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APPRNDIX A II- 



vidual investipaiors' research in areas of inierest to the agcnq-, includinj; health, 

 biology, chcmistty and physics, and engineering. The Environmental Research Centers 

 Program, initiated in 1979, was once a collection of rwclve university-based centers, 

 each specializing in a sustained basic science program in a single, specific area such 

 as groundwater, marine science, or hazardous waste.* Today the program supports 

 four centers. 



The Office of Environmental Processes and Effects Research exsmincs the 

 entry, movement, and effect of pollutants across the whole range of environmental 

 media, while the Office of Modeling. Monitoring S>'stems, and Quality Assurance 

 emphasizes research in methods for environmental measurement and monitoring 

 in the characterization, transport, and fate of ecological pollutants. The Office of 

 Health Research's program ainw to identify hazards, conduct dose-response assess- 

 ments, and develop chemical-specific information for regulatory support and tech- 

 nical assistance. The Office of Environmental Engineering and Technology- Demon- 

 stration has a research program to study, develop, and demonstrate technologies 

 to mitigate environmental impacts, panicularly in hazardous waste and waste water. 

 Finally, the Office of Health and Environmental Assessment examines the degree 

 of risk posed by environmental pollutants in order to provide the scientific bases 

 for regulatory decisions and coordinating consistency in risk assessments throughout 

 the agency. 



A major challenge facing all of these offices and the entire EPA R&D pro- 

 gram is a conflia between research to suppon the immediate regulatory needs of 

 the agency and the desire to engage in a long-tenn program of basic environmental 

 research. Traditionally. EPA has devoted only a small proponion of its resources 

 to basic research. 



The applied research program b an essential link in the agenc>''s efforts 

 to meet the requirements of an ever-growing body of environmcnral regulation. 

 Designing EPA's research program to be primarily one of "fighting fires" in meeting 

 near-term programraauc needs is not the optimal way to approach environmental 

 protection. Instead, a more long-term, anticipatorvv and prevention-oriented research 

 program focused on basic science — that b. research aimed at a better understanding 

 of the fundamental aspects of an environmental phenomenon as opposed to re- 

 search aimed toward specific applications— should provide the foundation for as- 

 sessing risk and setting priorities, for new and innovative mitigation techniques. 

 and for technological developments leading to preventive measures. A recent study 

 by the National Academy c^ Public Administration documented the nearsighted 

 nature of EPA's research." 



EPA's regulatory prioriues. and consequently the bulk of its research pro- 

 gram, are dependent upon congrcssionally mandated appropriations, which in turn 

 ultimately stem from public perceptions about environmental risks and the scope 

 of environmental problems. However, the public's perceptions of risk do not coin- 

 cide with those of the experts. Assessing risk requires a long-term, basic research 

 program— something that is sorely lacking at EPA. The exploratory research grants 

 program, for example, has been neither significant nor consistent over time, hinder- 

 ing many uniwrsity- based researchers from conduaing fundamental research that 



