49 



be performed. Additionally, it is clear that there needs to be an increased emphasis 

 on understanding the interactions among biodiversity, ecosystem dynamics and 

 management, and environmental degradation. The President's Fiscal Year 1995 

 budget for the USGCRP, the DOI National Biological Survey, and EPA, through its 

 integrated ecological research program, shows that steps are being taken to enhance 

 comprehensive ecological research. 



Social sciences: While it is well recognized that environmental change has both 

 anthropogenic and natural components, our understanding of the human dimensions 

 of environmental change will not improve until more resources are committed to 

 studies of this kind. The President's Fiscal Year 1995 USGCRP budget, within the 

 NSF, reflects an increased emphasis for this type of research. 



Engineering: The Administration has already moved aggressively to increase the 

 level of funding for research and development for environmental technologies in sev- 

 eral agencies: EPA, DOE, Commerce (NIST). In addition, DoD has been charged 

 with increasing its efforts on dual-use technologies. The President's Fiscal Year 

 1995 budget for energy efficiency and renewable energies reflect an increased em- 

 phasis on these areas of research, with the total Federal budget for environmental 

 technologies exceeding $4 billion. 



Increased Attention to Long-Term Monitoring, Data Collection and Management, and 

 Interpretation. 



The Administration agrees that inadequate attention has been paid to monitoring 

 and assessing environmental trends and consequences. Vast quantities of data on 

 environmental quality are generated, but historically there has been insufficient at- 

 tention to the collection, quality assurance, management and interpretation of data. 

 Thus, data is not readily accessible to investigators within and outside the Federal 

 government. In some areas we have instituted major programs to organize data; in 

 other areas, data management is severely lacking. For example, through the 

 EOSDIS program, NASA, working closely with NOAA and other agencies, is orga- 

 nizing remote sensing data. 



There is a recognized need for coordinating the monitoring, evaluation, and re- 

 porting on these trends. The Federal system should improve the tracking and regu- 

 lar reporting on major environmental trends, from climate change, to water quality, 

 to the exposure of individuals to pollutants and the health consequences of expo- 

 sure. In some areas there is already a significant, but not fully adequate, amount 

 of effort. 



The Administration believes that we can significantly improve our collection and 

 dissemination of data and information by developing an evolutionary and coopera- 

 tive international environmental monitoring and information system, using civilian 

 and dual-use technologies. This system will support the identification of trends, ad- 

 vancement of scientific understanding, and the development of prediction systems, 

 but will require the successful implementation of an international policy for secur- 

 ing open and stable exchange of environmental data and information. A multi-step 

 strategy is proposed, including inventorying, collecting and assessing existing data 

 sets for a range of environment and natural resources issues; increased use of exist- 

 ing "operational" monitoring systems, by making minor modifications, thus enhanc- 

 ing the value of ongoing observations; improve existing monitoring systems and data 

 bases to develop enhanced observational capabilities; improved data collection, data 

 sharing, data base management, and information systems building upon the evolu- 

 tionary concepts of initiatives such as EOSDIS and the Nil, and consistent with the 

 terms and conditions of the executive order on a National Spatial Data Infrastruc- 

 ture (NSDI) coordinated through the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). 



The Administration has already embarked on a number of activities that will im- 

 prove our ability to determine environmental trends: the reorganization of DOI to 

 create the National Biological Survey; the implementation of the EPA Environ- 

 mental Monitoring and Assessment Program to assess the status and trends of eco- 

 logical resources and stressors; the development of a single converged meteorological 

 and environmental monitoring polar orbiting satellite system; and the design of the 

 U.S. component of an integrated international ground- and space-based system for 



