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duplicate coverage in some cases and gaps in coverage in others. This is not unex- 

 pected since these statutes are primarily intended to support specific regulatory ac- 

 tivities (rather than provide comprehensive assessments of environmental quality). 

 This patehwork of authority makes it difficult to collect data for cross-media statisti- 

 cal purposes that would provide information needed for national environmental 

 policy making. 



Data Collection Authority Limitations. At present, EPA's statutory authorities to 

 collect, compile, and analyze environmental data are primarily for regulation devel- 

 opment, pollution abatement and control, or enforcement. The authority for pollu- 

 tion abatement and control and enforcement is largely delegated to state and local 

 governments. Some statutes put the onus of data collection on chemical manufactur- 

 ers, sewage treatment plants, and other regulated entities. In addition, data collec- 

 tion components of many environmental protection statutes are specific and limited 

 which makes it difficult to collect the types of ambient measures, demographic 

 measures, economic measures and human health information needed to support en- 

 vironmental decisions and strategic planning, however, much of this statistical in- 

 formation is already collected by other agencies. BES can enter into effective joint 

 statistical programs with these agencies as long as it is authorized to abide by the 

 confidentiality restrictions imposed on statistical data. This approach will avoid du- 

 plication of effort and assure that consistent information is used in all the affected 

 agencies. 



Q. 21: The management of available environmental data has also been a problem 

 at EPA. EPA, has three data bases for regulating disinfectants, yet EPA officials 

 have told the GAO that as much as 60 percent of the data on disinfectant product 

 claims are inaccurate or incomplete. In another case, EPA maintains nine sepa- 

 rate database management systems to track information about pesticides awaiting 

 reregistration, including the results of health and environmental studies. Yet, 

 when, in 1991, a trainload of metam sodium spilled into the Sacramento River, 

 EPA was unaware of information in its files indicating that metam sodium can 

 cause birth defects. As a result the agency could not warn pregnant women and 

 workers of the pesticide's hazards. What will a new Department do to better 

 manage data it collects or compiles? 



A. 21: EPA is already working to strengthen its information resources manage- 

 ment (IRM) program to support integrated data needs of holistic environmental pro- 

 tection. The strategic IRM planning process is being revEimped to provide a consist- 

 ent, integrated planning process, linked to the budget, for the direction, control, and 

 coordination of IRM resources across the Agency. EPA's Information Management/ 

 Data Administration Program is applying a structured approach to implement 

 Agency-wide improvements in data administration. At the same time, EPA is 

 strengthening its central management of IRM policies, standards, and procedures, 

 as well as its IRM oversight program to ensure the quality of its information pro- 

 grams and systems. EPA is also implementing technical solutions to facilitete data 

 integration, such as development of a common software interface (Gateway), appli- 

 cation of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to various analyses, and implemen- 

 tation of a locational data policy to facilitate the link between geographic and pro- 

 grammatic data. 



These activities, combined with the IRM components of the Cabinet legislation 

 which elevate the management attention and focus on IRM, will significantly im- 

 prove the Program-specific, as well as cross-media, management of environment in- 

 formation across the Agency. 



Q. 22: Throughout the Agency and within specific programs, EPA lacks perform- 

 ance measures and information for assessing the effectiveness of its programs in 

 improving environmental quality. Sen. Roth and I have introduced legislation to 

 institute such performance measures throughout the Federal Government through 

 a pilot program. I believe a centralized bureau devoted to collecting such informa- 

 tion could be extremely helpful in establishing such performance measures. Would 

 you comment? Do you think EPA would participate in our bill's pilot program? 



A. 22: EPA is presently engaged in an Agency-wide process to modernize its 

 system of performance measures. The goal of its Strategic Targeted Activities for 

 Results System (STAHS) is to develop "families" of performance measures for each 

 of a dozen or so major, measurable environmental goals, which are also under devel- 

 opment. These families of performance measures will track Agency progress toward: 

 — improvements in environmental quality, 

 — changes toward more responsible behavior by industry, government and the 



public, and 



—toward institutional goals for EPA, such as better management, employee 

 morale, and customer satisfaction. 



