPA will design the compliance programs of the future and work to maintain strong enforcement and improve compliance. EPA, states, tribes, and other partner agencies are beginning to invest in this transformation together–and anticipate realizing both efficiencies and cost savings while protecting human health and the environment. If implemented as proposed, the proposed NPDES Electronic Reporting Rule, as one example, will save money for states, tribes, and territories as well as EPA and NPDES permittees, while resulting in a more complete, accurate, and nationally consistent set of data about the NPDES program. The proposed rule would provide states with regulatory relief from reporting associated with the Quarterly Noncompliance Report (QNCR), the Annual Noncompliance Report (ANCR), the Semi‐Annual Statistical Summary Report, and the biosolids information required to be submitted to EPA annually by states.
External Factors and Emerging Issues
Advanced monitoring technology and information technology are rapidly evolving fields. Until recently, for example, air pollution measurement was primarily left to trained scientists and technicians employing sophisticated instruments and methodologies to evaluate data quality. New breakthroughs in sensor technology, as well as advances in smart phone, GPS, and other information technology, have made inexpensive, portable monitoring and measurement of air pollution possible today, not only for government regulators, but for the public as well. In promulgating rules, developing policies, and targeting compliance monitoring and enforcement, EPA has always welcomed and considered relevant data from all sources. EPA will need to work closely with states, tribes, and the public to help interpret and provide context for data derived from such new technologies, and to ensure that EPA uses data of high quality.
End Notes:
- Information on the Clean Water Act Action Plan can be accessed at: http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/clean-water-act-cwa-action-plan.
- An FY 2011 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report highlighted the seriousness of under-reporting Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) data. EPA followed up and will continue to take action to improve the quality of data reported by states.
Priority Goals
Statement:
By September 30, 2015 reduce reporting burdens to EPA by one million hours through streamlined regulations, provide real-time environmental data to at least two communities, and establish a new portal to service the regulated community and public.
Description:
Environmental regulators face ever growing needs to share information within and across agencies, reduce staff burden of data entry, reduce regulatory reporting burdens, and improve environmental and human health protection. There is also an increasing expectation from the public and regulated community for the use of on-line systems and the desire for data transparency and personalized access. Both federal and state agencies recognize that easier access to and use of environmental data will facilitate better environmental protection and decision-making while also increasing overall data transparency.
Consistent with the 2012 White House Digital Government Strategy and Executive Order 13563, EPA seeks to transform the way business is conducted. E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint initiative of states and EPA to improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public by maximizing the use of advanced monitoring and information technologies, optimizing operations, and increasing transparency. E-Enterprise will enable new environmental management approaches by modernizing EPA programs and regulations while streamlining and improving existing business processes. E-Enterprise will use the transformational capabilities of information and advanced monitoring technologies to identify and implement programmatic and service improvements.
These improvements will include “smart” tools and services that guide the regulated community in understanding and fulfilling their federal, state and, local regulatory reporting obligations, offer basic validations and error checking of entered information, and support electronic signature submissions. E-Enterprise projects that take advantage of tools and practices such as advanced monitoring technology and streamlined data collection will also expand the ability of the government, regulated entities, and the public to see and measure pollutant discharges, emissions and environmental conditions. A fundamental premise of E-Enterprise is that providing a more complete and integrated (cross media - air, water, and land) view of environmental data can support greener behavior of the public and regulated entities. For example, broad availability of high-speed internet allows real-time reporting of emissions and provides unprecedented opportunities for transparency and public involvement in matters affecting local environmental conditions. These technological advances will allow better tracking of environmental progress. Innovative technology can also help regulators improve compliance with environmental laws.
Strategic Goal:
Working Toward a Sustainable Future
Statement:
Advance sustainable environmental outcomes and optimize economic and social outcomes through Agency decisions and actions, which include expanding the conversation on environmentalism and engaging a broad range of stakeholders.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Advance sustainable environmental outcomes and optimize economic and social outcomes through Agency decisions and actions, which include expanding the conversation on environmentalism and engaging a broad range of stakeholders.
Description:
EPA will consider and apply sustainability principles to its work on a regular basis, collaborating closely with stakeholders. Our traditional approaches to risk reduction and pollution control cannot always fully achieve our long-term and broad environmental quality goals. The interplay between different environmental statutes and programs also requires renewed attention to improve “synergy” and long-term solutions. To this end, EPA will also embrace a commitment to focused innovation to support solutions that will advance sustainable outcomes. This cross-agency strategy advances the national goal of achieving “conditions under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony and fulfill the social, economic, and other rquirements of present and future generations,” as established in the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). This goal expresses a foundational concept in the President’s Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance.
To integrate sustainability into the Agency’s day-to-day operations, all headquarters and regional offices will routinely consider the following principles in their decisions and actions, as appropriate:
- Conserve, protect, restore, and improve the supply and quality of natural resources and environmental media (energy, water, materials, ecosystems, land, and air) over the long term;
- Align and integrate programs, tools, incentives, and indicators to achieve as many positive outcomes as possible in environmental, economic, and social systems; and,
- Consider the full life cycles of multiple natural resources, processes, and pollutants in order to prevent pollution, reduce waste, and create a sustainable future.
We will work within and across programs, use all available tools, and implement innovative approaches. We will build on our wide range of existing sustainability-related activities, including community-based sustainability activities. We will use incentive-based efforts to complement our foundation of regulations. We will encourage technology-based innovation through challenges and partnerships. We will review new and key existing regulations to examine sustainable enhancements. We will integrate efforts with a new commitment to innovation and greater and more strategic (“high level”) use of sustainability-related data and information. This strategy specifically focuses on several actions to enhance EPA’s sustainability work:
· Identify selected cross-program priority areas that maximize EPA’s ability to advance sustainability objectives and take appropriate actions to:
- Incorporate sustainability principles into regulatory, enforcement, incentive-based, and partnership programs;
- Use available incentives, education, information, and disclosure to enhance the ability of markets to reward sustainability;
- Coordinate grants, contracts, and technical assistance to promote sustainable outcomes;
- Advance sustainability science, indicators, and tools;
- Promote new ways to encourage technology-focused innovation that supports Agency priorities for sustainability. Use EPA’s Technology Innovation Roadmap to guide EPA in stimulating and supporting technology innovation around key environmental challenges; and,
- Use systems-based approaches that account for linkages between different environmental systems.
· Engage and empower EPA staff. Build on staff knowledge of and experience with sustainability and innovation through multiple forms of in-reach, education, and guidance for incorporating sustainability principles into Agency work in a multi-disciplinary way. Develop clear Agency leadership expectations for training at all levels to help equip employees with necessary data and tools to identify appropriate opportunities, network internally and externally, establish governance and accountability structures, provide everyday encouragement and recognition, and lead by example in our own operations. These efforts will improve the ability of all staff to be effective environmental stewards and to help secure a healthy, just, and flourishing quality of life for current and future generations.
· Expand the conversation on environmentalism by engaging and empowering stakeholders, including groups with which EPA has not traditionally worked, using multiple forms of outreach, collaboration, and information. Beginning with the cross-program priority areas identified, we will communicate and partner with key stakeholders, including federal, state, and local agencies, tribes, the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, small businesses, industry, non-governmental organizations, the research community, international organizations, communities with environmental justice concerns, citizens, and other partners, both urban and rural, including those who have been underrepresented, to achieve more innovative and sustainable outcomes. In keeping with our objective to strengthen partnerships, EPA will emphasize transparency and clarity in its communications, including environmental education outreach. Through collaboration and research, we will improve our ability to drive innovation and expand the conversation on environmentalism to address related social and economic issues, especially in communities with vulnerable populations or environmental justice concerns.
Strategic Goal:
Working to Make a Visible Difference in Communities
Statement:
Align community-based activities to provide seamless assistance to communities, both urban and rural, while maximizing efficiency and results. Expand support of community efforts to build healthy, sustainable, green neighborhoods and reduce and prevent harmful exposures and health risks to children and underserved, overburdened communities.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Align community-based activities to provide seamless assistance to communities, both urban and rural, while maximizing efficiency and results. Expand support of community efforts to build healthy, sustainable, green neighborhoods and reduce and prevent harmful exposures and health risks to children and underserved, overburdened communities.
Description:
EPA must work collaboratively across all programs and hand in hand with other federal agencies, states, tribes, and local communities to improve the health of all families and protect the environment. EPA must expand the work we do to enhance the resiliency, health, and economic vitality of communities and neighborhoods through increased analysis, better science, and enhanced community engagement while continuing to advance environmental justice (EJ) and ensure the protection of basic fundamental rights.
Public health and environmental protection impacts affect us most significantly where we live—at the community level. Both urban and rural communities reap the benefits of a healthier environment in the form of safe drinking water, less polluted air, greater access to green space, and more environmentally sustainable choices for daily living. EPA’s national regulatory efforts, such as eliminating lead from gasoline, have historically contributed to these outcomes. But equally important are EPA’s many community-based efforts which, among other things, work for environmental justice, protect children’s health, and reduce exposures and consider cumulative risks for vulnerable populations. These efforts and commitments will be carried out in partnership with Agency sustainability goals and will lead to better results for all communities.
While EPA efforts have a direct, positive impact on the health and environmental quality of communities, EPA will place additional focus on changing the way we work so that communities can easily identify and achieve their full potential. EPA believes environmental progress can be better supported, demonstrated, and measured in communities, especially those with environmental justice concerns, so that all equally receive the benefits of human health and environmental protection standards. Millions of minority, low-income, tribal, and indigenous individuals are at risk of having poor health outcomes because they live in underserved, overburdened communities. EPA can make a greater and more visible difference by embracing strategies that incorporate an Agency-wide focus on communities. An Agency-wide community perspective helps to leverage diverse resources effectively and supports efforts for identifying sustainable solutions. Specifically, EPA will rely on a variety of approaches, including improved meaningful outreach to communities, better internal alignment and coordination of resources across community-based programs, increased incorporation of EPA community-focused approaches and analyses within regulatory and enforcement actions, and expanded technical assistance and research to improve public health and the environmental performance of communities. Partnering with federal, state, and local governments, as well as other entities, is key to cultivating healthy and sustainable neighborhood solutions that reflect effective land use, green development, and social and economic growth.
To achieve this goal, EPA will proactively work to:
- Improve internal coordination, alignment, and accountability for EPA community-based activities, programs, and tools in order to advance environmental results for communities. Incorporate community-based strategies as a fundamental, organizing principle in EPA core programs and policies by consistently sharing experience and expertise, adopting promising tools, replicating relevant models (e.g., Promising Practices to Improve Community Performance and Sustainability, Plan EJ 2014, Urban Waters Initiative), and improving measurement and tracking of community-based efforts. These models engage multiple partners in the community (local and federal government partners, nonprofit groups, local businesses, and residents) to identify issues and solutions across environmental media, and deliver funding and technical assistance to address the environmental risks, train the community, and share best practices. We will leverage EPA resources, increase awareness and understanding of community needs and risks and related solutions, invest in innovative research and science-based approaches, develop and use appropriate indicators, coordinate data, and track accomplishments. An ongoing priority area will be to continue to advance the work on environmental justice and children’s environmental health in rulemaking, permitting, enforcement and compliance, grants, and policy-making decisions (e.g., use potential supplemental environmental projects to address community needs and increase technical assistance efficiencies).
- Increase public access to EPA community-based resources, helping communities recognize their full engagement potential and problem-solving capacity. Empower community dialogue, engagement, understanding, and action through effective information sharing, including outreach and environmental education that informs the public about policy choices and environmental stewardship to benefit current and future generations. The sharing of critical, up-to-date information (such as skills and services, best practices and success stories, useful contacts, relevant grants and technical assistance, data, and multi-media strategies) supports effective community involvement. Improved information sharing builds public capacity to engage in citizen science (e.g., contribute to environmental research, complement EPA science in support of state or local problem solving, and enhance environmental protection), and encourages environmental education and environmental justice activities. The Agency will also create mechanisms at the regional and program levels to better communicate the community-based benefits of EPA’s work in terms of improved public health and the environment at the local level.
- Build on existing partnerships to create lasting, inclusive, collaborative community networks that include government and other public and private entities. Work with federal agencies through existing partnerships (e.g., the Department of Housing and Urban Development-Department of Transportation-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities and the Environmental Justice Interagency Workgroup), as well as with states, tribes, communities, and other stakeholders to leverage resources, funding opportunities, and technical expertise and assistance to support healthy, sustainable, and green neighborhood solutions. Partner with research organizations and academic institutions to focus and advance basic research and create models and measures to expand the conversation on environmental and human health concerns to address priority-focused, locally based problems, specifically including environmental justice and children’s environmental health issues.
Strategic Goal:
Launching A New Era of State, Tribal, Local, and International Partnerships
Statement:
Strengthen partnerships with states, tribes, local governments, and the global community that are central to the success of the national environmental protection program through consultation, collaboration, and shared accountability. Modernize the EPA-state relationship, including revitalizing the National Environmental Performance Partnership System and jointly pursuing E-Enterprise, a transformative approach to make environmental information and data more accessible, efficient, and evidence-based through advances in monitoring, reporting, and information technology.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Strengthen partnerships with states, tribes, local governments, and the global community that are central to the success of the national environmental protection program through consultation, collaboration, and shared accountability. Modernize the EPA-state relationship, including revitalizing the National Environmental Performance Partnership System and jointly pursuing E-Enterprise, a transformative approach to make environmental information and data more accessible, efficient, and evidence-based through advances in monitoring, reporting, and information technology.
Description:
The practice of good government, as well as the reality of limited resources, means that EPA works in concert with our partners to improve coordination, promote innovation, and maximize efficiencies to ensure our continued success. As we work together, our relationships must continue to be based on integrity, trust, and shared accountability to make the most effective use of our respective bodies of knowledge, our existing authorities, our resources, and our talents.
Successful partnerships will be based on four working principles: consultation, collaboration, cooperation, and accountability. By consulting, we will engage our partners in a timely fashion as we consider approaches to our environmental work so that each partner can make an early and meaningful contribution toward the final result. By collaborating, we will not only share information, but we will actively work together with our partners to develop innovative approaches that use and leverage all available resources to achieve our environmental and human health goals. As our work progresses, we will cooperate, viewing each other with respect as allies who must work successfully together if our goals are to be achieved. Through shared accountability, we will ensure that environmental benefits are consistently delivered nationwide. In carrying out these responsibilities, EPA will ensure that state, tribal, and federal implementation of federal laws achieves a consistent level of protection for the environment and human health.
With States
Under our federal environmental laws, EPA and the states share responsibility for protecting human health and the environment. With this relationship as a key component of the nation's environmental protection system, EPA will:
- Improve implementation of national environmental programs through closer consultation and collaboration to seek the most efficient use of resources, streamline business processes and administrative requirements, develop and promote innovative solutions, and further our shared governance framework by revitalizing the National Environmental Performance Partnership System (NEPPS).[1] We will strengthen joint EPA-state priority setting by better aligning NEPPS with EPA’s national program manager guidances[2], focusing on flexible, innovative approaches to achieve results, and seek ways to leverage all available mutually beneficial opportunities to share work and expertise.
- Work collaboratively with state partners to develop innovative strategies and modernize our environmental programs through the E-Enterprise initiative[3], a 21st century approach that will support the nation’s environmental protection responsibilities through enhanced information sharing, increased transparency, and reduced regulatory burden, supported by advanced monitoring tools and information technologies.
- Consult with state governments early in the rule-making process to ensure that the development and implementation of rules is consistent with “EPA’s Action Development Process: Guidance on Executive Order 13132 (Federalism),” which recognizes the division of governmental responsibilities between the federal government and the states.
- Strengthen state-EPA shared accountability by focusing oversight on the most significant and pressing state program performance challenges, using data and analysis to accelerate program improvements.
- Ensure a level playing field across states to improve compliance and address the most serious violations.
- Collaborate with state research organizations to share information on EPA’s scientific and technical capabilities and solicit input to make our tools, models, and research useful and practical for the states in carrying out their environmental responsibilities.
With Tribes
The relationship between the United States government and federally-recognized tribes is unique—we work with tribes on a government-to-government basis on Agency decisions that may affect tribal interests. Our responsibility to consult with tribal governments is distinct from the general consultations we have with states and nations outside the U.S. border. As such, our consultations with tribes are governed by the EPA Policy for the Administration of Environmental Programs on Indian Reservations (November 8, 1984), Executive Order 13175 on Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribal Governments, and the Agency’s Policy on Consultation and Coordination with Indian Tribes (May 4, 2011). In strengthening this relationship with tribes, EPA will:
- Focus on increasing tribal capacity to establish and implement environmental programs while ensuring that our national programs are as effective in Indian country as they are throughout the rest of the nation.[4]
- Enhance our effort to work with tribes on a government-to-government basis, based upon the Constitution, treaties, laws, executive orders, and a long history of Supreme Court rulings.
- Strengthen our cross-cultural sensitivity with tribes, recognizing that tribes have cultural, jurisdictional, and legal features that must be considered when coordinating and implementing environmental programs in Indian country.
With Local Partners:
EPA has a unique relationship with local governments given that local governments can be both co-implementers and regulated entities under national and state environmental laws. Recognizing that local governments vary considerably[5], are dealing with significant resource constraints as they work to build capacity (particularly in smaller communities), and often provide innovative leadership in environmental stewardship, EPA will:
- Maintain consistent and meaningful communications with local officials and optimize outreach efforts to improve environmental program implementation at the local level and receive recommendations on environmental issues that are important to local governments.
- Consult with local governments, as with states, early in the development of rules and policies that impact them, consistent with “EPA’s Action Development Process: Guidance on Executive Order 13132 (Federalism).”
- Promote and facilitate best practices among local officials to address pressing local environmental matters with flexible, innovative approaches that advance shared priorities.
With International Partners
To achieve our domestic environmental and human health goals, international partnerships, including those with the business community and entrepreneurs, are essential. Pollution is often carried by winds and water across national boundaries, posing risks to human health and ecosystems many hundreds and thousands of miles away. Many concerns, like climate change, are global and, to address these and other environmental challenges in the international arena, EPA will:
- Enhance sustainability principles through expanded partnership efforts in multilateral forums and in key bilateral relationships.
- Strengthen existing and build new international partnerships to encourage increased international commitment to sustainability goals and to promote a new era of global environmental stewardship based on common interests, shared values, and mutual respect.
End Notes:
- NEPPS is an environmental performance system established in 1995 and designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of state environmental programs and EPA-state partnerships. It is a system of principles and tools to drive performance, efficiency, and flexibility in the EPA-state relationship. It enables EPA and states to leverage their collective resources most efficiently and effectively by taking full advantage of the unique capacities and capabilities of each partner to achieve the maximum environmental and human health protection. The primary tools for establishing priorities and deploying resources are Performance Partnership Agreements (PPAs) and Performance Partnership Grants (PPGs). PPGs allow states and tribes to combine categorical grants for greater spending flexibility on state and tribal priorities. PPAs are strategic negotiated plans that articulate joint goals and priorities, key activities, and roles and responsibilities.
- EPA’s national program manager (NPM) guidances translate the Agency’s budget decisions into operational program priorities, strategies, and performance measures. Issued by the five major environmental programs (air, water, waste, chemical safety and pollution prevention, and enforcement and compliance assurance), the NPM guidances inform the development of EPA work plans and grant agreements with states and tribes, including Performance Partnership Agreements, Performance Partnership Grants, and/or programmatic grants.
- EPA has developed an FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal for E-Enterprise: Improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public. By September 30, 2015, reduce reporting burdens to EPA by one million hours through streamlined regulations, provide real-time environmental data to at least two communities, and establish a new portal to service the regulated community and public. More information on Agency Priority Goals is available at http://goals.performance.gov/agency/epa.
- EPA recently issued new guidance for the Indian Environmental General Assistance Program, “Guidance on the Award and Management of General Assistance Agreements for Tribes and Intertribal Consortia,” May 15, 2013. The General Assistance Program (GAP) Guidance is designed to enhance the EPA-tribal partnership by establishing a framework for joint strategic planning, identification of mutual responsibilities, and targeting resources to build tribal environmental program capacities. Additionally, it augments existing GAP Guidance with a guidebook of program development indicators, providing “pathways” for capacity building and ways to measure development of programs over time.
- Local governments may include counties, cities, water districts, air districts, ports, municipal waste management associations, economic development councils, metropolitan councils of government, and other entities.
Priority Goals
Statement:
By September 30, 2015 reduce reporting burdens to EPA by one million hours through streamlined regulations, provide real-time environmental data to at least two communities, and establish a new portal to service the regulated community and public.
Description:
Environmental regulators face ever growing needs to share information within and across agencies, reduce staff burden of data entry, reduce regulatory reporting burdens, and improve environmental and human health protection. There is also an increasing expectation from the public and regulated community for the use of on-line systems and the desire for data transparency and personalized access. Both federal and state agencies recognize that easier access to and use of environmental data will facilitate better environmental protection and decision-making while also increasing overall data transparency.
Consistent with the 2012 White House Digital Government Strategy and Executive Order 13563, EPA seeks to transform the way business is conducted. E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint initiative of states and EPA to improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public by maximizing the use of advanced monitoring and information technologies, optimizing operations, and increasing transparency. E-Enterprise will enable new environmental management approaches by modernizing EPA programs and regulations while streamlining and improving existing business processes. E-Enterprise will use the transformational capabilities of information and advanced monitoring technologies to identify and implement programmatic and service improvements.
These improvements will include “smart” tools and services that guide the regulated community in understanding and fulfilling their federal, state and, local regulatory reporting obligations, offer basic validations and error checking of entered information, and support electronic signature submissions. E-Enterprise projects that take advantage of tools and practices such as advanced monitoring technology and streamlined data collection will also expand the ability of the government, regulated entities, and the public to see and measure pollutant discharges, emissions and environmental conditions. A fundamental premise of E-Enterprise is that providing a more complete and integrated (cross media - air, water, and land) view of environmental data can support greener behavior of the public and regulated entities. For example, broad availability of high-speed internet allows real-time reporting of emissions and provides unprecedented opportunities for transparency and public involvement in matters affecting local environmental conditions. These technological advances will allow better tracking of environmental progress. Innovative technology can also help regulators improve compliance with environmental laws.
Strategic Goal:
Embracing EPA as a High-Performing Organization
Statement:
Maintain and attract EPA’s diverse and engaged workforce of the future with a more collaborative work environment. Modernize our business practices, including through E-Enterprise, and take advantage of new tools and technologies. Improve the way we work as a high performing Agency by ensuring we add value in every transaction with our workforce, our co-regulators, our partners, industry, and the people we serve.
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Maintain and attract EPA’s diverse and engaged workforce of the future with a more collaborative work environment. Modernize our business practices, including through E-Enterprise, and take advantage of new tools and technologies. Improve the way we work as a high performing Agency by ensuring we add value in every transaction with our workforce, our co-regulators, our partners, industry, and the people we serve.
Description:
As today’s environmental problems continue to increase in complexity, EPA’s ability to respond creatively, flexibly, and effectively will demand cross-Agency approaches to problem-solving and the use of new tools and technologies. EPA will support these efforts by establishing a high-performing organization characterized by business practices that are modern, efficient, and cost effective, as well as a work environment that supports staff growth and development, and is collaborative and results driven. Becoming a high-performing organization will require changes to both our internal and external processes, and EPA will actively solicit advice and engagement from both within EPA and with our partners as we advance new tools and streamline approaches.
EPA’s compelling mission to protect human health and the environment attracts workers eager to make a difference. EPA cultivates a highly skilled and diverse workforce, with employees energized by opportunities to learn and work collaboratively, and equipped to do their best work for the American people. In building a high-performing organization, the Agency is working to provide employees with a modern, inclusive, and flexible work environment, enabled by advanced information technologies and tools that enhance communication, transparency, and cooperative problem solving across the Agency and with our partners.
EPA is now moving forward with two major initiatives that are part of our efforts to create the next generation of environmental protection in our nation.
- E-Enterprise is a U.S. EPA-state initiative to improve environmental performance and enhance services to the regulated community, environmental agencies, and the public. As described in the E-Enterprise for the Environment Conceptual Blueprint, “E-Enterprise will increase transparency and efficiency, develop new environmental management approaches, and employ advanced information and monitoring technologies in a coordinated effort to manage and modernize environmental programs.”[1] For example, this initiative will move us from using paper to electronic transactions, increase the use of advanced monitoring technologies to obtain better, more complete information on environmental conditions and pollution sources, and deliver data that is transparent, readily available, and understandable to EPA, the states, and the general public. Through E-Enterprise, the entire environmental protection enterprise (federal, state, local, and tribal partners) will be able to regularly conduct two-way business electronically in an integrated way, reducing costs while enhancing environmental protection.
- EPA is moving forward to adopt Next Generation Compliance principles and tools to increase compliance and reduce pollution. Next Generation Compliance uses advances in research, pollutant monitoring, and information technology; expanded transparency; electronic reporting; and innovative enforcement to reduce pollution and improve results. These tools, combined with a focus on designing rules and permits that are easier to implement, enable EPA, states, and tribes to focus on the most serious environmental problems and to better protect communities.
The Agency will focus on streamlining internal business processes and decision making at all levels. To stay current, programs must be constantly reevaluated to ensure they are well focused and cutting edge. Promulgated regulations should maximize environmental benefit while minimizing costs. EPA is committed to process improvement through the application of Lean methodologies and other business practice improvement techniques, as well as the engagement of the expertise and insights of Agency employees to identify opportunities to increase efficiency and effectiveness.[2]
By combining the strengths of a supportive work environment with a streamlined and collaborative business culture, EPA will establish itself as a high-performing organization known for advancing the talents, drive, and interests of employees, as well as the collaborative work in support of our common mission and the public we serve. EPA will:
- Maintain and attract the workforce of the future to ensure that EPA’s employees represent diverse backgrounds and perspectives, are equipped with the most current technical skills, tools, and knowledge, and are positioned to effectively accomplish the Agency’s mission and meet evolving environmental and sustainability challenges.
- Cultivate a work environment that offers a high-quality work life for all employees by engaging them in shaping Agency decisions and improving processes, and providing flexible work practices, fair and inclusive employee-friendly policies, and opportunities for continuous learning. EPA will modernize the workplace and develop and promote collaboration tools to improve communication, cross-program integration, access to information, and transparency.
- Advance the E-Enterprise initiative to improve environmental outcomes, enhance service to the regulated community and public, and reduce burden and improve collaborative management among EPA, states, tribes, and others. E-Enterprise will increase collaboration with the states as we modernize regulations to make e-reporting the “new normal” and use advanced monitoring to provide more complete and useful environmental data. Key parts of E-Enterprise will be shared information technology services and tools that states and EPA programs use and, in collaboration with the states, the development of a regulatory portal that will help regulated entities electronically report to the states and EPA. The development of E-Enterprise is one of EPA’s Priority Goals.[3]
- In addition to compliance monitoring and enforcement actions, implement Next Generation Compliance by promoting the use of advanced monitoring and electronic reporting, designing rules that are easier to implement, expanding transparency, and using innovative enforcement approaches to increase compliance and reduce pollution.
- Streamline the Agency’s internal business practices, core program processes, and decision making in areas such as acquisition and grants management, rulemaking, and permitting to ensure they are cutting edge, enhance collaboration, and improve efficiency and cost effectiveness while maximizing environmental benefits.
- Practice outstanding financial resource stewardship to ensure that all Agency programs use resources efficiently, operate with fiscal responsibility and management integrity, are effectively and consistently delivered nationwide, and demonstrate results.
- Achieve or exceed federal sustainability targets. These efforts, enhanced by sustainable workplace choices that can be routinely practiced by Agency employees, will continue to reduce EPA’s environmental footprint by increasing energy efficiency, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, advancing water conservation, and reducing waste, and will provide lessons learned to share with other federal agencies.
End Note:
- E-Enterprise for the Environment Conceptual Blueprint, Executive Summary, page i, as ratified by the state-EPA E-Enterprise Leadership Council on January 21, 2014. For more information, see http://www.ecos.org/section/committees/information_management.
- For more information on Lean process improvement approaches, see http://www.epa.gov/lean/government/index.htm.
- See the FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal for E-Enterprise under the cross-agency strategy entitled “Launching a New Era of State, Tribal, Local, and International Partnerships.” More information on Agency Priority Goals is at http://goals.performance.gov/agency/epa.
Priority Goal: Improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public.
Statement:
By September 30, 2015 reduce reporting burdens to EPA by one million hours through streamlined regulations, provide real-time environmental data to at least two communities, and establish a new portal to service the regulated community and public.
Description:
Environmental regulators face ever growing needs to share information within and across agencies, reduce staff burden of data entry, reduce regulatory reporting burdens, and improve environmental and human health protection. There is also an increasing expectation from the public and regulated community for the use of on-line systems and the desire for data transparency and personalized access. Both federal and state agencies recognize that easier access to and use of environmental data will facilitate better environmental protection and decision-making while also increasing overall data transparency.
Consistent with the 2012 White House Digital Government Strategy and Executive Order 13563, EPA seeks to transform the way business is conducted. E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint initiative of states and EPA to improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public by maximizing the use of advanced monitoring and information technologies, optimizing operations, and increasing transparency. E-Enterprise will enable new environmental management approaches by modernizing EPA programs and regulations while streamlining and improving existing business processes. E-Enterprise will use the transformational capabilities of information and advanced monitoring technologies to identify and implement programmatic and service improvements.
These improvements will include “smart” tools and services that guide the regulated community in understanding and fulfilling their federal, state and, local regulatory reporting obligations, offer basic validations and error checking of entered information, and support electronic signature submissions. E-Enterprise projects that take advantage of tools and practices such as advanced monitoring technology and streamlined data collection will also expand the ability of the government, regulated entities, and the public to see and measure pollutant discharges, emissions and environmental conditions. A fundamental premise of E-Enterprise is that providing a more complete and integrated (cross media - air, water, and land) view of environmental data can support greener behavior of the public and regulated entities. For example, broad availability of high-speed internet allows real-time reporting of emissions and provides unprecedented opportunities for transparency and public involvement in matters affecting local environmental conditions. These technological advances will allow better tracking of environmental progress. Innovative technology can also help regulators improve compliance with environmental laws.
Priority Goals
Statement:
By September 30, 2015 reduce reporting burdens to EPA by one million hours through streamlined regulations, provide real-time environmental data to at least two communities, and establish a new portal to service the regulated community and public.
Description:
Environmental regulators face ever growing needs to share information within and across agencies, reduce staff burden of data entry, reduce regulatory reporting burdens, and improve environmental and human health protection. There is also an increasing expectation from the public and regulated community for the use of on-line systems and the desire for data transparency and personalized access. Both federal and state agencies recognize that easier access to and use of environmental data will facilitate better environmental protection and decision-making while also increasing overall data transparency.
Consistent with the 2012 White House Digital Government Strategy and Executive Order 13563, EPA seeks to transform the way business is conducted. E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint initiative of states and EPA to improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public by maximizing the use of advanced monitoring and information technologies, optimizing operations, and increasing transparency. E-Enterprise will enable new environmental management approaches by modernizing EPA programs and regulations while streamlining and improving existing business processes. E-Enterprise will use the transformational capabilities of information and advanced monitoring technologies to identify and implement programmatic and service improvements.
These improvements will include “smart” tools and services that guide the regulated community in understanding and fulfilling their federal, state and, local regulatory reporting obligations, offer basic validations and error checking of entered information, and support electronic signature submissions. E-Enterprise projects that take advantage of tools and practices such as advanced monitoring technology and streamlined data collection will also expand the ability of the government, regulated entities, and the public to see and measure pollutant discharges, emissions and environmental conditions. A fundamental premise of E-Enterprise is that providing a more complete and integrated (cross media - air, water, and land) view of environmental data can support greener behavior of the public and regulated entities. For example, broad availability of high-speed internet allows real-time reporting of emissions and provides unprecedented opportunities for transparency and public involvement in matters affecting local environmental conditions. These technological advances will allow better tracking of environmental progress. Innovative technology can also help regulators improve compliance with environmental laws.
Expand All
FY16-17 Agency Priority Goals
An Agency Priority Goal is a near-term result or achievement that agency leadership wants to accomplish within approximately 24 months that relies predominantly on agency implementation as opposed to budget or legislative accomplishments. Click below to see this agency's FY16-17 Priority Goals.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Through September 30, 2017, EPA, in coordination with Department of Transportation’s fuel economy and fuel consumption standards programs, will implement vehicle and commercial truck greenhouse gas standards with a focus on industry compliance to ensure the significant reductions in greenhouse gases and oil consumption called for under the standards are realized. The light-duty and heavy-duty standards for model years 2012-2025 are projected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 6.3 billion metric tons and reduce U.S. oil consumption by more than 12.5 billion barrels over the lifetime of the affected vehicles and commercial trucks.
Description:
Combined with DOT’s fuel efficiency standards, EPA’s vehicle GHG standards enable historic progress to be made in reducing carbon pollution and addressing climate change which threatens the public health and welfare of the American people. These standards will cut GHG emissions by about 6 billion metric tons and reduce U.S. oil consumption by about 12 billion barrels while saving consumers more than $1.7 trillion at the gas pump over the lifetime of the light-duty vehicles for model year 2012-2025. For commercial trucks, the estimated combined standards will reduce CO2 emissions by about 270 million metric tons and save about 530 million barrels of oil over the life of model year 2014 to 2018.
For the passenger vehicle GHG and fuel economy standards, individual consumers will save an estimated $8,000 on fuel over the lifetime (i.e., approximately 200,000 average vehicle miles traveled (VMT)) of a model year (MY) 2025 vehicle. For the heavy-duty truck standards, the average operator of a semi-truck can pay for the technology upgrades in under a year, and have net savings of up to $73,000 over the lifetime of the truck
This FY 2016-2017 APG builds upon the successes of the related FY 2014-2015 and FY 2012-2013 Agency Priority Goals related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from transportation activities. The FY 2012-2013 APG focused on the implementation of the first light-duty vehicle standards (MY 2012-2016) and preparing for the implementation of heavy-duty standards (MY 2014-2018The FY 2014-2015 APG focused on incorporating the light-duty GHG standards for model years 2017-2025 (finalized in August 2012) and transitioning from the voluntary early credit earning phase (i.e., credit banking/trading, off-cycle credits, air-conditioning improvement credits) to full implementation of the 2014-2018 heavy-duty rule.
The focus of the FY 2016-2017 APG will be on manufacturer compliance with the standards, the natural progression as the programs mature. EPA will continue to track issuing certificates and confirmatory testing but will also track new reporting metrics to capture compliance activities.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
By September 30, 2017, reduce burden by one million hours, add five new functionalities to the E-Enterprise Portal, and begin development on two projects selected through E-Enterprise Leadership Council joint governance.
Description:
The evolving relationship of the EPA, states, and tribes over more than four decades is reflected in environmental programs developed under statutes that used different approaches and funding mechanisms to address varied environmental problems. While these programs have achieved dramatic improvements in environmental quality during this period, challenges remain. To tackle these complex environmental challenges, EPA, states and tribes have an opportunity to transform the way we implement these programs, as a shared responsibility, into an integrated national enterprise for environmental protection.
Additionally, environmental regulators face ever growing needs to share information within and across agencies, reduce staff burden of data entry, reduce regulatory reporting burdens, and improve environmental and human health protection. There is also an increasing expectation from the public and regulated community for the use of on-line systems and the desire for data transparency and personalized access. Both federal and state agencies recognize that easier access to and use of environmental data will facilitate better environmental protection and decision-making while also increasing overall data transparency.
E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint initiative of states and EPA to improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public by maximizing the use of advanced monitoring and information technologies, optimizing operations, and increasing transparency. E-Enterprise will enable new environmental management approaches by modernizing EPA programs and regulations while streamlining and improving existing business processes. E-Enterprise will use the transformational capabilities of technologies to identify and implement programmatic and service improvements.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
By September 30, 2017, EPA will provide technical assistance and other tools to 75 urban communities to advance green infrastructure planning and implementation efforts to increase local climate resilience and water quality protections in stormwater infrastructure. EPA will also provide tools and training for 5000 operators of small water utilities to improve resilience in drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater systems. Trainings will be targeted based on regional threats, such as drought and flooding.
Description:
The uninterrupted delivery of safe drinking water is an integral element in maintaining the public health of the nation. Improvements in the drinking water sector preparedness to prevent and mitigate the duration and severity of interruptions to the delivery of safe drinking water continues to be necessary in light of evolving stresses, whether attributed to natural, accidental, or intentional circumstances or aging or stressed infrastructure. Extreme weather events, sea level rise, shifting precipitation patterns and temperature variability, all intensified by climate change, have significant implications for the sustainability of the water sector. By planning for, assessing and adapting to these challenges, the water sector can fulfill their public health and environmental missions and begin the process of becoming climate ready.
Under Presidential Policy Directive 21, the President has designated EPA as the Sector Specific Agency responsible for enhancing the resilience and preparedness of the nation’s water sector, which includes about 180,000 drinking water and wastewater utilities. Further, the Department of Homeland Security has designated the water sector to be one of four “lifeline” sectors, meaning that if a disruption of service occurs in any one of these four sectors, then a community or region will experience potentially significant consequences in terms of public health, the economy, and the other critical infrastructure sectors, many of which rely on the lifeline sectors.
EPA’s green infrastructure program works with communities to assess how green infrastructure can enhance their stormwater management systems and be an integral part of their climate resiliency strategy. The agency has developed green infrastructure tools and resources for communities to use in planning their long-term stormwater actions.
EPA’s efforts to improve the resilience of the water sector derive not only from these homeland security directives, but also from its core mission as an agency, viz., the protection of public health and the environment.
Drinking water and wastewater utilities must remain operational in the face of all hazards if we are to preserve the many gains in public health and environmental protection which have been realized from the water sector. As with the other lifeline sectors, the water sector is at risk from a multitude of threats spanning natural disasters, climate change, cyber-attacks, and terrorism.
The 2002 amendments to the SDWA required drinking water systems serving more than 3,300 people to submit a vulnerability assessment to EPA. However, Congress required that such systems prepare a vulnerability assessment as a one-time mandate, not a recurring one. The statutory requirements also excluded water systems serving fewer than 3,300 people and all wastewater systems.
EPA’s water security and resilience program has developed a robust array of successful tools, training, and direct technical assistance for the water sector to improve prevention, as well as enable appropriate situational response, including application of resources, to mitigate the interruption of delivery of safe drinking water to the nation’s consumers. For instance, under EPA’s leadership, the number of intrastate mutual aid compacts (peer-to-peer assistance networks) has increased from just three states in 2006 to 49 states in 2015. Small and larger scale incidents have triggered the activation of eighty-six percent of these agreements. Despite this success, enhancing resilience competes with many other priorities within the water sector, notably, regulatory compliance, aging infrastructure, and funding inadequacies. As such, EPA continues to try to lower the barriers to adopting resilience measures by providing innovative, easy to use software tools and in person, nationwide training sessions to help water systems of all sizes and types to enhance their resilience.
In addition to motivating the water sector, EPA must be mindful of the evolving threats to the water sector. Extreme weather events, the increasing impacts of climate change, and the almost omnipresent threat of cyber-attacks in particular will impose a daunting challenge to the water sector, as evident by several recent events: the persistent drought in California and much of the west, drought then extreme flooding in Texas, storm surge in New York and New Jersey from Hurricane Sandy, and cyber intrusions into water utilities’ operations. Such threats will jeopardize the ability of the water sector to continue to fulfill its public health and environmental missions unless the sector manages to improve its resilience to all hazards.
In response, EPA has undertaken a national effort to enhance resilience—with an emphasis on severe drought, flooding, cybersecurity, and climate change—through the provision of planning tools, training sessions, and direct technical assistance.
Stormwater is an increasing water infrastructure challenge. As more land is developed with impervious surfaces, the amount of stormwater that communities must manage continues to grow. Stormwater is a significant source of water pollution, contributes to sewer overflows, and causes local flooding. As the climate changes, more precipitation and more intense rain events in certain portions of the country will further strain community stormwater management systems. In the west and southwest increasing drought conditions will emphasize the need for communities to use rain as a beneficial water resource before in can become polluted stormwater runoff.
Agency Priority Goal:
Clean up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of communities.
Statement:
By September 2017, an additional 18,600 sites will be made ready for anticipated use (RAU) protecting Americans' health and the environment, one community at a time.
Description:
OLEM tracks over 500,000 sites, representing about 23 million acres of land. EPA’s Superfund, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action (CA), leaking underground stor¬age tank (LUST), and Brownfields cleanup programs reduce risks to human health and the envi¬ronment by assessing and cleaning up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of neighborhoods. Challenging and complex environmental problems, such as the presence or perceived presence of hazardous substances in soil, sediment, and groundwater, persist at many contaminated properties, and can threaten the health of American families.
The FY 2016/17 APG provides a path toward meeting long-term Agency’s priorities, as well as immediate social and economic benefits, including: reducing mortality and morbidity risks by preventing and reducing human exposure to contaminants; making land available for commercial, residential, industrial, or recreational reuse; and promoting community economic development. When sites are ready for anticipated reuse, communities are able to reclaim them for ecological, recreational, commercial, residential and other productive purposes.
Although each program establishes its own targets, the collective nature and combined overall target of the RAU Priority Goal offers an opportunity for EPA cleanup programs to work together to identify lessons learned, efficiencies and opportunities to advance site cleanup. Since EPA began collecting the number of sites RAU in FY 2008, the number of sites RAU has increased by approximately 22.3% to over 463,000 sites at the end of FY 2015, which is approximately 84% of total number of sites EPA tracks. Similarly, the number of acres RAU increased by approximately 148%, to over 2.4 million acres, during the same period. The total number of acres that EPA tracks represents around 3.6% of all Federal Land. It, however, is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the pace of RAU.
As a result of recent resource constraints affecting programs that cleanup contaminated sites for both EPA and our Federal and State partners, the pace of ongoing construction projects is expected to be slowed, extending the timeline to achieve site cleanup and the return of sites to productive use. Keeping RAU as the priority goal focuses senior management attention on an important indicator of program outcomes.
Agency Priority Goal:
Assess and reduce risks posed by chemicals and promote the use of safer chemicals in commerce.
Statement:
By September 30, 2017, the EPA will complete more than 3,400 assessments of pesticides and other commercially available chemicals to evaluate risks they may pose to human health and the environment. These assessments are essential in determining whether products containing these chemicals can be used safely for commercial, agricultural, and/or industrial uses. For example, assessments can help determine the potential for chemicals to disrupt endocrine systems or to pose risks to honey bees and other pollinators by outdoor use of pesticides.
Description:
Improving chemical safety is one of the most critical aspects of EPA’s work to protect human health and the environment and advance a sustainable future. Three statutes provide EPA the authority to regulate chemicals: The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA) govern the regulation of pesticides and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) governs regulation of other commercial chemicals. This APG addresses a key component of EPA’s chemical strategy – using all available information to assess whether chemicals entering or already being used in commerce pose risks to human health and the environment. EPA’s work on this critical issue is organized into three components:
• Assessing pesticides safety and effectiveness in determining whether to register and re-evaluate them for commercial use. Pesticides distributed and sold in the United States must generally be registered by EPA, based on scientific data showing that they will not cause unreasonable risks to human health, workers, or the environment when used as directed on product labeling. The registration and registration review programs ensure that chemicals coming to and now available on the market meet current safety standards and, as the ability to assess risk evolves and as policies and practices change, all registered pesticides continue to meet the statutory standard of no unreasonable adverse effects, that is, continue to be safe when used according to the label. Although changes in science, public policy, and pesticide use practices will occur over time, such changes could impact EPA’s ability to make determinations in a timely manner.
Through the registration review program, the Agency periodically reevaluates (at least every fifteen years) pesticides to make sure that as change occurs, products in the marketplace can still be used safely. The Office of Pesticide Programs is continuously challenged to improve its processes, science, and information management while maintaining a collaborative and open process for decision-making to ensure safety to human health and the environment. Please refer to section 4 for a more detailed discussion of the challenges presented by implementing the Endangered Species Act (ESA), Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) and White House Pollinator Health Strategy concerns. While challenging, implementing solutions to these issues will improve the Agency’s processes and allow for an open public venue for determining that products coming to market as well as those currently in the marketplace can be used safely.
• Assessing the safety of commercial chemicals, using the authorities of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
o TSCA Work Plan Assessments: As part of EPA’s chemical safety program, EPA has identified a work plan of chemicals for assessment. Originally released in March 2012, and updated in October 2014, EPA’s TSCA Work Plan helps focus and direct the activities of its Existing Chemicals Program. The Agency committed to assess the chemicals in every-day, wide spread use to which our people, our communities and our environment may be exposed, starting with those on the Work Plan. The findings of these assessments guide decisions on whether risk reduction actions are needed to address risks to human health or the environment from exposure to particular chemical uses or groups of chemicals. More information about the TSCA Work Plan is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/workplans.html.
o TSCA Section 5 (New Chemicals) Notice Assessments: In FY 2016 and FY 2017, the EPA will continue to fulfill its mandate under TSCA Section 5 to manage the potential risk to human health and the environment from chemicals to be introduced into the marketplace. Functioning as a “gatekeeper,” the EPA can identify conditions, up to and including a ban on production, to be placed on the use of a new chemical before it is entered into commerce. Anyone who plans to manufacture (including import) a new chemical substance for a non-exempt commercial purpose is required by section 5 of TSCA to provide EPA with notice before initiating the activity. This premanufacture notice, or PMN, can include information such as specific chemical identity, use, anticipated production volume, exposure and release information and existing available test data. Each year, the EPA receives approximately 1,000 new chemical notices under section 5, and must review and assess each PMN within 90 days of receipt. More information about the TSCA New Chemicals Program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/newchems/index.htm.
• Assessing whether chemicals have the potential to disrupt endocrine systems. Congress directed the agency to develop the Endocrine Disruptors Screening Program (EDSP) in accordance with the Food Quality Protection Act of 1996. The agency is employing high-throughput and computational methods to evaluate endocrine activity to screen over 10,000 chemicals for potential endocrine activity using validated test methods. The program involves requiring registrants to generate screening data for chemicals suspected of having effects on the endocrine system. In setting up the EDSP, it took several years to determine the appropriate tests, establish protocols, issue tests orders requiring these data, develop the data and review the data. To date, about 50 pesticides have been tested and reviewed. When a chemical is determined to be an endocrine disruptor, it will be incorporated into risk assessments and considered in the risk management decision for the chemical.
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FY14-15 Agency Priority Goals
An Agency Priority Goal is a near-term result or achievement that agency leadership wants to accomplish within approximately 24 months that relies predominantly on agency implementation as opposed to budget or legislative accomplishments. Click below to see this agency's FY14-15 Priority Goals.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Through September 30, 2015, EPA, in coordination with Department of Transportation’s fuel economy standards program, will be implementing vehicle and truck greenhouse gas standards that are projected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 6 billion metric tons and reduce oil consumption by about 12 billion barrels over the lifetime of the affected vehicles and trucks.
Description:
This Priority Goal advances the Strategic Plan objective to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the strategic measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from light duty vehicles and is a continuation of the FY 2012/2013 Priority Goal. The FY 2012/2013 Priority Goal focused on the implementation of the first light-duty vehicle standards (Model Years (MY) 2012-2016) and heavy-duty standards (MY 2014-2018) to address greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from transportation activities, which accounted for 27% of U.S. GHG emissions in 2010, with the largest source being from passenger cars, light-duty trucks and freight trucks. The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, “Adapting to the Impacts of Climate Change,” indicates that climate change is associated with increased flooding, prolonged drought, more severe heat waves, more frequent wildfires, and changes in wetland, forest, and grassland habitats. These events result in substantial economic consequences through the contamination of drinking water resources, impaired air and water quality and reduced capacity of ecosystems to provide the services to society that we depend upon.
It is important to continue this APG because both the light-duty (MY 2012-2016) and heavy-duty vehicle rules are in the early stages of implementation, and the real benefits of these rules will not be realized until later years. For light-duty rules, the implementation for vehicles started in 2012, and will ramp up each year until 2025. For the heavy-duty rule, EPA is in the early credit earning phase, and will start in 2014/2015 to implement the first standards and assess compliance for the 2014 model year. The next phase includes incorporating the GHG standards in the light-duty vehicle rule for model years 2017-2025 (finalized in August 2012) and transitioning from the voluntary early credit earning phase (i.e., credit banking/trading, off-cycle credits, air-conditioning improvement credits) of the heavy-duty rule to the implementation phase of the 2014 model year standards.
Statement:
By September 30, 2015, EPA will engage with an additional ten states (for a total of 30 states) and three tribes to improve small drinking water system capability to provide safe drinking water, an invaluable resource.
Description:
The responsibility for communities and public water systems to continuously provide safe drinking water is a key component of the Nation’s health and well-being. The delivery of safe drinking water is often taken for granted and is extremely undervalued. More than 156,000 public water systems provide drinking water to the approximately 305 million persons in the U.S. More than 97% of these public water systems serve fewer than 10,000 persons. Many of the communities that operate these small systems face a number of challenges in their ability to reliably administer, operate, and assure adequate and long term funding capacity in order to provide safe drinking water to their customers. These challenges include aging infrastructure, increased regulatory requirements, workforce shortages/high-turnover, increasing operational costs, and declining rate bases, and extreme natural disasters/weather events. EPA will work closely with state primacy agencies, tribes, and other organizations to implement a series of efforts to address these challenge areas and strengthen the capacity of small systems to sustainably provide safe water to the public now and in the future.
Trends and Milestone Status Updates:
Capacity Development Program: The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments established a strong emphasis on enhanced water system management to achieve and maintain technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) capacity of water systems. The Capacity Development Program establishes a framework within which states and water systems can work together to help systems achieve the SDWA’s public health protection objectives. The state Capacity Development programs are supported federally by the Public Water System Supervision state grant funds and the set-asides established in the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Since the 1996 Amendments, states have implemented a variety of activities to assist small systems with their compliance challenges and enhance their technical, managerial, and financial capacity.
In FY 2010, EPA re-energized its small systems focus with the intent to work more closely with state programs to improve public water system sustainability and public health protection for persons served by small water systems. As such, EPA launched the State/EPA Re-Energizing Workgroup to better understand state programs’ existing implementation efforts, evaluate barriers to water system capacity and identify areas where EPA and states need to collaborate to improve program implementation. The workgroup released its findings document in April 2011 http://water.epa.gov/type/drink/pws/smallsystems/upload/re-energizing_ap..., which identifies challenges faced by small systems and states in assisting them, best practices for assisting small systems, and other opportunities to further enhance state programs. In addition, four additional State/EPA workgroups were formed in FY 2011 and conducted further discussions of topics identified by states: promoting water system partnerships to improve system sustainability; opportunities to improve collaboration across various state and federal programs to increase efficiency and assist small systems; best practices for assessing managerial capacity of small systems and opportunities to increase asset management; approaches for addressing projected water sector workforce shortages.
In FY12, EPA launched two new EPA-state workgroups: Asset Management Workgroup and the Non-Community Water Systems (NCWS) Workgroup. EPA also partnered with other federal agencies that work with small systems, such as USDA-Rural Development, or offer resources that can assist small systems with workforce challenges, such as the Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs. Through these and other efforts, EPA has worked with states to continue to enhance their Capacity Development programs to improve small system capabilities.
Optimization Program: EPA’s Optimization Program or Area Wide Optimization Program (AWOP) provides a systematic approach for states and tribes to assess small water system performance, deliver needed technical assistance, measure the results of those efforts, and maintain performance at drinking water utilities. The Optimization program helps states and tribes prioritize their technical assistance resources by identifying which public water systems are in most need of help (based on water quality and public health risk) and most effectively apply a range of compliance and technical assistance tools to enable small water systems to meet (and sustain) compliance requirements and optimization goals. This is being done through a series of ongoing field training activities.
The Optimization Program was first piloted in 1998 in one EPA region with Drinking Water Program (DWP) staff from four states; the program is currently utilized by over 20 states with support from four EPA regions. The program originally focused on optimizing surface water treatment plant performance to improve finished water quality (lower microbial risk); more recently these concepts have been applied to control Disinfection By-Products (DBPs) in the treatment plant and distribution system, and are now being piloted to address groundwater systems, distribution system water age and storage challenges, and systems that utilize membrane filtration. Additionally, operators at systems that pursue optimization often possess the prioritization and problem solving skills to address “unexpected” challenges (e.g., natural disasters, security concerns) and longer term changes in water quality (e.g., due to the impact of climate change). The Optimization Program and the Capacity Development Program have been working together to identify opportunities for collaboration and integration of core program activities. Combined, these programs provide resources, guidelines, technical assistance and a framework to the states to assist them in managing their drinking water programs and helping small systems.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
By September 30, 2015, 100 percent of the states will have updated nonpoint source management programs that comport with the new Section 319 grant guidelines that will result in better targeting of resources through prioritization and increased coordination with USDA.
Description:
The Clean Water Act Section 319 Program is a vital source of support for the management of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution – excess nitrogen, phosphorus, pathogens and sediments that are the primary cause of pollution in the vast majority of impaired waterways across the Country. NPS pollution comes from many diffuse sources and can include excess fertilizers and pesticides from agricultural lands and residential areas; oil, grease and toxic chemicals from urban runoff and energy production; sediment from improperly managed construction sites, crop and forest lands, and eroding streambanks; bacteria and nutrients from livestock, pet wastes and faulty septic systems, among others. Because resources are limited and NPS pollution comes from diverse sources that differ by state and locale, strategic use of Section 319 funds is essential to achieving the best water quality outcomes for this limited natural resource.
In 2013 EPA took steps to strengthen the Section 319 program, issuing revised national guidelines for Section 319 grants to states. Key aspects of the new guidelines include 50% of a state’s 319 funds are devoted to on-the-ground projects to restore and protect waterways; strengthened incentives for leveraging of additional state and local funds; an emphasis on collaboration and leveraging with USDA; and a requirement that all states have updated NPS management programs with relevant goals and annual milestones to guide their investment of Section 319 funds. Effectively utilizing limited resources for such a diverse set of pollution problems requires setting priorities, sustaining priority efforts over time, and substantial leveraging with other programs and partners. The role of the states’ NPS Management Program is to provide a roadmap for doing just that.
A meaningful state NPS Management Program reflects the state’s goals, priorities, and key annual milestones and actions over a five-year period, which focuses resources to decrease pollution and protect high quality waters. The Plan describes how multiple state agencies and other partners, such as federal agencies, will coordinate, contribute, or leverage resources to meet the state’s articulated NPS goals and employ locally driven solutions that restore degraded waterways and revitalize communities. Because a state’s NPS management program spans five years, it provides a point of reference and an accountability framework for EPA to use in evaluating and approving annual Section 319 grant workplans. EPA will work with states to ensure that the commitments and milestones in their management program are reflected in annual Section 319 workplans.
This priority goal is a continuation of the work achieved under the 2012-2013 goal that 50 percent of states with outdated NPS management programs would update their programs in accordance with new Section 319 grant guidelines that EPA released in April 2013. Significant progress has been made, but additional work remains. This priority goal will track the continued progress of states updating their NPS Management Programs. Under the FY 2012-2013 priority goal, 22 states must update their programs. (Seven states already had updated programs that meet the guidance.) This FY 2014-2015 priority goal is that all state NPS management programs will be current and aligned with the new grant guidelines by September 2015. Moving forward beyond FY 2015, states are required to review and update their program every five years to keep them relevant.
Agency Priority Goal:
Clean up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of communities.
Statement:
Clean up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of communities. By 2015, an additional 18,970 sites will be made ready for anticipated use protecting Americans and the environment one community at a time.
Description:
Problem or opportunity being addressed
EPA’s Superfund, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action (CA), leaking underground storage tank (LUST), and Brownfields cleanup programs reduce risks to human health and the environment by assessing and cleaning up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of neighborhoods. Challenging and complex environmental problems, such as the presence or perceived presence of hazardous substances in soil, sediment, and groundwater, persist at many contaminated properties, and can threaten the health of American families.
There are multiple benefits associated with cleaning up contaminated sites and making them ready for reuse: reducing mortality and morbidity risk; preventing and reducing human exposure to contaminants; making land available for commercial, residential, industrial, or recreational reuse; and promoting community economic development. When sites are ready for anticipated reuse, communities are able to reclaim them for ecological, recreational, commercial, residential and other productive purposes.
Since EPA began collecting the number of sites ready for anticipated use (RAU) in FY2008, the cumulative number of sites RAU has increased. As of the end of FY2013, 441,333 sites were made ready for anticipated use, or approximately 83% of all sites.
|
Program |
FY14 Target |
FY15 Target |
|
Superfund |
55 |
55 |
|
RCRA CA |
80 |
80 |
|
LUST |
9,000 |
8,600 |
|
Brownfields |
550 |
550 |
|
Total |
9,685 |
9,285 |
Although each program establishes its own targets, the collective nature and combined overall target of the RAU Priority Goal offers an opportunity for EPA cleanup programs to work together to identify lessons learned, efficiencies and opportunities to advance site cleanup.
Efficiencies and cost savings
In an effort to improve the accountability, transparency, and effectiveness of EPA’s cleanup programs, EPA initiated the Integrated Cleanup Initiative, a multi-year effort to better use the most appropriate assessment and cleanup authorities to address a greater number of sites, accelerate cleanups where possible, and put those sites back into productive use while protecting human health and the environment. By using relevant tools available in each of the cleanup programs, including enforcement, EPA will better leverage the resources available to address needs at individual sites. EPA will focus on enforcement activities that are critical to ensuring that responsible parties are compelled to clean up contaminated sites, thereby preserving federal monies for clean up at sites where viable responsible parties do not exist.
Relationship to agency strategic goals and objectives
The Priority Goal directly supports EPA’s FY2014-2018 Strategic Plan, specifically Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development. Over the next several years, two of EPA’s priorities under this goal are to prevent and reduce exposure to contaminants and accelerate the pace of cleanups across the country. RAU is an indicator that the local, state, or federal agency has determined that cleanup goals and engineering and institutional controls have been implemented for the media that affects current and reasonably anticipated future use so that the sites are available for communities to use or reuse. Making contaminated sites ready for anticipated reuse also supports several of the Administrator’s Themes for EPA, including Making a Visible Difference in Communities across the Country; Launching a New Era of State, Tribal and Local Partnerships; and Working Toward a Sustainable Future. These connections are further described in the overview of our goal, as well as our description of goal partners.
Agency Priority Goal:
Assess and reduce risks posed by chemicals and promote the use of safer chemicals in commerce.
Statement:
Assess and reduce risks posed by chemicals and promote the use of safer chemicals in commerce. By September 30, 2015, EPA will have completed more than 250 assessments of pesticides and other commercially available chemicals to evaluate risks they may pose to human health and the environment, including the potential for some of these chemicals to disrupt endocrine systems. These assessments are essential in determining whether products containing these chemicals can be used safely for commercial, agricultural and/or industrial uses.
Description:
Keeping communities safe and healthy requires action to reduce risks associated with exposure to chemicals in commerce, our indoor and outdoor environments, and products and food. The agency’s chemical safety and pollution prevention programs are at the forefront of EPA’s efforts to advance a sustainable future. Chemicals are often released into the environment as a result of their manufacture, processing, use, and disposal. The agency uses a variety of approaches and tools to assess, prevent, and reduce these chemical releases and exposures by conducting risk assessments, assessing chemical alternatives, and taking other risk management actions.
Three statutes provide EPA the authority to regulate chemicals: The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act (FFDCA) govern the regulation of pesticides and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) governs regulation of other commercial chemicals.
EPA is committed to utilizing TSCA to the fullest extent possible to ensure the safety of commercial chemicals. Peer-reviewed risk assessments are essential to informing the agency’s chemical safety decisions with the best available scientific information and analyses. The findings of these assessments guide decisions on whether risk management actions are needed to address risks to human health or the environment from exposure to particular chemical uses or groups of chemicals. To enhance its existing chemicals program, EPA has identified a group of TSCA Work Plan Chemicals that are to receive priority for risk assessment in the 2012-2014 timeframe. These chemicals were selected based on criteria developed by EPA in consultation with a wide range of stakeholders. Through its TSCA Work Plan risk assessment program, EPA plans to conduct risk assessments for the group of Work Plan chemicals identified in March 2012. Subsequent risk assessments will be determined based on any periodic revisions to the TSCA Work Plan.
All pesticides distributed and sold in the United States must be registered by EPA, based on scientific data showing that they will not cause unreasonable risks to human health, workers, or the environment when used as directed on product labeling. The registration review program makes sure that, as the ability to assess risk evolves and as policies and practices change, all registered pesticides continue to meet the statutory standard of no unreasonable adverse effects, that is, continue to be safe when used according to the label. Although changes in science, public policy, and pesticide use practices will occur over time, such changes could impact EPA’s ability to make determinations in a timely manner. Through the registration review program, the Agency periodically reevaluates (every fifteen years) pesticides to make sure that as change occurs, products in the marketplace can still be used safely. The registration review program challenges EPA to continuously improve its processes, science, and information management while maintaining a collaborative and open process for decision-making to ensure safety to human health and the environment. Please refer to section 7 for a more detailed discussion of the challenges presented by ESA and EDSP concerns. While challenging, addressing these new problems will improve the Agency’s processes and allow for an open public venue for determining that products in the marketplace can still be used safely.
In 1996, Congress directed the agency to develop an Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) to screen over 10,000 chemicals for potential endocrine activity, using validated test methods. To date, we have employed validated test methods, covering a range of mammalian and ecological species, to screen 52 chemicals. Based on current cost and time projections, it would require tens of millions of dollars, millions of laboratory animals and decades to screen and test 10,000 chemicals using the current methods. Recent advances in computational toxicological methods (e.g., ToxCast) provide new technologies offering greater speed, efficiency and effectiveness to the EDSP in accomplishing our core mission.
Agency Priority Goal:
Improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public.
Statement:
By September 30, 2015 reduce reporting burdens to EPA by one million hours through streamlined regulations, provide real-time environmental data to at least two communities, and establish a new portal to service the regulated community and public.
Description:
Environmental regulators face ever growing needs to share information within and across agencies, reduce staff burden of data entry, reduce regulatory reporting burdens, and improve environmental and human health protection. There is also an increasing expectation from the public and regulated community for the use of on-line systems and the desire for data transparency and personalized access. Both federal and state agencies recognize that easier access to and use of environmental data will facilitate better environmental protection and decision-making while also increasing overall data transparency.
Consistent with the 2012 White House Digital Government Strategy and Executive Order 13563, EPA seeks to transform the way business is conducted. E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint initiative of states and EPA to improve environmental outcomes and enhance service to the regulated community and the public by maximizing the use of advanced monitoring and information technologies, optimizing operations, and increasing transparency. E-Enterprise will enable new environmental management approaches by modernizing EPA programs and regulations while streamlining and improving existing business processes. E-Enterprise will use the transformational capabilities of information and advanced monitoring technologies to identify and implement programmatic and service improvements.
These improvements will include “smart” tools and services that guide the regulated community in understanding and fulfilling their federal, state and, local regulatory reporting obligations, offer basic validations and error checking of entered information, and support electronic signature submissions. E-Enterprise projects that take advantage of tools and practices such as advanced monitoring technology and streamlined data collection will also expand the ability of the government, regulated entities, and the public to see and measure pollutant discharges, emissions and environmental conditions. A fundamental premise of E-Enterprise is that providing a more complete and integrated (cross media - air, water, and land) view of environmental data can support greener behavior of the public and regulated entities. For example, broad availability of high-speed internet allows real-time reporting of emissions and provides unprecedented opportunities for transparency and public involvement in matters affecting local environmental conditions. These technological advances will allow better tracking of environmental progress. Innovative technology can also help regulators improve compliance with environmental laws.
