40 



2. National Exposure Research Laboratory; 



3. National Center for Environmental Assessment; and 



4. National Risk Management Research Laboratory. 



Partnership with the academic community: As discussed previously in this testi- 

 mony, one of EPA's priorities is to expand interactions with the scientific commu- 

 nity, other Federal agencies, and the public. The intent is to expand ORD's competi- 

 tive, peer-reviewed, investigator-initiated grants program from $20 million to $100 

 million per year. These grants take advantage of the expertise and creativity of the 

 academic and not-for-profit research community. 



Peer Review: EPA will continue to improve the quality of its research through an 

 enhanced peer review process. This process will focus on: 



On-site reviews of research laboratories and programs following an approach simi- 

 lar to that used by the National Institute of Health (NIH); 



Initiation of a new, competitive, peer-review process for the award of internal re- 

 search grants to EPA scientists; and 



An Agency-wide consistent level of peer review of scientific products and publica- 

 tions. 



EPA Fellowships: EPA should expand the graduate fellowship program to increase 

 the resource base from which the Agency and the environmental community draw 

 technical and scientific talent. 



Management and Administrative Streamlining: ORD should decentralize its re- 

 search laboratory management and administration to the extent possible, and use 

 streamlining as an opportunity to. enhance and empower the science function in 

 ORD. EPA will use this same opportunity to increase the accountability of all of its 

 laboratories to the overall research, science, and technology mission of the Agency. 



Regional and program laboratories: The Agency also recognizes the importance of 

 maintaining program laboratories. With their clear missions and customer focus, 

 they provide vital technical support to assist in regulatory development and enforce- 

 ment programs. These laboratories are important to maintain, and EPA will explore 

 ways to enhance and improve their functions. These laboratories will be fully en- 

 gaged with ORD through the research, development, and technical services planning 

 process to define Agency-wide research needs and capabilities. 



These changes are far-reaching, integrated actions that will provide EPA and the 

 nation with better science, better decisions, and better environmental protection. 



We will work with EPA's scientists and managers, and representatives of em- 

 ployee organizations, as well as with scientists across the broad research commu- 

 nity, to ensure that this plan is effectively and cooperatively implemented. 



ORD's Fiscal Year 1995 Budget Request 



The total ORD budget request for Fiscal Year 1995 is $570.6 million, an increase 

 of $37.8 million over Fiscal Year 1994, or about 7 percent. This budget request re- 

 flects ORD's vision for improving the link between EPA science and environmental 

 policy. Just as the overall EPA budget represents a commitment to a new genera- 

 tion of environmental protection, our research initiatives emphasize our commit- 

 ment to the development of a new generation of environmental science to solve envi- 

 ronmental problems. 



ORD's research initiatives reflect the changes we are making in our research pro- 

 gram. In the Fiscal Year 1995 budget, we are proposing: 



Contractor Conversion Initiative: One of the most important developments in the 

 Fiscal Year 1995 budget is our proposed Contractor Conversion Initiative. This ini- 

 tiative — now pending — is one of the Agency's four management improvement initia- 

 tives. It will convert 265 contractor workyears to Federal workyears in ORD. This 

 workyear conversion is an extremely important step that will strengthen our in- 

 house research capabilities, as well as address the vulnerabilities associated with 

 the over-reliance on the use of contractors. This conversion does not increase EPA's 

 budget, but rather is budget-neutral by shifting resources previously used for con- 

 tracts to fund in-house workyears. ORD will still use contractors. This conversion 

 affects only a certain percentage of the ORD-supported contractor workforce. 



Research to improve our ability to do human health risk assessment, with special 

 emphasis on human exposure. Enhanced risk assessment research is key to deter- 



