165 



68 tNVIKONMkNTAL RESLAKCH AND DhA'bLOPMtNT 



a team. Third, appointing one of the "peer" laboratory director' as NERC 

 director exacerbated the competitive tendencies in the laboratories. The pro- 

 posal outlined above is designed to avoid these shortcomings, while trying 

 to achieve an integrated program. 



A National Environmental Monitoring Systemf lahnratnTy 



Wc propose that three laboratories in EPA's Office of Research and Devel- 

 opment devoted to environmental monitoring be combined to form a Na- 

 tional Environmental Monitoring Systems Laboratory (NEMSL). The three 

 existing laboratories whose operations would be integrated are the Environ- 

 mental Monitoring System Laboratories in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Las Vegas, 

 Nevada, and the Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Labora- 

 tory in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. A headquarters site should 

 be established for the NEMSL, with the existing laboratories continuing 

 to operate as field sites under its direction. 



The NEMSL would likely enjoy important synergies in monitoring 

 technologies, analytical techniques, and statistical analysis, resulting in cost 

 reductions, especially in cross-media monitoring efforts. The laboratory would 

 also create a critical mass of researchers and resources focused on the tech- 

 nical foundations of environmental monitoring. 



A significant challenge in combining the three EPA laboratories is 

 overcoming the cultural differences among the three groups of scientists 

 and engineers. Although the underlying chemistry' is essentially the same, 

 the groups evolved under separate air, watei. and radiological pollution 

 agencies. These differences can be overcome in time, with many synergies 

 developing as operations are integrated. If a U.S. Environmental Monitoring 

 Agency is established, as recommended later in this repon, some or all of 

 the activities of the NEMSL should be integrated with those of, or trans- 

 ferred to, the new agcnqv 



A National Environmental Engineering Laboratory 



We recommend that a single National Environmental Engineering Labora- 

 tory (NEEL) be established by combining the existing EPA Risk Reduction 

 Engineering Laboratory in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Air and Energy En- 

 gineering Laborator\- in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The main 

 laboratory, in North Carolina, would focus on air and energy engineering, 

 and the Cincinnati component of the laboratory- would focus on watcr- 

 quality-rclated laboratory research and risk reduction. The NEEL should 



