 The mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is to protect human health
and to safeguard the air, water, and land upon which life depends. EPA's Office
of Research and Development (ORD) conducts research to help ensure that efforts to reduce
environmental risks are based on the best available scientific information.
The National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), a major component of ORD with
headquarters in Washington, DC, is EPA's national resource center for human health and
ecological risk assessment. NCEA conducts risk assessments, carries out research
to improve the state-of-the-science of risk assessment, and provides guidance and support
to risk assessors.
NCEA occupies a critical position in ORD between (1) researchers in other ORD components
generating new findings and data and (2) regulators in the EPA program offices and regions
who must make regulatory, enforcement, and remedial action decisions. As a result,
NCEA plays an important role as a consultant to EPA programs and regions on the use of
science in environmental decision making and also influences the direction of environmental
research.
* A brochure describing NCEA's mission and research activities in greater
detail is also available.
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