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SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS I) 



and used in establishing and implementing environmental policy. A wide 

 range of research advances will be needed if "sustainable development" is 

 to be achieved — growth that is a product of efficient consumption of energy 

 and materials, mmimizmg waste and maximizing recycling, stabilizing land 

 use, and assuring growth that does oot damage the future environment on 

 which further growth depends. 



The United States must play a leading role in this effort, and doing 

 so requires a vital, well-integrated federal environmental R&D system. Un- 

 fortunately, the existing federal environmental R&D infrastructure was built 

 for another time and for a set of issues that no longer correspond to today's 

 problems. If the federal government is to provide the scientific resources 

 and leadership that a nanonal and global environmental protection effort 

 requires, a careful examination and rethinking of its R&D dEon is essential. 



IMPROVING THE FEDERAL EFFORT 



At first glance, the federal eimionmental research enterprise seems impressive. 

 More than a dozen federal departments and agencies conduct environment- 

 related R&D; total spending is some $5 billion a year (sec Tables i and 1 

 on pages j7 and 38). The bulk of these expenditures is devoted to the physical 

 sciences, with most of the remainder directed to engineering and the bio- 

 logical and health sciences (see figure i on page 57). Largely because of 

 its origins as a scries of individual programs initiated in response to specific 

 problems, much of our current R&D system is diffuse, reactive, and focused 

 on short-range, end-of-the-pipe solutions. And, because me chanism s to 

 coordinate the products of enviroimiental research conducted by federal, 

 state, academic, and nongovernmental institutions are weak, it is difficult 

 to develop the comprehensive information necessary to evaluate signifi ca n t 

 changes in the state of the envirotmient. 



Today's complicated and urgent environmental challenges cannot 

 be addressed in the piecemeal &shion of the past. At a time of intense inter- 

 national economic competition and growing federal budget deficits, careful 

 matching of resources with problems is vital. The end of the G)ld War and 

 limitations on defense spending offer opportunities to focus more attention 

 on other societal needs, such as enviroimiental protection. We believe that 

 the federal environmental R&D effbn must be broadened, its agencies and 

 programs better coordinated, and its resources more focused on identifying 

 root causes and anticipating emerging problems. As a nation, we face enor- 

 mous environmental challenges. Strong and effective federal R&D programs 

 are a prerequisite to attacking these problems successfully and, in doing 



