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LtADEKSHIP AND TMt RESEAKCH AGENDA 6l 



Stones/" These plans should include a description of the contributions of 

 agencies and departments to broad federal program objectives, keeping in 

 mind the R&D requirements of individual agencies and departments in 

 pursuing their missions. 



To be successful, an initiative of this scofx: will require the guidance 

 and suppwrt of Congress. Gsngressional authorization, appropriations, and 

 oversight responsibilities with respect to federal environmental programs 

 arc divided among numerous congressional committees and subcommittees 

 in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. If federal environ- 

 mental R&D programs are to be properly coordinated and directed at well- 

 defined goals. Congress, like the President, must provide clear and decisive 

 leadership. The Carnegie Commission's Committee on Congress will soon 

 be issuing a re(K>rt on the challenges Congress hccs in addressing science 

 and technology issues of this kind. 



A high-level initiative of this kind would give environmental R&D 

 a higher priority in federal activities, would provide leadership to this crit- 

 ical area of science and technology ptolicy, and would coordinate the diverse 

 activities of federal departments and agencies. In the recommendations below, 

 we suggest mechanisms to achieve these ends. 



OFFICE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POUCY 



■ Tie Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) should coordinate 

 a broader array of environmental RScD activities. 



The Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive 

 Office of the President is home to the Federal Coordinating Council on Science, 

 Engineering, and Technology (FCCSET), which has proven to be an effective 

 mechanism for coordinating the management of cenain federal R&D pro- 

 grams. The U.S. Global Change Research Program, for example, is admin- 

 istered under FCCSET through its Committee on Eanh Sciences. In fiscal 

 year 1991, the $i.j billion program coordinated federal R&D activities in 

 eleven departments and agencies and served as the focal point for interac- 

 tions with the international scientific community, agencies of other govern- 

 ments, and the private sector.-'' 



We recommend that OSTP use FCCSET to aid in the deN'elopment 

 of coherent federal environmental R&D programs to address problems that 

 cut across dcpanments and agencies. Close interaction between OSTP, as 

 it coordinates R&D programs, the Office of Environmental Quality, as it 

 develops environmental poliq- and research needs, and the Office of Man- 

 agement and Budget, as it devises budget priorities, is essential if the federal 

 government is to achieve an integrated and forward-looking environmental 

 protection program. 



