169 



7- UNVIRON'MENTAL RESLARCH AM) DUVtLOPMtNT 



ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AGENCY 



■ A new federal agency, the U.S. Envimnmental Moniionng Agency 

 (EMA). should he organized by combining the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration, now within the Department of Commerce, 

 with the U.S. Geological Survey, now within the Department of the 

 Interior 



Monitoring, mapping, invcniorying, and forecasting with respect 

 to the national and global environment arc the cornerstones of federal en- 

 vironmental protection efforts. Documenting the characteristics of our air, 

 land, and water resources is an enormous task that is now primarily under- 

 taken by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the National Oceanic and 

 Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and to a lesser extent the National 

 Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Environmental 

 Protection Agency (EPA). The present and future missions of NOAA and 

 USGS are more similar to each other than they are to the missions of the 

 departments in which they reside. Consequently, we believe that the.se 

 organizations should merge to form the U.S. Environmental Monitoring 

 Agency (EMA).-!" 



The EMA should make use of data developed by NASA, EPA, the 

 Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Institute for Environmental Health 

 Sciences, and other agencies. It should maintain close ties with the National 

 Aeronautics and Space Aciminiscration in an cffon to link the Eanh Ob- 

 serving System (EOS) and related environmental monitoring activities with 

 its programs. Ccnain EPA activities, such as the Environmental Monitoring 

 and Assessment Program (EMAP),-" should be transferred into the EMA. 

 The Agency's mission should include monitoring and evaluation of both 

 natural processes and the social activities that are driving forces for environ- 

 mental deterioration. These include consumption patterns, population 

 growth, and use of modes of transportation. It should include biological 

 surveys as well as geological sun-eys, mapping, and inventorying of both 

 the biological and physical environment. 



We believe that EMA should operate as an independent federal agency 

 or as an entity within a Depanment of the Environment. Independence 

 is imponant for an agency whose mission is devoted to monitoring the state 

 of the environment and the progress of the nation in achieving environ- 

 mental protection objectives. If a Depanment of the Environment is estab- 

 lished at some point in the future, EMA could become a component of 

 this organization; however, the agency should operate independently of the 

 regulatory programs of a department. The EMA should maintain ties with 

 the Institute for Environmental Assessment, providing the Institute with 

 data to suppon its evaluation of national and global problems. 



