Research Directions

| Multi-Year Plans | Environmental Futures | ORD Strategic Plan |

OSP plays a key role in helping ORD focus its research and development on the greatest risks to people and the environment. To set the direction and priorities for its work, ORD involves all parts of EPA. OSP leads this cross-agency involvement in setting the research agenda by coordinating the development of multi-year research plans. To guide us in how we will accomplish this research, ORD developed a strategic plan in 2002. Although each ORD laboratory, center, and office has taken responsibility for implementing the ORD Strategic Plan, OSP is the coordination center for promoting and tracking our accomplishment of the Plan's goals. One of ORD's strategic goals, Anticipating Future Environmental Issues, or simply "Futures", is a new area for ORD, and OSP staff are leading several efforts to build capacity across ORD and EPA to find ways to identify those "weak signals" that may indicate future environmental impacts. Whether it is planning next year's research activities, mapping out our scientific agenda into the coming decade, or scanning the horizon for the environmental issues that will face future generations, OSP serves as the organizational compass to keep ORD's research direction aligned with the Agency's mission.