What
EPA is Doing
Over the last thirty years, U.S. environmental policies have evolved
from laws and regulations to ensure compliance, to policies and incentives
that encourage industry to go beyond compliance. Now, EPA is preparing
for the next generation of environmental policy that aims to encourage
an integrated and systems approach to environmental protection.
“Pursuing
the goal of sustainability allows us to use innovative science
and technology to achieve the goals of environmental and economic
prosperity for both current and future generations”
Dr. Paul Gilman, EPA
Science Advisor, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
EPA is working to develop knowledge and decision tools that provide,
enable and stimulate long-term environmental solutions. EPA research
in such areas as green chemistry and engineering, global change,
economics and decision sciences, watershed management, industrial
ecology, environmental justice, ecological forecasting, and emerging
technology is helping prepare the way to a more sustainable future.
Through partnerships with the private sector, EPA is developing
innovative approaches to environmental management at facility and
sector levels. Working with many industries, EPA is promoting the
use of environmental management systems, developing better measures
of environmental impact, and identifying regulatory barriers to
environmental performance that deserve closer scrutiny by the Agency.
EPA is also leading by example in the operation of its own facilities.
EPA is working to reduce its environmental footprint by increasing
and promoting recycling, reducing materials entering the waste stream,
promoting and achieving increased and preferential use of material
with recycled content, and emphasizing and increasing the purchase
of and use of environmental preferable products. Strong internal
efforts to promote energy efficiency and use green power have lead
to significant reductions in energy use.
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| The
Role of Research and Development |
EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD) provides
the underlying scientific and technical support to EPA program offices
and to states and local governments.
Consistent with EPA's strategic goal to integrate environmental
sciences and technology to solve environmental problems, ORD is
reviewing all of its current programs and grant criteria as a foundation
for practicing sustainable development.
EPA's Science to Achieve
Results (STAR) grants are helping us understand the links between
sustainability and the environment. For example, STAR researchers
are developing knowledge needed to commercialize a family of packing
materials made from renewable and sustainable resources, namely
plant material. STAR investigators in industrial ecology, and behavioral
and organizational sciences are studying new management and product
design approaches.
EPA is transforming its National
Environmental Technology Competition to give a greater focus
on sustainability. One goal of this competition is to encourage
a new generation of students to think about links between science,
engineering, and sustainability in their design practice. EPA is
working with engineering societies to incorporate sustainability
objectives into existing student design competitions. Also, we are
developing a new, interdisciplinary student design competition focusing
on topics such as transportation, water resources, energy and materials.
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EPA has dozens of programs and policy tools and
incentives that can be used to encourage and practice sustainability.
We are working to find ways to blend these programs to help improve
industrial practices and assist states and local governments to
manage their resources effectively.
Research. EPA is working to develop knowledge
and decision tools that provide, enable, and stimulate long-term
environmental solutions. Pioneering efforts in developing a system
approach to environmental management are underway. New instrumentation,
data-handling and methodological capabilities have expanded our
understanding of the environment and how the complex biological,
chemical and human systems interact. The evolving Earth Observing
System (EOS) network can potentially add even greater quantities
of new data. EPA researchers will lead efforts to use these data
in managing ecosystem at regional and local levels. For more than
a decade, our researchers have been pioneering efforts in green
chemistry and engineering, global change, economics and decision
sciences, watershed management, industrial ecology, environmental
justice, ecological forecasting, and emerging technologies.
Environmental Technology Council. EPA established
this group to coordinate and focus our technology programs. In particular,
the Council will facilitate innovative technological solutions to
environmental problems and challenges.
P3 Award. To encourage the integration of sustainability
into higher education and training, EPA launched this national
student design competition in partnership with other public
and private organizations. The competition provides grants to teams
of college students to research, develop and design solutions to
environmental challenges to sustainability. P3 highlights the three
pillars of sustainability – People, Prosperity and Planet
– as the next step beyond pollution prevention.
Green Practices. EPA is working to reduce its
own environmental footprint by increasing and promoting recycling,
reducing materials entering EPA’s waste stream, promoting
and achieving increased and preferential use of materials with recycled
content, and emphasizing and increasing the purchase and use of
environmentally preferable products.
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To encourage and strengthen the many existing regional, state,
and local sustainability efforts, EPA is supporting collaborative
projects that focus on concrete solutions to local and regional
problems. These projects transcend traditional regulatory approaches
to air, water and land and take a long-term view while measuring
short-term progress. Projects range from watershed management and
stream restoration to industrial practices and urban development.
Partners include state and local governments, the private sector,
nonprofit organizations and the public.
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