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long-term systematic observations, including the data management system, of the 

 environment and natural resources. 



Improved Education and Training of People 



The Administration acknowledges the need for improved environmental education 

 and training. One of the high priorities for the NSTC Committee for Education and 

 Training will be to assess how to improve education and training on environmental 

 issues at all levels. Summary 



The Administration has made significant progress toward to dealing with the is- 

 sues that this Committee and others have legitimately raised. The Admimstration 

 has mounted a substantial and well orchestrated effort to conduct environment and 

 natural resources R&D, which is both scientifically sound and policy-relevant. In es- 

 tablishing the CENR, the Administration has created a mechanism to better develop 

 an R&D strategy and coordinate agency efforts. Under the NSTC, the CENR ele- 

 vates the level of guidance to that of agency leaders, while maintaining and enhanc- 

 ing the quality of agency R&D manager participation. 



We have already taken a number of significant actions, and will be moving rap- 

 idly in the coming months to implement the objectives of the CENR that have been 

 outlined in our testimony today and are summarized below: 



• provide a higher proportion of Federal R&D funds to support competitive, 

 peer-reviewed, extramural research; 



• devote more funds to areas such as the social and ecological sciences, and 

 environmental technologies; 



• ensure the development of the science-policy tools required for policy formu- 

 lation, e.g., integrated assessment models; 



• improve data and information activities; 



• enable credible comprehensive national or international assessments to be 

 performed involving all stakeholders (government, industry, and environmental 

 scientists and decision makers); 



• improve education and training on environmental issues at all levels. 



We would like to express our gratitude to this Committee for holding this hearing 

 and we value your participation in helping to make our coordinated environment 

 and natural resources R&D efforts more effective. 



