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grated system for assessing, interpreting, educating, and effectively communicating 

 environmental knowledge to those who need it. The Federal environmental R&D ef- 

 fort is spread over more than 20 agencies, each with its own institutional mission 

 and legislative mandate. 



Fragmentation of national environmental R&D prevents broad analysis and un- 

 derstanding of critical environmental problems that frequently transcend scientific 

 disciplines and cut across agency boundaries. The absence of a commitment to long- 

 term environmental research and education, strategic planning, and lack of integra- 

 tion by the agencies, makes it difficult for decision makers to anticipate problems 

 before they become costly environmental crises. 



The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources 



The Clinton Administration has recognized the need for stronger coordination of 

 existing programs. The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) 

 of the National Science and Technology Council represents an attempt to address 

 inadequacies in Federal environmental R&D. The CNIE supports this initiative to 

 provide leadership and to rationalize and coordinate the more than 20 agency pro- 

 grams. It is our hope that the proposed CENR can prove effective in its initial ef- 

 forts to set priorities, coordinate agencies, and change the direction of Federal envi- 

 ronmental research. At the same time, we must be realistic about the inherent limi- 

 tations of any attempt to correct the significant shortcomings of the existing R&D 

 structure by relying totally on that structure itself. 



• Coordination will inevitably clash with the research priorities of the agen- 

 cies as they conduct their usual business, which is statutorily based on near- 

 term regulatory and management duties. 



• CENR, a White House managed research planning effort cannot achieve a 

 true partnership with the various environmental stakeholders because it does 

 not include those most affected by environmental problems in its priority setting 

 process. 



• It is unclear whether the CENR can improve the credibility of Federal envi- 

 ronmental research, as the infrastructure continues to be largely intramural, fo- 

 cused on near-term regulatory mandates, and often not subject to peer review. 



• Because the CENR remains dependent on the commitment of the White 

 House, it is uncertain how this mechanism could, over the long-term, withstand 

 political pressures and changes in Administrations. 



Adaptations to the existing Federal infrastructure, such as CENR or the proposed 

 changes in the EPA's organization, will accomplish much, but will not be sufficient 

 to successfully address the environmental challenges of the future. Since 1989, a di- 

 verse coalition of scientists, environmentalists, business leaders, State and local gov- 

 ernment officials, and community activists have recognized the need for a new, com- 

 prehensive national approach to provide credible environmental information. 



The National Institute for the Environment 



The proposed NIE will focus on long-term, policy relevant research on large scale 

 environmental problems, and target voids in the environmental knowledge base that 

 do not fit neatly within the narrow mission of one agency. The NIE will complement 

 the existing Federal structure and meet the critical need recognized by the pre- 

 viously cited reports. It will not replace or duplicate the existing Federal programs, 

 which are needed to fulfill missions and achieve regulatory deadlines, but would re- 

 search environmental issues that the present system is unable to address well. The 

 NIE should not be considered as an alternative to the current Federal system, but 

 as a necessary and essential complement. 



The NIE would be an independent, non-regulatory institution with the mission to 

 improve the scientific basis for decision-making on environmental issues. It would 

 achieve this mission 



by integrating four critical areas of (1) knowledge assessment, (2) research, (3) in- 

 formation services (through a state-of-the-art electronic National Library for the En- 

 vironment), and (4) education and training. By being integrated for the first time 

 within one agency, each of these activity areas would benefit from, and reinforce, 

 the others in a way that cannot occur in the decentralized Federal system. 



