45 



likely to have highest priority in the budget process. The challenge is to increase 

 the total amount of resources available to environmental and natural resources 

 R&D and to identify areas of lower priority or where unnecessary redundancies 

 exist. This identification is being done by agencies working with the CENR sub- 

 committees. 



The structure of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources is shown 

 in attached chart. The objectives of the committee include: 



• maintaining, and improving, a strong science base for environmental and 

 natural resource issues; 



• developing a balanced, comprehensive environmental and natural resources 

 R&D program that provides the scientific and technical basis for national and 

 international policymaking; 



• strengthening research on: the socioeconomic aspects of environmental 

 changes; the impacts of environmental changes on human health, ecological and 

 socioeconomic systems; adaptation to environmental changes; and the mitiga- 

 tion of environmental changes; 



• creating an organization that improves the way that the Federal govern- 

 ment plans and coordinates environmental and natural resource R&D activities; 



• establishing a structure for developing environment and natural resources 

 budget inventories; 



• developing a strategy to strengthen extramural academic R&D programs; 



• promoting the utilization of merit-review and peer evaluation and competi- 

 tive selection in Federal R&D projects; 



• developing the tools needed for policy formulation, e.g., integrated models 

 and risk assessments; 



• creating a body to link science and policy. 



Environmental Issue Subcommittees 



Global Change: The scope should be comparable to the existing USGCRP, i.e., in- 

 cludes climate change (broad definition) and stratospheric ozone, but with increased 

 emphasis on socioeconomic dimensions, impacts, adaptation, mitigation, and inte- 

 grated assessments. 



Biological Diversity and Ecosystem Dynamic* Biodiversity (population/community; 

 systematic biology/surveys; habitat analysis; and conservation biology); and ecologi- 

 cal dynamics (physiology and biochemical ecology; genetic processes and responses; 

 basic ecosystem processes; and population/community response to stress). 



Resource Use and Depletion: Management, conservation and extraction of renew- 

 able (terrestrial and marine ecosystems, including grasslands, wetlands, fisheries, 

 and forests), and non-renewable resources (oil, gas, minerals, and coal). 



Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Solid Waste: Environmental toxicants (e.g., 

 pesticides, hazardous waste, solid waste, and oil spills). 



Air Quality: Ambient air pollutants (oxidants and their precursors, sulfur dioxide, 

 nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulates); acid deposition and its precur- 

 sors, and indoor air. 



Water Resources and Coastal and Marine Environments: Water quality and quan- 

 tity, integrated watershed management, and coastal and marine systems 



Natural Disasters: The scope encompasses weather related hazards (storms, hurri- 

 canes, typhoons, tornadoes, floods, droughts), geological hazards (volcanoes, earth- 

 quakes), and wildfires. 



Program Content of Each Issue Subcommittee 



Each subcommittee has established its own working group structure, and has de- 

 veloped a balanced, comprehensive R&D program that covers the following aspects 

 of the issue: structure and function of the system, socioeconomic driving forces of 

 environmental change, impacts of environmental change, adaptation to environ- 

 mental change, mitigation of environmental change, and assessment. 



Strengthening Links Between Research and Policy 



The Administration recognizes that for the past decade or more the link between 

 the scientific and policy formulation agencies has been too weak. Consequently, the 



