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A key component of ORD's planning process is the criteria and methods
we use
to set priorities among research topics. The criteria and methods are evolving,
and this year are undergoing extensive discussion and review. Our goal in NCEA
this year is to help ORD renew its risk-based focus on the priority-setting
methods, culminating in a system which more directly links our work to the
important issues facing the Agency. In addition, we are looking at a system
that more closely integrates human health and ecological research, allows us to
more easily evaluate the effectiveness of the research we do, gives our
scientists a more immediate understanding of where their research will be used
to answer the Agency's important risk-based questions, and provide value to our
customers that is both highly visible and immediately recognizable. We foresee
discussions among ORD scientists and managers proceeding during this fiscal
year, with a paper being completed on the subject some time late in the calendar
year.
Example of priority-setting for specific research topics are shown below.
ORD Research Plans
As part of an effort to improve communication about its research activities, ORD is making external review drafts of the ORD Research Plans and Strategies publicly available by posting them on the Internet. Links to the posted documents are included in this portion of the NCEA Homepage.
The following four draft plans/strategies have been posted:
- Endocrine Disruptors;
- Global Change;
- Waste; and
- Pollution Prevention.
ORD expects the draft plans/strategies for Ecological Research, Particulate Matter, Arsenic in Drinking Water, and Microbial Pathogens and Disinfection By-Products in Drinking Water to be posted in the next few weeks (i.e. July/August 19987).
It is important to note that these documents are external review drafts for review purposes only and do not represent official EPA policy. The documents will be reviewed by an external, independent peer review panel and revised based on the panel’s comments before they are finalized.
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