206 



CONCLUSION 109 



Many federal dcpanmcnts and agencies have environmental R&D 

 programs, and the goals and content of these programs vary widely. It is 

 for this reason that we have recommended bringing all federal environmental 

 R&D programs under one management umbrella, through an Environmental 

 Research and Monitoring Initiative. The Initiative would help the President, 

 through the Office of Environmental Quality, the OSTP, and key agency 

 administrators, set goals and devise strategics to achieve them. We also be- 

 lieve that the enhanced roles we have recommended for the OSTP and the 

 OEQ would strengthen the policy process. In addition, to shift the focus 

 away from the short-term and to strengthen coordination, we have recom- 

 mended changes in individual depanments and agencies and have suggested 

 ways in which these organizations can work together more closely. 



Ultimately, of course, focusing and coordinating the federal envi- 

 ronmental R&D effort will have an impact only if it leads to new p>olicies. 

 A new Institute for Environmental Assessment would undenake its own 

 analyses and suppton the work of individuals and institutions outside the 

 federal government through contracts and grants. The Institute would help 

 to ensure that research in the natural and social sciences is brought into 

 the policy arena in the executive branch, much as the Office of Technology 

 Assessment brings together technology and policy for G)ngress. This new 

 institute, of course, is no guarantee that good policies will be adopted, but 

 we believe that it will be an invaluable resource for bridging the gap that 

 now exists between research and policy. 



BETTER MONITORING AND INFORMATION STORAGE 



One of the first requirements for creating new knowledge about the envi- 

 rorunent is a system that can monitor the ongoing natural and human-induced 

 changes in the biosphere, lb be useful, information derived from monitoring— 

 especially environmental statistics— must be stored in a form that makes 

 it readily available to those making policy assessments and decisions. Our 

 recommendations will improve the gathering and use of information in sev- 

 eral ways. 



A new Environmental Monitoring Agency (EMA), combining the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological 

 Survey, and some programs within EPA, would bring the key federal en- 

 vironmental monitoring activities together under one roof. The EMA would 

 also work to guide and strengthen the coordination of the environmental 

 monitoring effons of NASA and other agencies. The National Center for 

 Environmental Information, to be established as part of the EMA, would 

 be a focal point for the storage and retrieval of environmental data. 



