66 



• Support education and training to prepare future generations for the envi- 

 ronmental challenges ahead. 



Office of Research and Development's Mission 



Since the EPA was founded over 20 years ago, the EPA's Office of Research and 

 Development (ORD) has played a valuable role in its capacity as the in-house divi- 

 sion responsible for scientific research and technical support programs for the agen- 

 cy. During the 1970s, when the EPA was expanding, there was inadequate informa- 

 tion available to the agency to provide an adequate scientific basis for many of its 

 regulations and standards. To EPA's credit, under constant legislative directives and 

 strict statutory deadlines, it achieved the majority of its regulatory objectives. 



In this context, the ORD played a crucial role in providing the technical assist- 

 ance and scientific advice needed to carry out its regulatory mission. EPA's ORD 

 and the program offices made a valiant effort to address what the Congress and the 

 public demanded — the cleanup of our air, water, and soil and the protection of 

 human health and the environment. 



In September 1988, at the request of EPA Administrator Lee Thomas, the EPA 

 Science Advisory Board (SAB) undertook a comprehensive study on the state of the 

 agency's environmental research. Their overall conclusion was that while the ORD 

 had functioned well in its capacity to meet the short-term needs of EPA's regulatory 

 programs, it fell far short of its long-term research and development goals. 



As we move into the 1990s. . . our strategy for reducing environmental and 

 health risks must evolve in response to changing circumstances. . . Just as EPA 

 has emphasized command-and-control approaches because of statutory require- 

 ments, its R&D program has emphasized short-term, program-related research 

 that supports regulatory development. . EPA's R&D program has to be ex- 

 panded and reoriented to include much more basic, long-term research not nec- 

 essarily tied to the immediate regulatory needs of the EPA's program offices. 

 ("Reducing Risks: Research Strategies for the 1990s", U.S. EPA, Sept. 1988; em- 

 phasis added.) 



This initial report was followed 2 years later by a report requested by Mr. William 

 Reilly, the Administrator of the EPA during the Bush Administration. The SAB ap- 

 pointed committee was called the Relative Risk Reduction Strategies Committee. 

 While the report's conclusion agreed with most of the earlier criticism of the agen- 

 cy's lack of commitment to long-term strategic planning on critical environment is- 

 sues, it went further by pointing out specific areas of neglect: 



[OJver the past 20 years and especially over the past decade, EPA has paid 

 too little attention to natural ecosystems. The Agency has considered the protec- 

 tion of public health to be its primary mission, and it has been less concerned 

 about risks posed to ecosystems. . . EPA's response to human health risks as 

 compared to ecological risks is inappropriate, because, in the real world, there 

 is little distinction between the two. ("Reducing Risks: Setting Priorities and 

 Strategies for Environmental Protection", U.S. EPA, Sept. 1990; emphasis 

 added). 

 In March 1992, a distinguished four-member "Expert Panel on the Role of Science 

 at EPA", presented their report to EPA Administrator Reilly. Their overall findings 

 do not paint a very encouraging picture of the scientific mission and direction at 

 the EPA, and strongly criticized the quality of science and budgetary planning proc- 

 ess at the agency. Among their many conclusions were: 



• "EPA does not have a coherent science agenda and operational plan to 

 guide scientific efforts throughout the Agency and support its focus on relatively 

 high-risk environmental problems." 



• "In many cases, appropriate science advice and information is not consid- 

 ered early or often enough in the decisionmaking process." 



• "EPA has not consistently enlisted the nation's best scientists to provide the 

 research and technical information needed for decisionmaking." ("Safeguarding 

 the Future: Credible Science, Credible Decisions", U.S. EPA, March, 1992). 



