-------
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Front Cover Photo: Steve Delaney, EPA, San Francisco, CA
Back Cover Artwork: Edward, Grade 9, San Antonio, TX
Chapter Dividers:
1, Melanie, Grade 8, San Francisco, CA
2, Krystelle, Grade 12, Lanai, HI
3, Jenna, Grade 6, Aiea, HI
4, Sherilynn, Grade 11, Lanai City, HI
5, Nicholas, Grade 10, West Bountiful, UT
6, Allison, Grade 10, Edison, NJ
7, Crystal, Grade 7, Queens, NY
8, Gillian, Grade 12, Elma, NY
9, Robbie, Grade 8, Bacon, GA
10, li-Hsien, Grade 11, Gardena, CA
-------
MESSAGE FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR
March 2000
I am proud to present the Environmental Protection Agency's first Annual Perfor-
mance Report, a picture of our progress over the past fiscal year. In this report, we high-
light our performance results and see how our work contributes to a cleaner environment
and safeguards the health of all Americans, especially children, the elderly, and other
vulnerable populations. We are committed to building on these results to achieve an even
cleaner, healthier environment in the future.
This report covers our contributions in three areas that I believe are particularly im-
portant: improving the quality of our environment; employing innovative approaches and
partnerships to achieve environmental results; and improving the quality and accessibility
of environmental information. Our accomplishments in each of these areas are high-
lighted in the "Overview" and presented in greater detail in each of the goal chapters that
follow.
More than a record of EPA's accomplishments, however, this Annual Performance
Report is a vital tool in the Agency's effort to manage its work and resources to achieve
real, measurable environmental results. It is the final product in a cycle that began in 1997
when EPA published its Strategic Plan and progressed as we restructured our budget,
enabling us to prepare Annual Performance Plans that tie our resources to our goals and
hold us accountable for achieving results. This report provides the performance and
results information that can help us assess our progress and make sound planning and
budgeting decisions for the coming years.
It is clear, however, that we could not have been successful in any of the areas high-
lighted in the report without the contributions of our State, Tribal, local, and Federal
government partners. We share credit for these results with our partners and with the
many public and private organizations and individuals who support and contribute to
environmental protection efforts.
Today, we have the technology, tools, and capabilities to make advances in environ-
mental and public health protection like never before. We have an opportunity to gather
and analyze information, make it fully accessible to the public, and use it to devise inno-
vative strategies that produce results worthy of the American people. Our continued
investment in this work will provide for our continued progress toward a safe and healthy
world for generations to come.
Carol M. Browner
Administrator
-------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Overview
Introduction 1
EPA's Mission and Strategic Goals 1
Overview of FY1999 Results 1
Selected Accomplishments 2
Reducing Pollution for an Improved Environment 2
Innovative Approaches and Partnerships to Achieve Environmental Results 3
Improved Information for Decision-Making and Increased Public Access 5
Building on Lessons Learned 6
Looking Ahead 7
Conclusion 8
Goall: Clean Air
Overview 11
FY 1999 Performance 12
Attain NAAQS for Ozone and PM 12
Reducing Emissions of Air Toxics 13
Attain NAAQS for CO, SO2, and Lead 14
Reduce Sulfur and Nitrate Deposition That Causes Acid Rain 15
Program Evaluation 16
Reformulated Gasoline (RFG) Evaluation 16
Emissions Trading and Other Market-Based Regulatory Tools 17
Participate Matter (PM) Monitors 17
Conclusions and Challenges 18
Key Milestones for the Future t 18
Goal 2: Clean and Safe Water
Overview 21
FY1999 Performance 21
Safe Drinking Water, Reduced Exposure to Contaminated Fish,
and Healthy Recreational Waters 21
Conserve and Enhance the Nation's Waters 23
Reduce Loadings and Air Deposition 26
Program Evaluation 28
Conclusions and Challenges 28
Key Milestones for the Future 29
Goal 3: Safe Food
Overview 33
FY1999 Performance 33
Reducing Risk from Agricultural Use of Pesticides 33
Reducing Applications on Food of Pesticides Not Meeting Health Standards... 34
I Program Evaluation 36
« Conclusions and Challenges 37
Jjj Key Milestones for the Future 37
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Table of Contents (continued)
Goal 4: Preventing Pollution and Reducing Risk in Communities, Homes, Workplaces, and Ecosystems
Overview 41
FY1999 Performance 41
Reducing Community Exposure to Pesticides 41
Fighting Lead Poisoning. 42
Ensuring Safe Use of Commercial Chemicals 43
Creating Healthier Indoor Air 44
Fostering Pollution Prevention 45
Reducing the Quantity and Toxicity of Waste 46
Assessing Environmental Conditions in Indian Country 47
Program Evaluation 47
Challenges and Conclusions 48
Key Milestones for the Future 48
Goal 5: Better Waste Management, Restoration of Contaminated Waste Sites, and Emergency Response
Overview 53
FY1999 Performance 53
Ensuring Progress Toward Effective and Efficient Cleanups 53
Effective Risk Prevention Through Safe Waste Management 58
Program Evaluation 59
Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program 59
Oil Spill Program 59
Conclusions and Challenges 60
Site Cleanup, Management, and Enforcement 60
Economic Revitalization of Waste Sites 60
Improving Environmental Data 60
Key Milestones for the Future 61
Goal 6: Reduction of Global and Cross-Border Environmental Risks
Overview 65
FY1999 Performance 65
Protecting Border Environments 65
Global Climate Change 67
Restoring the Ozone Layer 68
Circulating Chemicals 69
Cleaner and Cheaper Practices 71
Program Evaluation 72
Conclusions and Challenges 72
Key Milestones for the Future 72
Goal 7: Expansion of Americans' Right-to-Know About Their Environment
Overview 75
FY1999 Performance 75
Empowering the Public with Environmental Information., 75
Providing Information to Reduce Risks to Human Health
and the Environment 77
Enhancing EPA Partners' Abilities to Address
Environmental Problems ; 78
Program Evaluation 79
few
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Table of Contents (continued)
Conclusions and Challenges 80
Key Milestones for the Future 80
Goal 8: Sound Science, Improved Understanding of Environmental Risk,
and Greater Innovation to Address Environmental Problems
Overview 85
FY 1999 Performance 85
Understanding Ecosystems 85
Understanding the Greatest Environmental Risks to Human Health 87
Detecting Emerging Risks 87
Understanding How to Prevent Pollution
and Design New Environmental Protection Technologies 88
Quantifying Tangible Results of Integrated Partnerships 89
Improvements Through Testing Sector- and Facility-Based Innovations 89
Providing Validated Data to Enable Accurate
Environmental Decision-Making 90
Science Advisory Board Guidance that Improves
the Production and Use of Science at EPA 91
Incorporating Innovative Approaches into EPA Programs 91
Program Evaluation 92
Conclusions and Challenges 92
Key Milestones for the Future 92
Goal 9: A Credible Deterrent to Pollution and Greater Compliance with the Law
Overview 97
FY1999 Performance 97
Identifying and Reducing Noncompliance with Environmental Laws 97
Promoting Compliance Through Assistance and Incentives 100
Program Evaluation 102
Conclusions and Challenges 103
Key Milestones for the Future 103
Goal 10: Effective Management
Overview 107
FY1999 Performance 107
Executive Leadership 107
Management Services, Administration, and Stewardship 108
Building Operations, Utilities, and New Construction 110
Audit and Investigative Services Ill
Program Evaluation [ 112
Conclusions and Challenges 112
Key Milestones for the Future 113
Appendix A: FY 1999 Summary of Performance
Appendix B: List of Acronyms
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
The Annual Performance Report (APR) de-
scribes results the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) achieved relative to the annual performance
goals set in its Annual Plan for Fiscal Year (FY)
1999. The APR is the final product in EPA's first
full cycle of implementing the Government Perfor-
mance and Results Act (GPRA), a cycle which began
with publication of EPA's Strategic Plan in Septem-
ber 1997 and has continued with the development
of Annual Plans each year thereafter. The FY 1999
Annual Plan presented for the first time the new
results-based approach that translates the Agency's
longer-term strategic goals into annual goals and
measures linked to each year's budget. By integrat-
ing planning, budgeting, analysis, and accountability,
EPA is better placed to obtain more meaningful
public health and environmental results for the
American people.
EPA'S MISSION AND STRATEGIC GOALS
EPA's mission statement encompasses all of the
Agency's legislative authorities and serves as a
guidepost for all of its activities. To support its
mission, EPA established a strategic planning frame-
work comprising ten strategic goals with associated
long-term objectives. Annual performance goals
(APGs) identify progress planned each year towards
the longer-term commitments.
OVERVIEW OF FY 1999 RESULTS
EPA is proud of its FY 1999 contributions to
establishing a cleaner, healthier environment. The
results presented in this report demonstrate contin-
ued progress and reveal a mix of tools and ap-
proaches used to protect public health and promote
environmental protection. Throughout the year, the
Agency worked closely with its primary partners-
States, Tribes, and other Federal agencies—whose
involvement contributed significantly to the annual
MISSION
The mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency is to protect human health and to safe-
guard the natural environment—air, water, and
land—upon which life depends.
STRATEGIC GOALS
1. Clean Air
2. Clean and Safe Water
3. Safe Food
4. Preventing Pollution and Reducing Risk in
Communities, Homes, Workplaces, and
Ecosystems
5. Better Waste Management, Restoration of
Contaminated Waste Sites, and Emergency
Response
6. Reduction of Global and Cross-Border
Environmental Risks
7. Expansion of Americans' Right-to-Know
About Their Environment
8. Sound Science, Improved Understanding
of Environmental Risk, and Greater
Innovation to Address Environmental
Problems
9. A Credible Deterrent to Pollution and
Greater Compliance with the Law
10. Effective Management
accomplishments discussed in this report and to the
progress toward longer-term environmental results.
For FY 1999, EPA can report.significant accom-
plishments that contributed to cleaner air and land
and safer food and water, while meeting 44 of the
69 APGs to which the Agency committed in its
FY 1999 Annual Plan. For one APG, the perfor-
mance level achieved was lower than the original
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
target; however, the overall accomplishment met the
intent of the goal. Assessment of achievement of
an additional 15 of the goals is affected by delays in
reporting cycles, missing data, or targets that fall
beyond FY 1999. Owing to a variety of factors,
EPA did not achieve nine of the accomplishments it
had planned for FY 1999. A table showing detailed
results for EPA's 69 APGs is included in Appendix
A-Table of Results. Results for these APGs also are
highlighted in bold, italictype in the following
chapters, which correspond to the Agency's ten
strategic goals.
Many factors influence the Agency's planning
processes and the setting of annual targets. Actual
performance in FY 1999 against the APGs targeted
for the year is an important factor for the Agency's
future planning. FY 1999 was the first year for
developing and reporting on APGs, and the Agency
has put considerable effort into refining its APGs
for FYs 2000/2001 to reflect experience to date,
improve their quality and measurability, and
enhance the precision of annual targets. The
Agency's FY 2000 Final Annual Plan, which the
Agency xpects to issue in March 2000, presents
the Agency's final annual performance goals for
FY2000 (against which the Agency will discuss
progress in the FY 2000 APR). The Agency will
apply lessons learned from performance in FY 2000,
where appropriate, to revise the APGs recently
proposed for FY 2001.
SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Highlights of EPA's FY 1999 accomplishments
reflect a range of activities and efforts and fall into
three categories: improving the environment by
reducing pollution, achieving results through innova-
tive approaches and partnerships, and improving
information.
Reducing Pollution for an Improved Environment
TLedudng Point Source Pollution: In FY 1999, an addi-
tional 3.4 million people (for a cumulative total of
179 million) received the benefits of secondary
treatment of wastewater, meeting the Agency's goal.
Through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
(CWSRF) program, Congress continues to provide
funds to States for the construction and mainte-
nance of wastewater treatment facilities, which are
[
necessary to reduce point source pollution. Since
1988, the CWSRF has financed 5,200 infrastructure
projects across the country, with 859 of those
funded in FY 1999. (Goal 2)
I
A deduction in Greenhouse Gases: During FY 1999,
EPA's government/industry partnership programs
contributed to the reduction of annual greenhouse
gas emissions by 35 million metric tons in carbon
equivalent (MMTCE), adding to the 73 MMTCE
already prevented since 1995. The Agency's climate
change efforts are designed to overcome barriers to
investments in more efficient technologies by
consumers and businesses. (Goal 6)
A.25 Percent 'Reduction in A.cid Raztt: In the Northeast
and Mid-Atlantic Regions of the United States,
where ecosystems are most affected by acidification,
acid deposition has declined by up to 25 percent
under the auspices of the acid rain program, which
implements a system of emissions trading known as
"cap and trade." This successful market-based
approach was established by the Clean Air Act to
control emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO^ from
electric power plants that cause acid rain and other
environmental and public health problems. In
addition, through FY 1999, EPA is on track to
maintain four million tons of SO2 emissions reduc-
tions from utility sources. (Goal 1)
SuperfundSite Construction Completed: EPA and its
partners met the Agency's goal to complete con-
struction at 85 Superfund sites in FY 1999, demon-
strating the success of recent major administrative
reforms in increasing the efficiency of the Super-
fund program. Sites where construction has been
completed are those where physical construction of
all clean-up actions is complete, all immediate
threats have been addressed, and long-term threats
are under control. In the past seven years, construc-
tion has been completed at more than three times
the number of sites addressed during the first 12
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
o€ tke ^togeaco.. Tke Agency lias progressed
from attaining 12 construction completions in 1991
to an annual average of over 74 per year from
FY 1993 through FY1999, for a cumulative total of
670 over the life of the program. More than 90
percent of the sites on the final National Priorities
List (NPL) are either undergoing clean-up construc-
tion or construction has been completed. Since
1982, the Superfund program has cleaned more than
216 million cubic yards of hazardous soil, solid
waste, and sediment and more than 325 billion
gallons of hazardous liquid-based waste, contami-
nated groundwater, and contaminated surface water,
while also supplying more than 431,000 people with
alternative water supplies. (Goal 5)
Reducing Pollutant Loadings as a Result a/Enforcement
Actions: In FY 1999, over 6.8 billion pounds of
pollutants were reduced as a result of EPA enforce-
ment actions. Also, about 21 percent of concluded
enforcement actions resulted in improvements in the
use or handling of pollutants to achieve emission
and discharge reductions. Another 47 percent of
concluded enforcement actions resulted in improve-
ments in facility management practices and informa-
tion collection. (Goal 9)
Reducing Emissions through Sector-Based Approaches: In
January 1998, EPA joined the metal finishing indus-
try and its stakeholders in launching the National
Metal Finishing Strategic Goals Program. Partici-
pants, including over 350 companies, 19 States, and
60 local governments, voluntarily pledged to meet
ambitious performance goals within five years. In
FY1999, facilities participating in sector-based
initiatives achieved environmental results as high as a
93 percent reduction in water use, 77 percent reduc-
tion in energy use, 99 percent reduction in organic
chemical use, and 73 percent reduction in metal
emissions. (Goal 8)
Innovative Approaches and Partnerships to Achieve
Environmental Results
Piloting New Approaches: EPA is taking a fresh look at
environmental problems and their solutions. The
Agency made strides in devising more efficient and
effective regulatory programs, emphasizing coopera-
tive partnerships, and building simpler and more
flexible processes for rule-making and permitting.
• Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxic (PBT)
chemicals (including mercury, lead, and
polychlorinated biphenals) are of particular
concern because they retain their toxicity
over long periods of time and accumulate in
human, animal, and plant tissue, resulting in
increased risk of birth defects, neurological
disorders, and other diseases. Recognizing
the risks posed by these chemicals, EPA has
adopted a multimedia strategy to minimize
or eliminate the presence of PBTs through a
concentrated effort using all available tools.
Key FY 1999 accomplishments include the
completion of a draft PBT strategy and draft
national action plans for 11 of the 12 prior-
ity PBT pollutants. The program also
initiated ten new partnership projects aimed
at achieving voluntary reductions in mercury
use and emissions. (Goal 4)
• EPA has been piloting a new approach to
broaden public participation in decision-
making on the use of older agricultural
pesticides. This new approach to reassess-
ment makes the process more transparent to
the agricultural community, whose members
are most directly affected by Agency find-
ings. EPA exceeded the statutory require-
ment of evaluating 33 percent of the 9,721
existing pesticide food tolerances by August
1999, completing a cumulative total of 3,430
reassessments (over 35 percent) as of Sep-
tember 30, 1999. (Goal 3)
• One of EPA's boldest innovations, Project
XL ("excellence and Leadership"), was
created through the President's Reinventing
Environmental Regulation Initiative. In
FY 1999, EPA approved five more regula-
tory pilot projects through Project XL,
bringing the number of pilot experiments in
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
the implementation stage to 15. An addi-
tional 36 XL proposals were either under
development or in negotiation, bringing the
total number of projects to 51 and meeting
the Agency's goal for FY 1999. To date,
these pilots have revealed over 40 opportuni-
ties for improving environmental regulations,
and eight innovations have already been
incorporated into EPA regulatory, permit-
ting, and stakeholder involvement ap-
proaches. (Goal 8)
ProtectingSensitive Populations and Places: EPA is
committed to providing equal environmental protec-
tion for all people and communities, spearheading a
number of activities to help ensure that no group of
people or geographic location bears a disproportion-
ate exposure to pollutants.
• EPA ensures that Agency standards address
children's unique vulnerability to health and
environmental threats and identifies and
assesses environmental health risks that
may affect children disproportionately. In
FY 1999, the Agency initiated a study to
examine children for the effects of two
endocrine disrupting chemicals. This study
will help to characterize the key factors that
influence human exposure to these chemi-
cals and other pesticides, toxics, and metals.
It also will help produce a field exposure
study protocol to support a follow-up, larger-
scale study to begin in FY 2000. The data
from these studies will provide more infor-
mation about where, when, and how chil-
dren and other sensitive sub-populations are
exposed to these kinds of environmental
contaminants. (Goals 8,10)
• In FY 1999, EPA demonstrated its commit-
ment to Brownfields redevelopment by
meeting its goal to provide funding and
technical support to 80 communities, bring-
ing the total of communities served to 307.
The Brownfields Assessment and Develop-
ment Program supports the assessment,
cleanup, and redevelopment of industrial
and commercial properties that have been
abandoned or under-utilized because of real
or perceived environmental contamination.
(Goal 5)
• Environmental justice is the fair treatment
and meaningful involvement of all people-
regardless of race, color, national origin, or:
income-in the development, implementa-
tion, and enforcement of environmental
laws, regulations, and policies. The Agency
is actively promoting awareness of environ-
mental justice issues, working with other
Federal agencies to implement environmen-
tal justice programs and providing communi-
ties the tools and data they need to partici-
pate actively in environmental decision-
making. EPA met its FY 1999 goal of
awarding 100 environmental justice grants to
eligible community groups, enhancing their
ability to address environmental problems.
(Goal 7)
Working with State and Tribal Partners: EPA's primary
partners in implementing environmental laws are
State and Tribal governments. Over the past two
decades States have assumed increasingly greater
responsibility in implementing the nation's environ-
mental statutes, including direct administration and
day-to-day management of many environmental
programs. State performance has brought about
significant environmental improvement and is
fundamental to the achievement of EPA's goals and
objectives. EPA also is committed to fulfilling the
Federal trust responsibility relative to the health and
environmental needs of the 562 Tribal nations, while
respecting their right of self-governance. EPA
formed a Federal/Tribal partnership in 1984 with
the promulgation of an Indian PoUcy to provide an
efficient means of ensuring that EPA's programs
protect public health and the envkonment on Tribal
lands.
• In FY 1999, EPA and many States continued
to work together through the National
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Ewrkoam.ei3.tal Performance Partnership
System (NEPPS) to determine both State
and National public health and environmen-
tal protection priorities. Performance
Partnership Agreements (PPAs) continued to
gain strength as a foundation of the relation-
ship between EPA and State agencies and as
a vehicle to facilitate agreements on the
priorities necessary for States to implement
national environmental programs. PPAs also
serve as work plans supporting grant agree-
ments and help distinguish the Federal and
State roles and responsibilities. As environ-
mental and human health protection issues
continue to grow in size, scope, and com-
plexity, the NEPPS working relationship
provides States the flexibility to try inte-
grated, cross-media, and other kinds of
innovative approaches. Key to the system is
the use of Core Performance Measures
(CPMs) to evaluate how well EPA and the
States are doing in accomplishing their goals.
State reporting to EPA on the CPMs is
reflected in assessment of annual perfor-
mance results discussed in the chapters that
follow. In April 1999, EPA and the Environ-
mental Council of the States (EGOS) senior
officials endorsed the Core Measures Agree-
ment, which outlines purposes and uses of
the CPMs and the conditions for State
reporting requirements. Many remaining
challenges must be addressed in the years
ahead to fully realize the goals articulated in
the NEPPS and other agreements between
the States and EPA.
In FY 1999, EPA supported the work of
Tribal governments in establishing and
addressing public health and environmental
priorities on Tribal lands. For example, EPA
developed a strategy for installing monitors
to obtain data on fine particle emissions in
Indian country and deployed 28 monitors in
FY 1999. The monitoring network will
provide Tribes with new particulate matter
data so they can evaluate the acceptability of
their air and identify contributing emission
sources. EPA also is helping Tribes to adopt
water quality standards and approved a new
set of standards for one Tribe in FY 1999.
With funding provided in FY 1999, 2,500
homes, within 28 Tribes in Indian country,
with inadequate sewage disposal systems
were connected to new or upgraded facili-
ties. In addition, over 300 homes using pit
privies were placed on septic systems or
connected to treatment works for the first
time.
Improved Information for Decision-Making and
Increased Public Access
Meeting Data Demands: EPA has focused on the
quality and availability of data to ensure effective
program management and accurate measurement of
program results. The Agency is committed to
improving and integrating data systems.
• EPA laid the groundwork for a new office
dedicated to improving information collec-
tion and information access. Formally
established in FY 2000, EPA's Office of
Environmental Information (OEI) will work
closely with external partners to meet their
data needs, develop appropriate policies
regarding data protection and information
security, create and oversee information
standards and records management policies,
and enhance the security and reliability of
EPA's information infrastructure. (Goal 7)
• EPA successfully positioned the Agency's
information technology assets for Year 2000
(Y2K) compliance. All 50 EPA mission
critical systems were assessed, renovated, and
certified through an independent certifica-
tion program. In addition, the Agency's
major computing platforms (mainframe,
client/server, supercomputer) and wide-area
telecommunications networks were 100
percent compliant, as were the 1,475 non-
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
mission critical systems and 28 data ex-
changes, which are a combination of mission
critical and non-mission critical systems.
(Goal 10)
• For the first time, all 50 States, the District
of Columbia, five territories, and numerous
Tribes each completed a comprehensive,
nationwide assessment of watersheds within
their boundaries. The results incorporate
water quality data, habitat conditions, endan-
gered species listings, and other environmen-
tal factors. Taken together, this information
helps all agencies identify the aquatic re-
sources in greatest need of protection and
restoration. (Goal 2)
Putting Information into the Hands of the Public: EPA
strives to provide information in simple, clear terms
and make it readily accessible to State and local
governments, the regulated community, and the
public.
• EPA, the Environmental Defense Fund, and
the Chemical Manufacturers Association
achieved considerable success in FY 1999
during the first phase of the Chemical Right-
to-Know Initiative, known as the High
Production Volume (HPV) Challenge
Program. The program focused on 2,800
chemicals produced or imported at volumes
greater than one million pounds per year and
aimed to identify and make public basic
screening-level information on titiese chemi-
cals, including some that may present par-
ticular concerns for children's health. By the
end of FY 1999, over 200 companies volun-
tarily committed to provide screening-level
toxicity information on over 1,150 of the
chemicals in question. (Goal 4)
BUILDING ON LESSONS LEARNED
As a learning year, FY 1999 provided EPA many
opportunities to identify and develop the capabilities
essential for results-based management. The
Agency knows that future successes will depend in
large measure on its ability to set quantifiable,
attainable goals and targets; to forecast external
factors that may have an impact on program plan-
ning; to measure performance and results more
precisely; and to analyze more accurately the rela-
tionships among costs, activities, and results.
For a variety of reasons that affected the
Agency's ability to accomplish what it had planned,
EPA achieved less than full performance for nine of
its 69 FY 1999 APGs. (These nine APGs are
associated with five of EPA's ten strategic goals.)
The Agency does not expect the shortfall in meeting
these annual performance targets, however, to
compromise its progress toward the long-range
goals to which they contribute. For example, the
Agency met the statutory and cumulative goal of
reassessing existing tolerances for pesticide food
uses but missed its annual target due to efforts to
strengthen involvement of the agricultural commu-
nity in the reassessment process. In another case,
the Agency added only four States (out of the eight
that were planned) to the One Stop Reporting
program in FY 1999. However, EPA did develop a
technology transfer activity to support States' efforts
to increase their level of information integration in
order to qualify for the One Stop program. While
they may not have resulted in the performance
planned for FY 1999, these and other such efforts
build a strong foundation for longer-term progress
towards the Agency's goals.
In some cases, external factors affected the
Agency's ability to achieve planned APGs. For
example, due to difficulties reaching agreements
with developing nations, EPA delivered 16 interna-
tional training modules instead of the 30 originally
planned. Similarly, the Agency's decision to relin-
quish interest in the Wilson building, so that the
District of Columbia-Government could return to
its historic home, delayed the consolidation of EPA
Headquarters offices at the Washington, DC Federal
Triangle.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
LOOKING AH£AD
In addition to APGs, other program issues will
require careful attention by the Agency and its
partners in order to maintain progress towards the
achievement of long-term results. The Agency is
working to address these challenges, some of which
are described below, as it continues to strive for
environmental outcomes.
Major Management Issues: EPA's senior leadership
takes the major management challenges facing the
Agency seriously and works diligently to address the
concerns identified by the Agency's internal reviews,
the General Accounting Office (GAO), the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB), and EPA's
Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The
Agency made substantial progress on these issues in
FY 1999 as discussed in Chapters 2, 5, 7, 8, and 10.
Corrective actions are in place for the Agency's
remaining management challenges and are being
tracked through EPA's Integrity Act program, audit
follow-up, and management reports. EPA will
continue to address management challenges and
program risks and expects to complete corrective
actions on several of these challenges during
FY 2000.
Air Court Case—Implications for the Future of EPA's
Regulations: In May 1999, in a split decision (two to
one), a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the DC Circuit held that the Clean Air Act, as
applied in setting the new public health air quality
standards for ozone and particulate matter, repre-
sents an unconstitutional delegation of legislative
authority. The court's decision calls into question
these important new air quality standards for ozone
and particulate matter, which would protect the
health of 125 million Americans, including 35
million children. Ozone and particulate matter are
harmful pollutants that contribute to acute health
effects ranging from asthma and other respiratory
problems to premature death. The court's decision
stands in the way of EPA's public health protection
efforts and carries with it long-term implications not
only for these new air quality standards, but also for
many other Federal regulations based on broad
grants of authority to Executive Branch agencies. In
January, the Administration filed a certiorari petition
seeking Supreme Court review of key aspects of the
court's opinion. (Goal 1)
Non-Point Source Pollution: Non-point source pollu-
tion is the nation's largest contributor to water
quality problems. There are literally millions of
diffuse sources of polluted runoff from agricultural
lands, residential areas, city streets, and forests and
from pollutants settling out of the air. A key chal-
lenge for the future is to foster a national commit-
ment to preventing non-point source pollution,
assuring adequate investments by Federal, State,
Tribal, and local governments to address this prob-
lem. (Goal 2)
Performance Information—Needjbr Improved Data Quality
and Availability and Better Measures: EPA gathers
much of its data on the environment from sources
outside the Agency, whose reporting cycles and data
standards vary widely. For both its own data and
those provided by outside sources, EPA must
continue to focus on the quality and availability of
the data in order to ensure accurate measurement of
program results. In a few instances, data relevant to
FY 1999 APGs are either lacking or of poor quality.
The Agency is working to determine what data are
needed to set better baselines and to assess results
over the long term. It is also working with program
partners to develop performance measures that
focus more on the outcomes of its work in order to
supplement measures of programmatic activities.
Need'for Improved andMoreAccessibleInformation: EPA,
in cooperation with States and Tribes, must advance
efforts to reinvent environmental information by
adopting formal data standards, providing universal
access to electronic reporting, and re-engineering the
Agency's national data systems. Efforts such as
Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and
Community Tracking (EMPACT), Environmental
Justice grants, and Consumer Confidence Reports
on drinking water help provide communities and
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
individuals with the information and tools they need
to address environmental problems. EPA is striving
to provide information in simpler, clearer terms and
make it more accessible to State, Tribal, and local
governments, the regulated community, and the
public. (Goal?)
CONCLUSION
The chapters that follow discuss EPA's FY 1999
progress toward the Agency's goals and objectives.
The chapters provide a goal-by-goal discussion,
focusing specifically on the Agency's accomplish-
ments against its FY 1999 annual performance goals.
The three themes highlighted in the Administrator's
message and in this Overview-reducing pollution,
innovative approaches and partnerships, and im-
proved environmental information-are evident
throughout the chapters. These tiiemes help to
characterize the many accomplishments EPA,
together with its State, Tribal, and Federal agency
partners, achieved during FY 1999 and expects to
achieve in FY 2000 and in future years.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Artwork byMelanie
-------
-------
GOAL 1: CLEAN AIR
The ak in every American community will be safe and healthy to breathe. In particular,
children, the elderly, and people with respiratory ailments will be protected from health
risks of breathing polluted air. Reducing ak pollution will also protect the envkonment,
resulting in many benefits, such as restoring life in damaged ecosystems and reducing
health risks to those whose subsistence depends dkecdy on those ecosystems.
OVERVIEW
EPA and its partners have made significant
strides to protect public health by dramatically
reducing pollution from factories, vehicles, power
plants, and many other sources. Almost three
Comparison of Growth Areas
and Emissions Trends
1970
1980 1990 1997
Year
Vehicle Miles Traveled Increased 127%
U.S. Gross Domestic Product
Increased 114%
U.S. Population Increased 31%
Aggregate Emissions Decreased 31%
(of Six Principal Pollutants)
decades of air pollution control have significantly
improved air quality. These improvements occurred
during times of population growth and while the
number of vehicle miles traveled also were increas-
ing-
Under the Clean Ak Act, EPA has developed
health-based National Ambient Ak Quality Stan-
dards (NAAQS) for six common ak pollutants:
carbon monoxide (CO), lead (Pb), nitrogen dioxide
(NO^, ozone (O^, participate matter (PM), and
sulfur dioxide (SO^. Nationally, the 1997 average ak
quality levels were the best on record for all six
pollutants, and the 1998 levels were as good or
better for all pollutants except ozone.
Many air quality improvements stem from
pollution control efforts undertaken by State, local,
and Tribal entities as well as industry actions. Ef-
forts include reducing sulfur in fuels, tightening
tailpipe standards for cars and diesel engines, and
reducing emissions from power plants and other
industrial plants.
Significant reductions of hazardous ak pollutant
emissions (e.g., benzene found in gasoline) also have
been achieved. Hazardous air pollutants, known as
"ak toxics," are emitted from thousands of station-
ary and mobile sources and are transported through
the atmosphere over regional, national, and global
ak sheds. EPA encourages the use of innovative
approaches to reduce the release of ak pollutants.
For example, the Clean Ak Act established a market-
based program to control emissions from electric
power plants that cause acid rain and other envkon-
mental and public health problems. These emissions
can travel hundreds of miles away from the pollut-
ing sources, crossing State and national boundaries.
The market-based program reduces sulfur and
nitrogen emissions from electric utilities through the
use of economic incentives. This gives utilities the
flexibility and incentive to reduce emissions at a
lower cost while still ensuring that overall emission
reductions are achieved.
Despite this progress, air pollution problems
remain. Though air quality trends have improved
nationally, there are still both urban and rural areas
with concentrations above the level of EPA's health-
based national standards. Ozone, for example,
remains a persistent problem. EPA and its State,
Tribal, and local partners should continue to ensure
steady improvements in air quality.
EPA established four objectives in its Strategic
Plan to guide its work toward this goal: attain
NAAQS for ozone and particulate matter; reduce
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Population in Counties
with Pollution Levels Above the NAAQS
CO
PB
NO2
03 (1 hr)
03 (8 hr)
PM10
SO2
AnyNAAQS(1-hrO3)
Any NAAQS (8-hr O3)
1991 111998
50 100 150
Millions of People
emissions of air toxics; attain NAAQS for CO, SO2,
and lead; and reduce sulfur and nitrate deposition
caused by acid rain.
FY 1999 PERFORMANCE
Attain NMQS for Ozone and PM
By 2010, EPA is committed to improving air
quality for Americans living in areas that do not
meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards
(NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter.
Ozone
More people live in counties with unhealthful
levels of ground-level ozone than any other air
pollutant. Ozone (urban smog) can impair lungs,
cause chest pain and shortness of breath, and
aggravate asthma, bronchitis, and emphysema.
EPA's long-term objective for ozone is that by 2010,
the air will be safer to breathe for 122 million
Americans living in counties expected to have
monitored air above the 8-hour standards in 1999.
In July 1997, EPA published revised, more
protective NAAQS for ozone and PM. On May 14,
1999, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit issued an opinion restricting EPA's
ability to implement the new regulations. The court
found that a Clean Air Act standard, as interpreted
by EPA in setting these standards, represented an
unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to
the executive branch, but the court did not question
the science or the process conducted by EPA in
revising the NAAQS. While the Agency plans to
take no actions that might be construed as inconsis-
tent with the court's opinion, it continues to believe
the new standards are necessary to protect public
health. In late January, the Administration sought
Supreme Court review of this decision.
The court decision did not affect the validity of
the existing pre-1997 standards. To ensure that
public health is protected, EPA has proposed to
reinstate the 1-hour ozone standard in the nearly
3,000 counties where it had been revoked. Rein-
statement of the 1-hour standard would ensure that
air quality in areas that had met the 1-hour standard
does not backslide while the litigation is being
resolved. >
EPA established performance goals for FY 1999
before the May court decision. Although the
Agency exceeded its goal of revoking the 1-hour
standard for eight areas with the non-attainment
designation, judicial decisions have since caused the
Agency to revisit the goal (APG1). As a result of
the court case, EPA is now working to reinstate the
1-hour standards.
Particulate Matter (PM)
PM is the general term for a mixture of solid
particles and liquid droplets found in the air. These
particles originate from many stationary and mobile
sources. Studies have shown a link between PM
exposures and potentially shortened life span as well
as respkatory disease and other conditions. Sensitive
groups that appear to be at greatest risk for the
health effects-include the elderly, children, and
people with asthma. PM emissions also contribute
to regional haze that impairs visibility in national
parks and wilderness areas. An example of an
ongoing project to improve visibility and reduce
haze is shown in the sidebar on the following page.
EPA has been working with States and Tribes to
develop and install monitoring networks to obtain
data on fine particle emissions. As of the end of the
fiscal year, the States deployed PM25 ambient
monitors at 1,110 sites, effectively meeting the
purpose of the goal. The goal in the Annual Plan
was 1,500 monitors; however, 1,110 monitors were
deployed based on the results of a Congressionally
mandated study done by the National Academy of
Science (MAS) (APG 2). PM^ "fine" are particles
less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. EPA also
developed a strategy for deploying PM25 monitors in
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
IMPROVING AIR QUALITY
IN THE MT. ZIRKEL WILDERNESS AREA
Throughout the past decade, SO2 emissions from
coal-fired power plants in Colorado have affected
visibility and contributed to high levels of acid
precipitation in the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness Area.
EPA, the U.S. Forest Service, the State of Colorado,
the Sierra Club, and nearby utility companies are
working to control emissions. This partnership has
resulted in a negotiated settlement with the previ-
ously uncontrolled Hayden plant to build and
operate new pollution control equipment. As a
result, new controls will reduce annual sulfur
dioxide emissions by 14,000 tons (nearly 85 per-
cent) and oxides of nitrogen emissions by 5,000
tons (over 40 percent) by the end of 2000.
Indian country and in FY 1999 deployed 28 moni-
tors on Tribal lands. The deployment of this moni-
toring network is a crucial first step toward healthier
air for millions of people. The network will provide
States and Tribes with new PM data so they can
evaluate the acceptability of their air, identify emis-
sion sources, make non-attainment designations, and
develop strategies and plans for attaining the new
standard consistent with the ultimate outcome of
the court case and any subsequent review of the
standard. The May 14, 1999 court decision on the
NAAQS did not affect the authority or need for
establishment and operation of the PM25 monitor-
ing network. In addition, monitoring data will
inform future reviews of the particulate matter air
quality standard.
Research Contributions
Ground-level ozone is the most complex,
difficult to control, and pervasive of the six air
pollutants for which EPA sets NAAQS. Under
certain conditions, emissions of ozone-precursors
can travel hundreds of miles from their origin and
result in high ozone concentrations over large
regions. The Agency's research is providing and
refining models for predicting the impact of cLown-
wind ozone concentrations. An important focus of
the Agency's FY 1999 research was establishing the
reliability of the Models-3/Community Multiscale
Air Quality-Version 3 model for ozone NAAQS
attainment planning through operational and diag-
nostic evaluation against field data. This model is
the Agency's standard for projecting the require-
ments and benefits of alternative ozone control
options and underlies Tribal, State, and local agency
efforts to attain the ozone standard.
The Agency's particulate matter research pro-
gram is closely aligned with high priority PM re-
search issues recommended by the National Re-
search Council. In FYJ999, EPA identified and
evaluated two plausible biological mechanisms by
which PM causes death and disease in humans
(APG3). The biological mechanisms identified and
evaluated are the attributes (e.g., particle size and
composition) of PM that underlie its toxicity and
characteristics common to "PM susceptible" sub-
populations (e.g., the elderly with cardiopulmonary
disease). As part of its efforts in achieving this goal,
EPA completed reports on PM-induced toxicity, PM
dosimetry, and PM characteristics associated with
biological responses. In addition to the numerous
publications that have resulted from the research
efforts thus far, EPA also sponsored a PM collo-
quium attended by 350 scientists from 12 countries.
The meeting communicated the state of the science
and identified the additional research needed to
improve EPA's understanding of PM and increase its
ability to reduce PM health risks.
Reducing Emissions of Air Toxics
By 2010, EPA is committed to reducing air
toxics emissions by 75 percent from 1993 levels to
significantly reduce the risk to Americans of cancer
and other serious adverse health effects caused by
airborne toxics.
Available data from U.S. cities indicate that air
toxics may increase an individual's lifetime cancer
risk by one in 10,000. People who live near certain
major industrial plants may face even higher cancer
risks. To address these sources, EPA develops and
ensures implementation of technology-based stan-
dards for major stationary sources of toxic pollut-
ants.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Reductions in Ait Toxics Emissions
from Implementation of MACT Standards
600,000
500,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
HON' Solvent Dry Gasoline
Cleaning Cleaning Distribution
•so* -eo% -sex -m
•HamdoutOlstnlcNeSHAP (National Emission
Ship- Magnetic Secon-
building Taps dary
Mfg. Lead
Percent Smelting
Reduction: -24% -51% -72%
Coke Chrome Wood Cooling
Ovens Electro- Furniture Towers
plating Mfg.
-80%
The Agency, in partnership with State, Tribal,
and local agencies, is on track to meet its goal of
reducing air toxic emissions. FY1999 data indicate
a 14 percent reduction in air toxic emissions, result-
ing in a cumulative reduction of 27percent from
1993 levels (APG 4). EPA calculates the percentage
reductions annually using the National Toxics
Inventory (NTT), which is updated every three years.
The 1999 NTI will be published in 2002. EPA's
Regional offices reviewed emission inventories from
18 States and State ak quality data from 100 moni-
toring sites to assure quality and consistency. Con-
currently, States conducted 25 emission inventories
and collected ambient data from 157 monitoring
sites. To date, EPA has developed and issued 46
technology-based standards to protect human health
and the environment by cutting large quantities of
toxic emissions released into the ak.
The technology-based regulation of air toxics
already has brought significant reductions (see
graphs above). From 1992 to 1997, EPA promul-
gated Maximum Achievable Control Technology
(MACT) standards for 92 source categories, elimi-
nating one million tons of ak toxics and 1.5 million
tons of smog-causing Volatile Organic Compounds
(VOCs) per year. In the preceding 20 years, only
seven such standards, eliminating 125,000 tons of
toxics, were in place. In FY 1999, EPA promulgated
16 MACT standards for 26 source categories.
Air pollution from mobile sources, such as cars
and trucks, accounts for close to one-thkd of the
nationwide emissions of ak toxics. EPA is working
to reduce toxic ak emissions from mobile sources.
Since 1995, EPA has been working with States to
-99%
-60% >-99%
implement a two-phase reformu-
lated gasoline (RFG) program to
improve air quality. Phase I of the
RFG program made great progress.
Between 1995 and 1999, it cut
emissions of toxic pollutants 17
percent, compared to conventional
gasoline, in communities where 75
million people live and work. Phase
II, which began January 1, 2000,
takes another step toward cleaner
ak. It will reduce smog-forming
pollutants 27 percent more than
! conventional gasoline.
Research Contributions
Ak toxics research provides the knowledge
necessary to quantify emissions, identify key pollut-
ants, and develop strategies for cost-effective risk
management. In FY 1999, the research program
completed health assessments for four high-priority
air toxics, one short of the five assessments that were
planned (APG 5). Dose-response assessments for
dichloropropene and cadmium will allow the urban
air toxics program to evaluate potential risks from
these chemicals. Assessments for ethylene glycol
monobutyl ether and ace tonitrile will assist in
estimating residual risk and in determining whether
to rescind a chemical's toxic designation. The fifth
assessment, for vinyl chloride, was delayed and will
be completed in FY 2000. This delay will not
impact achievement of the 2010 strategic objective.
Attain NAAQS for CO, SO2, and Lead
By 2005, EPA is committed to improve ak
quality for Americans living in areas that do not
meet NAAQS for CO, SO2, and lead. (All areas
currently meet the standard for nitrogen oxide-
N0r)
These pollutants pose high risks to both public
health and the envkonment. They can affect breath-
ing, cause respiratory illness, and aggravate existing
cardiovascular disease. Exposure to lead can cause
kidney disease and reproductive and neurological
disorders. EPA has successfully reduced these ak
pollutant emissions while working toward the goal
of having all areas in attainment by 2005. EPA will
continue to work with areas to develop emission
reduction strategies to clean the ak of these pollut-
Envtammcnlal Prelection Agency
-------
ants and to prevent areas -with, clean air from deterio-
rating.
Areas are redesignated when they are 'deter-
mined to meet EPA's standard for clean air. In
FY1999, 13 additional areas were tedesignated as
attainment areas, having met the EPA standard for
CO, SO2, or lead, thus reducing the total from 158 to
74 non-attainment areas (APG 6). While working
with areas to maintain clean air, EPA will continue
to bring non-attainment areas into attainment
through mobile source program implementation,
including wintertime oxygenated fuels programs and
inspection and maintenance programs for automo-
biles.
EPA estimates that mobile sources emit 77
percent of the national CO emissions and a larger
share in urban areas. While only a handful of non-
attainment areas remain, EPA and the States will rely
on continued or strengthened reductions from
mobile sources to complete the task of attaining the
ambient standard by 2005 and to offset expected
longer-term population and economic growth.
Reduce Sulfur and Nitrate Deposition That Causes
Acid Rain
By 2010, EPA's objective is that ambient sulfates
and total sulfur deposition will be reduced by 20-40
percent from 1980 levels due to reduced sulfur
dioxide emissions from utilities and industrial
sources. By 2000, ambient nitrates and total nitro-
gen deposition will be reduced by 5-10 percent from
1980 levels due to reduced emissions of nitrogen
oxides from utilities and mobile sources.
Emissions of SO, and NOX react in the atmo-
sphere and fall to earth as acid rain, causing acidifi-
cation of lakes and streams and contributing to tree
damage at high elevations. NOX emissions are also a
major precursor of ozone. SO2 and NOX gases
form fine particles that ultimately affect public
health by contributing to premature mortality,
chronic bronchitis, and other respiratory problems.
The fine particles also contribute to reduced visibil-
ity in national parks and elsewhere. Additionally,
NOX deposition contributes to the depletion of
oxygen in coastal waters, damaging native aquatic
life. The maps below represent wet sulfate deposi-
tion over time. As illustrated in the .1995-1997 map,
following the 1995 implementation of the Acid Rain
Program, total sulfur deposition fell in a dramatic
and unprecedented reduction of up to 25 percent
over a large area of the eastern United States.
Emissions data are not available until 12 months
after the end of the calendar year. Therefore, 1999
data will not be available until late 2000, SO2 emis-
sions from utility sources were 13.1 million tons in
1997 compared to 17.5 million tons in 1980, repre-
senting a decrease of 4.4 million tons. NOX emis-
sions from coal-fired utility sources were 5.6. million
tons in 1997 compared to 6.1 million tons that
would have been emitted in the absence of the
Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. EPA is on
track to meet its goal to maintain four million tons of
SO2 emissions reductions &om utility sources and
maintain 300,000 tons ofNOx reductions from coal- ,
Bred utility sources (APG 7).
Changes in Sulfate Deposition in the Eastern U.S. Pre- and Post-1990 CAA Amendments
1989-91 1995-97
<5 8 11 14 17 20 23 26 29 32 >35 <5 8 11 11 17 20 23 26 29 32 >35
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
The graph below illustrates the long-term goal
of emissions reductions under the Title IV trading
program of the Clean Air Act. During Phase I of
the program, SO2 emissions initially dropped by
nearly 25 percent below the mandated emission
ceiling because affected utility sources reduced
emissions to save allowances for use under the more
stringent Phase II of the program, which begins in
2000 and has stricter reduction rules. These banked
allowances will be gradually used up until the man-
dated emission ceiling is reached in 2010.
Reductions in SO, and NO,, Emissions
Z A.
from Utility Sources Following CAA
Title IV Implementation
20
•<-*.
** 1*5'
I
.§.10-
1 5-
17.5
SO2 Emissions
16.3 15.9
ussions ..-B18.7
'Q »••""*"
•a Without Title IV
With Title IV
NOX Emissions
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Year
NOX emissions are projected to be 5.7 million
tons in 2010, or two million tons below levels that
would have been attained without implementation
of Tide IV Unlike the SO2 program, NOX emis-
sions are not capped; rather, affected sources are
required to adhere to an emissions rate. Without a
cap, NOX emissions would be expected to rise in the
future as demand for electrical use increases.
The emissions trading program has proven to be
an extremely cost-effective mechanism, facilitating
100 percent compliance by affected sources and
stimulating early emissions reductions. In the
Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Regions of the United
States, where ecosystems are most sensitive to acidic
deposition, sulfate levels in precipitation have
declined by up to 25 percent. Initial findings on
nitrate concentrations, however, showed little de-
crease because overall NOX emissions have remained
fairly constant due to offsetting increases in emis-
sions from non-utility sources.
PROGRAM EVALUATION
Reformulated Gasoline (RFC) Evaluation
In December 1998, in response to growing
concern about MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether)
in drinking water, EPA's Administrator appointed a
panel to examine benefits and concerns related to
RFG (MTBE :and other oxygenates). The examina-
tion also included identifying data gaps and evaluat-
ing alternatives to the status quo based on their
effects on air quality, water quality, and stability of
fuel supply and cost. The report can be found at
http://w^.epa.gov/oms/(X)mi^
Based on its evaluation of the RFG program, the
panel found the following:
• RFG has provided substantial reductions in the
emissions of a number of air pollutants from
motor vehicles, in most cases resulting in emis-
sions exceeding those required by law.
• Detectable amounts of MTBE occur in approxi-
mately five to ten percent of drinking water
supplies in RFG areas. To date the great major-
ity of these detections have been below levels of
public health concern but at levels that have
raised consumer taste and odor concerns.
• The major source of groundwater contamina-
tion appears to be releases from underground
gasoline storage systems. Other sources of
water contamination include small and large
gasoline spills to ground and surface waters and
the release of unburned fuel from recreational
water craft, particularly those with older motors.
To address these issues, the panel recommended
the following actions:
• Improve the nation's water protection programs,
by implementing over 20 specific actions to
enhance Underground Storage Tank, Safe
Drinking Water, and private well protection
programs.
• Reduce the use of MTBE substantially and
request that Congress provide clear Federal and
State authority to regulate and/or eliminate the
use of MTBE and other gasoline additives that
threaten drinking water supplies.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
• "Ensure that there is no loss of current air quality
benefits.
Emissions Trading and Other Market-Based
Regulatory Tools
A comprehensive evaluation, "New Tools for
Improving Government Regulation: An Assessment
of Emissions Trading and Other Market-Based
Regulatory Tools," indicates that pollution trading
can reduce the compliance costs of regulated
industries, provide more flexibility to meet emission
goals, help generate public support for new regula-
tory programs, and serve as the basis for fashioning
compromises acceptable to a wide range of interests.
The evaluation further indicated that trading is not
suitable for use in every regulatory program, with
the challenge being to determine when it should be
used and how to design and implement trading in
ways that ensure environmental protection and
economic efficiency goals are achieved. The evalua-
tion also identified those aspects of the acid rain
program that contributed to its success. The report,
issued in October 1999, is available at http://
www.endovmenLpwcglobal.coin/pdfe/BrynerReport.pdf.
Participate Matter (PM) Monitors
The General Accounting Office (GAO) report,
"EPA's Actions to Resolve Concerns With the Fine
Particulate Monitoring Program," was released on
August 27 1999, and is available at the GAO
website: http://www.gao.gov/daybook/990827.htm. The
report focuses on two main areas of the PM moni-
toring program: EPA's response to a report by the
National Academy of Sciences from March 31, 1998
and issues encountered by State and local agencies in
implementing the program. GAO's conclusions
emphasize the need for more complete field testing
of the speciation samplers prior to deployment. The
speciation samplers would help provide a picture of
which sources are contributing which components
to ambient air and would help identify the sources
of secondarily formed particles. The information
will be crucial for States to be able to develop
control strategies that target the least-costly control
measures.
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS INITIATIVE
SAMIOngnphb:
Domain
In the southeastern States, the economy is thriving, and the population is
growing. There is an increased demand for transportation, energy, and
manufactured products. Emissions from industries, power plants, and
vehicles contribute to the decline in air quality in the Southern Appala-
chians. Because air pollutants travel across State boundaries, effective air
quality management requires a regional approach. The voluntary effort
called the Southern Appalachian Mountains Initiative (SAMI) identifies
and recommends emissions management strategies to remedy existing and
prevent future adverse air quality effects in Southern Appalachia.
SAMI is conducting an integrated assessment to link emissions, atmo-
spheric transport, exposures, and effects of ozone, acid deposition, and
fine particles. SAMI's air quality and other computer models track air
emissions from their sources across the eastern United States, simulate the
complex chemical and physical processes that occur in the atmosphere,
project air pollutant exposures across the SAMI region, and estimate the
environmental and socioeconomic impacts of these air pollutant expo-
sures. The assessment is considering the impacts of current air regulatory
requirements and alternative emissions management strategies for the years 2010 and 2040. Results will be
summarized in a final report that will be used to develop SAMI's recommendations about emissions manage-
ment strategies for consideration by policy makers.
SAMI participants are: Alabama,
Georgia, "Kentucky, North Camlina,
South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia,
West Virginia, EPA, National Park
Service, US.ForestService, industries,
environmental organisations, academics,
and interested members of the public.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
CONCLUSIONS AND CHALLENGES
EPA and its partners have achieved many of the
most cost-effective pollution reductions and now
plan to address the last, most difficult increment in
emission reductions in order to achieve the nation's
clean air goals. EPA's strategy, consistent with
Agency-wide reinvention efforts, is to set aggressive
goals and use flexible strategies while emphasizing
accountability. Within this overall framework, the
Agency would like to achieve the following:
• EPA's challenge is to rninimize the burden on the
regulated community while maximizing pollution
reduction across all tides of the Clean Air Act.
Jrbr example, many air toxics benefits achieved
through VOC reductions are associated with
ozone reduction efforts. The sidebar on the
previous page illustrates a model program that
successfully combines multi-pollutant, multi-
State emissions management strategies to rem-
edy existing and prevent future adverse air
quality effects in Southern Appalachia.
• The Agency needs to ensure that research
addresses those areas most likely to pose risks to
public health and the environment. For example,
EPA has developed a multi-pollutant air research
program to explore the combined influence of
criteria air pollutants and air toxics.
• The Agency will continue working with Tribal
governments to develop their capacity for
implementing the Clean Air Act.
In summary, EPA has made significant progress
toward achieving its long-term goal of cleaner air for
all Americans. During FY1999, EPA proposed the
next generation of cleaner burning engines and
cleaner burning fuels, which will strengthen tailpipe
standards for cars and other vehicles and also will
reduce sulfur in gasoline. Significant reductions in
air toxics emissions were achieved through the
implementation of technology-based standards.
States and Tribes completed a massive effort to
build a nationwide monitoring network for charac-
*i terizing PM. In addition, substantial reductions in
J SO2 and NOx from utility sources are lowering acid
rain levels in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Re-
gions.
It is important, however, not to lose sight of air
pollution problems that still remain. For example,
although the country has made substantial progress
toward reducing concentrations of ozone and PM,
many areas continue to experience unhealthy levels
of those as well as other pollutants. EPA will
continue working with its partners to ensure that
every American has clean air.
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE FUTURE
• EPA needs to coordinate the technical and
scheduling requirements for the regional haze
and PM25 programs to address environmental
problems that are the products of the same
pollutants and precursors. Because many of the
controls needed to achieve the NAAQS for
PM25 also may be needed to meet reasonable
progress targets for regional haze, the Agency
called for the development of strategies on a
schedule that would maximize States' opportuni-
ties to establish a single set of requirements to
address both programs.
• The development of credible inventories,
models, and monitoring data are critical as EPA
begins to address residual risk assessments and
implement the urban toxic strategy.
• EPA needs to employ innovative partnerships to
address risk from all air pollutants.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Artwork by Krystelle
-------
-------
GOAL 2: CLEAN AND SAFE WATER
All Americans will have drinking water that is clean and safe to drink. Effective protection of
America's rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers, and coastal and ocean waters will sustain fish,
plants, and wildlife, as well as recreational, subsistence, and economic activities. Watersheds
and their aquatic ecosystems will be restored and protected to improve human health,
enhance water quality, reduce flooding, and provide habitat for wildlife.
OVERVIEW
EPA strives to ensure that all Americans have
access to water that is safe for drinking, fishing, and
swimming and that all fresh and saltwater resources
support healthy populations of fish and wildlife.
Safe drinking water is the first line of defense in
protecting human health. The American public
enjoys some of the safest drinking water in the
world, yet illnesses due to contamination continue to
occur. For example, in 1993, an outbreak of the
contaminant Cryptosporidium in Milwaukee's drinking
water supply caused over 400,000 illnesses and more
than 100 deaths. More recently, in September 1999, -
two people died and more than 700 became ill after
drinking water tainted by E. coli at an upstate JSIew
Y)rk county fair. Overall, in 1999, nine percent of
Americans served by community water systems, or
approximately 38 million people, received water that
violated health standards at least once during the
year.
Clean-water and healthy aquatic ecosystems sup-
port all life, are vital to many sectors of the U.S.
economy, and play an important role in Native
American culture. U.S. manufacturers and the agri-
cultural industry use vast quantities of clean water
every year to manufacture products, krigate crops,
and raise animals. The nation's tourist industry relies
heavily on ocean and fresh-water destinations. Na-
tive American cultures place great importance on
clean water and invoke the spirit of water in cultural
ceremonies for medicinal and purification purposes.
In its Strategic Plan, EPA established three
objectives to guide its work to provide clean and safe
water over the next five years: protect human health
by ensuring safe drinking water and protection from
contaminated fish and recreational waters; conserve
and enhance the ecological health of waterbodies;
and reduce the impact of pollutants entering the
nation's waters.
FY 1999 PERFORMANCE
Safe Drinking Water, Reduced Exposure to
Contaminated Fish, and Healthy Recreational Waters
EPA, working with its partners, protects the
public from exposure to contaminated water by
addressing the three primary paths of exposure:
drinking, eating fish and shellfish, and recreational
contact. By 2005, EPA's objective is to protect
human health so that 95 percent of people served by
community water systems will receive water that
meets the 1994 health-based drinking water stan-
dards, consumption of contaminated fish and
shellfish will be reduced, and exposure to microbials
(pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and parasites) and
- other forms of contamination in waters used for
recreation will be reduced.
Improving Drinking Water Quality
To ensure the delivery of safe drinking water,
EPA works in partnership with the States, Tribes,
and other interested parties to design and implement
strong protective standards. In FY&99, EPA met
its goal of promulgating two new health-based
regulations. One addresses disinfection byproducts
(DBFs—-potentially harmful contaminants formed by
die reaction of disinfectants, such as chlorine, with
naturally occurring organic matter in water); the
other addresses microbials (APG 8). The DBP rule
provides increased protection for as many as 140
million people. The microbial rule establishes
controls for Cryptosporidium and other waterborne
pathogens. The Agency estimates that this rule will
reduce the number of cryptosporidiosis cases by
between 110,000 and 463,000 per year.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
PARTNERSHIP FOR SAFE WATER
The Partnership for Safe Water is a voluntary effort
of the nation's drinking water utilities and their
representative organizations, States, and EPA. The
goal is to provide an additional measure of safety
to millions of Americans by implementing preven-
tion programs beyond regulatory requirements.
The Partnership gives members specific tools they
can use immediately to examine their operations
and identify ways to improve performance. Plants
that completed the self-assessment phase of the
Partnership showed a 30 percent reduction in
finished water turbidity levels. (Under normal
conditions turbidity is an indicator of the effective-
ness of filtration for pathogen removal). As of
April 1999, membership includes 225 surface water
utilities representing 330 water treatment plants,
serving over 90 million people.
EPA provided critical technical assistance for
implementation of the Drinking Water State Revolv-
ing Fund (DWSRF). As of September 30, 1999,
States entered into 792 assistance agreements with
community and non-community drinking water
systems. This program has contributed to greater
compliance with health-based standards through
improvements to pipes, treatment plants, and other
components of drinking water infrastructure.
Population Served by Community Water
Systems Meeting Drinking Water Standards
T96
1
1994 1995 1996 1997 1999 2005
Year
In FY1999, 91 percent of the population served by
community water systems received drinking water
meeting all health-based standards, up from 83
percent in 1994, achieving FY 1999 targets (APG 9).
To provide a safer drinking water supply and
reduce the costs of treating drinking water, EPA
works with the States and Tribes to protect sources
of drinking water. As a key component of the
multi-agency Clean Water Action Plan (CWAP),
EPA works with States, Tribes, other Federal agen-
cies, and local communities to conduct source water
assessments and implement source water protection
programs. In FY 1999, 51 States/territories submit-
ted source water assessment plans, 10 of which were
approved, and the remaining 41 were in the review
process and expected to be approved in FY 2000.
In addition, 11,011 community water systems (CWS)
are implementing programs to protect their source
water (exceeding the FY1999 target by 6,611).
Combined, these community water systems serve a
population of almost 49 million people (APG 10).
The wellhead protection program includes five
steps as follows:
• Form a team.
• Delineate areas around the wellhead to be
wellhead protection areas (WHPA).
• Take an inventory of actual or potential sources
of contamination in or near the WHPA
• Institute preventative/protective measures to
manage WHPAs and ensure the groundwater
resources will not be contaminated.
• Develop and implement contingency plans
should the groundwater resources that serve as
drinking water supplies inadvertently become
contaminated.
In FY 1999, community water systems' efforts in
implementing programs to protect their source
water resources included not only steps four and/or
five of the wellhead protection program, but also
the completion of steps one through three that
provide the basis for implementation activities.
This resulted in a larger number of systems being
counted than'originally forecast. In FY 2000, CWS'
efforts will be expanded to include both surface
water and groundwater sources of drinking water
supplies.
Environmental Prelection Agency
-------
Reducing Exposure to Contaminated Fish
States and Tribes take primary responsibility for
informing the public about risks of fish consump-
tion. Approximately seven percent of river miles
and 16 percent of lake acres have been assessed and
found to have fish that should not be eaten or eaten
in only limited quantities. To communicate this
information to the public, EPA has improved its
National Listing of Fish and Wildlife Advisories
Internet site (httpy/WWW.epa.gOV/OSt/flsh). States and
Tribes can enter advisories directly on this site,
allowing easy public access to timely information.
In addition, EPA has distributed fact sheets to State
and Tribal fish advisory programs that explain how
to use technical information to develop fish con-
sumption advisories. To help ensure consistency
across the country, EPA has worked with govern-
ment and private parties to establish a common
standard for decision-making about fish consump-
tion advisories. Currently, 25 States followEPA's
guidance for monitoring and evaluating fish.
As part of its efforts to better understand the
contaminated fish problem, the Agency began a
nationwide survey to learn about the presence of
persistent bioaccumulative toxics (PBTs—pollutants
that when eaten stay in fat and organs, passing along
the food chain) in fish tissue. EPA also developed a
draft water quality criterion for methyl mercury, a
major contaminant of fish in lakes and rivers and a
health risk to people, particularly children and
pregnant women.
Getting to Healthy Recreational Waters
In FY1999, EPA continued its efforts to make
nationwide beach safety information available. The
Agency gathered and provided to the public infor-
mation from 26 States on the quality of beaches and
how States assess and inform the public about them.
EPA has major efforts underway to address wet
weather discharges (sewage overflows and runoff
from streets), a major cause of beach closures.
Research Contributions
EPA's drinking water research program provides
the scientific and technical basis for improving
drinking water quality and supporting the Agency's
BEACH ADVISORIES PROTECT
HimiNGTON BEACH BATHERS
EPA's Beach Protection Program focuses on
assuring that the public is notified of risks at
bathing beaches. In the summer of 1999, a major
•water safety effort contributed to developing an
advisory for Huntington Beach for much of the
summer. In keeping with EPA's Right-to-Know
Initiative, Orange County provided critical infor-
mation to the Southern California beach-going
public. The county is leading an intensive effort to
identify and reduce the sources of contamination
and is committed to taking appropriate actions to
return this recreational resource to unrestricted
public use.
rulemaking activities under the Safe Drinking Water
Act Amendments. In FYJ999, EPA met its goal of
developing dose-response information on disinfectant
byproducts, waterbome pathogens, and arsenic for
characterizing potential exposure risks from consum-
ing drinking water (APG fl). The results of this
work include data on the first urban study on micro-
bial gastrointestinal disease, as well as hazard identi-
fication and screening studies on the reproductive
and developmental effects of selected DBFs. This
research provides important information on possible
community risks and on methodologies for future
studies. With this information, the Agency develops
critical health data on priority drinking water con-
taminants to better understand the nature and
magnitude of the risks posed by these agents,
leading to the development of more scientifically
sound regulations.
Conserve and Enhance the Nation's Waters
Improving the overall health of the nation's
waters is a core objective of each of EPA's water
programs. By 2005, EPA, working closely with its
partners, especially States and Tribes, has committed
to conserve and enhance the ecological health of the
nation's waters and aquatic ecosystems—-rivers and
streams, lakes, wetlands, estuaries, coastal areas,
oceans, and groundwater—so that 75 percent of
waters will support healthy aquatic communities.
Currently, 500 of the nation's 2,150 watersheds have
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
more than 80 percent of the assessed waters meet-
ing water quality standards, an increase from 486
•watersheds in 1996.
Strengthening Water Quality Standards
State and Tribal Water Quality Standards repre-
sent water quality goals for each water body and
establish the regulatory groundwork for water
quality-based controls (Tike National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System, or NPDES, permits)
necessary to protect public and ecological health.
EPA is responsible for approving the standards
when submitted by a State or Tribe. In addition,
EPA helps these entities strengthen existing stan-
dards and incorporate advancements in risk assess-
ment and bio-accumulation analysis into water
quality criteria. In FY 1999, the Agency issued
guidance to assist States and Tribes in assessing the
biological health of their lakes and reservoirs and
recommended new criteria that States and Tribes can
incorporate into existing standards to control dis-
ease-causing microorganisms. EPA is helping Tribes
to adopt water quality standards for waters on Tribal
lands. In FY 1999, EPA approved new water quality
standards for one Tribe and standards revisions in 17
States. The Agency also helped 17 States take
corrective actions to address deficiencies in their
standards, and initiated rules to establish replace-
ment Federal standards for three States.
Achieving Water Quality Standards
States and Tribes are primarily responsible for
assessing and prioritizing problem waters and for
devising and implementing strategies to achieve
standards. As part of the Clean Water Action Plan
(CWAP), 56 States and Territories (six more than the
FY1999 target of 50) and 84 Tribes worked with
EPA, USDA, and other Federal agencies to develop
Unified Watershed Assessments (UWAs) that identi-
fied the watersheds in greatest need of restoration
and protection (APG12). The UWAs mark the first
comprehensive, nationwide assessment of water-
sheds using water quality data, habitat conditions,
endangered species listings, and other environmental
factors.
EPA, its Federal partners, and States and Tribes
\vork together to develop Watershed Restoration
IOWA'S BEAR CREEK BENEFITS FROM STREAM
CORRIDOR RESTORATION
Landowners, working with Iowa State University
professors, developed a riparian buffer nearly five
miles in length on Bear Creek in central Iowa.
This stream corridor restoration project utilizes
plantings of grasses, shrubs, and trees to intercept
eroding soil and agricultural chemicals from fields,
slow flood waters, stabilize streambanks, provide
wildlife habitat, and allow for alternative market-
able products. Constructed wetlands have been
developed around tile outlets to act as a sink for
drainage high in nutrients. In FY 1999, this
project was selected as one of 21 CWA.P national
restoration demonstration projects and received
funding from EPA's 31.9 Program and other
sources, including Pheasants Forever and the
Leopold Center.
Action Strategies to address those watersheds
identified in the UWAs as most in need of restora-
tion. These actions will coordinate the work of
many partners to protect and restore the full physi-
cal, chemical, and biological integrity of these
watersheds. EPA targeted $100 million of FY 1999
funding for non-point source grants to support
implementation activities in high-priority watersheds.
To focus attention on entire water bodies instead
of individual discharges, States, working with EPA,
develop Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). A
TMDL is a calculation of the maximum amount of
a pollutant that a water body can receive from all
sources of pollution and still meet water quality
standards. TMDLs are part of a strategy to imple-
ment the water pollution controls and management
measures necessary to reduce these pollutants. Over
the next 15 years, almost 40,000 TMDLs need to be
established; in FY 1999, States developed and
submitted approximately 500 TMDLs to EPA for
approval. EPA has developed better models to allow
for the consideration of more factors, like runoff
and air deposition, in TMDL calculations and has
proposed stronger TMDL regulations to better
identify impaired waters and develop and implement
TMDLs for them.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Quality Work in Specific Places
EPA actively supports State and local initiatives
in specific high-priority areas throughout the coun-
try:
• The National Estuary Program (NEP) supports
inclusive, community-based planning and action
to restore and protect 28 of America's nationally
significant estuaries. In FY 1999, EPA approved
four Comprehensive Conservation and Manage-
ment Plans (CCMPs), blueprints that NEPs
develop and use to improve, restore, and protect
their estuaries, for a cumulative total of 21
CCMPs.
tion, monitoring, and planning capabilities. Ja
FY1999, to support local partnerships that restore
wetlands and river corridors, EPA initiated the Five
Star Partnership Program, under which EPA
grantees funded 46 community projects, exceeding
the Agency's FY 1999 goal by 16projects (APG 13).
Five Star Partnerships involve student groups,
conservation corps, corporations, watershed groups,
and government agencies in demonstration projects,
training., and other educational activities related to
stabilizing stream banks, eliminating harmful
non-native vegetation, replanting wetlands and
riverside areas, and restoring natural water flows.
EPA's Gulf of Mexico Program, in
partnership with the National Fish
and Wildlife Foundation, launched
the Gulf of Mexico Challenge
Fund. This fund leverages volun-
tary contributions from the private
sector to support projects identi-
fied by Gulf States and local
coastal communities, protecting
and restoring important habitats
for recreational and commercial
fisheries of the Gulf.
• From 1985 to 1999, the Chesa-
peake Bay Program Partners
restored over 26,000 acres of Bay
grass beds, contributing signifi-
cantly to the current total level of
63,500 acres of submerged aquatic
vegetation. Bay grasses provide
food and habitat for waterfowl,
fish, shellfish, and invertebrates. The grasses
serve as a nursery habitat for many species of
fish, such as young spot and striped bass, which
seek refuge from predators in the grass beds.
To foster local partnerships, EPA supported the
development of the Watershed Assistance Grants
Program at River Network, a national nonprofit
organization. Every dollar applied to the Watershed
Assistance Grants program has leveraged an addi-
tional two dollars in matching funds and has assisted
46 local efforts across the country to start up new
watershed partnerships and build outreach, educa-
Community-Based Projects Supported in FY 1999
by the Five Star Restoration Program and Watershed
Assistance Grants
Star Projects
' Watershed Assistance
Grants
Research Contributions
In FY1999, EPA met its goal to provide data
and information for use by States and EPA Regional
Offices in assessing and managing aquatic stressors
in watersheds to reduce toxic loadings and improve
ecological risk assessment (APG M). Specifically,
EPA developed and disseminated a research strategy,
completed in September 1999, for integrating
economic assessments with ecological risk assess-
ments of multiple aquatic stressors. This strategy
will help environmental managers determine risks
more accurately and more explicitly weigh manage-
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
I
1
i
continues to provide funds to States for the con-
struction and maintenance of wastewater treatment
facilities. Since 1988, the CWSRF has financed
5,200 infrastructure projects across the country, with
859 of those funded in FY 1999. In addition,
approximately $400 million was provided for other
infrastructure projects, including projects addressing
the needs of the colonias (Hispanic rural communi-
ties) along the U.S.-Mexico boundary and Alaskan
Native Villages.
Through the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES) permitting program,
EPA and States are ensuring that all facilities requir-
ing a permit have one that includes all conditions
necessary to assure water quality protection. EPA,
working closely with the States, regulates industrial
point sources by developing effluent guidelines
implemented through NPDES permits. In FY 1999,
EPA proposed two new effluent limitation guide-
lines. The proposal for the Centralized Waste
Treatment Industry will, if promulgated as pro-
posed, prevent 18.8 million pounds of pollutants
from entering the nation's waters each year. The
proposal for Synthetic-based Drilling Fluids, if
promulgated as proposed, will reduce air emissions
of the criteria :air pollutants by 450 tons per year,
decrease fuel use by 29,000 barrels per year of oil
equivalent, and reduce the disposal of oily drill-
cutting wastes by 212 million pounds per year.
In addition to routine discharges from point
sources, EPA and its municipal partners must also
control episodic releases associated with wet weather
sources of pollution from Combined Sewer Over-
flows (CSO), Sanitary Sewer Overflows, and storm
water. Five hundred thirteen communities imple-
mented requirements in Storm Water Phase I per-
mits and/or GSO Long Term control plans that are
anticipated to contribute to improvements in their
local watersheds (APG IS). EPA is not yet able to
measure actual improvement in watersheds; there-
fore, this goal has been dropped after FY 1999.
Communities that implemented requirements in
Storm Water Phase I permits and/or CSO Long-
Term Control Plans were used as surrogate indica-
tors of progress, which resulted in a significantly
larger number of communities meeting the goal
than originally forecast. EPA and States work with
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
IMPROVING THE CHARLES RIVER WATERSHED
The lower Charles River (Boston, Massachusetts) is
one of the busiest recreational rivers in the world.
"^Et, in 1995, swimming standards were met only 19
percent of the time, and boating standards only 39
percent. The "Clean Charles 2005" initiative aims
to make the Charles River swimmable and fishable
by Earth Day 2005. In April 1999, EPA issued its
report card on the river's health giving it a B-, an
improvement from a D in 1995. Achieving a
swimmable, fishable Charles River means integrat-
ing permitting, enforcement, and voluntary pro-
grams on a watershed basis. For example, through
the work of Federal, State, and local partnerships,
inspections for illegal storm water connections are
resulting in the elimination of roughly one million
gallons of contaminated flow.
over 900 communities to promote compliance with
the CSO requirements. Approximately 800 of these
communities now have permits or other enforceable
mechanisms that will minimize the amount of direct
sewage discharges from CSOs into local waters and
avoid major impacts such as shellfish bed and beach
closures. The overwhelming majority—96 percent
of municipal separate storm sewer systems serving
populations greater than 100,000—are covered by
permits requiring practices to minimize discharges
of pollutants into aquatic habitat. EPA also issued a
number of storm water general permits that will
help reduce and prevent pollutant loadings from
thousands of industrial and construction activities.
As part of the Clean Water Action Plan, EPA
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in partner-
ship with many others, released a final strategy to
minimize impacts to water quality and public health
from animal feeding operations and from application
of animal waste to agricultural lands. This strategy
is based on the expectation that owners and opera-
tors will adopt sound and economically feasible
site-specific Comprehensive Nutrient Management
Plans that will identify actions to meet clearly de-
fined nutrient management goals.
Strengthening State Non-Point Source
Programs
EPA is working with States to upgrade their
non-point source pollution control programs. In
FY1999, 11 States submitted upgraded NFS pro-
grams for a cumulative total of 13, meeting EPA's
goal. EPA approved all of these programs (APG
17). The Agency expects virtually all States will
complete this work by the end of FY 2000.
In FY 1999, Congress provided $200 million for
non-point source grants to States to upgrade existing
non-point source programs and to support imple-
mentation of watershed restoration action strategies
in priority watersheds. Through the CWSRF pro-
gram, 25 States funded non-point source and estua-
rine projects valued at $169 million dollars in
FY1999. EPA, in partnership with the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture, also has begun work with
stakeholders to develop voluntary national standards
for managing onsite/decentralized septic systems.
The failure of these systems due to improper siting,
design, installation, or maintenance is a major source
of NFS pollution.
Reducing Atmospheric Deposition Loads
EPA initiated a pilot project in FY 1999 to
explore inclusion of atmospheric sources of pollu-
tion in TMDLs. States will use the TMDL allocation
process as a new tool to reduce pollution from these
sources. Additionally, EPA added coastal atmo-
spheric deposition monitoring sites for mercury and
nitrogen to the nationwide network to improve the
understanding of deposition on water quality;
supported monitoring efforts, including the Great
Lakes Integrated Atmospheric Deposition Network,
which monitors deposition of toxic pollutants in the
Great Lakes Region; and began a national modeling
effort to collect and distribute high-quality deposi-
tion data for six pollutants.
Research Contributions
In FY1999, EPA continued efforts to deliver
support tools such as watershed models, which
enable resource planners to select consistent and
appropriate watershed management solutions and
alternatives as well as less costly wet weather flow
technologies. EPA is making progress toward this
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
I
1
goal, which it expects to reach in 2003 (APG18).
Specifically, EPA is working to integrate its Storm
Water Management Model (SWMM) with the
geographic information system compatible with the
Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and
Non-Point Sources (BASINS) model. EPA's SWMM
has become the fundamental program for estimating
urban storm water and sewer design. EPA uses
BASINS to develop TMDL estimates; this integra-
tion will allow the Agency to factor urban geo-
graphic information into watershed management
decisions. These decision support tools will enable
community-based water resource planners to select
consistent, appropriate watershed management
solutions to reduce the cost and increase the effec-
tiveness of wet weather flow abatement facilities.
PROGRAM EVALUATION
EPA completed a program evaluation of the
National Estuary Programs (NEPs) in FY1999.
The key objective was to assess the effectiveness of
the NEP approach in managing the nation's estuaries
and to identify program elements that could serve as
successful management tools for other community-
based environmental protection efforts. Major
findings include the following: (a) the NEP ap-
proach improves the management of estuaries and
their resources by integrating Federal, State, and
local management efforts, enabling citizen participa-
tion and public involvement; and (b) EPA can
improve program success by encouraging more local
funding for implementation and by improving the
structure for measuring environmental progress. In
addition, EPA conducts a biennial review of each
NEP implementing an approved plan to ensure
adequate progress and to identify valuable informa-
tion to be shared with other watersheds.
CONCLUSIONS AND CHALLENGES
EPA, States, Tribes, and local providers will
strive to address the burden of implementing new
drinking water regulations and guidance, including
those focusing on microbials, DBFs, arsenic, radon,
monitoring for unregulated contaminants, consumer
confidence reports, small systems, and operator
certification. The sheer number of requirements
strains State capacity, meaning a redoubled effort is
key to the achievement of the goal of safe drinking
water.
The Agency is concerned about long-standing
impairments to aquatic systems (such as damage to
fish habitat, loss of wetlands that are nurseries of
aquatic life, and stream corridor degradation) that
have become more apparent as the Agency and its
partners move to address problems on a watershed
basis. Management actions and investments targeted
at in-stream and watershed-scale restoration are
required to solve these types of impairments. As
States develop implementation plans for their
impaired waters over the next 15 years, many will
need to include watershed restoration activities in
order to meet Clean Water Act goals.
EPA will work to foster a national commitment
to preventing non-point source pollution. Often the
governmental entity responsible for preventing NFS
pollution is not the traditional water quality agency,
but rather a natural resource agency with a mission
broader than pollution control. In many cases, the
responsibility for preventing and abating NFS
pollution falls'to individual citizens. EPA, in part-
nership with other Federal and State agencies and
Tribes, needs to intensify efforts to reduce NFS
pollution and provide the information and financial
incentives citizens need.
As EPA continues its progress toward the goal
of clean and safe water, the Agency faces the key
challenges of improving performance measurement
to reflect outcomes and improving the ability to link
annual program actions to long-term environmental
outcomes. EPA will strive to increase the propor-
tion of annual performance goals and measures that
support environmental outcomes to make the
connection between EPA's efforts and the environ-
mental results achieved. The Agency will work to
improve environmental information through existing
and new monitoring and assessment strategies
designed to fill data gaps and increase the under-
standing of watershed health. EPA also will strive to
improve its efforts to provide sound data on the
quality of the drinking water supply and to modern-
ize the Safe Drinking Water Information System.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Every year different organizations and con-
sumer-oriented journals conduct studies of what
Americans rank as high priority items for ensuring a
good quality of life. Clean and safe water has
consistently placed in the top five areas of greatest
importance. EPA, the principal Federal agency for
regulating and protecting the waters of the United
States, will continually strive to design, develop, and
carry out programs to strengthen Americans' confi-
dence in their water resources. Success depends on
concentration, commitment, and cooperation
toward finding the best solutions to ensure clean and
safe water for the nation.
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE FUTURE
To accomplish the goal of Clean and Safe Water,
"EPA will continue to develop protective standards
on a strong scientific foundation. The following will
form the basis for updated point source permits and
prevent increased pollutant loadings to America's
rivers:
Tribes in ensuring timely implementation of the
following requirements:
• By 2001, EPA will issue drinking water regula-
tions to limit arsenic and radionuclides in drink-
ing water and to further improve treatment of
surface waters and groundwater that face risk of
microbial contamination.
• Through authorities under the Clean Air Act and
Clean Water Act, EPA also will propose to
strengthen controls on sources of mercury and
other toxics impacting fish.
• Finally, by 2003, EPA will work with all States to
adopt beach water quality standards.
• By the close of 2002, EPA will issue effluent
guidelines and nutrient criteria and will partner
with States and Tribes to set water quality
standards.
• By FY 2002, EPA and its partners will complete
the establishment of a significant number of
TMDLs for the most at-risk waters.
To further reduce wet weather pollution, EPA
will:
• Work with States to issue additional guidance
and ensure effective implementation of the CSO
Policy, existing Storm Water rules, and new
Storm Water Phase II rules so that by the end of
FY2002, Sanitary Sewer Overflow regulations
will be in place.
• Review the effectiveness of States' revised non-
point source plans and through the NEP, pre-
serve, restore, and/or create 50,000 acres of
habitat nationwide.
Public health protection is the cornerstone of
the drinking water and fish and beach advisory
programs. The Agency will support States and
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
-------
o
o
I
A.rtwork byjenna
-------
-------
GOAL 3: SAFE FOOD
The foods Americans eat will be free from unsafe pesticide residues. Children
especially will be protected from the health threats posed by pesticide residues
because they are among the most vulnerable groups in our society.
OVERVIEW
Americans enjoy one of the safest, most abun-
dant food supplies in the world due in part to the
safe use of pesticides during food production,
processing, storage, and transportation. Ensuring
the safety of the food supply requires continued
diligence by pesticide producers, users, and regula-
tory bodies. At the Federal level, EPA evaluates the
safety of all new and existing pesticides and restricts
pesticide use to those applications that do not pose
unacceptable human health or ecological risks. The
Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996
challenged EPA to set new public health standards
for pesticides (emphasizing safety for infants and
children) and to review approximately 9,700 existing
limits on pesticide residues on food over a ten-year
period.
Ensuring the protection of children's health by
accounting for their special sensitivities and expo-
sures to pesticides remains a priority for the Agency.
Unless a different factor is warranted, the Agency
applies FQPA's additional ten-fold safety factor in
risk assessments to account for children's special
vulnerabilities. The Agency also updated pesticide
toxicity testing guidelines to better assess risks to
infants and children. Outreach activities targeted to
address children's susceptibilities continue to provide
additional protection by informing parents of
potential hazards and steps they can take to mini-
mize or prevent them.
EPA established two objectives in its Strategic
Plan to guide its work toward meeting the goal of
safe food: reducing risk from use of pesticides and
reducing the use on food of pesticides that fail to
meet health standards. In FY1999, EPA progressed
toward its long-term objectives by employing a
combination of regulatory, outreach, and partner-
ship activities including:
• Continuing the registration and re-registration
programs, placing an emphasis on reviewing
existing pesticides that pose the greatest health
risks while registering lower-risk alternatives.
• Providing outreach, training, and education to
pesticide users, applicators, and manufacturers.
• Encouraging the development and adoption of
alternative means of pest control, including the
use of non-chemical approaches and use of
lower-risk pesticides.
FY 1999 PERFORMANCE
Reducing Risk from Agricultural Use of Pesticides
By 2005, EPA's objective is to reduce the risk
from agricultural use of pesticides by 50 percent
from 1995 levels. To meet this objective, EPA
continues to develop and evaluate methods to
determine trends in human health and environmen-
tal risk posed by pesticides. Unfortunately, the
Agency currently lacks methods to measure directly
or to estimate reliably these risks on a national or
regional basis. Therefore, EPA uses a variety of
program activities as surrogate indicators of
progress. Although the Agency lacks reliable data
on baseline health risks posed by pesticides and on
the risks reduced by Agency actions, the overall risk
reduction strategy and FY 1999 accomplishments
reduced risk in several demonstrable ways.
In FY1999, EPA committed to decrease adverse
risk &om agricultural pesticides from 1995 levels
and assure that new pesticides that enter the market
are safe for humans and the environment through
such actions as registering 15 safer pesticide chemi-
cals and biopesticides, issuing 95 new tolerances,
and approving 90 new pesticide uses. The Agency
exceeded these targets—registering 19 reduced-risk
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
pesticides (including 13 biopestiddes), establishing
351 new pesticide food tolerances, and approving
681 proposed newpesticide uses—while ensuring
that all pesticides reviewed met the new health
safety standard of "reasonable certainty of no harm"
(APG 39). Introducing new reduced-risk chemical
pesticides and biopestiddes provides food growers
with safer pest control alternatives than were previ-
ously available. The availability of lower-risk pesti-
cides, combined with public demand for safe food,
often leads food growers to switch from higher-
toxicity chemicals to reduced-risk alternatives. As
the Agency registers new pesticides and ensures that
each meets the applicable legal standards, EPA also
ensures that pesticide packages have proper labeling
and include easily understandable use instructions.
These steps contribute to risk reduction by encour-
aging proper pesticide handling and use.
EPA also took steps in FY1999 to reduce
human health risks from organophosphates, a widely
used group of pesticides that can affect human
nervous systems. Organophosphates account for
over half of all food crop insecticides used in the
United States. To address the potential health
EXAMPLES OF REDUCING RISK THROUGH
REGISTRATION OF REDUCED RISK
PESTICIDES
Tebufenoyide. This insecticide was registered for
use on apples and pears and may serve as an
alternative for several organophosphates (OPs).
Subsequent to this action, the Agency negotiated
the cancellation of methyl parathion for use on
these foods, which are common in children's
diets.
Bifentbrin. EPA registered new uses for the
insecticide bifenthrin for use on many veg-
etables, including cabbage, certain legumes,
eggplant, globe artichoke, canola, and sweet
com. EPA's expedited registration of bifenthrin
allowed growers of peas, beans, and sweet corn
to begin replacing many OPs for the 1999 crop
season. If commercial control is as successful as
anticipated, bifenthrin may replace all organo-
phosphate applications on peas, beans, and corn
during the year 2000 growing season.
effects of these pesticides, EPA collaborated with
the U.S. Department of Agriculture to form the
Tolerance Reassessment Advisory Committee
(TRAC). Working through the TRAC, EPA has
released for public comment 29 of 40 planned risk
assessments for organophosphates, 13 of which
were released in FY 1999. Because of the wide-
spread agricultural use of organophosphates, use
restrictions, coupled with a lack of safer alternatives
for certain us'es, could seriously affect some Ameri-
can farmers. Thus, the TRAC has held a number of
public technical briefings to communicate risk
concerns and obtain the views of stakeholders.
In FY 1999, EPA, working to reduce risks to
children through food, also eliminated the use of the
organophosphate methyl parathion, one of the most
toxic and widely used pesticides, on many crops that
contribute to children's diets, including all fruits and
many vegetables. The Agency also further restricted
the allowable uses of another organophosphate,
azinphos methyl, on fruits and eliminated its use on
sugar cane. In addition to addressing risks to chil-
dren, these actions will reduce pesticide risks from
worker exposure and agricultural runoff into water
bodies.
Reducing Applications on Food of Pesticides Not
Meeting Health Standards
EPA's objective is that by 2005, use on food of
current pesticides that do not meet the new statu-
tory standard of "reasonable certainty of no harm"
will be substantially eliminated.
Under FQPA, EPA conducts periodic evalua-
tions of pesticides to assess whether the use of
pesticides in accordance with instructions included
on their labels presents "reasonable certainty of no
harm." Performing this review ensures that all
pesticides meet health standards outlined in FQPA
After completing a review and ensuring that the
pesticide does not present human or environmental
health threats, the Agency issues a Re-registration
Eligibility Decision (RED). In cases where the
reviews indicate that pesticides do not meet health
and environmental requirements, EPA can modify
the allowable uses of pesticides, including canceling
use or limiting use to certified applicators.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
FQjPA. also created, ttve need for new science
policies in a number of areas related to pesticide risk
assessment. These include incorporating a ten-fold
safety factor for infants and children, considering the
risks posed by other pesticides sharing a common
toxicity mechanism with the pesticide under review,
and considering all non-occupational exposures to
the pesticide when setting food tolerances. While
the development and updating of science policies do
not directly reduce risk from pesticide exposure,
these activities enable the Agency to determine
whether pesticides meet the FQPA health standards
and to select adequate risk reduction measures for
those which do not.
In FY1999, EPA committed, through the re-
registration program, to reassess 19 percent of the
existing 9,721 tolerances (cumulative 33percent) for
pesticide food uses to meet the new statutory stan-
dard of "reasonable certainty of no harm." The total
number of tolerances reassessed in PY1999 was
1,445, or approximately 15percent of the 9,721
requiring reassessment over the ten-year period from
1996 through 2006. The Agency fell short of achiev-
ing its annual performance target due to internal
process changes aimed at achieving greater stake-
holder involvement in the reassessment process and
making the tolerance reassessment process more open
to the agricultural community. Although the
Agency suffered a slight shortfall in FY1999, EPA
has exceeded the FQPA statutory requirement of
evaluating 33 percent of the 9,721 existing pesticide
food tolerances, completing a net total of 3,430
reassessments (over 35 percent) (APG 20).
Additionally in FY 1999, the Agency completed
14 REDs. Each RED incorporates risk reduction
measures, such as restricting use of products to
certified applicators, canceling pesticide products,
deleting uses, limiting the amount or the frequency
FIELD, REGIONAL, AND ENFORCEMENT ACTIVITIES SUPPORTING SAFE FOOD
Regions. EPA Regional offices seek to ensure the safety of the nation's food supply by promoting use of
reduced-risk pesticides, providing outreach and education to growers and private pesticide users, encour-
aging the use of alternative pest management strategies, and monitoring post-re-registration use of
pesticides. EPA's Regional Agricultural Initiative piloted four projects in the "Atlanta, Chicago, San
Francisco, and Seattle Regions during FY 1999 with the objective of increasing communication between
EPA and stakeholders on FQPA implementation.
EPA.Pesticide Laboratories. EPA's pesticide labs provide unique support to food safety functions: setting
tolerances, assessing exposure and ecological effects, and performing risk assessments and product
chemistry validations. The labs also provide internationally recognized expertise in analyzing dioxin in
food. For example, during the recent dioxin food contamination crisis in Belgium, the labs provided
technical information and assistance on analyzing for dioxin in contaminated animal feed.
Enforcement Activities. EPA's enforcement program contributes significantly to reduction of agricultural
risk:
• Working with the EPA's Regional offices to develop compliance monitoring strategies and
conducting compliance assistance and enforcement activities when pesticides are suspended or
canceled.
• Developing coordinated outreach/compliance assistance strategies and providing up-to-date
information and compliance assistance to the farming community on changes resulting from
regulatory actions.
• Addressing referrals from the Food and Drug Administration and/or U.S. Department of
Agriculture for over-tolerance residues.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
i
of use, improving use directions and precautions,
and employing groundwater or surface water protec-
tions. For example, in FY1999, one RED resulted
in the voluntary cancellation of Vernolate for use on
peanuts and soybeans, thus eliminating the use on
these foods of an acutely toxic pesticide -with poten-
tially adverse developmental and neurotoxicological
effects.
Other FY 1999 accomplishments include con-
tinuation of work with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture on the TRAC to obtain broad-based
input to the science policies and overall process for
the tolerance reassessment program. This input to
EPA's pesticide assessment science policies will help
ensure the quality and acceptance of the Agency's
pesticide risk evaluations and risk mitigation actions.
In FY 1999, EPA also published a proposed rule for
establishing FQPA Section 18 tolerances that pro-
vides guidance on submitting data required to
establish tolerances for emergency exemptions.
These exemptions allow States and Federal agencies
to permit the unregistered use of a pesticide for a
limited time if an emergency pest condition exists
and no registered, effective pesticide is available.
Research Contributions
Titles in and IV of FQPA identify clear science
needs consistent with the evaluation of aggregate
exposures to pesticides from multiple sources and
cumulative mechanisms of action. The Agency is
supporting research to address major uncertainties in
assessing the risks from exposure to pesticides and
other toxic chemicals, particularly the risks posed to
children. Major areas of emphasis and significant
accomplishments under the FY 1999 research
program include the following:
• Building and evaluating first-generation exposure
models that predict total exposure and identify
the pathways of exposure (e.g., hand-to-mouth,
food, air) with the greatest risk implications for
children. The exposure research program
completed an initial model, called the Stochastic
Human Exposure and Dose Simulation Model
for Pesticides (SHEDS-Pesticides) and presented
it to the Science Advisory Panel on September 2-,
1999. While it is still in an early stage of devel-
opment, the preliminary results have helped
researchers better understand the events and
factors that lead to pesticide exposure. As
development continues, the model will help
identify areas of greatest uncertainty and those
needing more research.
• Developing test methods and predictive models
to evaluate variability in response to pesticide
exposure due to factors such as age, sex,
pre-existing disease, health and nutritional status,
and genetic predisposition. This health effects
research is an ongoing, long-term effort. The
program will produce results over the next
several years that will apply to several phases of
FQPA implementation.
• Collecting and analyzing data on six target
pesticides present in urine in individuals aged six
and older under the National Health and Nutri-
tion Evaluation Survey (NHANES-IV) and
analyzing NHANES-III and earlier data on
children. The study design was completed in
1998, and a two yea,r sampling period began in
1999. Data from die study are expected to be
available'starting in 2001. The conceptual
results should be applicable to exposure data on
food residues and should enable the Agency to
conduct at least preliminary or screening level
risk assessments for intermittent, multi-chemical
exposures.
PROGRAM EVALUATION
In FY 1999, EPA expanded a process evaluation
initiated in 1998 to ensure that regulatory activities
meet the FQPA standards. In carrying out the
evaluation, the Agency found a need for greater
public comment in the development of risk assess-
ments and in risk management decisions. A greater
public role in decision-making provides real-world
information from a variety of outside parties and
assists in informing Agency decisions. To facilitate
public participation, EPA instituted a Risk Assess-
ment/Risk Management Pilot for the organophos-
phate pesticides. EPA chose the organophosphates
for this pilot because of their acute and chronic
toxicity to humans and wildlife and their widespread
application on crops and in residential and commer-
cial settings. Activities facilitated through the pilot
included public meetings, technical briefings, and
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
increased. Agency attention, to concerns raised by
stakeholders. In FY1999, EPA expanded this pilot
by publishing additional preliminary risk assessments
and science policy issue papers for public comment,
allowing stakeholders to review these documents,
provide comments, and contribute to their improve-
ment. Through this pilot, the Agency will evaluate
its risk assessment policies, procedures, and pro-
cesses, providing more inclusive stakeholder partici-
pation and ultimately improving EPA's risk assess-
ment process.
CONCLUSIONS AND CHALLENGES
EPA's approach to achieving the long-term
strategic goal of ensuring a safe food supply com-
bines regulatory, voluntary, and cooperative risk
reduction strategies. While maintaining the high
productivity of the registration, re-registration, and
tolerance reassessment programs, the Agency also
recognizes that program activities alone do not
provide an adequate measure of effectiveness in
achieving risk reduction. The Agency is continuing
to develop more direct measures of risk, without
impeding the progress of programs mandated by
statute. The Agency's priorities in ensuring safe
food remain to address those agricultural pesticides
posing the greatest health risks, to encourage lower-
risk means of pest control, and to protect vulnerable
populations, particularly children, from pesticide
risk. The Agency faces major challenges:
• Ensuring the consistency of science policies and
regulatory decisions with the latest scientific
standards.
• Maintaining a balance between stakeholder
participation and meeting statutory deadlines.
• Measuring the effects of regulatory actions in
terms of risk prevention or addressing and
measuring the effects in terms of risk reduction.
• Funding the re-registration program after
FY2001, when the fees that support it expire.
• Balancing needs for resources between immedi-
ate program requirements and the resource-
intensive commitment to develop tools to track
progress toward outcome-oriented goals.
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE FUTURE
• Complete in FY 2000 the reassessment of all
organophosphate pesticides and take appropriate
action to reduce agricultural pesticide risk and
eliminate those that do not meet current health
standards.
• Reassess in FY 2000 the tolerances for atrazine
to provide protection for groundwater supplies.
• Finalize in FY 2000 the FQPA science policies
to assure that aggregate exposure and cumulative
risk are appropriately addressed in pesticide risk
assessments.
• Complete by FY 2002 an additional 33 percent
of the 9,721 tolerances requiring reassessment.
• Complete by FY 2006 actions on all 9,721
tolerances subject to reassessment under FQPA
and all 612 pesticide active ingredient cases
subject to re-registration.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
-------
o
rj
a
£
a
mo
13
S3
o
I
A.rtwork by Sherilynn
-------
-------
GOAL 4: PREVENTING POLLUTION AND REDUCING RISK IN
COMMUNITIES, HOMES, WORKPLACES, AND ECOSYSTEMS
Pollution prevention and risk management strategies aimed at cost-effectively
minimizing and, where feasible, eliminating emissions and contamination will result
in cleaner and safer environments in which all Americans can reside, work, and enjoy
life. EPA will safeguard ecosystems and promote the health of natural communities
that are integral to the quality of life in this nation.
OVERVIEW
Responding to the complex array of pollutants
and threats to human health and ecosystems requires
that public agencies take a preventive, multimedia
approach to protecting the public. Experience has
shown that it is cheaper and smarter to prevent
pollution before it causes harm than to clean it up
afterward. Vital to EPA's pollution prevention
strategy are cooperative and voluntary activities,
including making data available to the public on the
risks posed by pesticides and industrial chemicals
and promoting the use of safer alternative technolo-
gies, greener chemicals, safer farm practices, and
industrial processes that use less or recycle. In
carrying out these activities, the Agency places
special emphasis on protecting children's health, as
children are often more susceptible to harm from
exposure to hazardous compounds than are adults.
EPA's pollution prevention efforts draw on many
of the Agency programs, including pesticides,
chemical management, indoor air pollution, waste
management, and supportive research. In addition,
many pollution prevention activities require sharing
responsibilities with other Federal agencies, States,
THbes, private industry, and nonprofit organizations.
In its Strategic Plan, EPA established seven
objectives to work toward this goal: reducing com-
munity exposure to pesticides, fighting lead poison-
ing, ensuring safe use of commercial chemicals,
creating healthier indoor air, fostering pollution
prevention, reducing the quantity and toxicity of
waste, and assessing environmental conditions on
Tribal lands. The following pages discuss progress
toward these objectives.
FY 1999 PERFORMANCE
Reducing Community Exposure to Pesticides
By 2005, EPA's objective is that public and
ecosystem risk from pesticides will be reduced
through migration to lower-risk pesticides and better
pesticide management practices, improving educa-
tion of the public and at-risk workers, and forming
"pesticide environmental partnerships" with pesti-
cide user groups.
The Agency is currently developing a policy to
assess cumulative risks of pesticides. Presently, the
Agency has no precise means of determining the
amount of risk reduction resulting from regulatory
activities. Further, national indicator data, such as
the incidence of pesticide poisonings, do not exist or
have proven unreliable (APG 21). EPA has, how-
ever, undertaken a number of efforts aimed at
reducing risk. In FY 1999, the Agency concentrated
on increasing its education efforts targeted at work-
ers and health care providers, developing rules to
protect groundwater resources, and continuing the
development of the pesticide environmental stew-
ardship program.
As a part of its education efforts, EPA estab-
lished the Pesticide Safety Website (http://www.epa.gov/
pesticides/safety) to provide information about pesti-
cide safety, in both English and Spanish, to workers,
certified applicators, and health care providers. EPA
also published "Pesticides and National Strategies
for Health Care Providers," which outlines recom-
mendations for improving the training that health
care providers receive on health concerns related to
pesticide exposures.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
1
1
I
1
1
URBAN PESTICIDE MISUSE
In FY 1999, EPA funded 33 projects to address
die problem of urban pesticide misuse, including
die following:
• A Florida project that developed posters
about safe pesticide use for elementary,
middle, and high schools.
• An innovative public education proj ect in
Pennsylvania to inform consumers about the
dangers and misuse of pesticides.
• A Washington State University effort to train
pesticide retail outlet salespersons.
With continued public education through projects
such as these and enforcement of pesticide la-ws,
EPA expects to see the number of cases of
accidental pesticide poisoning and misuse decline.
Pesticide contamination threatens groundwater
throughout the United States. EPA is developing a
groundwater rule that will prohibit use of certain
leaching pesticides unless a State or Tribe has an
EPA-approved Pesticide Management Plan. Also,
the Agency supported States in the development of
groundwater plans while developing the final rule,
which is called the Groundwater Management Plan.
EPA approved 19 State plans and one Tribal plan to
manage the use of specific pesticides to ensure the
protection of groundwater.
The Pesticide Environmental Stewardship
Program (PESP) is a voluntary program that
helps pesticide users, such as farmers and applica-
tors, identify specific risk reduction activities. In
FY 1999, EPA reviewed and approved 69 strategies
that lower the risk of pesticide use. The Agency
exceeded its target of 42 strategies (cumulative).
These partnership strategies provide information on
how the member plans to use Integrated Pest
Management (IPM), conduct grower education,
implement use reduction, improve pesticide applica-
tion techniques, and employ other means to reduce
risk from pesticide use.
Fighting lead Poisoning
By 2005, EPA's objective is that the number of
children with high levels of lead in their blood will
be significantly reduced from the early 1990s.
Almost one million children in the U.S. have
blood-lead levels of 10 jug/dL or above, high
enough to impair their ability to think, concentrate,
and learn. Many of these children live in low
income or minority communities. To help address
the problem, the Agency awarded a grant to Hope
for Kids to conduct a national door-to-door cam-
paign to provide parents with lead exposure preven-
tion information and initiated a major effort to
increase awareness of lead hazards among the
Hispanic community.
EPA implemented many components of the
Agency's lead-based paint poisoning prevention
program in FY 1999. The program seeks to ensure
that there is a well-qualified, trained lead hazard
control workforce; to promote public awareness of
lead-based paint hazards and ways to prevent lead
poisoning; and to establish necessary standards for
the elimination of lead hazards. Through FY&99,
EPA continued building the lead-based paint
abatement training and certification program by
approving programs in 28 States, one territory, and
the District of Columbia. EPA also approved
programs for two Tribes. EPA had hoped that more
States would havecompleted the process of picking
up the program by the end of FY 1999. Two addi-
tional States have picked up the program since the
end of FY 1999, and others are expected to pick it up
during the remainder of FY 2000. EPA is, however,
reassessing plans for managing the training and
certification program in the future (APG 22).
In FY 1999, EPA initiated or established several
regulations necessary to address the hazards from
lead-based paint, including the Lead Renovation
Information Rule. Under this rule, apartment
owners must provide renters with information on
the dangers of lead poisoning and ways of protect-
ing their children during building renovations. EPA
also is working to address comments received on the
proposed Lead Hazards Standards Rule, which will
identify hazard levels for lead in dust and soil and
hazardous conditions associated with lead-based
paint. The Agency continued to make progress
toward issuing training and certification rules on
renovation and remodeling activities and de-leading
of bridges and structures. Once all these regulations
are issued, EPA will have established a full set of
national standards for safe, effective reduction of
lead-based paint hazards.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Ensuring Safe Use of Commercial Chemicals
By 2005, EPA has committed that of the ap-
proximately 2,000 chemicals and 40 genetically
engineered microorganisms expected to enter
commerce each year, the Agency will significantly
increase the introduction by industry of safer or
"greener" chemicals, decreasing the need for regula-
tory management.
The Agency conducted a number of important
activities to support this objective during FY 1999.
EPA continued its work in the New Chemicals
Program, launched the Chemical Right-to-Know
(CRTK) Initiative, began implementing the Endo-
crine Disrupter Screening Program (EDSP), issued
green chemistry awards, and conducted research on
risk assessment models and tools.
ADDRESSING ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS
In recent years, EPA has focused attention on the
potentially disruptive effects of synthetic chemi-
cals on the hormone, or endocrine, systems of
humans and wildlife. Concerns about these
impacts prompted Congress to direct EPA in the
1996 Food Quality Protection Act to implement a
program for evaluating chemicals for potential
impacts on endocrine systems. The Endocrine
Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP) will screen
pesticides and industrial chemicals for estrogenic,
androgenic, and thyroid effects. EPA completed a
number of key activities to implement EDSP in
FY1999, including convening a formal peer
review on a proposed statement of policy on
EDSP, augmenting understanding of endocrine
disrupters by completing a high-throughput pre-
screening (HTPS) feasibility demonstration study,
initiating the development of a Priority Setting
Database, and commencing work on standardizing
several screens and tests for use in the EDSP.
Under its New Chemical Program, EPA reviews
chemical information submitted by manufacturers to
evaluate the risks these new chemicals might pose to
human health and the environment before the
chemicals are allowed to be used in commerce.
When potential new uses of a chemical could pose
an unreasonable risk to human health or the envi-
ronment, EPA can restrict the conditions of its use.
The Agency reviewed 1,717 new chemicals and
organisms, which represents achievement of the
FY 1999 goal of reviewing for safety all new chemi-
cal submissions each year (APG 23). The Agency
restricted environmental releases and set protective
standards for workers for five percent of these
chemicals. In addition, EPA reviewed 36 submis-
sions of chemicals with the potential for being
persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) and
took regulatory action on the 13 identified as PBTs.
In FY 1999, EPA launched the Chemical Right-
To-Khow Initiative to better understand the effects
of high production volume (HPV) chemicals on
human health and the environment and to increase
public understanding of the hazards of these chemi-
cals in commerce. HPV chemicals are those that are
manufactured or imported at volumes exceeding one
million pounds per year. EPA plans to make avail-
able basic screening-level information on 2,800 HPV
chemicals that may impact public health and the
environment and to ensure that detailed information
is available for those industrial chemicals to which
children may be exposed.
Through the HPV Challenge Program, EPA
asked industry to generate data on the effects of the
chemicals they manufacture and/or import. By
December 1999, over 400 companies and consortia
had voluntarily committed to make public, before
the end of 2005, basic hazard data on over 2,000 of
2,800 HPV chemicals. Thek commitments include
identifying existing information and conducting the
testing necessary to fill essential data gaps.
In 1999, EPA received 134 nominations in five
categories for the Presidential Green Chemistry
Challenge Awards. This was more than two and a
half times the target. The pollution prevention
efforts outlined in these nominations, many of
which are already being employed by industry, have
led to reductions in the use and emissions of hazard-
ous substances, savings in capital investments,
reduced worker exposure, and improved product
yields.
Research Contributions
Structure-Activity-Relationship (SAR) screening
of pesticides and industrial chemicals and in-vitro
screening methods are important complements to
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
3
the work performed under the CRTK Initiative and
the Green Chemistry program. This work supports
EPA's efforts to screen thousands of chemicals for a
range of toxic effects. For example, EPA completed
work on biochemical and cellular techniques to
measure the metabolism and toxic responses of
representative reactive industrial organic chemicals
that can cause toxicity through a variety of mecha-
nisms.
Creating Healthier Indoor Air
EPA's objective is that by 2005,15 million more
Americans will live or work in homes, schools, or
office buildings widi healthier indoor air than did in
1994.
Indoor air pollution can pose high human health
risks, especially to sensitive populations such as
children. EPA's efforts focus on raising public
awareness of the potential risks of indoor air and
forging partnerships with community-based groups
to influence individuals and schools to take action to
reduce potential risk.
Since the indoor environments program relies
on voluntary efforts, tracking progress toward goals
presents challenges. The lead time needed to con-
duct and analyze survey results means that the
Agency will not be able to report FY1999 data until
December 2000, 1998 data suggest that EPA is
progressing toward its FY 1999 goal of having
700,000 additional people live in healthier residen-
tial environments (APG 24).
One important component of achieving
healthier indoor air is reducing exposure to radon.
In 1998, a total of approximately 211,700 radon-
resistant homes were built. Approximately 565,000
People Living in Radon-Resistant Homes
(Cumulative Number)
1 I
—•liiiiii
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Year
people live in these homes. In addition, based on
estimated sales of radon mitigation fans, EPA
estimates that 138,800 people now live in radon-
mitigated homes. In September 1999, radon-
resistant construction techniques were incorporated
into the new International Residential Code.
EPA conducted a number of additional activities
aimed at reducing indoor air pollution in FY 1999.
For example, EPA collaborated with the American
Medical Association and. the Consumer Federation
of America to develop a multimedia campaign
addressing secondhand smoke. The results of a
survey conducted for EPA suggest that in FY 1999
the Agency's education and outreach activities
resulted in more than 195,000 children not being
exposed to environmental tobacco smoke in their
homes. In addition, a total of 2,000 schools adopted
"Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools" in FY 1999,
resulting in 1,050,000 students and staff learning
and working in healthier school environments. The
program provides guidance to schools on how to
significantly improve their indoor air quality, reduce
asthma risk factors, and protect children's health.
EPA has not yet reached the goal of 1.5 million
students and staff working in healthier environ-
ments and is looking at new incentives for schools
while continuing to provide information about the
benefits of prevention.
EPA also has completed the largest ever envi-
ronmental study of large commercial office build-
ings. The Building Assessment Survey and Evalua-
tion collected tens of thousands of environmental
measurements and surveyed occupant perceptions
of indoor air quality in 100 office buildings nation-
wide. These data will be used to assess exposure and
devise risk reduction strategies for office buildings.
Research Contributions
Research completed in FY 1999 helped identify
methods that characterize the impact of indoor air
pollution on human health. For example, EPA
completed documentation for well-characterized
models of asthma in both mice and rats that exhibit
many of the hallmarks of human allergic asthma.
Such research substantially expands EPA's ability to
evaluate the effects of pollutant exposures and their
impacts on both normal, and sensitive subpopula-
tions.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
lostexitvg PoUvitiotv Ihreventioii
By 2005, EPA has committed to reduce by 20
percent (from 1992 levels) the quantity of toxic
pollutants released, disposed of, treated, or com-
busted for energy recovery. Half of this reduction
will be achieved through pollution prevention
practices.
EPA is working to broaden the use of pollution
prevention practices through its focus on manufac-
turing sector wastes (as measured by the Toxics
Release Inventory), the Design for the Environment
Program, and the Pollution Prevention Framework.
Manufacturing Sector Wastes (TRI)
In FY1999, EPA worked toward its goal of
reducing (by two percent) the quantity of TJRI
pollutants released, treated, or combusted for energy
recovery, but based on the most current data avail-
able (1997), recent trends indicate that the Agency
will not meet this goal (APG 25).
The FY 1999 annual performance goal is based
on changes in non-recycled wastes reported to TRI.
Due to time lags associated with reporting and
analysis, 1997 data were reported in 1998 and made
public in 1999. Data for 1999 will not be available
until 2001.
The 1997 data suggest a reversal in what had
previously been a multi-year reduction trend. In
1997, TRI chemical non-recycled wastes generated
by the manufacturing sector actually increased by 1.1
billion pounds (11.3 percent). A substantial portion
of this increase is attributable to large production
increases in the manufacturing sector. When the
increase in non-recycled wastes is normalized or
adjusted to take into account increased production,
the increase in non-recycled wastes that is unrelated
to growth is shown to equal 518 million pounds (5.3
percent). Further, much of this increase is attrib-
uted to a small number of woodtreating facilities.
Additional perspective and understanding can be
obtained by considering the P2 waste reduction
efforts since 1992, the baseline year for EPA's long-
term goal. When changes in waste are normalized
for the production increases that occurred between
1992 and 1997, non-recycled wastes unrelated to
growth are shown to have declined by 19.5 percent
(2.1 billion pounds). In addition, recycled wastes
unrelated to growth are shown to have decreased
five percent during the same period.
The sudden increase in chemical non-recycled
wastes reported revealed a weakness in the Agency's
FY 1999 performance goal. The measure did not
take into account fluctuations in industrial produc-
tion. EPA has adjusted the measure for FY 2001 so
it can more accurately reflect the results of the
Agency's pollution prevention efforts.
MICHIGAN SOURCE REDUCTION INITIATIVE
The Michigan Source Reduction Initiative (MSRI)
-was a 30-month partnership of the Natural
Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Dow
Chemical Company, and local environmentalists,
with funding and support from EPA. Based on a
commitment to cut waste and emissions using
pollution prevention techniques, the MSRI identi-
fied a number of actions, from simple input and
process modifications to more considerable
investments, that ultimately reduced emissions by
43 percent (from one million to less than 0.6
million pounds) and wastes by 37 percent (from
17.5 million to 11 million pounds)-saving the
company $5 million a year in the process. The
final project report was completed in September
1999. To build on the success of the MSRI, EPA
and NRDC have begun to identify and collaborate
with other facilities through the Voluntary Initia-
tive for Source Reduction.
Design for tiie Environment (DfE)
The DfE program helped nine industries volun-
tarily implement practices to reduce risk to their
workers and the environment through cost-effective
strategies. Combined DfE/industry partnerships
affected over 140,000 companies and two million
workers and resulted in reduced releases of millions
of pounds of hazardous chemicals, reduced expo-
sure of workers, increased awareness of safer
practices, and increased development of environ-
mentally preferred products.
The DfE program achieved these results with a
diverse set of industries, including the fabricare
industry, industrial laundry formulators, and litho-
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
1
graphers. The fabricate industry is becoming
increasingly aware of the health concerns associated
with perchloroethylene and is switching to other,
cleaner technologies such as liquid carbon dioxide
and professional aqueous cleaning techniques. As a
result, dry cleaners have been steadily reducing their
use of perchloroethylene over time (e.g., an 11
million pound reduction in 1998; see chart on the
decrease in perchloroethylene use by the dry clean-
ing industry). EPA's partnership with six industrial
laundry formulators led to the development of 10
new environmentally preferable detergents with a
growing customer base. Finally, outreach efforts
with 50,000 lithographers have prompted a switch
from volatile organic compounds to cleaner washes
for presses, especially in Clean Air Act (CAA) non-
attainment areas.
Perchloroethylene Use By
U.S. Dry Cleaning Industry
300
50
260
250
222 235 230
220
185
175
150
85 86 87 88
83
90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97
Year
72
Pollution Prevention (P2) Framework
At the early stages of new chemical research and
development, companies often have limited chemi-
cal information. EPA responded by developing the
Pollution Prevention (P2) Framework, a computer-
ized set of methods that predict risk-related proper-
ties of chemicals based on chemical structure and
enable stakeholders to identify environmentally
protective products and processes. EPA conducted
two national workshops and ten in-depth case
studies in FY 1999, showing how use of the P2
Framework could result in development of safer
new chemicals. A widely distributed Environmental
Cost Accounting Study documented how use of the
EPA P2 Framework brought dramatic savings in
research and development and product development
costs and has reduced time to market.
Environmental Protection Agency
Reducing the Quantity and Toxicity of Waste
By 2005, EPA's objective is that the Agency and
its partners will increase recycling and decrease the
quantity and toxicity of waste generated.
In FY 1999 EPA made progress toward this
objective in the areas of municipal solid waste
(MSW) and hazardous waste recycling as well as
Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxics (PBTs). FY 1999
MSW recycling and generation data ate not cur-
rently available. Analysis to determine this infor-
mation no longer occurs annually and the next
analysis is anticipated in 2001 (APG 26). 1997 data
indicate that 28 percent (61 million tons) of MSW
was diverted from land filling and combustion and
that per capita MSW generation was at 4.4 pounds
per day. MSW generation increased slightly in
response to the robust economy, but continued
efforts in MSW reduction are expected to bring per
capita generation back down in future years.
The Agency encouraged recycling of hazardous
wastes through a rulemaking and established a
baseline for future assessment of progress. EPA
also proposed a rule for certain hazardous wastes
that would encourage recycling of the wastes by
allowing for extended storage accumulation time.
PBTs such as mercury, dioxin, and DDT present
a continuing health and environmental concern. In
November 1998, EPA issued the Draft Resource
Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Waste
Minimization PBT Chemical List and a draft Mer-
cury Action Plan. In July 1999, EPA broadened the
list into an Agency-wide pollution prevention PBT
list. A draft trends analysis based on this list indi-
cates that significant reductions for a number of
chemicals already have been achieved.
The Agency-wide PBT list is expected to be-
come final in April 2000. EPA will use this list to
focus waste mininiization partnership efforts on
reducing the generation and toxicity of hazardous
PBT waste by 50 percent by 2005. EPA has set up
two PBT-related partnerships to begin work toward
this goal. In conjunction with the North East Waste
Management Officials Association, EPA will target
reductions in the generation of hazardous wastes
containing mercury and other PBT chemicals.
Secondly, the National Pollution Prevention
-------
DEDUCING MERCURY USE IN HOSPITALS
On June 24, 1998, EPA and the American Hospital
Association signed a voluntary agreement to
virtually eliminate mercury from waste generated by
U.S. hospitals by the year 2005. The parties,
together with 80 non-governmental organizations,
also agreed to reduce overall hospital waste volume
by 33 percent by 2005 and by 50 percent by 2010
and to jointly identify additional substances to
target for pollution prevention and waste reduction
^opportunities.
Roundtable •will sponsor a number of PBT reduc-
tion workshops when the final list of PBT chemicals
is published in April 2000.
In addition to these waste minimization activi-
ties, the PBT Initiative developed a smaller list of
chemicals for National Action Plan development. In
FY 1999, the Agency completed seven draft Na-
tional Action Plans, which address 11 priority PBTs
(excluding dioxin). The Agency also began develop-
ing baseline data on PBTs in humans, other organ-
isms, and the environment at large.
Assessing Environmental Conditions in Indian
Country
By 2003, EPA has committed that 60 percent of
Indian country will be assessed for its environmental
condition, and Tribes and EPA will be implementing
plans to address priority issues. In FY 1999, both
EPA and Tribes made significant progress in devel-
oping the capacity to address the environmental
needs on Tribal lands.
EPA is committed to assessing environmental
conditions to identify high-priority human health
and environmental risks on Tribal lands. A lack of
comprehensive environmental data, however, se-
verely impacts the Agency's ability to complete this
work. For FY 1999, EPA established a goal of
collecting ten percent of Tribal environmental
baseline information and establishing an addi-
tional ten Tribal/EPA environmental agree-
ments or environmental priorities; EPA has met
and exceeded its goal by collecting ten percent of
the baseline information and establishing 46
additional Tribal agreements (APG 27). Review
of these data confirmed numerous gaps in environ-
mental information for Tribal lands.
EPA is -working with available boundary infor-
mation and new data management software to
establish a process that will facilitate Tribal-specific
data retrievals. Despite the difficulties encountered
in developing a baseline assessment, EPA and Tribes
have continued to work together to address con-
cerns about the environmental conditions on Tribal
lands. EPA encourages Tribes to take responsibility
for implementing Agency programs. An additional
24 Tribes received EPA program authorizations/
approvals, raising the total number of program
approvals for Tribes to 270 in 1999 from 90 in 1995.
PROGRAM EVALUATION
EPA took a number of steps in FY 1999 to
assess the effectiveness of its efforts to reduce risk
and promote pollution prevention. In FY 1999, two
performance evaluations were completed and a third
was started. These evaluations will help the Agency
assess both program effectiveness and progress
toward achieving annual and strategic goals.
The Certification and Training Assessment
Group (CTAG) completed an assessment of the
pesticide applicator program and in January 1999,
released a report entitled "Pesticide Safety for the
21st Century." The analysis provides recommenda-
tions for guiding the future strategy and direction of
the Certification and Training Program.
The Agency is also conducting a national assess-
ment of the Worker Protection Standards for
agricultural pesticides. As with the CTAG, the
assessment group includes members from EPA, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Labor Depart-
ment, the Department of Health and Human
Services, State regulators, Tribes, farm worker
advocacy groups, and others. The results of the
evaluation are expected in approximately two years.
In August 1999, the General Accounting Office
(GAO) published "Indoor Pollution: Status of
Federal Research Activities" (GAO/RCED-99-254).
The report reviewed federally funded indoor pollu-
tion research across numerous federal agencies. The
key finding of the report is that notable progress in
indoor pollution research has been made, but many
gaps in knowledge and understanding of the prob-
lem remain.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
1
CHALLENGES AND CONCLUSIONS
The Agency and its partners made important
strides toward meeting the goal of preventing
pollution and reducing and cost effectively managing
the risk posed to human health and the environment
from toxic chemicals, chemical wastes, and pesti-
cides. EPA has taken important steps to foster the
transition to safer pesticides and reduce the pesticide
levels in food, groundwater, and fragile ecosystems.
The Agency is nearing completion of a national
infrastructure to abate lead and protect our children
from lead poisoning. EPA has begun the process of
collecting data on the hazards of high production
chemicals common in everyday life. The Agency is
extremely encouraged by the steps industry has
taken voluntarily to take responsibility for preventing
and managing industrial pollution. EPA has begun a
campaign to improve indoor air quality that particu-
larly affects our children's health. But a number of
challenges remain, and the Agency needs to further
its efforts in many areas:
• Continue to base its regulatory and program
decisions on good data and sound science.
* Help farmers transition to safer pesticides and
farm practices while at the same time preventing
undue disruption of the agricultural economy
and the abundance of food for all Americans.
• Maintain the purity of the nation's limited
groundwater supplies from contamination by
•waste, pesticide, and chemical pollution.
• Protect the nation's workers, particularly farm
workers and workers who handle toxic chemi-
cals, from exposure
• Protect families in their homes and children in
schools from exposure to toxic household
chemicals and pesticides and prevent the misuse
of these products.
• Continue to find new ways to provide positive
incentives to industry to voluntarily take respon-
sibility for reducing pollution and establishing an
ethic of shared responsibility for a sustainable
and healthy environment.
• Continue to educate industry, the public, and
particularly our children about chemicals, pesti-
cides, and how to prevent pollution. EPA needs
to continue to share its knowledge to empower
industry, communities, and families to protect
themselves as well as the places they live, work,
and enjoy life.
• Focus special attention on the Tribes, children,
elderly, poor, and urban inhabitants that are
disproportionately affected by pollution.
• Improve the quality and meaniiigfulness of data
by developing better methods to assess and
measure the results of our work.
Much remains to be done and new challenges
will emerge, but EPA and its partners continue to
make steady progress in preventing pollution and
reducing the risk from exposure to toxic chemicals
and pesticides,
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE FUTURE
EPA will continue to work to prevent and/or
reduce pollution and the risk to humans, wildlife,
and fragile ecosystems. Over the next couple of
years, a number of key milestones will mark
progress:
• In FY 2000, four widely used herbicides will be
subject to a rule that provides a new approach to
protect groundwater from pesticide contamina-
tion. The Groundwater Pesticide Management
Rule is designed to retain the benefits from the
continued use of these pesticides while minimiz-
ing the risks to human health and the environ-
ment by preventing contamination from reach-
ing critical levels in groundwater.
• EPA is working with stakeholders to design a
voluntary program to make toxicity testing data
available to the public on the special impacts
industrial chemicals may have on children.
• The High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge
Program is addressing serious deficiencies in the
availability of basic health and environmental
hazard data for 2,800 high production volume
chemicals. In FY 2000, EPA will complete the
review of more than 300 Test Plans submitted
by industry and publish the HPV Chemicals Test
Rule.
EnvtaHimenlal Protection Agency
-------
developing and -validating screening
assays for endocrine disruption. The Agency is
going to great lengths to ensure that valid test
methods are available for use in the screening
program. EPA is also coordinating with other
Federal agencies to develop a comprehensive
government-wide endocrine disrupter research
strategy.
EPA will promulgate four major lead rules. One
will set certification and training standards for
lead-based paint abatement activities involving
the de-leading of bridges and superstructures.
Another will set similar standards for building
renovation and remodeling. A third rule will
establish health-based standards for lead in paint,
soil, and dust. A fourth will establish new
disposal standards for lead-based paint debris.
A lack of comprehensive environmental data
severely impacts the Agency's ability to properly
identify risk to human health and the environ-
ment on Tribal lands. Progress toward building
Tribal and EPA infrastructure and completing
the collection of 20 percent of baseline environ-
mental data for Tribal lands will enable EPA and
the Tribes to identify high priority human health
and environmental risks.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
-------
i
§
ir\
Artwork by Nicholas
-------
-------
GOAL 5: BETTER WASTE MANAGEMENT, RESTORATION OF
CONTAMINATED WASTE SITES, AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE
America's wastes will be stored, treated, and disposed of in ways that prevent harm
to people and to the natural environment. EPA will work to clean up previously
polluted sites, restoring them to uses appropriate for surrounding communities, and
respond to and prevent waste-related or industrial accidents.
OVERVIEW
Improper waste management and disposal
threatens human health and the maintenance of
healthy ecosystems. Uncontrolled hazardous and
toxic substances, including radioactive waste, migrate
to groundwater, surface water, and the air—ultimately
affecting streams, lakes, rivers, and water supplies.
To protect against these risks, EPA has developed
and implemented policies to clean up active and
inactive waste disposal sites; promote safe waste
storage, treatment, and disposal; and prevent spills
and releases of toxic materials. The Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund) and the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
provide the legal authority for most of EPA's work
toward this goal.
EPA and its partners use Superfund authority to
clean up inactive and abandoned waste sites and,
when possible, to encourage the redevelopment of
these sites through the Agency's Brownfields pro-
gram. Under RCRA, EPA works in partnership with
States and Tribes to address risks associated with
leaking underground storage tanks and with hazard-
ous and non-hazardous waste generation and man-
agement at active facilities. Finally, EPA uses the
authority of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and
the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to protect against
spills and releases of hazardous materials.
EPA established two objectives to guide work
toward the FY 2005 goal: ensure progress toward
effective and efficient cleanups and ensure progress
toward effective waste and hazardous material
management, while providing capabilities to respond
to all emergencies.
FY 1999 PERFORMANCE
Ensuring Progress Toward Effective and Efficient
Cleanups
EPA's objective is that by 2005, the Agency and
its partners will reduce or control the risk to human
health and the environment at over 375,000 con-
taminated Superfund, RCRA, underground storage
tanks (UST), and Brownfield sites.
Superfund
Cleaning up a Superfund site is often a multi-
stage and multi-year process involving site assess-
ment, materials removal, remedial activities, and
enforcement actions. The Superfund cleanup
process begins with site discovery or notification to
EPA of possible releases of hazardous substances
by various parties, including citizens, State agencies,
and EPA Regional offices. Once discovered, sites
proceed through the Superfund cleanup process as
follows:
• Preliminary assessment/site inspection (emer-
gency removal, if necessary).
• Listing of the site on the National Priorities List
(NPL-the nation's most pressing hazardous
waste sites).
• Remedial investigation/feasibility study to
determine the nature and extent of contamina-
tion.
• Record of decision, documenting which cleanup
alternatives will be used.
• Remedial design/remedial action, preparing
plans and specifications to implement site
remedies.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
• Construction completion, or completion of
remedial actions for site cleanup.
• Post-construction activities, including statutory
five-year reviews, to maintain site safety.
• NPL site deletion, which removes the site from
the NPL.
These steps help EPA to determine and imple-
ment the appropriate response to threats posed by
releases of hazardous substances. Releases that
require immediate or short-term response actions
are addressed under the Emergency Response
program of Superfund.
Site assessment is the first step in determining
actions needed to mitigate risk or whether a site
meets the criteria for placement on the NPL. In
FY1999, EPA made final Superfund site assessment
decisions on 744 sites, for a cumulative total of
35,683 site assessments since 1982. In addition, a
cumulative total of more than 200 sites have been
removed from the NPL to help promote the eco-
nomic redevelopment of these properties. Removal
from the NPL follows a determination that no
further Superfund action is necessary at a site.
In FY 1999, the Superfund response program
made significant progress in cleaning up hazardous
•waste sites, including sites at Federal facilities, and
protecting public health and the environment. The
pace of completing construction has been greatly
accelerated. Over three times the number of con-
Accelerating Superfund Cleanup Progress
800 r-
I |700
If600
6 500
a J400
| I 300
1°200
I
670
585
0 0
5 58J619
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
Fiscal Year
In the past seven years (FY 1993-1999), the Superfund
ftogram accomplished over three times the number of
construction completions than occurred in the program's first
12 years combined.
struction completions (521) have been achieved in
the past seven years as compared to the first 12 years
of the program, during which 149 construction
completions occurred. The Agency has progressed
from attaining 12 additional construction comple-
tions in 1991 to an annual average of over 74 per
year from FY 1993 through FY 1999. More than 90
percent of the sites on the final NPL are either
undergoing cleanup construction (remedial or
removal) or are completed.
During FY1999, 85 Superfund sites reached
construction completion, meeting EPA's goal for a
total of 670 over the life of the program (APG 28).
In FY 1999, 356 removal response actions were
taken to immediately reduce the threat to public
health and the environment, for a total of almost
6,000 over the life of die program. Since 1982, the
Superfund program has cleaned over 216 million
cubic yards of hazardous soil, solid waste, and
sediment and over 325 billion gallons of hazardous
liquid-based waste, contaminated groundwater, and
contaminated surface water. In addition, the pro-
gram has supplied over 431,000 people residing at or
near NPL and other Superfund sites with alternative
water supplies in order to protect them from con-
taminated groundwater and surface water.
Federal facility sites, which include formerly used
defense sites, abandoned mines, nuclear weapons
production plants, military ranges, fuel distribution
areas, and landfills containing waste from Federal
facilities, also are addressed under Superfund. EPA
works with the local communities, the Department
of Defense, the Department of Energy, and other
Federal agencies to promote faster, more effective,
and less costly cleanup of these sites. The Agency
provides technical and regulatory oversight at
Federal facility sites on the NPL to ensure protec-
tion of human health, effective implementation of
the program, and meaningful involvement of the
public. Reuse is encouraged where appropriate.
Accomplishments at Federal facilities in FY 1999
included six construction completions, 64 sites with
remedial action initiated, 43 removal actions initi-
ated, 47 removal actions completed, and one dele-
tion from the NPL. EPA also assisted in addressing
radioactive contamination at 20 Federally owned
Superfund sites in FY 1999.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
RECYCLING SUPERFUND SITES: FROM
WOODTREATEVG TO WAREHOUSING
In Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, Wickes Furniture
Co. has put a toxin-tainted industrial parcel back in
useful service by building a new distribution center
on the Joslyn Manufacturing and Supply Company
Superfund site. The site had been on the Federal
Superfund and State priority lists for environmen-
tal cleanup and had remained vacant since 1981.
"It was one of the most heavily polluted sites in
the country," said Jeff Hall, President of Real
Estate Recycling of Minneapolis, which developed
the 203,000 square foot distribution facility for
Wickes on the property. "It's been a terrific story
of corporate responsibility," with Joslyn's owners
and their insurers spending some f 17 million over
the past 18 years to clean up the site, Hall said.
The Wickes facility, which opened in August 1999,
employs about 80 people and occupies half of the
30-acre site.
An important element of managing the Super-
fund program is EPA's effort to settle cases quickly
and to ensure that Potentially Responsible Parties
(PRPs) pay their fair share of clean-up costs. In
FY1999, PRPs Guanoed mote than 80 percent of
long-term clean-up actions undertaken at non-
Federal facilities, exceeding EPA's goal of 70percent
for the year (APG 29).
EPA recognizes that some PRPs may have
contributed a very small amount of waste to a site.
The Agency therefore is willing to enter into de
minimis settlements with these PRPs and seek only
limited contributions. In FY 1999, EPA entered into
38 of these settlements. As an incentive for PRPs to
settle negotiations in the case of clean-up cost
shares attributable to non-viable parties (i.e., compa-
nies or other parties who are insolvent or defunct),
EPA also may make orphan share offers. Offers of
orphan share compensation might include forgive-
ness of past costs or a waiver of future oversight
costs at eligible sites. The Agency made 25 orphan
share offers in FY 1999.
The Agency is also responsible for attempting to
recover costs from PRPs in cases where EPA and
others have already taken action to clean up sites.
Recovering past costs not only ensures that polluters
pay for their activities but that resources w£U be
available to clean up sites where PRPs either lack the
funds for cleanup or cannot be located. EPA
intends to address annually all those cases approach-
ing statute of limitations (SOL) deadlines with past
clean-up costs in excess of $200,000. In FY1999,
EPA addressed all but one potential SOL case by
negotiating settlements, referring cases to the Depart-
ment of Justice for trial, or making a decision not to
pursue cost recovery when no viable PRP could be
located, meeting EPA's goal for the year (APG 30).
In FY 1999, EPA's Superfund enforcement
program obtained commitments from PRPs of over
$780 million to conduct future response work and to
reimburse the Agency for its past costs. Of this
amount, PRPs agreed to perform future response
work valued at more than $550 million or were
ordered to or agreed to reimburse EPA $230 million
in past response costs. In addition, EPA collected
and returned $320 to the Superfund Trust Fund,
which may include some of the $230 million prom-
ised in settlements or by court-ordered judgements
for past response costs. Since the beginning of the
Superfund program in 1980, EPA has obtained
commitments from PRPs or court-ordered judge-
ments to reimburse the Agency for $2,474 million in
past costs; these costs are termed "achieved." Of
that amount, $2,378 million has been collected and
returned to the Superfund Trust Fund. The annual
progress of EPA's Superfund enforcement program
since 1980 with respect to past costs "achieved" and
collected is shown in the graph below.
Cumulative Superfund Costs
Collected and Achieved
$2500 p
$2000
£
£
5 $1500
o
in
o $1000
$500
$0
81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99
Fiscal Year
Collected
Achieved
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
EPA engaged in several efforts to strengthen
overall partnerships with States, Tribes, and other
Superfund partners. For instance, 29 States, four
Tribes, a number of contractors, and Federal agency
representatives participated in the 1999 National Site
Assessment Conference. EPA worked with the State
of Illinois and EPA's Region 5 office to develop four
State-led Records of Decision for action at
Superfund sites. Region 5 also began an examina-
tion of methods to include Tribal cultural values
more appropriately in the evaluation of site risks,
and Region 6 initiated a study on potential quantita-
tive methods for incorporating risks to Tribal cul-
tural resources in the site priority-setting process.
Additionally, EPA sponsored a national Tribal Risk
Assessment conference to stimulate public dialogue
on ways to consider Tribal cultural factors in risk
decisions.
EPA also continued its efforts to work with
potential real estate purchasers to address another
problem area associated with Superfund sites.
Often, the potential threat of CERCLA liability may
pose a barrier to the beneficial reuse of some
contaminated sites when potential new owners fear
they will be held responsible for the inappropriate
actions of others. To mitigate these concerns, EPA
promotes redevelopment through Prospective
Purchaser Agreements, which absolve prospective
purchasers from cleaning up sites where they did not
contribute to or worsen contamination. In FY1999,
EPA entered into 24 such agreements.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
The RCRA corrective action program focuses
on more than 3,500 active industrial facilities across
tine country that treat, store, or generate hazardous
waste. The most serious pollution problems at
RCRA-regulated facilities occur when releases
migrate off-site, contaminating public and private
drinking water supplies or endangering wetlands and
other sensitive ecosystems. EPA and its State
partners have worked together on developing
baselines and appropriate measures to track perfor-
mance and to identify high-priority facilities requir-
ing corrective action. The EPA program seeks to
ensure that sites are maintained in a manner that
poses no risk to human health or to the environ-
ment.
RCRA CLEM-UP REFORMS
In FY 1999, EPA announced the RCRA Clean-up
Reforms, focusing on reducing impediments to
achieving the Agency's RCRA clean-up objective,
enhancing partner and stakeholder involvement,
and promoting innovative approaches to clean-up
action. A centerpiece of the reforms is the
recently promulgated Hazardous Waste Identifica-
tion Rule (HWIR)-media regulation and the post-
closure rule. The HWIR-media rule created a new
RCRA permit for managing wastes from cleanup.
The new permit will not require facility-wide
corrective action that previously slowed clean-up
progress at other sites.
In FY1999, EPA's corrective action program
documented that human exposure to toxins is under
control at an additional 162 of the 1,712 high-
priority facilities and mat migration of contami-
nated groundwater is under control at an additional
188 facilities, exceeding the FY 1999 goal (APG 31).
Over the life of the RCRA program, EPA and its
State partners have documented that human expo-
sures have been controlled at 477 facilities and that
migration of contaminated groundwater has been
controlled at 440 facilities.
Leaking Underground Storage Tank Cleanups
Tasked with ensuring rapid and effective re-
sponses to underground petroleum storage tank
releases, EPA's Leaking Underground Storage Tank
(LUST) Program worked with States, Tribes, and
the regulated community to complete 25,678 clean-
ups in FY1999, well in excess of the year's target of
22,000 cleanups (APG 32).
At the beginning of FY 1999, a backlog of
168,000 LUST cleanups had yet to be completed.
To address this backlog;, as well as 26,434 additional
confirmed releases, EPA worked with States, Tribes,
and the regulated community on several initiatives,
including implementing a risk-based decision-
making approach to prioritizing corrective action at
LUST sites. EPA also helped States develop Pay-for-
Performance clean-up programs, in which contrac-
tors are paid based on actual contamination reduc-
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
National LUST Cortective Action Activity
(Cumulative Number of Corrective Actions FY 1991-FY 1999)
400,000
350,000
300,000
92 93
94 95 96
End of Fiscal Year
97
98
99
[Cleanups Completed ^Cleanups Initiated
HConfirmed Releases
tions at sites. In FY 1999, EPA supported 14 out of
21 States that expressed an interest in starting Pay-
for-Performance programs.
Brownflelds
EPA promotes the assessment, cleanup, and
sustainable reuse of abandoned or underutilized
industrial and commercial properties, which contain
or are perceived to contain environmental contami-
nation. These properties, commonly known as
Brownfields, exist in a significant number of com-
munities throughout the nation. EPA's Brownfields
program relies on local community involvement and
strong stakeholder partnerships.
In FY1999, EPA continued its commitment to
Brownfields redevelopment by providing funding
and technical support to 80 communities through its
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot pro-
gram, fora cumulative total of307 communities. As
a result of this progress, the Agency exceeded its FY
1999 goal of funding 300projects by the end of 1999
(APG 33). The Brownfields Assessment Demon-
stration Pilots, each funded at up to $200,000 over
two years, will test redevelopment models, evaluate
ways to remove regulatory barriers without sacrific-
ing protectiveness, and facilitate coordinated site
assessment, environmental cleanup, and redevelop-
ment efforts at the Federal, State, and local levels.
Also in FY 1999, EPA awarded 45 Brownfields
Cleanup Revolving Loan Fund (BCRLF) pilots. The
pilots, each funded at up to $500,000, will enable
eligible States, cities, towns, counties, and Tabes to
capitalize on revolving loan funds to safely clean up
and sustainably reuse Brownfields. This support
enables communities that have completed their
Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot
activities or have performed a targeted Brownfields
assessment to make loans to prospective purchasers
of Brownfields properties.
As a result of the Assessment Pilots and Revolv-
ing Loan Fund programs, EPA and its partners have
completed 1,687 property assessments and 116
property cleanups and have initiated redevelopment
activities at 151 Brownfields properties. These
efforts have created over 4,416 clean-up and redevel-
opment jobs.
ATTRACTING BIG BUSINESS LEADS TO
POSITIVE RESULTS FOR EMERYVILLE
Prosperity is gradually replacing blight in
Emeryville, California. Two hundred units of
mixed-income housing will be constructed on a
four-acre Brownfield site, considerably lessening a
housing shortage for the community. The city has
attracted several developers to construct regional
retail, hotel, and office developments that will
create 2,500 jobs in the next five years. In addi-
tion, the second largest biotechnology firm in the
country will construct 12 new company buildings
over the span of 20 years, eventually creating over
3,000 high-paying jobs. With these successes,
Emeryville is on its way to being a home to
vibrant industry again.
Research Contributions
One obstacle to addressing waste sites effectively
is that the demand for treatment often exceeds the
capabilities of existing technologies. The Superfund
Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE) Program
was created to meet the increased demand for
alternative remediation and characterization tech-
nologies. SITE encourages the commercialization
of innovative technologies by providing potential
users with high-quality performance and cost data.
In FY1999, work under the program proceeded
according to schedule to meet its 2001 target, as EPA
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
completed demonstrations of seven innovative
technologies through partnerships with the private
sector and other government agencies (APG 34).
IMPROVING TECHNOLOGY FOR SITE CLEANUP
Research has produced improved techniques for
contaminated site characterisation, risk assess-
ment, and remediation that result in cheaper, faster
cleanups and more effective risk reduction. An
extensive field study on the application of perme-
able reactive barriers for solvents treatment in
groundwater demonstrated faster, cheaper clean-
ups, while two field tests successfully removed a
frequent and very problematic source of ground-
water pollution: solvent contamination by dense
non-aqueous phase liquids. These research
projects also have contributed to technology
transfer products for EPA, States, the private
sector, and others.
Effective Risk Prevention Through Safe Waste
Management
By 2005, EPA has committed that 282,000
facilities will be managed according to the practices
that prevent releases to the environment, and EPA
and its partners will have the capabilities to success-
fully respond to all known emergencies to reduce
the risk to human health and the environment.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
The RCRA permitting program establishes a
"cradle-to-grave" framework that identifies a set of
controls that facilities should have in place to ensure
the safe management of hazardous waste. While
complete data are not available to report on
progress, the Agency and the States did make
progress in FY1999 toward the Agency's goal of
ensuring that 122 additional facilities have ap-
proved controls in place (APG 35). Examples of
approved controls include operating permits, veri-
fied clean closures, and post-closure permits. The
Agency and its partners devoted a significant effort
during the year to improving RCRA data reporting
and collection. The Agency will address remaining
problems in FY 2000 and will have data available for
FYs 1999 and 2000 in the FY 2000 Annual Perfor-
mance Report.
To control air emissions of certain pollutants
covered under RCRA, the Agency promulgated the
hazardous waste combustion Maximum Achievable
Control Technology (MACT) rule in FY 1999. The
regulation is designed to control emissions of
dioxins, furans, and particulate matter at combustion
facilities. EPA developed an innovative permitting
approach that provides States with flexibility to
implement the administrative portions of the rule in
the way that best meets meir needs.
Oil Storage Facilities and Oil Spill Prevention
To address the more than 20,000 oil spills that
are reported to the Federal government each year,
EPA's Oil Spill Program works to ensure compliance
with the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermea-
sures (SPCC) requirements. InFY&99, 774 addi-
tional oil storage facilities became compliant with
the SPCC requirements, meaning that EPA signifi-
cantly exceeded its goal of bringing 190 facilities
into compliance (APG 36).
Underground Storage Tanks
The primary FY 1999 focus for the Under-
ground Storage Tank (UST) Program was to help
ensure that all UST owners and operators complied
with EPA and State requirements for leak detection
and the 1998 deadline for upgrading, replacing, or
closure of substandard tanks. In complying with
these rules, owners identified a total of 26,434 UST
releases in FY 1999. By the end of FY 1999, EPA
and State programs had ensured that over 646,000
USTs (approximately 85 percent of the universe)
were in compliance with the 1998 requirements.
Additionally, owners and operators permanently
dosed over 130,000 substandard USTs in FY 1999,
bringing to almost 1.4 million the total number of
substandard tanks closed.
Another important component of EPA's UST
program is empowering States to run their own
programs. By the end of FY 1999, EPA had ap-
proved UST programs in 27 States and in the Dis-
trict of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
National Preparedness
Industrial accidents and other disasters involving
toxic chemicals and other hazardous substances are a
constant threat to human health and the environ-
Environmcotal Protection Agency
-------
ment. In FY 1999, EPA implemented the Risk
Management Plan (RMP) program, which requires
industrial facilities to submit plans detailing contin-
gencies and emergency response procedures, hazard-
ous substance inventories, and disaster response
scenarios. In FY 1999, facilities submitted 14,405
plans. By the end of FY 1999, EPA delegated
authority to seven States for managing their own
RMP programs. The graph shows the cumulative
number of States that have implemented the RMP
program through FY 1999 and those States expected
to implement the program over the next four years.
States Implementing the RMP Program
50 r
40
30
10
0
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
Year
Radiation Waste Management
EPA's Radiation Protection Division participates
in developing environmental protection procedures
for Federal facilities and also oversees their imple-
mentation. For example, EPA has an oversight role
with regard to the Department of Energy's (DOE)
waste disposal activities at the Waste Isolation Pilot
Plant (WIPP) facility, the nation's first deep under-
ground facility for radioactive waste disposal. WIPP
opened and began accepting waste in FY 1999. By
the end of the fiscal year, approximately 500 drums
of radioactive waste were removed from the acces-
sible environment and permanently disposed of at
the plant. While not directly involved in handling
the waste, EPA reviewed and evaluated DOE
reports, conducted audits at the waste generator sites
before allowing waste shipments, and completed
inspections at the WIPP.
Research Contributions
Through the development of new and improved
methods and models, the Agency's research provides
the fundamental science and modeling needed to
conduct state-of-the-art exposure modeling and risk
assessment of hazardous materials and other envi-
ronmental threats. In FY1999, EPA met its research
commitment to complete a test version of a cumula-
tive exposure model that integrates the environmen-
tal impact of multiple chemicals through multiple
media and pathways (APG 37). This research
supports regulatory reform efforts under the Haz-
ardous Waste Identification Rule (HWIR), which
sets safe exit levels below which a waste or waste
stream is excluded from regulation as a hazardous
waste.
PROGRAM EVALUATION
EPA and other organizations have recently
conducted various evaluations relevant to the
Agency's waste management and clean-up programs.
Summaries of two of these evaluations follow.
Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation (SITE)
Program
The most recent analysis of 71 Superfund
Records of Decision (dated 1993 to 1997) showed
that the Agency realized an estimated 70 percent
average cost savings per site when the Superfund
program employed innovative technologies tested in
the SITE program rather than conventional
remediation technologies. The program evaluation
calculated a total cost savings of $2.1 billion dollars
associated with usage of the SITE technologies.
Oil Spill Program
In FY 1999, EPA conducted a national review
of its Oil Spill Program to identify the program's
most effective components and share the most
promising innovations underway. The review
highlighted an innovative enforcement approach, the
Spill Prevention Control Counter Measure Expe-
dited Enforcement Program, which was designed to
identify and correct low-level spills within an expe-
dited time frame of 30 to 60 days. The program
review found that a demonstration pilot of this
approach yielded a significant increase in both
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
enforcement and compliance. EPA is now consider-
ing this approach for national implementation
efforts in FYs 2000 and 2001.
CONCLUSIONS AND CHALLENGES
EPA has made significant progress in meeting its
FY1999 performance goals for waste management
programs. Agency research in support of safe waste
management continues to develop cost-effective and
innovative technologies and scientifically sound
approaches for site cleanup. By working efficiently
with States, Tribes, and other partners to make the
most of Agency resources, EPA is confident about
success in achieving its long-term goals.
Site Cleanup, Management, and Enforcement
Superfund will continue its emphasis on reduc-
ing risks to human health through completing
construction at Superfund sites, including those at
Federal facilities. This includes reliance on the
"enforcement first" policy of ensuring cleanup by
responsible parties through the successful imple-
mentation of recent administrative reforms. The
participation of potentially responsible parties,
especially for new construction starts at non-Federal
NPL sites, will be encouraged, and cost recovery will
continue to be emphasized.
| Implementation of corrective action at RCEA
1* hazardous waste management facilities will remain
Jone of EPA's highest priorities. The corrective
action program will focus on controlling human
1 exposure to toxins and groundwater releases at the
J| 1,712 high priority facilities jointly identified by EPA
i Regions and State counterparts. EPA will work with
States and Tribes to implement the RCRA Clean-up
Reforms. Attention will be given to attaining the
maximum use of program flexibility and practical
approaches through comprehensive training, out-
reach, application of new enforcement tools, and
enhancing community involvement through greater
public access to information.
The LUST program will continue to support
State efforts to make cleanups better, cheaper, and
fester. EPA will promote risk-based decision-
making (RBDM) in State and Tribal UST programs
by developing ways to measure the performance of
RBDM and by helping to resolve regional barriers to
RBDM development. la addition, the LUST pro-
gram will continue to support corrective action
information exchanges, assist state enforcement
efforts to promote cleanups, develop policy guid-
ance and technical manuals, and sponsor workshops
and training events. Of special concern to the
program are emerging issues surrounding methyl
tertiary butyl ether and other fuel oxygenates, such
as the potential need to reassess previously cleaned
sites for additional testing and remediation.
Economic Revitalization of Waste Sites
EPA is committed to integrating the concept of
economic revitalization into the process of cleaning
up contaminated waste sites and other properties.
Several initiatives have made significant progress in
this arena in a relatively short amount of time. The
Brownfields program continues to work with States
and local communities to assess, clean up, and reuse
former industrial and commercial properties where
expansion or redevelopment is complicated by
potential environmental contamination, liability, or
other concerns. The RCRA corrective action and
UST programs will continue to identify instances
where redevelopment is complicated by regulatory
or programmatic barriers. These programs will work
with stakeholders to overcome these barriers
through the development of streamlined and inno-
vative approaches to permitting and remediation.
Implementation of the Superfund redevelopment
initiative will continue by early identification of sites
that can be returned to productive reuse once
cleanup is completed, issuance of prospective
purchaser agreements to allay liability concerns, and
work with communities to ensure that these sites are
"recycled" back into productive use.
Improving Environmental Data
A significant challenge is the need to develop
effective measures to track the relationship between
the Agency's activities and resulting environmental
improvements. For waste prevention programs such
as RCRA, the challenge is especially difficult because
the risk avoided from facility releases prevented as a
result of implementing approved RCRA controls
cannot be quantified. E.emaining data gaps within
cumulative exposure modeling and risk assessment
also add to the challenge of developing meaningful
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
performance measures. EPA continues to stress
partnerships and practical approaches in making the
most of Agency resources to gather this information
and work toward other aspects of the Agency's
objectives for safe waste management, restoration of
contaminated waste sites, and emergency response
preparedness.
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE FUTURE
• In FY 2000, EPA will achieve cleanup of over
245,000 cumulative underground storage tank
releases.
• In FY 2001, EPA will promulgate the RCRA
Standardized Permit Exile and HWIR-Waste
Rule.
• In FY 2002, EPA will achieve clean-up construc-
tion at a total of 900 Superfund sites and meet
the deadline for regulated community compli-
ance with the hazardous waste combustion
Maximum Achievable Control Technology
(MACT) rule, which was promulgated in 1999.
• In FY 2003, EPA will attain controls to prevent
human exposures and groundwater releases at
over 50 percent of RCRA corrective action sites.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
-------
1
S
$-4
o
8
8
13
-§
I
A.rtwork by Allison
-------
-------
GOAL 6: REDUCTION OF GLOBAL AND CROSS-BORDER
ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
The United States will lead other nations in successful multilateral efforts to reduce
significant risks to human health and ecosystems from climate change, stratospheric
ozone depletion, and other hazards of international concern.
OVERVIEW
Today, many serious environmental risks
transcend political boundaries. As a result,
protecting human health and the environment in the
United States requires multinational cooperation.
For instance, some ecosystems essential to die health
and welfare of U.S. citizens, such as die Great Lakes,
are shared with neighboring countries and can only
be preserved dirough joint action. Odier
environmental risks, including those related to
climate change and ozone depletion, are global in
scope, thus requiring international action in order to
protect the healdi and welfare of U.S. citizens as well
as that of the rest of the planet.
In addition to safeguarding human health and
die environment, EPA's international programs
provide important political and economic benefits.
A significant portion of EPA's international work
fulfills legally binding treaties, conventions, and
other international statutory mandates. The sharing
of regulatory and environmental technological
expertise helps developing nations as well as the
United States and odier industrialized nations
achieve development consistent with a healthy future
for all. Moreover, the implementation of effective
environmental management and regulatory
approaches throughout the world ensures tiiat U.S.
companies are not at a competitive disadvantage in
comparison widi companies in other nations, which
may choose rapid, inexpensive development at the
expense of die environment.
FY 1999 PERFORMANCE
To address today's international environmental
challenges, EPA established in its Strategic Plan five
guiding objectives for work toward tiiis goal over die
next five years:
• Protect shared ecosystems through joint action
widi odier nations.
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to
address the risks of climate change.
• Prevent further destruction of die ozone layer
and facilitate its recovery.
• Protect human and environmental health from
circulating toxic chemicals.
• Build worldwide capacity for environmental
protection efforts.
Widi the help of its international and domestic
partners, EPA made progress toward all of these
objectives in FY 1999.
Protecting Border Environments
EPA strives to protect die health of citizens who
live near borders widi odier nations by working widi
tiiose nations to address cross-boundary threats. By
2005, EPA's objective is to reduce transboundary
direats to human healdi and shared ecosystems in
Nortii America, including marine and Arctic
environments, consistent with bilateral and
multilateral treaty obligations in these areas and widi
the trust responsibility to Tribes.
U.S.-Mexico Border
In recent years, die U.S.-Mexico border region
has experienced dramatic increases in
industrialization and population growtii. This
growtii has overwhelmed wastewater systems and
other environmental infrastructure along both sides
of the U.S.-Mexico border and placed additional
pressures on die border's natural resources. Building
on a 1983 Agreement for die Protection and
Improvement of the Environment in the Border
Area, EPA is working with odier Federal agencies
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
1
and Mexican counterparts to address environmental
problems and to provide the foundation for long-
term sustainable growth. In FY1999, EPA focused
on air quality problems, chemical emergency
response, and providing greater numbers of citizens
with safe drinking water. To better understand air
quality problems, EPA established air emission
inventories and monitoring networks. A key
indicator of success for this program was the
implementation of joint contingency plans for
chemical emergencies between sister cities in the
United States and Mexico.
WDrking closely with the Border Environment
Cooperation Commission and the North American
Development Bank (NADBank), EPA has leveraged
$162 million of appropriated funds into $602
million worth of environmental infrastructure
projects on both sides of the border, benefitting
approximately seven million border residents. In
FY1999, EPA exceeded its goal of one and certified
nine projects as eligible for construction and
NADBank Gnancing (APG 38). The significant
success of this goal is the result of efforts by parties
on both sides of the border to ensure that border
residents have adequate water and wastewater
treatment facilities. EPA also exceeded its
cumulative total as well, and 28 projects have been
certified as eligible for construction and NADBank
financing. Of these 28 projects, 21 have been
funded by NADBank, 16 are under construction,
and two have been completed. Through this
program, the Mexican city of Juarez, with a
population of 1.5 million people, will for the first
time have the capacity to treat its wastewater prior to
discharging it into the Rio Grande River. Overall,
more than six million citizens now have access to
safe drinking water as a result of projects completed
along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Great lakes
EPA and its partners have identified 80
comprehensive, basin-wide indicators
(ht^p://www.q)a.gov/glnpo/solec/98) to better assess
environmental progress and challenges in the Great
Lakes. Representative data are now available for 19
of these indicators. They show that PCB
concentrations in top predator fish are either still
slowly decreasing or potentially leveling off at
concentrations suspected to cause health problems.
In FY 1999, the U.S./Canadian Integrated
Atmospheric Deposition Network published
information showing that concentrations of some
toxic chemicals in the air are decreasing over the
past decade but may not disappear completely until
the middle of the next century. Also in FY 1999,
biological monitoring by EPA's Great Lakes Program
and its partners revealed ecosystem impacts
attributable to new invasive species. FY 1999
research determined the potential for Cercopagis, an
invasive zooplankton discovered in Lake Ontario in
1998, to disperse throughout the Great Lakes,
harming plankton and fish communities. FY 1999
research also suggests threats to biological
communities from invasive round goby fish.
In FY 1999, EPA's Lake Michigan Mass Balance
Study, one of the largest and most detailed
investigations of its kind, provided State and Federal
environmental managers with toxics and nutrient
loadings data for different components of the Lake
Michigan ecosystem. Managers can now determine
the relative pollutant contributions from the
atmosphere, lake tributaries, and sediments. This
information helps determine the most effective
long-term steps for further reducing toxics levels so
that Lake Michigan fish will eventually be safe to eat.
EPA's Great Lakes Program identified
contaminated sediments as the largest major source
of contaminants to the Great Lakes food chain.
Contaminated sediments cause impairments to over
2,000 miles (20 percent) of shoreline, including each
of the 43 Areas of Concern, and contribute to the
fish consumption advisories that remain in place
throughout the Great Lakes and many inland lakes.
On the U.S. side of the border, sediments have been
assessed at 26 Great Lakes locations, and over
1,300,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediments
have been remediated over the past three years.
Sediment remediation is not yet complete at any U.S.
Area of Concern. More information on sediments
in the Great Lakes is available at
httpy/www.epa.gov/glnpo/sediments.html.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Arctic Environment
High level radioactive contamination is a major
threat to human health and ecosystems in the Arctic.
Because Northwestern Russia has little infrastructure
for handling radioactive waste from decommis-
sioned nuclear submarines, spent nuclear fuel (SNF)
from the former Soviet Union has been dumped in
the ocean. Today, the accumulation of SNF, stored
under unsafe conditions in floating barges and other
aging vessels, poses both direct and indirect threats
to the environment. The Arctic Military
Environmental Cooperation (AMEC) project is a
fast-track effort, sponsored in part by EPA, to
design and construct a transportable cask for safe
interim storage of SNF from Russian nuclear
submarines scheduled for dismantlement. In
FY1999, AMEC constructed a cask prototype,
which is now being certified for use. By 2005, once
the cask has been produced in mass quantity and put
into use, it is expected that 25 percent or more of .
the high-risk uncontained fuel will be safely secured.
An estimated 25 percent reduction in the human
health and environmental risks associated with the
decommissioned sources is expected to result.
Wider Caribbean Marine Environment
EPA's efforts to protect the marine environment
yielded two notable achievements in FY1999. First,
working with the Department of State, NOAA, and
other Federal agencies, the Agency completed a
regional agreement that establishes common effluent
standards for domestic wastewater discharges into
the Wider Caribbean (Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean
Sea, and Straights of Florida). This agreement
represents the first international treaty establishing
effluent standards specific to selected pollution
sources and the unique sensitivity of various
receiving waters. Second, in cooperation with other
Federal agencies, EPA proposed draft text for treaty
negotiations to phase out the use of tributyltin
(TBT) as a marine antifoulant and to establish
standards for future action on other marine
antifouling systems. The use of TBT for marine
antifouling purposes has been documented as the
principal source of TBT in coastal and estuarine
waters, where the chemical has been shown to cause
deformities in shellfish and other benthic organisms.
These two agreements provide the transboundary
foundation necessary for addressing current and
future sources of marine pollution in coastal waters.
Global Climate Change
EPA works to protect the planet by exploring
the ramifications of climate change, including
threats and opportunities facing both the nation and
the planet. By 2000 and beyond, EPA's objective is
to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to levels
consistent with international commitments under
the 1992 Framework Convention on Climate
Change, building on initial efforts under the
Administration's 1993 Climate Change Action Plan.
Goals and Accomplishments of the Climate
Change Technology Initiative (CCTI)
60
50
40
30
;§ 20
ig
\S 1°
1995
1996
1997 1998
Year
1999
2000
I Annual Achievements 1:1 Annual Goals
The core of EPA's climate change efforts are
government/industry partnership programs
designed to overcome barriers limiting investments
by consumers, businesses, and other organizations in
cleaner or more efficient technologies. As
documented by numerous studies, energy-efficient
technologies provide a sizable opportunity for
limiting emissions of greenhouse gases, improving
local air quality while simultaneously saving money
for both businesses and consumers. EPA's climate
change efforts have shown similar results by meeting
emission reduction goals and demonstrating cost-
effectiveness. In FY&99, EPA set a goal for
reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by a total
of 35 million metric tons in carbon equivalent
(MMTCE) through partnerships with businesses,
schools, State and local governments, and other
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
organizations (APG 39). While final data covering
all of FY 1999 will not be available until Spring
2000, current estimates indicate that EPA may
exceed this goal by about 15 percent.
Cars, trucks, aircraft, and other components of
the nation's transportation system emit about one
third of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with
transportation are growing rapidly as Americans
drive more and as the popularity of less efficient
sport-utility and other larger vehicles continues to
increase. To address emissions from automobiles,
EPA has partnered with other agencies and domestic
auto manufacturers in the 'Tartnership for a New
Generation of Vehicles" (PNGV). PNGV is an
effort to develop attractive, affordable cars that meet
all applicable safety and environmental standards
and achieve up to three times the fuel efficiency of
today's cars. The program aims to produce a
prototype mid-sized family car capable of 80 miles
per gallon with a two-thirds reduction in carbon
emissions by 2004. In FY 1999, EPA's PNGV work
reached a milestone by demonstrating technology
for a mid-size family sedan that achieves 61 miles
per gallon, has low emissions, and is safe, practical,
and affordable. EPA expects progress on
development of the technology to accelerate over
the next several years because much of the work to
date has focused on program design and start up.
Research Contributions
EPA participates in a multi-agency effort known
as the Global Change Research Program (GCRP) to
evaluate the potential consequences of global
change. The long-term goal of the GCRP is to
understand and articulate, in terms that are
meaningful for decision-makers and other
stakeholders, the potential consequences of global
"I environmental change for human health and
A ecosystems in the United States. The global
^ environmental changes covered by this research
j program include climate change and variability,
8 ultraviolet radiation, and human dimensions of
| global change, such as land-use change.
3 EPA is also committed to fulfilling its
J obligations as a participant in the interagency U.S.
Global Change Research Program (USGCRP). As
part of this effort, EPA is contributing to the First
USGCRP National Assessment of the "Potential
Consequences of Climate Variability and Change for
the United States," which includes 19 regional
assessments and six sectoral assessments. EPA is
responsible for one sectoral and three regional
assessments. These assessments focus on evaluating
the impacts of global change on human health,
ecosystems, and economic systems at regional, State,
and local scales. The assessment process is
dedicated to meeting the information needs of
stakeholders by providing the best scientific
information in a form that is useful, understandable,
and timely. The assessments also examine possible
adaptation opportunities in order to reduce the risks,
or take advantage of the opportunities, presented by
climate variability and change. EPA completed the
Mid-Atlantic and Great Lakes regional assessments
as well as the Human Health sectoral assessment on
schedule in FY1999, but the Gulf Coast regional
assessment is behind schedule due to difficulties
obtaining a high-quality project proposal able to
pass rigorous scientific peer review (APG 40). A
university proposal has been accepted, and the Gulf
Coast Assessment is underway. The delay has not
impacted EPA's contribution to the USGCRP
National Synthesis Report.
Other global change research focused on ultra
violet (UV) monitoring. In FY&99, EPA made
additional monitoring progress by completing
installation of all 21 UV monitoring sites. To learn
more about the extent of the UV radiation problem,
EPA established the UV monitoring network, which
includes 14 sites in National Park Service areas
throughout the continental United States (and the
Virgin Islands and Hawaii) as well as seven sites in
urban areas (APG 51).
Restoring the Ozone Layer
EPA helps protect citizens from the dangers of
a depleted ozone layer by reducing ozone-depleting
substances and educating citizens about healthy sun
practices. EPA's objective is that by 2005, ozone
concentrations in the stratosphere will have stopped
declining and begun the process of recovery.
Erolronmenial Protection Agency
-------
The stratospheric ozone layer protects life on
earth from harmful UV radiation. Scientific
evidence amassed over the past 25 years indicates
that the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and
other halogenated chemicals has caused destruction
of the stratospheric ozone layer. In FY 1999, EPA
actions, including the phase-out of domestic
production of ozone-depleting substances (ODS),
furthered the nation's commitment to halting the
destruction of the ozone layer. Based on results in
the ffrst three quarters of FY 1999, EPA was on
track to meet its goal of ensuring that domestic
consumption of class II hydro chlorofluorocarbons
(HCFCs) was restricted to below 208,400 metric
tonnes, and domestic exempted production and
import of newly produced class I CFCs and halons
were restricted to below 130,000 metric tonnes.
(APG 41). Calculations for the total data in FY 1999
will be available in Spring 2000.
FACILITATING OZONE-DEPLETING SUBSTANCES
(ODS) PHASE-OUT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Parties to the Montreal Protocol established a
Multilateral Fund to provide aid to developing
countries for ODS phase-out programs. In FY 1999,
the United States contributed a total of $45.8 million
to the Multilateral Fund, $11.3 million of which came
from EPA funding. The U.S. contributions funded
phase-out programs in more than 50 countries. The
focus of the Fund in FY 1999 was to shut down
existing CFC production facilities in developing
countries and to reduce illegal trade in ozone-
depleting substances.
A particular focus of attention in FY 1999 was
the ODS methyl bromide. The first step of the
phase-out schedule for methyl bromide, in
accordance with the Montreal Protocol, is a 25
percent reduction in the production and
consumption of methyl bromide from the 1991
baseline in FY 1999 and maintaining that level
through FY2000. The 25 percent reduction was
achieved in FY 1999, and proposed regulations for
additional phase-down steps in 2001, 2003, and 2005
are expected in early 2000. As a fumigant for
quarantine and pre-shipment treatment of
vegetables, fruits, and other commodities, methyl
bromide provides an important level of protection
against the invasion of foreign pests and diseases.
Since this protection is increasingly important in a
period of expanding international trade, EPA,
USDA, and other government agencies are actively
researching alternatives to methyl bromide.
Even after these and other program goals are
met, the long lifetime and stability of ODSs means
that the public will continue to face higher levels of
radiation than existed prior to the depletion of the
ozone layer. In fact, according to current atmo-
spheric research, the ozone layer will not recover
until the mid-21 st century. During FY 1999, EPA
initiated the SunWise Program to promote behav-
ioral changes with a goal of protecting children from
skin cancer, cataracts, and other long-term UV-
related health effects. The SunWise program ex-
panded from 25 schools in 12 States to over 140
schools in 36 States, reaching approximately 10,000
students.
Circulating Chemicals
EPA strives to protect citizens and ecosystems
from chemical dangers in the air, water, and soil that
often originate in faraway places yet pose a threat to
the United States. EPA's objective is to reduce the
risks to U.S. human health and ecosystems from
selected toxics (including pesticides) that circulate in
the environment at global and regional scales. EPA's
aim is to meet this goal by 2005 in a manner
consistent with international obligations (from
various treaties and agreements, both current and
nearing completion), the need to level up public
health environmental standards, and to expand
toxics release reporting.
EPA's FY 1999 actions to protect U.S. human
health and ecosystems from circulating toxics
addressed priority chemical groups and individual
chemicals, like mercury, as well as issues significant
to chemical risks in general, such as the availability
of effects data.
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are toxic,
degrade very slowly, and accumulate in the tissue of
humans and other organisms. POPs also disperse
easily in the atmosphere, often traveling long
s.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
1
•5
distances. In FY1999, EPA obtained substantial
international agreement on criteria for selecting
chemicals for a new global POPs convention;
however, no agreement has yet been reached on
capacity-building to support the treaty's
implementation (APG 42). Capacity-building, as it
relates to funding and technical assistance
commitments for developing countries, is likely to
provide one of the toughest challenges for the treaty
negotiations at the March and December 2000
sessions. EPA would have preferred to fully con-
clude negotiations on these two matters in FY 1999,
but the treaty will be a success so long as they are
resolved no later than the final negotiating session in
December 2000. Once implemented, the global
treaty is expected to eliminate or reduce the
worldwide production of 12 hazardous chemicals
and define the scientific criteria for selecting
additional POPs to be addressed under the
convention.
In FY 1999, EPA continued to participate in
efforts to complete the much-needed testing of high
production volume (HPV) chemicals and the
dissemination of HPV chemical effects data. HPV
chemicals are industrial chemicals that are produced
in or imported to the United States in quantities over
one million pounds per year and for which basic
toxicity information is limited or unavailable. EPA is
helping to complete the necessary testing through its
domestic HPV Challenge program and through the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development's (OECD's) Screening Information
Data Sets program. In FYs 1998 and 1999, EPA
participated in OECD decision meetings that
completed the assessment of over 60 HPV
chemicals. Such efforts represent important
progress toward the objective of ensuring that basic
test data are available for the majority of HPV
chemicals by 2005.
The 1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development endorsed the
development of a globally harmonized system of
chemical hazard classification and labeling by the
end of 2000. Harmonization facilitates international
trade by reducing the burden on chemical
companies, which must often perform separate,
sometimes only slightly different tests to comply
with various national standards. A harmonized
classification and labeling system improves safety
and environmental protection by standardizing the
toxicity information available on a chemical. In
FY1999, the OECD, working with EPA and its
international counterparts, achieved consensus on
classification criteria for eight health and
environmental endpoints.
The Agency's 1997 Mercury Study Report to
Congress provides a baseline for domestic emissions
of mercury, as well as emission reductions expected
from the promulgation of Maximum Achievable
Control Technology (MA.CT) standards for different
industrial sectors. Few other countries have
adequate inventories of their own mercury
emissions, however, and while EPA is able to
estimate the percentage of domestic mercury
deposition resulting from the influx of foreign
mercury emissions, the Agency currently cannot
specify with precision which countries or regions
account for this influx. In FY 1999, EPA
established monitoring systems at three sites (Ohio
River Valley; Barrow, Alaska; and the Florida
Everglades) to track long-range transboundary
transport of mercury into the United States and will
conduct modeling to identify and assess
international sources and pathways of mercury
transport.
Working with its international partners, EPA has
met its goal to reduce global usage of leaded
gasoline to below 1993 levels, thus lessening the risk
that lead poisoning poses to children's neurological
development. Research, conducted in FY 1999
shows a reduction of leaded gasoline usage
worldwide from 249 million metric tons (out of a
total of 745 million metric tons) in 1993 to 166
million metric tons (out of a total of 805 million
metric tons) in 1997. Unleaded gasoline currently
accounts for 78 percent of all gasoline sold
worldwide, and this figure is expected to increase to
over 84 percent by 2003. To support the
development of international lead phase-out plans,
EPA recently completed its Implementer's Guide to
Phase-Out Lead in Gasoline. EPA also is planning
workshops to aid 25 countries that are experiencing
technical difficulties meeting their phase-out
commitments.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Cfeanet and Cheaper Practices
EPA works to protect the global environment by
helping other nations develop environmental
standards and methods and by protecting the right
of all nations to engage in environmentally sound
trade practices. By 2005, EPA's objective is to
increase the application of cleaner and more
cost-effective environmental practices and
technologies in the United States and abroad
through international cooperation.
In FY1999, EPA carded out a number of
important activities that contribute toward
achievement of the objective:
• Delivered 16 (of 30 planned) international
training modules in eight countries. The remain-
ing 14 modules were not completed due to host
country difficulties (i.e., political and economic
unrest, U.S. government sanctions, and inability
to provide resource share).
• Implemented six technology assistance and
dissemination projects, including development
of three new electronic Technical Information
Packages (TIPs) covering the areas of solid
waste, hazardous waste, and air quality manage-
ment.
• Implemented six (of a projected five) cooperative
policy development projects, including securing
15 new partners to join as members of the
International Cooperative for Cleaner Produc-
tion and designing member regional sites for the
Asia-Pacific Roundtable for Cleaner Production
and the Cleaner Production Roundtable of the
Americas; and developing and delivering "Envi-
ronmental Information On-line: A Guide for
International Users" to key partners overseas.
• Disseminated information products on U.S.
environmental technologies and techniques to
2,500 foreign customers, including 1,500 interna-
tional visitors representing over 110 countries,
and thousands of other foreign parties through
an Agency website and other means (APG 43).
EPA made substantial progress during FY1999
in strengthening technical, administrative, and other
frameworks in support of "cleaner, cheaper"
environmental protection in targeted countries and
regions.
Partner countries have used the materials and
skills gained through these exchanges to enact or
strengthen environmental laws, regulations, and
standards; develop monitoring and enforcement
capabilities; and implement environmental
protection programs both domestically and
internationally. By exchanging information and
sharing costs of environmental research and
regulation, EPA's international policy also helped to
strengthen environmental protection programs in
the United States.
GERMAN ENVIRONMENTALISTS PARTNER WITH
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND
Urban environmental practitioners from Germany
met with their counterparts from Baltimore to
collaborate, as part of a two-year transatlantic
environmental exchange program, on Brownfield
revitalization, smart growth, and urban ecological
issues. As a result, the group presented a series of
recommendations to the Office of the Mayor and
the City Transportation Director in Baltimore,
which included improved public transportation
shelters with maps and time charts, a new bike path
linking the Frederick Olmstead Park system, and
suggestions for a pedestrian zone adjacent to the
Inner Harbor.
One example of a successful program with
partner countries was EPA's international initiative
on "Microbiologically Safe Drinking Water for
Children's Health," launched in FY 1999. Using El
Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras as pilot
countries for Central American implementation,
EPA evaluated needs and developed joint action
plans for source water protection, enhancement of
laboratory capabilities, and treatment plant
optimization. EPA also launched a cooperative
program with China, focusing on air pollution,
climate change, and public health.
In FY 1999, EPA also made progress in
developing and implementing international
agreements on programs that integrate international
trade, investment, and environmental policies to
harmonize environmental standards with major
trading partners. The North American Free Trade
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
1
Agreement (NAFTA) is the most significant piece
of trade legislation thus far that stresses the
establishment and maintenance of high
environmental standards. In FY1999, EPA
accomplished its goals for management of two areas
of the North American Commission for
Environmental Cooperation (CEC), a NAFTA side-
agreement First, the North American Regional
Action Plan (NARAP) for mercury was developed
and approved. In addition, a more comprehensive
action plan on mercury (Phase 2) was drafted in
August 1999 and is currently under public review for
completion by April 2000. Also in FY 1999, the
CEC issued Taking Stock, 1996 Trilateral Pollutant
Re/ease Transfer Registry. This registry gives citizens in
the United States, Mexico, and Canada access to
information about pollutant releases and transfers at
a North American scale, creating an informational
basis for tri-national cooperation to further reduce
North American pollution.
PROGRAM EVALUATION
EPA laid the groundwork during FY 1999 for
substantially improving the way it designs,
implements, and measures the effectiveness of
international capacity-building programs. A cross-
Agency task force carried out an assessment that (1)
reviewed ongoing international capacity-building
programs within the Agency; (2) established a set of
best practice guidelines related to program
development and implementation, including a
checklist of criteria for evaluating Agency
engagement and guidelines related to project
selection, design, implementation, monitoring, and
evaluation; (3) developed a hierarchy for establishing
performance goals under GPRA; and (4) developed
a generic set of environmental and programmatic
indicators for use by EPA program managers in
establishing annual performance goals and measures
under GPRA. EPA's international capacity-building
annual performance goals and measures for FY 2001
reflect this work.
CONCLUSIONS AND CHALLENGES
EPA has long been recognized worldwide as a
leading source of environmental regulatory and
management expertise. The Agency has made much
progress in efforts to advance protection of the
global commons. Numerous treaties, binding
conventions, and other partnerships are now
underway and helping to advance sustainable
environmental growth across the world. Continued
progress will rely greatly on the ability to achieve
agreement on key global, negotiations and on the
ability to sustain financial and political support for
this work.
Despite the significant accomplishments of
EPA's programs to date, there remain considerable
opportunities and significant challenges to future
efforts. For example, cooperation with other
countries, to ensure that businesses are responsible
actors and all people are protected as trade is
liberalized, is an essential and difficult process. On
the Mexico border, jointly addressing common
issues between agencies in the two nations has been
a major challenge, especially as Mexican States and
local governments in the border region generally
have not had the authority or resources to address
border issues. In the area of climate change, further-
pollution reductions and savings from energy
efficiency programs and greater use of cost-effective
renewable energy are possible. Technologies are
being developed and already available that can cut
energy use significantly.
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE FUTURE
EPA has set a number of key milestones for the
future in the international arena. Some of these
major milestones are in the areas of the Mexico
border and climate change.
• By 2005, an additional 1.5 million residents along
the U.S.-Mexico Border, including Tribes, will be
served by adequate drinking water and wastewa-
ter treatment systems.
• Within the domain of climate change, EPA
established a goal to reduce greenhouse gases by
98 mmtce by 2005. Key milestones for this goal
include reducing greenhouse gas emissions by
more than 60 MMTCE in 2001, by more than 68
MMTCE in 2002, by more than 76 MMTCE in
2003, and by more than 85 MMTCE in 2005.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
STOP TOXIC WASTi DUMPIN® ON THi,£EA AN&
I
o
i
Artwork by Crystal
-------
-------
GOAL 7: EXPANSION OF AMERICANS' RIGHT-TO-KNOW
ABOUT THEIR ENVIRONMENT
Easy access to a wealth of information about the state of their local environment will
expand citizen involvement and give people tools to protect their families and their com-
munities as they see fit. Increased information exchange between scientists, public health
officials, businesses, citizens, and all levels of government will foster greater knowledge
about the environment and what can be done to protect it.
OVERVIEW
EPA's Right-to-Know goal reflects the Agency's
commitment to provide information that will help
protect human health and safeguard the natural
environment. All Americans have a right to know
about the safety of the air they breathe, the water
they drink, and die food they eat. Access to current,
accurate, and understandable information enhances
the public's ability to participate in environmental
decision-making, helps the public to reduce its
exposure to harmful pollutants, and increases the
ability of EPA's partners-Federal, State, Tribal, and
local—to address environmental problems. EPA's
commitment to environmental equity necessitates
the availability of information for minority, low-
income communities whose residents suffer dispro-
portionately from poor environmental conditions.
In addition to making progress toward the goal,
EPA environmental information activities in
FY1999 contributed to a number of cross-Agency
priorities, including children's health, environmental
justice, addressing persistent bioaccumulative toxics
(PBTs), and broad-based sector work. Recognizing
the important role that the achievement of this goal
plays in effective environmental management, EPA
created a new Office of Environmental Information
in FY 1999. The new organization will help the
Agency collect, manage, and disseminate data and
information more efficiently; respond to public
information needs more effectively; and use environ-
mental information as a strategic resource.
In its Strategic Plan, EPA established three
objectives that contribute to the expansion of
Americans' Right-to-Know: empower the public
with environmental information that helps them
participate in environmental protection efforts;
assist the public in reducing exposure to environ-
mental and human health risks by providing infor-
mation on specific pollutants; and enhance the
ability of EPA's partners to address environmental
problems by providing better, more complete
environmental information.
FY 1999 PERFORMANCE
Empowering the Public with Environmental
Information
By 2005, EPA will improve the ability of the
American public to participate in the protection of
human health and the environment by increasing the
quality and quantity of general environmental
education and outreach and data availability pro-
grams, especially in disproportionally impacted and
disadvantaged communities.
Recent advances in technology have created
opportunities for collecting, managing, and dissemi-
nating information. Together, EPA and the States
harness the latest technologies to exchange and
integrate environmental information more efficiently
than ever before. At the same time, EPA reaches
out to individuals through its Website and the
National Telephone Survey to identify and respond
to public information needs more effectively.
EPA programs and the States often collect and
manage data using different standards, formats, and
protocols. This lack of coordination complicates
information integration and consolidation and limits
the ability of the public to gather facility- and area-
specific information. Through establishment of the
State/EPA Information Management Workgroup,
EPA and the States have committed to share envi-
ronmental information based on compatible data
standards and to develop and implement joint
&
1
s
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
envkonmental data standards. The Workgroup has
completed work on the data standards for facility
identification and date designation. Work currently
is proceeding on standards for latitude/longitude,
industrial classification, chemical identity, and
biological taxonomy. EPA plans to implement these
six data standards in 13 major databases by the end
of FY 2003.
The One Stop Reporting Program encourages
State-to-State collaboration in addressing environ-
mental information issues and needs. One Stop
grants are awarded to State envkonmental agencies
that are on the leading edge of envkonmental
information management reform. The Program
focuses on streamlining reporting by regulated
entities and ultimately improving the availability of
envkonmental performance data to the public. The
Agency did not meet its FY1999 goal of adding
eight States to the roster of those participating in the
One Stop Reporting Program (four States were
added) primarily because States had not demon-
strated the requited level of information integration
(APG 44). EPA has added a technology transfer
activity to help additional States meet the One Stop
Reporting eligibility criteria. The 25 States now
participating in the program are implementing major
envkonmental management systems that will pro-
vide better integrated, more accessible information.
FY1999's four new One Stop Program partici-
pants-California, Michigan, Nebraska, and Virginia-
used the EPA grants to further develop integrated
envkonmental information systems. Also in
FY 1999, EPA brought several States together to
develop a common Facility Identification Template
for States (FITS), and 35 States now plan informa-
tion systems incorporating this new data standard
(http^/www.sso.org/ecos/pro)ectsyEIM/flts.htm). The avail-
ability of FITS has already cut State costs by an
average of $300,000 per data model. When fully
implemented, the new One Stop information
systems will enhance decision-making at the State
and local levels, increase public access to informa-
tion, and help reduce State and industry reporting
burdens.
The Envkonmental Justice Grants Program
includes the Envkonmental Justice Small Grants
Program and the State and Tribal Envkonmental
Environmental Protection Agency
Justice Grants Program. EPA met its targeted
FY1999 goal by awarding 100 environmental
justice grants (APG 45) to eligible community
groups, enhancing their ability to address pressing
envkonmental problems (see related sidebar). The
grants also supported State and Tribal efforts to
develop the capacity needed to address a broad
range of envkonmental justice issues.
THE COALITION TO END LEAD POISONING, INC.
GET THE LEAD OUT! ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
EMPOWERMENT PROJECT
With the support of a $20,000 EPA Environmental
Justice Grant, the Coalition to End Lead Poisoning,
Inc. provides residents of Baltimore, Maryland with
information and resources to combat lead poison-
ing. The Coalition has developed a lead-safe
housing registry in Baltimore and conducted numer-
ous training sessions to help families minimize lead
exposure. It also provides High Efficiency Particu-
late Air (HEPA) filtration vacuum cleaners and lead-
dust cleaning kits to residents in at-risk communi-
ties. The Coalition works in partnership with
CLEARCorps—an AmeriCorps program focused on
Community Lead Education and Reduction-and
continues to receive strong community support.
The Agency met its FY 1999 goals for increasing
public access to information via the Internet. The
number of Website hits increased by 42 percent. At
the same time, EPA increased the number of Inter-
net site pages by 41 percent, and the number of
distinct hosts accessing the Website increased by 25
percent-exceeding the 10 percent target for all three
performance measures.
EPA established an Agency-wide task force to
identify and collect EPA policy, guidance, and
interpretive documents that should be made readily
available via electronic means. In FY 1999, this
effort, the Access to Interpretive Documents
Project, identified and converted more than 5,000
paper and 4,000 electronic documents into a consis-
tent electronic format. By the end of FY 2000, EPA
intends to make all of its policy, guidance, and
interpretive documents available from a central
location via the Agency's Website. Achieving this
-------
goal "will significantly enlian.ce industry's ability to
understand and comply with EPA requirements.
EPA continues to undertake assistance agree-
ments with academic institutions, nonprofit organi-
zations, and minority/low-income communities to
further the public's understanding of environmental
issues. During FY1999, EPA awarded over 230
education grants and trained over 8,000 teachers in
environmental education. EPA's interagency agree-
ments with other Federal agencies leveraged over
$124,000 in additional support for environmental
education activities.
NOXUBEE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE
ENVmONMENTAL EDUCATION CENTER AND
PROGRAM
The Starkville School District in Starkville,
Mississippi serves more than 4,000 students
across a 100+ square-mile area. With financial
support from EPA, and in cooperation with the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Mississippi
State University, the school district has estab-
lished an Environmental Education Center and
Program in the Noxubee National Wildlife
Refuge. The Program emphasizes the sustain-
able use of diminishing resources, fish and
wildlife ecology, and the historical significance
of the region's natural assets. It is one of few
such opportunities in this impoverished area of
the country, and plans are now underway to
expand the program to 69 school districts and to
involve the Choctaw Tribal School System, as
well as several private schools.
The Index of Watershed Indicators (IWI)
represents an important step in integrating environ-
mental information at the watershed level for use by
water resource managers, policy makers, and the
public in protecting and enhancing the nation's water
resources. The IWI reports on 15 environmental
indicators used to characterize the condition and
vulnerability of aquatic systems in each of the 2,262
watersheds in the 50 States and Puerto Rico
(hflp://ww.epa.gov/iwi). During FY 1999, EPA met its
goal of updating the IWI and released two new
versions, which include updates of six indicators and
three new measures. To enhance the utility of the
IWI, EPA also developed an IWI data index, a
catalog of maps (Watershed Adas), and new combi-
nations of data layers (e.g., ecological/human health
and ecosystem conditions/vulnerabilities).
Providing Information to Reduce Risks to Human
Health and the Environment
By 2005, EPA's objective is to improve the ability
of the public to reduce exposure to specific environ-
mental and human health risks by making current,
accurate substance-specific information widely and
easily accessible.
During FY1999, EPA processed 117,171 Toxic
Release Inventory (TRI) chemical release reports
from industrial facilities, exceeding its goal to
process 110,000 reports, and reduced the time re-
quired to make the data available to the public from
seven months to five. The Agency also published the
annual TRI Data Release Report (APG 46), en-
abling the public to identify sources of environmen-
tal contamination within their communities. The
report is available through the TRI homepage
(http://www.epa.gov/0pptintr/1xi) and serves as a powerful
tool in encouraging facilities to reduce toxic chemi-
cal releases.
EPA issued a proposed rule that would require
additional reporting in TRI of toxic chemicals that
persist in the environment and accumulate in bio-
logical organisms (persistent bioaccumulative toxics,
or PBTs). The proposed rule would allow commu-
nities to obtain information on releases of particu-
larly dangerous substances that may affect human
and ecological health. For example, current regula-
tions only require the reporting of mercury—a
highly persistent and bioaccumulative toxic—-if a
facility manufactures or processes more than 25,000
pounds or if it "otherwise uses" more than 10,000
pounds. The proposed rule would lower the report-
ing threshold for mercury to ten pounds.
EPA initiated the Acute Exposure Guideline
Levels (AEGLs) project at the request of Congress
following the 1984 release of methyl isocyanate
from a chemical plant in Bhopal, India, which killed
and injured thousands of plant workers and resi-
dents of the surrounding community. During
FY1999, EPA's National Advisory Committee for
§.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous
Substances (NAC/AEGL) reviewed the scientific
literature on 28 extremely hazardous substances and
developed over 300 individual exposure limits for
these substances. These exposure limits help inform
chemical manufacturers, workers, and communities
of the potential risks to human health should these
chemicals be released.
Another important element of the public's right-
to-know is the availability of information document-
ing regulated entities' compliance with environmen-
tal regulations. EPA's enforcement presence works
to ensure that industrial facilities comply with
regulations; provide accurate and timely reports on
toxic chemicals they manufacture, process, or release
into the environment; and implement plans to
respond to chemical accidents. In FY1999, EPA
conducted 1,034 inspections under the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
(EPCRA). The goal of 1,300 inspections was missed
because of the reduced number of available Senior
Environmental Employment inspectors (APG 47).
Tfo minimize the impact of conducting fewer inspec-
tions, Headquarters and the Regions worked to
strengthen their targeting of the inspections through
enhanced analysis of TRI data and targeting inspec-
tions to TRI late/non-responders and responses of
questionable quality. Despite missing the EPCRA
inspection goal, EPA exceeded its goal of 200 en-
forcement actions by bringing 285 actions against
facilities that violated the statute (APG 47).
In addition to providing environmental informa-
tion directly to its customers, EPA works with States
and local communities to help them disseminate
important information. The Consumer Confidence
Report (CCR) rules require water utilities to provide
the public with information on potential sources of
local drinking water contaminants, actions taken to
address water quality violations, and die steps that
vulnerable populations can take to avoid potential
microbial contaminants (e.g., Cryptosporidiuni).
EPA achieved its goal of partnering with the
States in implementation activities to ensure all
water systems are informed of the requirements of
the CCR regulation and implementation tools for
complying' with this rule. Although six States have
elected not to actually sign agreements with EPA on
implementation of the CCR regulation, all 50 States
are engaged and cooperatively participating in the
effort (APG 48). The Agency conducted compre-
hensive training programs to inform EPA Regional
and State drinking water program staff about the
CCR regulation. EPA released a series of public
service announcements and brochures encouraging
consumers to read and understand CCRs (e.g.,
"Drinking Water and Health: What You Need to
Know" and "It's Your Drinking Water: Get to
Know It and Protect It"). By October 1999, ap-
proximately 56,000 community water systems,
serving 92 percent of the U.S. population, were
required to publish annual drinking water reports.
All of the CCRs issued by large drinking water
systems (as of August 31, 1999) are listed on the
EPA Website (http://www.epa.gov/safewater/dwinfo.htm).
Consumers want to know more about pesticides
used on foods and how they can reduce their fami-
lies' potential exposure to these chemicals. In
FY1999, EPA, working with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administra-
tion, published and distributed in both English and
Spanish the brochure, 'Testicides and Food." In
response to demand, EPA developed a companion
Website that builds on information in the printed
brochure (http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/food). The
Agency also released in both English and Spanish
the fifth edition of the manual, "Recognition and
Management of Pesticide Poisonings, which provides
health care professionals widi information on the
hazards of pesticides as well as advice on diagnosing
and treating poisonings.
Enhancing EPA Partners' Abilities to Address
Environmental Problems
By 2005, EPA's objective is to meet or exceed
the Agency's customer service standards in provid-
ing sound environmental information to Federal,
State, local, and Tribal partners to enhance their
ability to protect human health and the environ-
ment. To coordinate the collection and sharing of
environmental data within EPA and with States,
other agencies, and the public, EPA created a new
Office of Environmental Information. This office
will serve as the Agency's focal point for integrating
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
quality en.vkoa.mea.tal information, in -ways that
inform decisions, improve information management,
document performance, and measure success. The
new office will work with EPA's many stakeholders
and partners to achieve the following:
• Serve as a point of contact for EPA's external
partners on information issues and assist them in
locating information and services.
• Provide leadership for improving the quality and
utility of EPA's data and information, building
on Agency successes such as geographic, multi-
media, and cross-sectoral approaches.
• Identify current and anticipate future informa-
tion needs.
• Reduce the burden of collecting information.
• Ensure that the best practical and cost-effective
technology is applied to meet EPA's current and
future information needs.
• Provide the public with high-quality and useful
information on environmental quality, status,
and trends.
• Ensure that EPA shares environmental data and
information in a consistent, efficient manner
that avoids conflicting or confusing messages
and promotes understanding.
Another ongoing effort at EPA to enhance the
availability of environmental information are the
Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and
Community Tracking (EMPACT) projects.
During FY1999, EPA awarded eight grants to
local communities for innovative monitoring re-
search pilot projects, exceeding the Agency's goal of
five to seven pilot projects for the program (APG
49). These grants encourage local communities to
track local environmental conditions and communi-
cate results in a timely manner to the public. During
FY1999, EPA awarded a total of 40 EMPACT
grants, including the eight Metro grants. The
projects provide much more local environmental
data than are generally available from EPA data-
bases. EMPACT projects are described in detail on
the EMPACT Website (http://www.epa.gov/empact). By
2001, the goal of EMPACT is to assist the 86 largest
metropolitan areas in establishing systems to provide
their communities with real-time data on local
environmental conditions.
EMPACT METRO PROJECT
DENTON-DALLAS/FORT WORTH, TX
With support from an EMPACT Metro grant,
the City of Denton has developed a multimedia
environmental monitoring system called the
Environmental Conditions Online for the
Dallas-Fort Worth MetroPLEX (ECOPLEX).
ECOPLEX provides environmental information
on a multitude of environmental parameters,
including UV radiation, ground level ozone, air
quality, water quality, and land-use issues.
ECOPLEX utilizes innovative and proven
environmental monitoring technologies to
collect real-time and time-relevant environmen-
tal data. The data will inform citizens of the
City of Denton, the Elm Fork watershed, and
the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area of
current, historical, and near-term forecasts of
environmental conditions to which the commu-
nity is exposed. More information can be found
athflpvywww.ecoplex.unt.edu/.
PROGRAM EVALUATION
In September 1999, the General Accounting
Office (GAO) released a report entitled, Environmen-
tal Protection: EPA isTaking Important Steps to Impro ve
Information Management, but Challenges Remain (GAO/
RCED-99-261). This report discusses EPA's recent
information-related initiatives and the major man-
agement challenges facing EPA's new Office of
Environmental Information. The report recom-
mends that EPA take steps to ensure that its envi-
ronmental and regulatory data are sufficiently
complete, compatible, and accurate.
The EMPACT Program also underwent evalua-
tion in FY 1999. In the State of the Program Report,
EPA summarized the activities and accomplish-
ments of the program and recommended steps to
improve it. Based on the State of the Program Report,
EMPACT took several actions, including producing
an on-line tutorial to help interested parties com-
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
1
plete EMPACT grant proposals and applications and
instituting a weekly e-mail news and activity update.
EMPACT also conducted separate project reviews
which compared progress toward specific perfor-
mance measures. Actions taken as a result of these
reviews include the following:
• Establishing a contract to provide information
management support to projects.
• Developing technology transfer and risk com-
munication "toolsheds" that will identify and
facilitate transfer of successful projects and
communication strategies.
• Requiring the tracking of approved Quality
Assurance Project Plans and Information Man-
agement Plans.
Finally, the Project Status Report evaluated the
projects in each of the 68 current EMPACT cities.
EPA used the report results to guide FY 2000
funding decisions.
CONCLUSIONS AND CHALLENGES
EPA has made significant strides in furthering
Americans' Right-to-Know about the environment
and in enhancing their ability to protect human
health and the environment. Through joint EPA/
State information activities, EMPACT and Environ-
mental Justice grants, drinking water CCRs, and
efforts to provide better information about toxic
chemicals and pesticides, EPA provides communities
and individuals with the information and tools they
need to address environmental problems. For
instance, informal comments received from users of
EPA's Website indicate that the site is becoming
increasingly useful for individuals in addressing
environmental issues in their personal and profes-
sional lives.
In addition, the Agency is working to identify
measures that better reflect how well its Website and
other information products serve the needs of the
public. For example, at the end of FY 1999, EPA
received the results of a National Performance
Review survey of librarian users of the EPA
Website. The Agency will consider improvements to
its Website based on the results of this survey. EPA
is firmly committed to achieving the goal of
strengthening its information resources for purposes
of protecting human health and safeguarding the
natural environment, both now and in the future.
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE FUTURE
• EPA's newly created Office of Environmental
Information will address policies for the quality
of lab data, including those raised by a recent
Office of Inspector General report. OEI will
work through the Agency's Quality and Informa-
tion Council to ensure full implementation of
these policies across the Agency.
• The Administrator has committed to make the
One Stop Grant program available to all 50
States by FY 2003. Current projections antici-
pate adding eight States in FY 2000 and five in
FY 2001, bringing the total to 38.
• EPA will establish all. data elements and the
business rules needed to implement the six
Reinventing Environmental Information (REI)
standards by the end of FY 2000. EPA, the
States, and Tribes will implement the initial six
data standards in 13 major EPA databases by
FY2003. The Data Standards Council, which
includes EPA, States, and Tribal representatives,
will set priorities for establishing additional
standards beyond the initial ones developed
under REI.
• Over the next several years, EPA will use surveys
to track consumers' satisfaction with the types
of information provided in CCRs on drinking
water quality.
• The Agency is initiating a major effort in
FY2000 on information security. EPA will be
working with the General Accounting Office to
address results of its recent information security
review.
• By the end of FY 2001, the EMPACT Program
plans to have 40 locally initiated Metro Projects
underway in the 86 EMPACT metropolitan
areas.
• Working in partnership with the States and
Tribes, EPA will establish a single, integrated,
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
multimedia co±e o£ eiwieonmental data and
information. This core will support a broad data
exchange network with the States and Tribes.
In FY2000, EPA will take the first steps toward
integrated electronic reporting through establish-
ing an interim Central Receiving Facility (CRF)
that allows State-to-EPA data transfer and by
finalizing an electronic data interchange standard
for cross-media environmental compliance
reports. By FY 2001, States and regulated
companies will have the option of electronically
transferring data to the CRF for key compliance
reporting programs, and by FY2003, this
capability will extend to all major compliance
reporting programs.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
-------
QC
Artwork by Gillian
-------
-------
GOAL 8: SOUND SCIENCE, IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF
ENVIRONMENTAL RISK, AND GREATER INNOVATION TO ADDRESS
ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
EPA will develop and apply the best available science fot addressing current and
future environmental hazards, as well as new approaches toward improving
environmental protection.
OVERVIEW
As stated in its Strategic Plan, EPA strives to
ensure that "national efforts to reduce environmen-
tal risk are based on the best available scientific
information." Sound science enables EPA to
identify the most important sources of risk to public
health and the environment and thereby guide its
policies and resource allocation. As EPA addresses
increasingly complex issues in the future, its research
programs -will continue to provide the understanding
and technologies needed to detect, abate, and avoid
public health and environmental problems. Evaluat-
ing options for mitigating environmental risks also
requires economic analysis tools for assessing the
benefits and costs of environmental protection.
Building on its scientific, economic, and regula-
tory research and analysis activities, EPA strives to
make environmental protection more flexible,
efficient, and effective. The Agency's efforts include
streamlining core regulatory programs through a
reduction in unnecessary monitoring and reporting
requirements and designing and testing fundamen-
tally new approaches with multimedia, industry-, or
place-based focuses.
In its Strategic Plan, EPA established nine
objectives to guide its innovative, science-based
work toward this multi-faceted and mission-critical
goal:
• By 2008, provide scientific understanding to
measure, model, maintain, or restore ecosystems.
• By 2008, improve the scientific basis to identify
characterize, assess, and manage environmental
exposures that pose the greatest risks to the
public.
• By 2008, establish capability and mechanisms to
anticipate and identify environmental or other
changes that might portend future risk and
integrate futures methods into planning.
• By 2006, develop and verify improved tools,
methodologies, and technologies for addressing
high-priority human health and environmental
problems.
• By 2005, increase the number of places using
integrated, holistic partnership approaches and
quantify the benefits.
• By 2005, increase the number of and opportuni-
ties for sector-based approaches.
• By 2005, enhance the capability of EPA's Re-
gional offices to assess environmental condi-
tions.
• Conduct peer review and provide guidance on
science underlying Agency decisions.
• Incorporate innovative approaches to environ-
mental management throughout Agency pro-
grams.
FY 1999 PERFORMANCE
Understanding Ecosystems
By 2008, the Agency's objective is to provide the
scientific understanding to measure, model, main-
tain, or restore, at multiple scales the integrity and
sustainability of ecosystems now and in the future.
The Agency has four primary areas of emphasis
within this objective: (1) improve environmental
monitoring in order to measure the relative success
of environmental policies; (2) develop the next
generation of environmental modeling systems to
assist local and Regional managers in evaluating
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
alternative environmental management policies; (3)
continue the advancement of the environmental
assessment sciences in order to provide the informa-
tion needed by decision-makers to choose the best
alternatives; and (4) conduct restoration experiments
to provide solutions within an adaptive management
process.
In FY1999, EPA researchers completed the first
stage of the Environmental Monitoring and Assess-
ment Program (EMAP) effort in support of the
Agency's FY2001 commitment to complete and
evaluate a multi-tiered ecological monitoring system
for the Mid-Atlantic Region and provide select land
cover and aquatic indicators for measuring status
and trends (APG50). As a result of completing the
first stage of this effort, EPA proved that it can
cost-effectively monitor the condition of ecosystems
at a regional scale. The data collected to date form
the foundation for assessing the overall condition of
the Mid-Atlantic Region and move the Agency
toward completion of this effort as planned by
FY2001. Equally as important, the lessons learned
Dissolved Oxygen Conditions in the Mid-Atlantic Region
in designing the monitoring program can be applied
nationwide, allowing olher Regions to measure
current environmental conditions and monitor
ecosystem changes in a consistent manner.
Delaware River
MW-AlJansc Chesapeake
Regton Bay
Graph Sources: Strobel ttal., 1995; Paul etal., 1997.
Map Sources: Chafflou etal., 19%; CBP, 1997; USEPA,
1995; Magnien it at., 1995; Paul ttal., 1997.
Distribution of summertime dissolved oxygen within one meter of bottom sediments
across estuaries in the Mid-Atlantic Region. Conditions of low levels of dissolved
oxygjen can harm bottom-dwelling organisms and are most widespread in the middle
portions of Chesapeake Bay and the lower Potomac River.
EPA performed several prototype analyses
addressing sulfur and nitrogen wet and dry deposi-
tion trends to meet the Agency's FY1999 commit-
ment to analyze existing monitoring data for acid
deposition (APG 31). In one study, EPA researchers
analyzed data on 205 monitored lakes and streams in
five different geographic regions. The analysis
indicated that lakes and streams in certain regions of
North America and Europe show some signs of
recovery from acid rain. The results to date show
significant declines in the levels of sulfate, while at
the same time, only a few regions demonstrated even
a modest decline in levels of nitrate, another acid
rain component. The next step in the analysis will
be to compare the trends in air quality and deposi-
tion chemistry to trends in surface water quality.
EPA will incorporate the results from this and other
analyses into a formal report on acid rain to be
released in 2002. Chapter 6 of
this report provides informa-
tion on the status of UVB
(ultraviolet radiation-B)
monitoring efforts related to
this acid deposition research.
EPA met another FY1999
goal by providing ecological
risk assessment case studies for
two watersheds, final guide-
lines for reporting ecological
risk assessment, and ecological
risk assessment guidance and
support (APG 52). Ecological
risk assessment case study
reports for two watersheds,
the Middle Snake in Idaho and
Clinch Valley in Virginia and
Tennessee, are now complete.
Since releasing its ecological
risk assessment guidelines one
year ahead of schedule in
1998, EPA also has conducted
numerous ecological risk
assessment training sessions to
H Good Conditions
|H| Moderate Hypoxfa
H Severs Hypoxia
Delaware Coastal
Bay Bays
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
enccratage ttve use and further refinement of the
guidelines. Two FY1999 workshops focused on
refining the process for ecological risk characteriza-
tion at the watershed scale and conducting the first
phase of the ecological risk assessment process for
regional-scale assessments.
Also in FY 1999, EPA began several projects in
ecosystem restoration with special emphasis on the
restoration of stream banks, or riparian zones,
considered by ecologists to be one of the most
important habitats. EPA Headquarters is working
with its Region 3 office and the State of Maryland
on these projects and will continue to provide
reliable information on alternative restoration
approaches.
Understanding the Greatest Environmental Risks to
Human Health
EPA has committed, by 2008, to improve the
scientific basis used to identify, characterize, assess,
and manage environmental exposures that pose the
greatest health risks to the American public. This
requires research, model development, and other
data collection efforts to reduce significant areas of
uncertainty. Reduced uncertainty will enable the
Agency to more accurately assess health risks associ-
ated with exposure to environmental pollutants,
ultimately leading to more effective implementation
of EPA's regulatory mandates under the Federal
Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the
Toxic Substances Control Act, the Food Quality
Protection Act, and other environmental legislation.
In FY1999, the Agency met its goal to produce a
first generation model that can be used in a prospec-
tive context to provide reliable assessments of the
potential risks to human populations posed by
exposure to pesticides and other toxic chemicals
(APG 53). The Agency also initiated eight studies
on childhood exposure to pollutants. The resulting
data and methods will add to an existing body of
tools and knowledge critical to EPA's ability to
conduct risk assessments and implement sound
environmental policy.
The Agency also made significant progress in
FY1999 toward meeting its long-term goal of
developing and verifying innovative methods and
models for assessing the susceptibilities of popula-
tions to environmental agents (APG 54). During
FY 1999, EPA awarded seven new grants on a
variety of topics related to children's risk from
environmental pollutants, including childhood
cancer, the neuro-behavioral effects of air pollutants,
children's exposure to pesticides, and the effects of
neonatal exposure to naphthalene. The results of
these studies, which will be available by 2003, will
assess children's susceptibility through a
multidisciplinary evaluation of age-related differ-
ences in exposure and toxicity. These results will
move the Agency toward achievement of its long-
term goal as planned by FY 2008.
Detecting Emerging Risks
In addition to addressing existing risks, EPA has
committed that by 2008, it will be able to anticipate
and identify environmental or other changes that
may indicate future risk, integrate futures planning
into ongoing programs, and promote coordinated
preparation for and response to change. By increas-
ing its capacity to look toward emerging risks, EPA
will be able to identify the data needs and develop
the required analytic approaches to reduce risks
before they affect human health or the environment.
An important aspect of this objective is research
into endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). Evi-
dence continues to build that humans as well as
domestic and wildlife species may suffer adverse
health effects from exposure to EDCs. EPA
achieved its FY1999 goal to complete a protocol for
a Geld study of children exposed to two EDCs (APG
55). This study will produce high-quality data
characterizing the key factors that influence human
exposures to EDCs and other persistent pesticides,
toxics, and metals. The data resulting from this and
other follow-on studies will help refine human
exposure models and provide insights into where,
when, and how children and other sensitive sub-
populations are exposed to these environmental
contaminants. EPA's EDC research program also
provided standardized protocols for mammalian
assays to monitor endocrine activity. The Agency
completed protocols to assess pubertal development
and thyroid function in immature (23-53 day old)
male rats and pubertal development and thyroid
PP
•g
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
function in juvenile female rats. EPA needs these
protocols to successfully implement provisions of
the Food Quality Protection Act.
In addition to the developments in risk assess-
ment data, the quality and consistency of the
economic information and methods available to
EPA have improved due to activities completed in
FY1999. First, EPA updated and released guide-
lines on preparing economic analyses to consider
in the development of regulations. Second, the
Agency convened the first of three workshops in
an ongoing economic research and policy series,
bringing together economists to explore important
questions, including the valuation of ecological
effects and childhood health effects. Also, the
National Science Foundation and EPA implemented
a newly prepared research plan focusing on the
Agency's priorities for environmental economics
when soliciting joint economic research proposals.
Finally, EPA and other Federal agencies made a
major commitment to improve the quality and
completeness of future economic analyses by
renewing a national survey of pollution expenditures
within the U.S. manufacturing sector.
Understanding How to Prevent Pollution and Design
New Environmental Protection Technologies
Recognizing the importance of prevention,
EPA's objective is that by 2006, it will develop and
verify improved tools, methodologies, and
technologies for modeling, measuring,
characterizing, preventing, controlling, and cleaning
up contaminants associated with high-priority
human health and environmental problems. EPA
supports pollution prevention (P2) as a necessary
and logical strategy for dealing with high-risk human
health and environmental problems. EPA
researchers are focusing on the design and
development of user-friendly, quantitative P2 tools.
The Agency is also developing and verifying new
technologies (NT) that are preventive in nature.
EPA research in the area of pollution prevention
uses multiple tools and methodologies that provide
quantitative information for selecting preferred
pollution prevention options. The Waste Reduction
(WAR) Algorithm uses process information to
Using the Waste Reduction (WAR) Algorithm to
Identify Pollution Prevention Opportunities
Light gases used for fuel
FLASH - to separate
the light gases from
the product
evaluate the environmental friendliness of a process
design and to identify areas for pollution prevention,
as shown in the simplified process flow diagram
above.
In FY1999, EPA made significant progress in a
number of areas toward achieving its P2/NT
objective. The Agency's Environmental Technology
"Verification (ETV) Program verified 53 technologies
as meeting pollution prevention and related claims.
EPA also completed a series of research efforts on
preventing the formation of volatile organic
compounds (VOCs). To make these research results
available to stakeholders, the Agency updated the
Coating Alternatives Guide (CAGE) and placed it
on the Internet. EPA also completed an inventory
of tools that will guide further P2/NT development
by focusing on the needs of community decision-
makers.
Peer-reviewed extramural research conducted
under the Agency's Science to Achieve Results
(STAR) grants program also supports EPA's
objective for developing pollution prevention and
other innovative approaches. In FY 1999, EPA
concentrated on two research areas that support
preventive approaches for human health and
environmental protection: Technology for a
Sustainable Environment (TSE) and economic
valuation. Under TSE, research took place on the
use of carbon dioxide to replace toxic chemical
solvents in painting and other coating processes and
in plastics production. In addition, research on
economic valuation produced improved survey
techniques for determining how the public values
ecological resources, such as clean, fishable lakes and
rivers.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Finally, through, its participation in the Federal
inter agency High Performance Computing and
Communications program, the Agency continued
work developing an innovative model design and
community-oriented computing approach for
investigating large-scale, complex environmental
problems. A major part of this effort is further
development of the Multimedia Integrated
Modeling System (MIMS) through peer review and
demonstration of its first component, the
community multi-scale air quality model for
particulate matter (PM). EPA finished woik on the
air component of the MIMS and met its FY1999
goal of improving computational efficiency in the
analysis ofPM by 25percent (APG 56). EPA
expects that the increased computational efficiency
resulting from this work will enable State agencies
and other regulators to perform an adequate number
of model simulations for PM assessment and air
quality policy purposes.
Quantifying Tangible Results of Integrated
Partnerships
As part of a continued focus on innovative
approaches, by 2005 EPA's objective is to increase
partnership-based projects with counties, cities,
States, Tribes, resource conservation districts, and/or
bio-regions and bring together needed external and
internal stakeholders to effect positive environmen-
tal change with a focus on multimedia results.
In FY1999, EPA issued its Framework for
Community-Based Environmental Protection, which
provides the tools for integrating this approach
across the Agency's program areas. The Framework
also documents the benefits of these innovative
partnerships. In FY 1999, EPA supported 99 such
Distribution of Regional Geographic Initiative
(RGI) Projects Across Agency Goals
Right-to-Know
18.2%
Sound
Science
3.0%
Enforcement
2 o% Clean Air
11.1%
Waste
Management
8.1%
Pollution Prevention
17.2%
projects through its Regional Geographic Initiative
(RGI). Of the 99 projects, 35 foster partnerships in
new areas. All of the RGI projects support either
important Administration or Agency initiatives and
contribute to the achievement of other Agency
long-term goals. For example, Region 1's project on
Smart Growth in New England supports both air
and water goals in developing tools and approaches
for communities to use in combating sprawl and
encouraging development that makes economic,
environmental, and social sense. Region 7's Omaha
project supports many goals by implementing
community-based projects to address illegal
dumping, lead poisoning, and other environmental
issues of most concern to the city.
Improvements Through Testing Sector- and Facility-
Based Innovations
By 2005, EPA's objective is to test increasing
numbers of innovative facility- and sector-based
strategies to achieve improved environmental
protection and make successful approaches broadly
available. EPA works toward this objective through
Project XL and the Agency's sector-based programs
growing out of the Common Sense Initiative (CSI),
joining with private and public sector organizations
to test innovative strategies that produce superior
environmental results.
XL projects are undertaken by private or public
sector organizations under agreements with EPA.
In FY 1999, EPA signed five new XL Agreements,
bringing the number of projects in the
implementation stage to 15. As of FY 1999, an
additional 36 XL proposals were either under
development or in negotiations, meeting EPA's
FY1999 commitment to have 50 XL projects under
implementation or in development or negotiation
(APG 57).
Also in FY 1999, EPA and its partners
determined that 30 innovations resulting from XL
projects have the potential to improve traditional
regulatory programs. Overall, EPA has found that
XL projects produce greater reductions in
environmental releases than would have occurred
under conventional regulatory approaches. At the
same time, XL project participants reduce
environmental management costs and improve their
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
1
competitiveness as a result of expedited or
consolidated permitting, reduced record-keeping and
reporting requirements, and greater operational
flexibility afforded by facility-wide emission caps.
Similarly, EPA's sector programs sought "cleaner,
cheaper, and smarter" approaches to environmental
protection through sector-based, multi-stakeholder
initiatives that rely on consensus-building processes.
Some innovations tested through CSI projects have
already resulted in regulatory changes. For example,
the CSI Iron and Steel Sector project found that
changes in electric arc furnace operations allow
improved monitoring of PM emissions through use
of more flexible emission control system
procedures. In FY1999, EPA promulgated a final
air emissions rule incorporating these procedures.
Other outcomes of sector-based efforts include the
following:
• The metal finishing sector developed and
launched an industry sector performance-based
environmental stewardship program with volun-
tary "better than compliance" facility perfor-
mance targets and a comprehensive stakeholder-
backed action plan to provide incentives, create
tools, and remove barriers to the accomplish-
ment of these targets. More than 350 compa-
nies, 19 States, and 60 local governments are
participating in this program and achieving
environmental results as high as a 93 percent
reduction in water use, 77 percent reduction in
energy use, 99 percent reduction in organic
chemical usage, and 73 percent reduction in
metals emissions.
• EPA has begun to incorporate sector-based
environmental management approaches into its
core regulatory programs. For example, the
Agency has identified several sectors for poten-
tial multimedia coordination within rule-making
efforts in FY 2000, such as mercury cell
chloralkaH plants and publicly-owned treatment
works (POTWs). EPA also is exploring the
development of sector-based permit reform
models as a means of expanding the application
of innovative new permit approaches.
• Through the Sustainable Industry process, EPA
is working with several industry sectors to
develop incentives, remove barriers, and create
tools to improve environmental performance
while lowering regulatory burdens. Some of
these sector-specific activities may lead to the
creation of voluntary industry stewardship
programs similar to the metal finishing program
described above, with performance track incen-
tives and rewards built in. Other sectors will
pursue innovative reform ideas on a less expan-
sive scale. Current Sustainable Industry sectors
include metal casting and foundries, meat
processing, specialty-batch chemical manufactur-
ing, and shipbuilding.
• The Atlantic Steel XL project in Atlanta demon-
strates EPA's efforts to provide regulatory
flexibility and foster livable communities. This
project is designed to remediate and develop
property that for over a century was an industrial
steel mill. When complete, the project will turn
a Brownfield site into new neighborhood ameni-
ties and housing opportunities in the city, reduce
storm water runoff, save open space, bring
stores closer to work and schools closer to
homes, and reduce vehicular travel by more than
50 million miles a year.
Providing Validated Data to Enable Accurate
Environmental Decision-Making
By 2005, EPA's objective is that its Regional
offices will have demonstrated capability to assess
environmental conditions within their jurisdictions,
compare the relative risk of health and ecological
problems, and assess the environmental effectiveness
of management action in priority geographic areas.
This objective is geared toward providing field
sampling, analytical and data management support,
and quality assurance to Agency programs.
To meet this objective, EPA has established
Centers of Applied Science to develop sampling,
quality assurance, and analytical methods to support
assessment of environmental issues. The Centers
will facilitate the development and application of
new and innovative technologies, such as alternative
methods for trace level dioxin/furan analyses and
new methods for the identification and
quantification of microbial contaminants, such as
Cryptosporidium. EPA will put information
Emlronmenul Protection Agency
-------
management systems in place to enable itself and
partner agencies to locate, assess, and share
environmental data and analytical methods. These
efforts will continue to build EPA capacity, as well as
that of partner agencies, by providing technical and
analytical support in the assessment of
environmental problems and by helping to convert
environmental data into useful information for
decision-making. In FY 1999, Centers of Applied
Science were established in the following areas:
ambient air monitoring; environmental biology;
environmental chemistry; environmental
microbiology; and analytical pollution prevention
methodologies.
Science Advisory Board Guidance that Improves the
Production and Use of Science at EPA
EPA seeks to ensure the quality and relevance of
all of its scientific and technical information. To
accomplish this aim, EPA's Science Advisory Board
(SAB) conducts peer reviews and provides guidance
on the science underlying Agency decisions. The
SAB is a legislatively mandated group of
non-governmental scientists, engineers, and
economists charged with providing independent
technical advice on environmental issues to EPA's
Administrator and others (e.g., Congressional
committees). The SAB conducts its business in
public meetings and benefits from public input
during its deliberations. Through these proceedings,
Agency positions are subjected to critical
examination by leading experts in the field in order
to test the currency and technical merit of those
positions. In FY 1999, the SAB held 48 meetings
and produced 38 reports (http://www.epa.gov/sab/
fiscal99.htm).
Among the activities that were particularly
important to the Agency and the way that it does
business are the peer reviews of the following:
guidelines for preparing economic analyses, fine
particle monitoring methodologies, the use of
human data in decision-making, the guidelines for
cancer risk assessment, and the FY 2000 Presidential
Science and Technology Budget Request.
Incorporating Innovative Approaches into EPA
Programs
One of the most important aspects of EPA's
reinvention program is the use of innovative
approaches to help industry and the regulated
community improve environmental performance
and secure compliance with environmental laws.
EPA's objective is to incorporate innovative
approaches in environmental management
throughout its programs so that the Agency and its
external partners achieve greater and more cost-
effective public health and environmental
protection.
The Agency believes a system that promotes
stewardship, in addition to compliance with
environmental requirements, has the greatest
potential for advancing environmental management
capabilities and solving environmental problems. In
January 1999, the Administrator established the
Innovations Task Force, bringing together experts
and stakeholders from inside and outside the Agency
to share their views on the next steps for reinvention
activities. The Task Force issued a report that
describes ten strategic actions the Agency will take
in the next 12 to 18 months to motivate superior
environmental performance and aid environmental
compliance where needed (http://www.epa.gov/00aujeag/
taskforce/report99) • Creating a system where everyone
takes more responsibility for protecting the
environment requires some changes. The Agency is
committed to a number of actions to help accelerate
environmental progress:
• Using incentives to encourage action beyond
requirements and promoting environmental
management systems (EMSs) that help organiza-
tions incorporate environmental considerations
into business operations.
• Developing a "performance track" that identifies
and rewards environmental leaders; working with
the States,Tribes, industry, and environmental
and other interest groups to define what it
means to be a top environmental performer; and
identifying appropriate building blocks to en-
hance the current regulatory system.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
1
• Providing timely and accessible compliance
assistance by becoming a more effective "whole-
saler" of compliance assistance information;
providing tools, assistance, and resources needed
to comply -with the requirements as the rules
take effect; and using compliance assistance in
strategic combination with enforcement, moni-
toring, and incentives to achieve environmental
results.
• Creating flexible and streamlined permitting by
working with the States to make the permit
system more effective at meeting environmental
goals without creating unnecessary social and
economic burdens; and moving permitting
toward measuring performance while providing
regulated parries more flexibility in how stan-
dards are met
• Helping communities make sound environmen-
tal decisions by developing new environmental
management tools, offering technical assistance,
providing facilitation support for dialogue on
environmental issues, and consulting with
stakeholder representatives before making
Agency decisions about programs or policies
that directly affect them.
PROGRAM EVALUATION
EPA engaged in many efforts in FY1999 to
evaluate the quality and relevance of its research
programs. Fkst, research proposals received in
response to Requests for Applications underwent
rigorous external peer review. Second, the EPA
Board of Scientific Counselors evaluated the
Agency's science and engineering research programs,
laboratories, and research management practices and
recommended actions to improve their quality and
relevance to the mission of EPA. In addition, the
Board evaluated and provided advice concerning the
utilization of peer review within Agency research
programs to enhance the quality of science at EPA
An independent third-party review of the four-
year Common Sense Initiative (CSI) effort was
conducted in FY 1999 to assess the extent to which
CSI succeeded in meeting its goals and to determine
what was gained from the sector-based, multi-
stakeholder, and consensus aspects of the Initiative.
The study concluded that CSI was extremely
productive in terms of projects developed and
recommendations submitted to the Agency for
action. The study also showed that the pace of
development of CSI's recommendations and project
implementation increased over that reported in a
earlier evaluation (h!1p:/Ai7WW.epa.gov/sectors/csi.htm).
CONCLUSIONS AND CHALLENGES
EPA continues to work toward its long-term
commitment of developing and applying sound
science and innovative approaches to environmental
protection. Sound science enables EPA to identify
the most important sources of risk to public health
and the environment and thereby guide its policies
and resource allocation. As EPA strives to pioneer
and utilize the best available science to understand
and address environmental hazards, the Agency
faces the additional challenge of communicating
scientific and engineering accomplishments to
properly represent their role in the achievement of
the overall environmental protection mission.
Evaluating options for mitigating environmental
risks also requires economic analysis tools for
assessing the benefits and costs of environmental
protection. The state of environmental science and
technology is rapidly changing, such that what is
cutting-edge this year may no longer be so next year.
For this reason, Agency scientists and engineers
continue to pursue new avenues of research in order
to understand current environmental problems and
foresee those on the horizon.
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE FUTURE
• EPA researchers will use the work completed in
FY1999 under the Environmental Monitoring
and Assessment Program (EMPACT) to produce
a report in FY 2000 on monitoring findings in
the Mid-Atlantic Region as a cost-effective
means of measuring ecosystem conditions. This
report will move EPA toward the FY 2001
completion and evaluation of a multi-tiered
ecological monitoring system for the Mid-
Atlantic Region.
• In FY 2001, EPA will provide land cover and
aquatic indicators for measuring ecosystem
condition and trends. This work will establish a
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
baseline £ot documenting changes in the ecologi-
cal condition of the nation's ecosystems and
results of regional-scale environmental manage-
ment policies.
Studies of organophosphates, trazines, and
pyrethroids funded through EPA research grants
produced a series of papers in FY 1999 summa-
rizing the methodologies used and preliminary
data analyses. The results of these studies will
facilitate individual FY 2000 assessments of
children's exposure to pesticides in Washington,
Minnesota, and Arizona. In FY 2000, the
Agency will award additional research grants to
facilitate development of an integrated exposure
assessment of children in three regions of the
United States.
In FY 2000, efforts to prevent or reduce pollu-
tion will focus on completing development of
more computer-based tools to simulate product,
process, or system design changes and will
complete demonstrations of one or more
generic technologies for chemical and industrial
processes. By as early as FY 2001, EPA will
develop, evaluate, and deliver technologies and
approaches that eliminate, minimize, or control
high risk pollutants from multiple sectors. This
work will benefit industries and communities
having difficulty meeting control, emission, or
effluent standards.
p?
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
-------
I
I
t
A.rtwork by }Lobbie
-------
-------
GOAL 9: A CREDIBLE DETERRENT TO POLLUTION AND GREATER
COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW
EPA will ensure full compliance with laws intended to protect human health
and the environment.
OVERVIEW
The environmental benefits envisioned by
Federal regulations and statutes can only be achieved
by ensuring the compliance of regulated facilities
and entities. By providing assistance designed to
prevent violations, incentives to motivate compli-
ance, and enforcement actions to correct violations
and deter others, EPA obtains continuous improve-
ment in compliance with standards, permits, and
other requirements. As a result, environmental risks
are mitigated, regulated facilities do a better job of
environmental management, and public demands for
environmental information are met.
In partnership with the States and Federally
recognized Tribes, EPA's enforcement and compli-
ance assurance program regulates approximately
eight million entities that range from community
drinking water systems to pesticide users to major
industrial facilities. Almost 1.3 million of these are
facilities, such as municipal waste-water treatment
plants, large manufacturing and industrial operations,
or hazardous waste treatment and storage facilities,
for which performance is closely tracked and data
maintained. The remaining 6.5 million entities range
from small facilities to individual property owners.
Given the broad scope of regulatory requirements
under the various environmental statutes and the
large and diverse universe of regulated entities, the
enforcement and compliance assurance program
uses a variety of tools and strategies to maximize
compliance.
Over the past five years, EPA has developed new
tools that provide compliance assistance and compli-
ance incentives to complement a strong program of
compliance monitoring and civil and criminal
enforcement. A strong enforcement effort provides
the foundation for the national compliance program,
motivates regulated entities to seek assistance and
use incentive policies, and provides fairness in the
marketplace by ensuring that noncomplying facilities
do not gain an unfair competitive advantage.
As a result of the delegation/authorization
provided for by most statutes, State, Tribal, and local
governments bear much of the responsibility for
ensuring the compliance of regulated facilities and
other entities. Nationally, on average, States conduct
over 80 percent of all inspections and are respon-
sible for 84 percent of formal enforcement actions.
States also are the primary vehicle for delivering on-
site compliance assistance to regulated sources.
In its Strategic Plan, EPA established two objec-
tives that contribute to achieving the goal: to identify
and reduce noncompliance with environmental laws
and to promote compliance through assistance and
incentives.
FY 1999 PERFORMANCE
Identifying and Reducing Noncompliance with
Environmental Laws
EPA's objective is to identify and reduce signifi-
cant noncompliance in high-priority areas while
maintaining a strong enforcement presence in all
regulatory program areas.
In FY1999, EPA exceeded its goal to deter non-
compliance by maintaining levels of Held presence
and enforcement actions, particularly in high-risk
areas and where populations are disproportionately
exposed (APG 58). The Agency uses compliance
inspections and assessments to determine the
compliance status of a regulated facility. In FY&99
EPA conducted 21,410 inspections. Where neces-
sary, EPA will address noncompliance with an
enforcement action appropriate to the violation. In
FY1999, EPA undertook 3,935 civil judicial and
administrative enforcement actions, the highest
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
I
M
1
1
number taken over the past three years. These
activities identify and correct noncompliance and
deter future violators. Deterrence is further en-
hanced through the use of penalties calculated to
level the economic playing field by ensuring that
violators, including Federal facilities, do not realize
economic benefit from noncompliance. The crimi-
nal enforcement program deals with violations
which are the result of knowing or negligent action.
Bringing enforcement actions can lead to facility
compliance, changes in facility operations, and
reductions in pollutant loadings. In FY 1999, over
6.8 billion pounds of pollutants were reduced as a
result of EPA enforcement actions. Also, about 21
percent of concluded enforcement actions resulted
in improvements to the environment. The chart
below identifies examples of these improvements.
Another 47 percent of concluded enforcement
actions resulted directly in changes to facility man-
agement practices, which should lead to environ-
mental improvements. In FY 1999, polluters were
required to spend more than f 3.6 billion, a 62
percent increase over FY1998 levels, to correct
violations and take additional steps to protect the
environment. Clean Air Act settlements were
responsible both for the highest amount of injunc-
tive relief (over one billion dollars or 32 percent of
the total) and for the greatest value ($141 million or
60 percent of the total) of supplemental environ-
mental projects (SEPs) through which violators pay
for various kinds of additional environmental
improvements.
Examples of Environmental Improvements
from FY 1999 Civil Cases
Site Remediation/Restoration
Hazardous Material Removal
Emissions/Discharge Change
Storage/Disposal Change
Industrial Process Change
Use Reduction
Remedial Design/Action
0.0%
10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0%
Bsrcentages are based on the compliance requirements of the
741 FY 1999 civil settlements which required improvements in
the use or handling of pollutants. Many settlements reported
multiple results.
The following are examples of FY 1999 enforce-
ment actions that led to environmental improve-
ments in large part by addressing high-risk violations
that are priority areas for the enforcement and
compliance assurance program:
• On October 22, 1998, the Department of
Justice and EPA announced a settlement with
seven major manufacturers of diesel engines that
will prevent 75 million tons of-harmful nitrogen
oxide (NO^) emissions from entering the atmo-
sphere by die year 2025. The settlement in-
cluded an $83.4 million total penalty, the largest
civil penalty ever for violation of environmental
law.
• On July 29, 1999, the United States and the State
of Georgia reached a settlement with the City of
Atlanta to pay a civil penalty of $700,000 and
take corrective action to bring its sewer system
into compliance with the Clean Water Act and
the Georgia Water Quality Control Act. In an
earlier settlement, the City of Atlanta also agreed
to implement a $27.5 million SEP to create a
greenway corridor and clean up various streams,
as well as pay a $2.5 million penalty—the largest
Clean Water Act penalty ever assessed against a
municipality.
• On July 21, 1999, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.,
pled guilty to 21 violations of Federal law and
was fined $18 million for violating the Clean
Water Act and the Oil Pollution Act by dumping
waste oil and hazardous chemicals into the ocean
and for making false statements to the Coast
Guard. Royal Caribbean agreed to institute a
five-year environmental compliance plan.
In FY1999, EPA continued to make great
strides toward targeting high-priority areas for
enforcement and compliance assistance and
completing baseline data assessments in major
databases needed to measure changes in key
indicators of compliance. Specifically, the Agency
met its goal of identifying five high-priority areas
and improving two data systems (APG 59).
With respect to identifying compliance
priorities, the Agency conducted several targeting
analyses to identify the most significant environ-
mental problem areas. For example, the Agency
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
analyzed industrial sectors using new data integra-
tion techniques, including a compliance index based
on such factors as inspection coverage, current
significant noncompliance rates, and a pollutant
index. This analysis led to the identification of
seven environmental problem areas to target,
thereby meeting the goal. EPA's efforts to provide
Regions with targeting tools are also yielding results.
For example, EPA Region 3 recently conducted
investigations of sources with plant modifications to
assess compliance with New Source Review/Preven-
tion of Significant Deterioration (NSR/PSD)
requirements.
s~ ~^.
NEW SOURCE REVIEW/PREVENTION OF
SIGNIFICANT DETERIORATION (NSR/PSD)
INVESTIGATIONS UNCOVER PERMIT VIOLATIONS
NSR/PSD is a preconsttuction review and permitting
program that applies to major and modified major
Clean Air Act sources. NSR/PSD assures that major
sources apply state-of-the art equipment to minimize
impacts on air quality. In a growing economy, facili-
ties are expanding capacity and making significant
plant modifications. In most instances these modifi-
cations trigger regulatory requirements, and plants
may not be applying for the necessary permit amend-
ments. Routine inspections sometimes do not
identify plant modifications, so Region 3 piloted an
investigation approach that incorporates up-front
facility capacity and permit reviews. Using this
approach, the Region developed criteria to identify
facilities where plant modifications are likely to have
occurred and then selected certain industries in which
to undertake a more in-depth review. These investiga-
tions, while resource intensive, are yielding impressive
results. Region 3 investigated eight pulp mills and
found significant violations at seven of these facilities.
Requiring the installation of control devices at these
plants will result in large reductions in air emissions.
Based on Region 3's results, most EPA Regions are
now using these investigative tools and strategies.
The Agency continued to develop a complete
baseline data assessment for multiple industries
through the Sector Facility Indexing Project (SKIP).
The SKIP measures key environmental indicators for
more than 640 industrial facilities in five industrial
sectors and provides public access to a wealth of
environmental information. The result is a coU.ec-
tion of facility-level profiles that provide informa-
tion on compliance and inspection histories, chemi-
cal releases and spills, demographic characteristics of
surrounding areas, and facility production trends.
With respect to the Agency's goal of improving
data systems, the Agency improved its Air Facility
Subsystem (AFS) of the Aerometric Information
Retrieval System (AIRS) and DOCKET. AFS
contains emissions, compliance, and permit data for
regulated stationary sources. EPA enhanced AFS to
identify high-priority violations. DOCKET is the
official EPA database for tracking and reporting
information on civil judicial and administrative
enforcement cases under all environmental statutes.
Enhancements to DOCKET resulted in the addition
of information on self-audits conducted by facilities
and improved quality of information on enforce-
ment action outcomes. Also, EPA made various
improvements to 12 other national enforcement and
compliance data systems and responded to over
1,000 user support requests relating to enforcement
and compliance data systems.
For FY1999, EPA exceeded its goal of assisting
States and Tabes in enhancing the effectiveness of
their enforcement, compliance assurance, and
incentive programs by providing specialized assis-
tance and training. Specifically, the Agency pro-
vided 218 courses to State and Tribal officials to
enhance the effectiveness of their programs (APG
60). Actual deliveries exceeded the projected target
because EPA emphasized capacity-building by
providing more training opportunities for State,
local, and Tribal professionals than originally pro-
jected. These courses help build State and Tribal
capacity to conduct inspections and investigate
environmental crimes. EPA is nowworking to
expand and improve its training efforts through the
National Enforcement Training Institute Online, a
virtual university on the Internet that will automate
services and provide on-demand training, course
registration, and easy access to reference material.
Other efforts to assist State and Tribal partners
in FY 1999 included the following:
• Working with States to ensure that State audit
laws and policies met minimum Federal enforce-
fr
8
&
e-
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
ment, information gathering, and public access
criteria. For example, the Agency's discussions
with a number of States resulted in changes to
or interpretations of audit laws that were ulti-
mately acceptable to those States and that also
met the minimum Federal requirements.
• Awarding $ 1.8 million in cooperative agreements
to Wisconsin, Colorado, Washington, Oregon,
Missouri, Texas, Connecticut, California, Indi-
ana, Maryland, and New Hampshire to develop,
implement, and share the results of outcome-
based performance measures pilot projects for
enforcement and compliance assurance pro-
grams.
• Distributing $1.8 million in grant funds to assist
Federally recognized Tribes in implementing
compliance assistance, compliance monitoring,
and enforcement capacity-building activities.
For example, EPA provided funding to Tribes to
assemble information on the compliance status
of facilities located in Indian country, to assess
environmental conditions associated with landfill
closure, and to develop waste reduction and
recycling programs.
Promoting Compliance Through Assistance and
Incentives
EPA's objective is to promote the regulated
community's voluntary compliance with environ-
mental requirements through compliance incentives
and assistance programs.
EPA met its goal of increasing the regulated
community's use of compliance incentives and their
understanding of, and ability to comply with,
regulatory requirements; including operating nine
small business compliance assistance centers and
completing sector notebooks, guides, and other
outreach materials begun in FY1998 (APG 61).
EPA developed the Audit/Self-Policing Policy to
encourage voluntary auditing and self-disclosure of
environmental violations and to provide a uniform
enforcement response toward such disclosures.
Under the Audit Policy, EPA does not seek severity
or "gravity-based" penalties and generally does not
recommend prosecution when facilities promptly
disclose and expeditiously correct compliance
problems found through voluntary environmental
audits or the use of compliance management sys-
tems.
TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY AUDIT
POLICY SETTLEMENTS
In February 1999, EPA granted relief under its
Audit Policy from certain penalties to 10 telecom-
munications companies that found and disclosed
their own violations. The 10 companies volun-
tarily disclosed and promptly corrected 1,300
environmental violations that occurred at more
than 400 of their facilities nationwide. Later, in
the fall of 1999, seven additional telecommunica-
tions companies were granted relief from civil
penalties for voluntarily disclosing and promptly
correcting a total of 742 environmental violations
that occurred at more than 200 of their facilities
across the nation. Both of these audit disclo-
sures stem from outreach efforts by EPA after
the January 1998 settlement with GTE. That
settlement resolved more than 600 Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
and Spill Prevention Control and Countermea-
sures violations at 314 GTE facilities in 21 States
and was the largest Agency settlement reached to
date through EPA's self-disclosure policy.
Disclosure activity has increased every year since
the effective date of the policy. In FY 1999, EPA
more than doubled its goal of obtaining 400 self-
disclosures from facilities under the Audit Policy,
with approximately 1,000 facilities reporting viola-
tions from approximately 260 companies. An
additional 700 disclosures also resulted from tar-
geted self-audit initiatives. For example, the Region
5 Mini-Mill Project used the Audit Policy to provide
all mini-mills in the six States within the Region a
six-month window of opportunity to report any
violations found and correct the problems. Ten of
the 22 mini-mills carried out self-audits, and Region
5 followed up with inspections at the remaining 12.
No penalties were assessed for mills that voluntarily
disclosed and corrected, violations through a self-
audit. Enforcement actions have been taken against
several of the mills that chose not to self-audit and
that were later inspected and found in violation.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
In. addition to creating environmental benefits,
the voluntary self-policing by facilities enhances
government efforts to maximize compliance and
allows regulated entities to review their operations
holistically. To further expand the benefits of this
program, EPA has undertaken a series of sector-
based enforcement initiatives. For instance, EPA
developed a multimedia initiative with the Industrial
Organic Chemical Sector that resulted in 45 self-
disclosures. EPA also began discussions with the
airline industry in July 1999 to highlight a settlement
with American Airlines that involved an audit of its
facilities at 152 airports. That settlement resulted in
prompt correction of numerous Federal fuel stan-
dard violations, payment of a $95,000 penalty
corresponding to the economic benefit resulting
from the noncompliance, and changes at Boston's
Logan airport that will eliminate an estimated 700
tons of pollutants from the air every year. Also, in
FY1999, 76 small businesses came forward to
disclose violations under the Small Business Policy
program, a seven-fold increase over FY1998. EPA
is modifying the Small Business Policy to expand the
options allowed under the Policy for discovering
violations and to establish a longer time period for
disclosure.
In FY1999, EPA operated nine Compliance
Assistance Centers designed to help small businesses
and small governmental entities understand and
comply with their regulatory obligations (APG 61).
The Centers' Internet sites focus on local govern-
ment and specific industry sectors and provide
applicable regulatory and technical information in a
convenient and user-friendly manner. The Centers'
Internet sites offer "plain English' summaries of
regulations and access to State regulations, vendor
directories, and numerous other technical resources.
In FY 1999, in total, the Centers' Internet sites were
visited over 750 times a day by businesses, compli-
ance assistance providers, other government repre-
sentatives, and the general public, resulting in a total
of 260,000 user sessions. Three of these Centers
received awards: 1) G;w«Link® —the automotive
service and repair center—has been selected to
receive a Vision 2000 Model for Excellence Award
by the Office of Small Business Advocacy for its
work with "regulations that work for small busi-
ness;" 2) ChemAUiance—the chemical manufactur-
ers center—has been listed by the Dow Jones
Business Directory as a "select site;" and 3) the
editors of @gOnline, Successful Farming's online
magazine, have selected the National Agriculture
center (Ag Center) as a "high-ranking site."
COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE CENTERS LEAD TO
IMPROVEMENTS
Based on eight voluntary Internet surveys, approxi-
mately 70 percent of the companies and local
governments that use the Centers said they took
one or more positive actions as a result (e.g.,
changing the handling of waste, obtaining a permit,
changing a production process, contacting a
regulatory agency). As a result of these actions,
over 50 percent felt they had a cost savings, and
over 75 percent indicated an environmental
improvement (e.g., reduced air emissions, con-
served water). Over 80 percent of survey respon-
dents rated the Centers as useful or very useful for
understanding environmental regulations, while
only three percent of respondents did not End
them useful. Over 65 percent of surveyed users
visit a Center Internet site at least once a month.
Nearly one-third of those surveyed visit at least
once per week. Moreover, data from the second
national level of compliance survey of the automo-
tive service and repair industry show that compli-
ance assistance projects, like GreetiLvak®, are
having a profound effect on the industry's level of
compliance. This survey, when compared to the
1997 survey, indicates that the level of compliance
has improved. In 1999, 56 percent of the industry
achieved a targeted level of compliance as com-
pared with the 1997 level of 26 percent, a two-fold
improvement.
In addition to the Compliance Assistance Cen-
ters, EPA continued to develop a wide variety of
other tools and outreach materials to promote
compliance with environmental laws on an industry-
by-industry basis, reaching approximately 330,000
entities. These tools include industry sector note-
books, plain language compliance guides, training
modules, and compliance checklists. In FY 1999,
EPA completed 10 sector guides and more than 30
other outreach documents for industries such as
v?
>
8
I
I
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
food processing and chemical manufacturing. Other
compliance assistance materials completed in
FY1999 include the following:
• Four environmental audit protocol manuals to
assist the regulated community in conducting
environmental audits. The audit protocols cover
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA), the Emergency Planning and Commu-
nity Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), and the
Comprehensive Environmental Response,
Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). To
date, EPA has distributed approximately 7,500
audit protocols to industry and regulators.
• Environmental Management Reviews (EMRs) to
assist 22 Federal agencies in meeting environ-
mental requirements. EMRs focus on the
system of policies and procedures the facility
consistently uses to address environmental issues
and maintain compliance with environmental
regulations. The pilot program provided EPA
with the ability to identify common strengths
and areas of improvement needed in Environ-
mental Management Systems (EMS).
• The "Environmental Management Resources for
Indian Tribes" to serve as a reference for infor-
mation on over 170 environmental resources
specifically available to Tribes for developing and
strengthening Tribal environmental programs.
The guidebook also can assist Federal and State
agencies, as well as other organizations that work
with Tribes on environmental issues. This tool
helps public sector entities understand their
responsibilities, both as co-regulators and as
regulated entities.
EPA also changed behavior through implemen-
tation of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA). Under NEPA, EPA reviews the environ-
mental impacts of proposed major Federal actions.
EPA identifies ecological and public health risks and
negotiates changes to eliminate or mitigate these
risks. In FY1999, EPA reviewed 100 percent of
significant proposed Federal actions subject to
NEPA and persuaded sponsors to voluntarily
address 68 percent of EPA's concerns with the
proposed actions. For example, EPA's recom-
mended changes to a flood control project increased
the acres of wetlands created and improved the
location for disposal of a half million cubic yards of
fill material.
PROGRAM EVALUATION
EPA uses both formal and informal approaches
to evaluate the effectiveness of its enforcement and
compliance assurance program. Methods range
from a formal process of evaluating Regional, State,
and Tribal performance to the use of stakeholder
meetings to solicit views on effectiveness. Efforts
undertaken in FY 1999 include the following:
• An examination of the overall performance of
the Agency's enforcement and compliance
program through two program review confer-
ences involving a wide range of stakeholders.
The conferences elicited the views of partici-
pants on how EPA can improve public health
and the environment through compliance
efforts. Agency responses to stakeholder input
include commitments to develop a national
clearinghouse of compliance assistance materi-
als, an annual compliance assistance plan, and
compliance assistance tools for major new
regulations. (A summary of the views expressed
at the conferences is available on the Internet at
htlpy/es.epa.gov/oeca/i]ndttovative/5yrflnal.pdf.)
• A review of the performance of key compliance
policies to determine whether they achieve the
desked results. EPA evaluated the impact of its
Audit Policy and the Small Business Policy and
funded an independent evaluation of the effec-
tiveness of State audit policies to determine the
extent of use and die level of satisfaction of
those who have used them. For example, in a
voluntary, anonymous survey of 252 disclosing
entities, 88 percent of the responding entities
stated that they woiild use the EPA Audit Policy
again, and 84 percent would recommend the
Audit Policy to clients or counterparts.
• An evaluation by the Office of the Inspector
General of EPA's Clean Air Act compliance and
enforcement program, which found that EPA
and States need to develop a common under-
standing regarding the definition of a "signifi-
cant violator" and actions required of the States
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
'wtven. dealing -with, significant violators. Follow-
ing extensive coordination with the States, EPA
issued new guidance that resolves these issues
and aims to improve implementation of the
CAA enforcement and compliance program for
both EPA and the States. (The evaluation is
located on EPA's Office of Inspector General
Website at http://www.epa.gov/oigeajrth/audi1/list998/
810024.htm.)
CHALLENGES AND CONCLUSIONS
The enforcement and compliance program faces
many challenges and new opportunities. In
FY1999, EPA took advantage of opportunities to
improve the application of compliance assistance,
incentives, and enforcement tools to address envi-
ronmental risk, noncompliance, and build capacity.
In addition, the Agency utilized sophisticated target-
ing approaches for setting priorities among risks and
noncompliance patterns.
In the future, meeting the challenge of Agency-
wide integration of data will enable EPA to provide
a comprehensive, readily accessible, multimedia view
of environmental conditions. This requires in-
creased attention to data management and data
quality. Part of EPA's efforts to modernize and
improve data quality includes integration of the
General Enforcement Management System (GEMS)
into the Agency's Integrated Information Initiative.
GEMS will become a core part of EPA's integrated
information system, providing a consistent frame-
work, process, and structure for collecting and
tracking information. The GEMS system will
improve public access to useful, understandable
compliance information. It also will fill critical data
gaps in core enforcement programs. To design and
implement a single integrated system from existing
systems, EPA will need to reconcile data, develop
common data definitions, and address the concerns
of multiple parties, including the States. With
GEMS as a critical component, the integrated
information system will enable the Agency to
streamline enforcement operations, reduce the
burden and costs of managing enforcement data for
both EPA and States, and allow the Agency to
report consistent, quality information about the
performance of its programs.
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE FUTURE
• In FY 2000, EPA will use new measures estab-
lished through the National Performance Mea-
sures Strategy (NPMS) to assess performance
and improve effectiveness. NPMS includes both
traditional measures, such as the number of
inspections and enforcement actions, and also
establishes outcome measures, such as compli-
ance rates for selected regulated populations,
pollutant reductions, other outcomes from
enforcement actions, behavioral changes result-
ing from compliance assistance, and average
time for significant violators to return to compli-
ance.
• EPA will accelerate implementation of recom-
mendations of the Agency's Innovations Task
Force and of the two program review confer-
ences held in FY 1999 to encourage and assist
the regulated community in achieving and
maintaining compliance with environmental
laws. Using these recommendations as action
items, the Agency will: continue its development
as a "wholesaler" of compliance assistance tools
and information; develop the tools in a timely
manner and then work with others in the public
and private sector to deliver the assistance;
encourage organizations to use Environmental
Management Systems to improve compliance
and performance; continue to promote the use
of voluntary compliance, such as the audit
program; and seek greater stakeholder involve-
ment in its planning process and greater public
access to information. (The Report of the EPA
Innovations Task Force is located on EPA's
Reinvention Website at http://www.epa.gov/reinvent/
taskforce/report99-)
I
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
-------
I
a
1
Artwork by U-Hsien
-------
-------
GOAL 10: EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT
EPA will establish a management infrastructure that will set and implement the highest
quality standards for effective internal management and fiscal responsibility.
OVERVIEW
The effectiveness of EPA's management and the
delivery of administrative services will determine, in
large measure, how successful the Agency is in
achieving its environmental mission. The Agency's
management goal is an integral part of carrying out
the mission of EPA; all of the Agency's $7 billion
budget flows through the administrative and stew-
ardship functions identified under this goal. Activi-
ties under this goal support the EPA workforce and
the environmental protection contracts and grants
channeled to State, local, Tribal, and private sector
partners. In fulfilling its managerial commitments,
the Agency focuses on four overarching priorities:
• Promoting cost-effective investment in environ-
mental protection and public health.
• Recognizing the special vulnerability of children
to environmental risks and facilitating an intensi-
fied commitment to protect children's health.
• Building safe, healthy workplaces that strengthen
communities.
• Preparing EPA for future challenges by building
the skills of its employees and fostering diversity.
To meet these challenges, the Agency must
integrate its administrative systems and streamline its
processes, in essence reinventing the way it does
business. EPA has made significant progress by
rethinking problems and the solutions typically used
to address them. The following discussion provides
a description of FY 1999 progress, organized by the
four objectives set in the Agency's Strategic Plan that
guide EPA's work toward its overall management
goal: executive leadership; management services,
administration, and stewardship; building operations,
utilities, and new construction; and audit and investi-
gative services.
FY 1999 PERFORMANCE
Executive Leadership
EPA's objective is to provide vision and leader-
ship (within the Agency, nationally, and internation-
ally) as well as executive direction and policy over-
sight for all Agency programs. The Administrator,
the Agency's National Program Managers, and the
Regional Administrators provide the day-to-day
vision and leadership needed for EPA to meet its
public health and environmental commitments.
EPA provides leadership in a number of managerial
areas, including civil rights, equal employment
opportunity, and judicial decisions in administrative
and enforcement cases. In FY 1999, EPA empha-
sized the area of children's health protection within
its leadership activities. Compared to adults, chil-
dren are often more vulnerable and heavily exposed
to toxins in the environment. In response, EPA
management is committed to ensuring adequate
protection of children's health throughout the
Agency's programs.
In FY1999, the Agency, based on recommenda-
tions of the Children's Health Protection Advisory
Committee, selected eight regulations and regulatory
areas for review to assure that they are protective of
children's health. EPA committed to complete five
reviews in FY1999. However, due to the need to
collect comprehensive information on children's
health impacts, the Agency does not expect to com-
plete these reviews until FY20O1 (APG 62). To
address the related issue of how to value children's
health when conducting benefit/cost analyses on
environmental regulations, EPA convened a work-
shop in March 1999, which brought together leading
economists for discussion and sharing of informa-
tion.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
• !
REGULATIONS AND REGULATORY AREAS
UNDER REVIEW FOR PROTECTION OF
CHILDREN'S HEALTH
Chloralkali Plants National Emission
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants
Pesticide Tolerances for Methyl Parathion
Pesticide Tolerances for Chlorpyrifos
Pesticide Tolerances for Dimethoate
Pesticide Tolerances for Atrazine
Maximum Contaminant Levels for Atrazine
Farm Worker Protection Standards
Air Quality and Asthma Risks
To empower individuals and communities to
better protect children from environmental health
threats, EPA implemented the Child Health Cham-
pion Community pilot program in FY 1999. As part
of the program, 11 communities (a minimum of
one in each Region) are undertaking new commu-
nity-based initiatives. Each community has devel-
oped and begun implementing action plans to
achieve specific goals for protecting children from
environmental hazards.
In FY 1999, EPA also developed a brochure on
how parents and other care-givers can protect
children from environmental risks. Based on the
tips in EPA's brochure, as pictured above, the Na-
tional Safety Council produced a half-hour television
program that aired on Bravo and CNBC. This
program is now available on video, and EPA also has
plans to distribute the original brochure nationwide
The number of children with asthma continues
to grow, especially among certain population groups,
such as children living in inner cities. As part of the
President's Task Force on Environmental Health
Risks and Safety Risks to Children, EPA and the
Department of Health and Human Services devel-
oped a comprehensive cross-government strategy to
address environmental factors that play a crucial role
in childhood asthma. Despite the prevalence of
asthma and other childhood illnesses with the
il Don't smoke around kits
§lj Wash children's hands before eating and wash bottles,
pacifiers and toys ofttn
., iH Keep them indoors when air pollution is bad
j;- 8 Protect them from lead poisoning
i Hi Have fuel-burning appliances, furnace flues and
i~ chimneys checked regularly for carbon monoxide teaks
- 9 Keep pesticides and other toxic chemicals away from children
„ Hi Wash fruits and vegetables before eating
"• £1 Protect children from too much sun
£ Hi Test your home for radon
/ For more information call
i 1-877-590-KIDS
^ www.iipa.gov/children
? EPA Office of Children's Health Protection
EPA's brochure includes easy to understand tips to help
caretakers understand how to protect children from
environmental threats.
potential to be linked to the environment (e.g., lead
poisoning), most research data used to assess poten-
tial risks and make regulatory decisions do not
address children's potentially increased vulnerability.
Much work needs to be done in order to understand
and address the risks to children from environmental
hazards. Specific FY 1999 activities related to
children's health can be found in other chapters
throughout this report.
Management Services, Administration, and
Stewardship
Efforts under this objective provide the manage-
ment services, administrative support, and other
operations that enable the Agency to achieve its
environmental mission and to meet its fiduciary and
workforce responsibilities. EPA has taken many
steps to improve the administration and stewardship
of its resources. Use of innovative technologies and
designs, a focus on customer needs and expecta-
tions, and the development of a highly skilled
workforce define EPA's strategies to deliver the
services necessary to meet its environmental mis-
sion.
EPA met its FY1999 goal to identify, fix, and
test all of the Agency's information and building
systems to ensure Y2K compliance, a major manage-
ment accomplishment for the Agency (APG 63).
This work addressed 50 mission critical and 1,475
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
non-mission critical information systems as well as
facility operations systems (e.g., elevators, heating/
cooling systems) in all of EPA's 141 buildings.
EPA played a key leadership role in coordinating
Federal agency efforts to address the Year 2000
(Y2K) issue in cooperation with State, local, other
Federal, and private sector organizations. Working
under the auspices of the President's Council on
Ybar 2000 Conversion, EPA worked closely with
national trade associations in the water, waste, and
chemicals sectors to promote awareness, encourage
assessment and sector-wide surveys, develop guid-
ance information, and assist in the development of
contingency plans. EPA also provided targeted Y2K
information to specific constituencies, including
Tribes, small businesses, and non-English speaking
groups.
In FY1999, EPA met its goal to plan and track
performance against annual goals and capture 100
percent of costs through the new Planning, Budget-
ing, Analysis, and'Accountability (PBAA) structure,
based on modified budget and financial accounting
systems, a new accountability process, and new cost
accounting mechanisms (APG 64). The Agency
developed the Performance and Environmental
Results System (PERS) to capture performance on
the Agency's goals and measures and to ensure that
senior managers have the information needed to
monitor and improve EPA's performance. EPA is
one of the first Federal agencies to have fully inte-
grated its budget request with its annual perfor-
mance plan and strategic framework of long-term
goals.
The Office of Inspector General and the
Office of the Chief Financial Officer have a pro-
cess in place to ensure timely preparation and
submission of EPA's audited financial statements.
During FY 1999, EPA was among the Federal
agencies awarded a clean opinion on its FY 1998
audited financial statements, demonstrating the
Agency's effective financial practices and controls.
EPA continues to improve its financial practices,
such as reducing customer burden through reinven-
tion and better use of technology. For example, in
FY1999 EPA greatly reduced the overhead costs of
making payments by increasing the use of electronic
funds transfer.
Increased Use of Electronic Funds Transfer
(EFT) Payments to Reduce Overhead Costs
120 r
93%
97%
84%
75%
FY2000
Federal
Goal
100
I 80
I
S. 60
t
ui 40
20
FY1998 FY1999 FY2000
(projected)
Year
In addition to participating in the Agency-wide
accountability process, several EPA Regional offices
began implementing planning and accountability
approaches to monitor contributions to Agency-
wide progress toward environmental goals. In
FY1999, several Regions developed and imple-
mented computer-based systems to monitor perfor-
mance and support Regional management decision-
making. Features of these systems include the
ability to display trend data and track the status of
quarterly budget commitments. Regional managers
use the accountability process to examine progress
and make required course corrections.
The Agency has invested in human resources to
ensure that it has the scientific and technological
skills needed for the future and that the workforce
reflects the talents and perspectives of a growing
multi-cultural society. EPA's strategy is aimed at
attracting, recruiting, and developing employees who
can address the critical environmental issues of
today and the future. An important FY 1999
achievement for human resources is the hiring of a
second talented and diverse ckss of 20 interns
through a highly competitive process. This class, 41
percent of whom are members of minority popula-
tions, is made up of top scholars in their fields.
Additionally, in FY 1999, EPA completed the
Workforce Assessment Project, which identified the
skills needed by its workforce as the Agency moves
into the 21st century. Increasing employee compe-
tencies is an integral element of a comprehensive,
inclusive strategy designed to yield an EPA
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
EPA's \Xforkforce Assessment Project is a five-fold strategy in
developing the Agency's workforce.
•workforce prepared for the future. Supporting
accomplishments include completion of seven
leadership and high-performance organization pilots,
the design of the mid-level and administrative
support development programs, a new Human
Resources Guide for Supervisors, and a new Indi-
vidual Development Plan guide for use by current
and future employees.
In FY1999, EPA completed several actions to
streamline the Agency's business practices and
procedures while still ensuring their integrity. These
accomplishments include the following:
• Adopting over 40 wide-sweeping management
reforms to correct longstanding weaknesses in
contracts management.
• Expanding the use of electronic contracting
practices, including posting requests for propos-
als (RFPs) on the Internet, which resulted in
savings of approximately $30,000 per RFP or a
total annual savings of $6 million.
• Implementing contracting reforms to improve
contractor performance, provide greater ac-
countability, and save taxpayer dollars. Approxi-
mately 50 percent of EPA's contracts are now
fixed price, and 15 percent of new awards are
performance-based (exceeding- the FY 1999goal
by 5percent) (APG 65).
• Meeting the FY 1999goal of implementing
Phase I of the Integrated Grants Management
System (IGMS) award module in each of the
Regional Grants Management Offices. It has
also been implemented in the Headquarter's
office as well (APG 66), resolving potential Y2K
issues and helping to make EPA's grant award
system an automated, paperless, and efficient
process.
• Awarding 69 Performance Partnership Grants
(PPGs) totaling over $227 million, which pro-
vide flexibility to States and Tribes in allocating
resources to their top environmental priorities.
To address concerns recently identified by the
Office of Inspector General, the Agency will
include a review of PPGs during Regional
Management Oversight Reviews and include an
assessment of the PPG program in the Regional
Management Effectiveness Reviews.
• Eliminating more than 96 percent of the original
backlog of 20,000 cases of assistance grant
closeout, thus making significant progress in the
post-award management and monitoring of
assistance resources that represent over 50
percent of the Agency's budget. The Agency
has made significant progress in carrying out its
corrective action plans and as part of the
FY1999 Integrity Report, re-designated Grants
Closeout and Oversight of Assistance Agree-
ments from a material weakness to an Agency-
level weakness.
Building Operations, Utilities, and New Construction
EPA's objective is to provide a safe, secure, and
healthy work environment characterized by efficient
and economical building operations, utilities, facili-
ties, new construction, repairs, and pollution preven-
tion improvements. For several years, EPA has
pursued a strategy to improve, consolidate, and
make energy-efficient its facilities and laboratories
throughout the country. This strategy, in part, has
provided the Agency with state-of-the-art working
environments to better conduct research that posi-
tively affects public health and the environment.
In FY1999, EPA completed 60percent of
construction at the new Research Triangle Park
(RTF) faculty, exceeding the goal of completing 50
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
Research Triangle Park (RTF), NC
percent of construction at its top priority laboratory
project (APG 67). The new facility, which serves as
the flagship for the Agency's research and sound
science efforts, will replace seven leased facilities,
resulting in savings of over $100 million (30-year net
present value) by eliminating expenditures for rent
and the higher costs of operating aging, scattered
facilities.
The continued renovation of the Washington,
DC Federal Triangle complex and its subsequent
occupancy form the cornerstone of EPA's objective
to consolidate its Headquarters employees within a
safe, secure, and healthy space that allows for effi-
cient operation of Agency programs. EPA and the
U.S. General Services Administration (GSA)
achieved 90 percent of the targeted 100 percent
build-out of the Ariel Rios North Building, while the
anticipated build-out of the Wilson Building did not
occur at all. Because of this, EPA did not meet its
target of moving 38 percent of Headquarters person-
nel to the new complex, hi FY1999, EPA succeeded
in relocating 31 percent of Headquarters employees
to the new complex and completing the targeted 50
percent of the base build-out of the Interstate Com-
merce Commission Building (APG 68). The Agency
is conducting a market survey, expected to be
completed by mid FY 2000, of available space to
house the remaining EPA employees.
Also in FY 1999, EPA completed construction
of its Fort Meade Laboratory. This construction
project enabled the Agency to consolidate opera-
tions from two other laboratories into one Federal
facility, increasing the cost-effectiveness of EPA's
Region 3 laboratory operations.
EPA met its FY 1999 target to reduce energy
consumption in three of its laboratories. The
Agency continues to focus on those laboratories that
consume the most energy and also is working with
the Department of Energy and GSA to install solar
technologies in EPA laboratories and Regional
offices. For example, in the first award of its kind
for the Agency, EPA selected an energy savings
performance contractor to make improvements to
the National Vehicle and Fuels Emissions Labora-
tory in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Construction on this
project began in FY 1999, and the contractor will be
paid based on resulting energy savings in the future.
Audit and Investigative Services
EPA's objective is to provide audit and investiga-
tive products and services that can help the Agency
accomplish its mission. EPA's Office of Inspector
General's (OIG) audit and advisory services pro-
mote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in all of
the Agency's business practices. The OIG investi-
gates alleged fraud, waste, and abuse by EPA em-
ployees, contractors, and grantees and independently
reports the results of these investigations to Con-
gress. As part of its Agency-wide reinvention
strategy, EPA's OIG is also establishing a dedicated
program evaluation unit. All efforts under the audit
and investigative services objective ensure that the
Agency's financial systems, accounting statements,
and performance information are accurate, reliable,
and useful.
During FY1999, EPA met its goal to provide
objective, timely, and independent auditing and
consulting services and completed 24 construction
grant closeout audits, exceeding the target of 15
(APG 69). The OIG accomplished its goal by
expanding its audit and advisory services to more
closely correspond to the needs of its customers,
clients, and stakeholders while potentially returning
as much as five dollars for every dollar invested by
taxpayers. The OIG's audits identified over $81
million in questioned costs and recommended
efficiencies.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
'
1
FY 1999 Performance Profile: Office of Audit
(Promoting mficieng and"Effectiveness)
Questioned Costs (Federal share) |79.3 Million
Recommended Efficiencies f 1.8 Million
Costs Disallowed to be Recovered f 36.3 Million
Number of Reports Issued 460
Customer Satisfaction Rate 75 Percent
The OIG's audit and advisory services also made
over 60 recommendations for improving program
business practices and results, including actions for
the folio-wing:
• Improving monitoring and enforcement of air
quality standards.
• Standardizing water quality monitoring and
attainment strategies.
• Developing strategies to perform risk assess-
ments of hazardous waste releases and quality
evaluations of hazardous waste treatment.
• Expanding capacity to connect small communi-
ties to wastewater facilities.
EPA met its FY1999 goal to provide objective,
timely, and independent investigative services (APG
69) in order to detect and deter fraud, waste, or
other improprieties involving the Agency. The
OIG's investigations resulted in 73 prosecutive and
administrative actions. EPA's OIG also opened 31
new contract and assistance agreement cases, bring-
ing the total inventory of these cases to 125. The
OIG referred nearly one-fourth (24 percent) of the
investigations for action and closed or referred over
half (54.2 percent) of the cases all within one year
of initiation. From 1996 to 1999, EPA investiga-
tions resulted in fines, restitutions, and recoveries
totaling over $24 million.
( FY 1999 Performance Profile: Office of Investigation^
(Dettding ttntl DeterringFraud, Waste, and Abuse)
Fines, Recoveries, and Savings
Indictments
Convictions
Administrative Actions
Civil Filings/Settlements
$815,292
20
11
35
PROGRAM EVALUATION
In FY1999, as part of its efforts to improve
management services, EPA benchmarked its major
financial management functions against public and
private sector organizations, including industry top
performers. The bench marking study examined
FY1998 data on all EPA resource planning, ac-
countability, and stewardship functions, including
strategic planning, budgeting, financial management,
financial services, analysis, accountability, and
management. The study found that in comparison
to other top organizations, EPA devotes a lower
percentage of its workforce to financial manage-
ment overhead. EPA's financial management costs
are, however, higher than public and private sector
averages largely because the Agency has not invested
in efficient new information technology to reduce
the overhead costs of its payroll and other major
financial systems (see future milestones below). The
public can contact EPA's Office of the Chief Finan-
cial Officer for a copy of this study.
CONCLUSIONS AND (CHALLENGES
In FY 1999, EPA continued its progress toward
becoming a model for leadership and management
among Federal agencies. EPA still faces significant
challenges, however, in reinventing and streamlining
processes while ensuring sound management of its
administrative and financial services:
• Ensuring that the EPA workforce possesses the
scientific and technological skills needed to meet
the challenges of the 21st century and that it
reflects the talents aad perspectives of a growing
multi-cultural society.
• Developing more outcome-oriented perfor-
mance measures through collaboration with the
many players involved in achieving environmen-
tal results: States, Tribes, local governments,
other Federal agencies, non-governmental
organizations, industry, the regulated community,
Congress, and the Office of Management and
Budget.
• Working with environmental partners (States,
Tribes, local governments, and industry) to
improve the speed and user-friendliness of the
Agency's customer assistance processes.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
KEY MILESTONES FOR THE FUTURE
• In FY 2000, EPA will conduct a national evalua-
tion of the Child Health Champion Community
pilot to learn about community needs for pro-
tecting children's health.
• In FY 2000, EPA will develop the Children's
Health Valuation handbook based on the results
of the March 1999 workshop on valuing
children's health.
• In FY 2001, EPA will complete the RTP labora-
tory facility construction project, which will
serve as a flagship for the Agency's research and
sound science efforts.
• In FY 2001, EPA will finalize the implementa-
tion of a new payroll system that reduces pro-
cessing costs and supports the Agency's reinven-
tion and streamlining initiatives.
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
-------
Appendices
A-FY 1999 Summary of Performance
B-Acronyms and Abbreviations
-------
-------
FY 1999 ANNUAL PERFORMANCE GOALS AND MEASURES
TABLE OF RESULTS
The following table includes the 69 annual performance goals and associated measures (APG/PM) as reported in EPA's FY
1999 Final Annual Plan. The APGs are numbered as follows: Goal 1 (1 - 7), Goal 2(8-18), Goal 3 (19 - 20), Goal 4 (21 -
27), Goal 5 (28 - 37), Goal 6 (38 - 43), Goal 7 (44 - 49), Goal 8 (50 - 57), Goal 9 (58 - 61), and Goal 10 (62 - 69).
When there is a significant difference between the planned targets and actual performance, the table includes an explanation
of why the goal was not achieved or significantly over-achieved, and a description of the Agency's plans and schedules to
meet an unmet goal in the future. The table also includes a brief explanation for why data for a particular APG are not
available and the date of expected availability.
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
GOAL 1 - CLEAN AIR
APG 1 - Eight additional
areas currently classified as
non-attainment will have
the 1-hour ozone standard
revoked because they meet
the old standard.
10
EPA Regional offices revoked the 1-hour standard in ten areas,
meeting EPA's 1999 goal. Based on the Circuit Court decision
regarding the revised ozone standard, however, EPA has proposed to
reinstate the 1-hour standard.
APG 2 - Deploy
paniculate matter 2.5
ambient monitors
including: mass,
continuous, speciation,
and visibility resulting in a
total of 1,500 monitoring
sites.
1,500
1,110
In response to the Congressionally directed National Academy of
Science study recommending that the mass portion of the
monitoring network be more balanced with the continuous and
speciation portion of the network, the number of mass monitoring
sites deployed in FY 1999 was reduced from 1,500 to 1,110.
APG 3 - Identify and
evaluate at least two
plausible biological
mechanisms by which
particulate matter (PM)
causes death and disease
in humans.
APG 4 - Reduce air toxic
emissions by 12% in FY
1999, resulting in
cumulative reduction of
25% from 1993 levels.
12%
The Agency is on track to achieve the annual performance goal.
Estimates for FY 1999 indicate a 14% reduction in air toxic
emissions, resulting in a cumulative reduction of 27% from 1993
levels. Final data for FY 1999 will be published in 2002.
APG 5 - Complete health
assessments for five air
toxics as high priority.
Dose-response assessments for dichloropropene, cadmium, ethylene
glycol, monobutyl ether, and acetonittile were completed in FY 1999.
The fifth assessment, for vinyl chloride, was delayed and will be
completed in FY 2000. This delay will not negatively affect
achievement of the strategic objective.
o
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
APG 6 - Certify that 14
of the 58 estimated
remaining nonattainment
areas have achieved the
National Ambient Air
Quality Standards
(NAAQS) for carbon
monoxide, sulfur dioxide,
or lead.
Performance Measures
- Regions take final action
on CO redesignation.
- Regions take final action
on SO2 redesignation.
- Regions take final action
on lead redesignation.
14
13
Thirteen of the 58 estimated remaining nonattainment areas have
achieved the NAAQS for carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, or lead.
The performance target was set at an approximate level. The
performance is not expected to impede the achievement of the
strategic objective.
7
5
2
APG 7 - Maintain 4
million tons of sulfur
dioxide (SO2) emissions
reduction from utility
sources, and maintain
300,000 tons of nitrogen
oxides (NOx) reduction
from coal-fired utility
sources.
4,000,000
300.000
APG 7 - Maintain 4 million tons of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions
reduction from utility sources, and maintain 300,000 tons of
nitrogen oxides (NOx) reduction from coal-fired utility sources.
GOAL 2 - Clean Water
APG 8 - EPA will issue
and begin implementing
two protective drinking
water standards for high-
risk contaminants,
including disease-causing
micro-organisms (Stage I
Disinfection/ Disinfection
By-products and Interim
Enhanced Surface Water
Treatment Rules).
APG 9 - 89% (increase of
1% over 1998) of the
population served by
community water systems
will receive drinking water
meeting all health-based
standards in effect as of
1994, up from 83% in
1994.
1%
3%
The cumulative total is 91%, which ii> also the FY 2000 annual
performance goal.
APG 10 - 4,400
community water systems
will be implementing
programs to protect their
source water (an increase
of 1,650 systems over
1998).
1,650
8,261
In FY 1999, community water systems' efforts in implementing
programs to protect their source watet resources included not only
steps 4 and/or 5 of the wellhead protection program, but also the
completion of steps 1-3 that provide the basis for implementation
activities. This resulted in a larger number of systems being
counted than originally forecast for a cumulative total of 11,011.
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
APG 11 - EPA will devel-
op critical dose-response
data for dis-infectant by-
products (DBPs), water-
borne path-ogens, and
arsenic for addressing key
uncertain-ties in the risk
assessment of municipal
water supplies.
9/30/99
9/30/99
EPA produced data on the first urban study on microbial gastro-
intestinal disease, as well as hazard identification and screening
studies on the reproductive and developmental effects of selected
disinfectant by-products.
APG 12 - As part of the
Clean Water Action Plan,
all States will be conducti-
ng or have completed
unified watershed assess-
ments, with support from
EPA, to identify aquatic
resources in greatest need
of restoration or
prevention activities.
50
56
Actual performance results include both States and Territories. In
addition, 84 Tribes are conducting or have completed unified
watershed assessments.
APG 13 - EPA will
provide funding to restore
wetlands and river corrid-
ors in 30 watersheds that
meet specific "Five Star
Project" criteria relating to
diverse community part-
nerships (for a cumulative
total of 44 watersheds).
30
46
APG 11 - EPA will develop critical dose-response data for
disinfectant by-products (DBPs), water-bome pathogens, and arsenic
for addressing key uncertainties in the risk assessment of municipal
water supplies.
APG 14 - EPA will
provide data and infor-
mation for use by States
and Regions in assessing
and managing aquatic
stressors in the watershed,
to reduce toxic loadings
and improve ecological
risk assessment.
9/30/99
9/30/99
APG 12 - As part of the Clean Water Action Plan, all States will be
conducting or have completed unified watershed assessments, with
support from EPA, to identify aquatic resources in greatest need of
restoration or prevention activities.
APG 15 - Another 3.4
million people will receive
the benefits of secondary
treatment of wastewater,
for a total of 179 million.
3,400,000
3,400,000
The cumulative total is 179 million people.
APG 16 - More than 220
communities will have
local watersheds improved
by controls on combined
sewer overflows (CSO)
and storm water.
220
513
EPA is not yet able to measure actual improvement in watersheds;
therefore this goal has been dropped after FY 1999. A count of
communities that implemented requirements in Storm Water Phase I
permits and/or CSO Long-Term Control Plans was used as a
surrogate indicator of progress. Using this Smeasure resulted in a
significantly larger number of communities meeting the goal than
originally forecast.
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
APG 17 - In support of the
Clean Water Action Plan,
ten additional States will
upgrade their non-point
source programs, to ensure
that they are implementing
dynamic and effective non-
point source programs that
are designed to achieve and
maintain beneficial uses of
water.
10
The cumulative total is 13 States.
APG 18-By2003: Deliver
support tools, such as
watershed models, enabl-ing
resource planners to select
consistent, appro-priate
watershed manag-ment
solutions and alter-native,
less costly wet-weather flow
control technologies.
The target year is 2003 to achieve the performance goal. In FY
1999, EPA completed a peer-reviewed publication of wet-weather
flow disinfection studies, among other research reports.
GOAL 3 - Safe Food
APG 19 - Decrease adverse
risk from agricultural pesti-
cides from 1995 levels and
assure new pesticides that
enter the market are safe for
humans and the
environment.
Performance Measures
-Register safer chemicals
and biopesticides.
-Tolerances
- New Uses
- Special Registrations
- Inerts
- Me-toos
- Amendments
- New Chemicals
15
95
90
370
45
600
2,000
9
19
351
681
455
109
1,022
3,586
7
EPA is currently engaged in efforts to improve environmental
indicators to address performance measurement shortcomings
associated with this goal. Pending availability of these indicators, the
Agency is using a variety of pesticide registration activities as
surrogate measures.
NOTE: Planned performance targets are estimates based on sub-
missions from prior years. In some cases, work process changes have
enabled the Agency to increase its efficiency, thereby increas-ing its
output. In others, the disparity between planned and actual values
was amplified by a change in the way certain activities are counted.
Two examples are listed below:
Tolerances: In FY 1999, EPA changed the way it counts tolerance
activities to more accurately reflect the work performed. Pre-viously,
the Agency counted tolerance petitions submitted by industry. Since
a single petition may contain multiple commodities for which a
tolerance assessment must be done, the new system counts tolerances
set for each commodity.
New Uses: In FY 1999, the Agency also changed the way it ap-
proaches the new use requests it receives for a given pesticide.
Previously, EPA processed new use requests on a crop-by-crop basis
(e.g, oranges). When appropriate, the Agency now conducts
additional review of relevant studies, and approves new uses on an
entire crop group (e.g, oranges, lemons, tangerines, grapefruit, and
limes). This has resulted in an increase in the number of new uses.
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
APG 20 - Under pesticide
re-registration, EPA will
reassess 19% of the existing
9,700 tolerances (cumulative
33%) for pesticide food uses
to meet the new statutory
standards of "reasonable
certainty of no harm."
1,850
1,445
A primary component in achieving EPA's FY 1999 performance goal
involved getting interim risk mitigation on many organo-phosphate
pesticides. Internal process changes to broaden public participation
delayed some decisions, affecting FY 1999 perfor-mance. These
changes, however, have not impacted the Agency's ability to meet
statutory requirements. EPA exceeded the cumu-lative statutory
target of evaluating 33% of the 9,721 existing pesticide food
tolerances by August 1999. As of September 30,1999, EPA had
completed 3,430 reassessments (35%).
GOAL 4 - Pollution Prevention
APG 21 - Protect homes,
communities, and work-
places from harmful expo-
sures to pesticides and
related pollutants through
improved cultural practices
and enhanced public
education, resulting in a
reduction of 15% cumu-
lative (1994 reporting base)
in the incidences of pesti-
cide poisonings reported
nationwide.
Performance Measures
- Incidences of pesticide
poisonings
- Environmental
Stewardship Strategies
- Manage pesticides with
high probability to leach/
persist in groundwater
- Labor population will be
adequately trained
(cumulative percentage of
pesticide applicators
certified)
15%
42*
10%
38%
No Data
69*
0
48%
Data now available do not allow a reliable estimate of the magni-
tude or trend in the national incidence of pesticide poisonings. EPA
currently is engaged in an effort to improve its environmental
indicators to address the performance measurement shortcomings
associated with this goal.
Pesticide Poisonings: EPA has considered data available from Poison
Control Centers, from the State of California and Washington, and
from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
(NIOSH) SENSOR project. These different data sets suggest
different trends and all are thought to be subject to significant
under-reporting. EPA will consider the likelihood of improved data
in the near-term and will evaluate whether to change its performance
measure in this area.
Environmental Stewardship Strategies: In FY 1999, the Pesticide
Environmental Stewardship Program phased in a new, streamlined
approach to the strategy submittal and approval process, resulting in
a larger number of submittals and approvals.
Management of pesticides w/high probability to leach/persist in
groundwater: The target was not met due to a delay in the
publication of the Groundwater Management Plan regulation.
*NOTE: Planned target and actual performance represent
cumulative totals.
APG 22 - Complete the
building of a lead-based
paint abatement certifi-
cation and training program
in 50 States to ensure
significant decreases in
children's blood lead levels
by 2005 through reduced
exposure to lead-based
paint.
Through FY 1999, EPA continued building the lead-based abatement
training and certification program by approving programs in 28
States, one territory, and the District of Columbia. EPA also
approved programs for two Tribes. EPA had hoped that more
States would have completed the process of picking up the program
by the end of FY 1999. Two additional States have picked up the
program since the end of FY 1999 and others are expected to pick it
up during the remainder of FY 2000. EPA is, however, reassessing
plans for managing the training and certification program in the
future.
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
Performance Measures
- Develop State programs
for the training, accredi-
tation and certification of
lead-based paint abatement
professionals.
- A Federal training,
accreditation and certifi-
cation program will be
established and admin-
istered in States which
choose not to seek approv-
al from EPA to administer.
35
28
15
22
APG 23 - Ensure that of
the approximately 1,800
new chemicals and micro-
organisms submitted by
industry each year, those
that are introduced in
commerce are safe to
humans and the environ-
ment for their intended
uses.
1,800
1,717
NOTE: Planned performance targets are estimates based on the
number of industry submissions from prior years. The Agency met
its goal to review all new chemicals and organisms submitted by
industry.
APG 24 - 700,000
additional people will live
in healthier residential
indoor environments.
700,000
End-of-year results are expected in December 2000. Trend data
suggest that significant progress has been made toward meeting the
goal.
APG 25 - The quantity of
Toxic Release Inventory
pollutants released, trea-
ted, or combusted for
energy recovery will be
reduced by 200 million
pounds, or 2% from 1998
reporting levels.
200 M
Ib.
Reduction
FY 1999 data will not be available until 2001 due to time lags
associated with reporting and analysis. A 1.1 billion pound increase
in 1997 (most current data available) suggests that the goal will not
be met. The FY 1999 performance goal was deficient in not taking
into account fluctuations in industrial production. The Agency
adjusted this performance measure for
FY 2001 to account for these fluctuations.
APG 27-10% of Tribal
environmental baseline
information will be colle-
cted and ten additional
Tribes (cumulative total of
45) will have Tribal/ EPA
environmental agreements
or identified environmental
priorities.
10%
10%
EPA made faster progress (cumulative total 46) than expected in
getting Tribal/EPA environmental agreements in place and/or in
identifying environmental priorities.
10
11
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
GOAL 5 - Waste Management
APG 28 - EPA and its
partners will maintain the
pace of cleanups by com-
pleting construction at 85
additional Superfund sites
(for a cumulative total of
670 construction comple-
tions with a target of 925
construction completions
in 2002).
85
85
The FY 2002 target has been adjusted to 900.
APG 29 - Obtain poten-
tially responsible party
(PRP) commitments for
70% of the work con-
ducted at new construc-
tion starts at non-Federal
facility sites on the NPL
and emphasize fairness in
the setdement process.
70%
80%
APG 30 - Ensure trust
fund stewardship by
recovering cost from PRPs
when EPA expends trust
fund monies. Address cost
recovery at all National
Priority list (NPL) and
non-NPL sites with a
statute of limita-tions on
total past costs equal to or
greater than $200,000.
100%
99%
The deviation from the target level was minimal. Performance is not
expected to negatively impact the achievement of the strategic
objective.
APG 31 - 83 (for a cumu-
lative total of 238 or 14%)
of high priority RCRA
facilities will have human
exposure control-led and
45 (for a cumu-lative total
of 119 or 7%) will have
groundwater releases
controlled.
83
162
Initial targets and baseline data for this goal were based on estimates
that have since been refined by delegated State programs and EPA
Regions. FY 1999 accomplishments reflect State and EPA efforts to
improve baseline and reporting data.
45
188
APG 32 - Complete 22,000
Leaking Underground
Storage Tank (LUST)
cleanups.
22,000
25,678
The goal was exceeded due to increased emphasis by State program
managers to complete cleanups and improve data management.
APG 33 - EPA will fund
Brownfields site
assessments in 100 more
communities, thus reaching
300 communities by the
end of 1999.
100
80
FY 1998 data showed greater than expected accomplishments in
funding activities for individual communities through cooperative
agreements. To achieve the goal of reaching a total of 300
communities by the end of FY 1999, only 73 new cooperative
agreements were necessary. By awarding 80 new pilots, EPA
exceeded its goal and reached 307 communities by the end of
FY 1999.
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
APG 34 - Demonstrate
and verify the performance
of 18 innovative
technologies by 2001,
emphasizing remediation
and characterization of
groundwater and soils.
18 by
2001
7in
FY1999
EPA, in cooperation with the private sector and other Federal
agencies, completed demonstrations of seven innovative technologies
in FY 1999, and is on schedule to achieve the performance goal of
18 by 2001.
APG 35-122 hazardous
waste management facil-
ties (for a cumulative total
of 61% of 3,380 RCRA
facilities) will have per-
mits or other controls in
place.
122
The number of additional hazardous waste management facilities
with permits or other approved controls in place cannot be
accurately reported at this time. This delay is primarily due to
verifying the accuracy of reporting that goes beyond the historical
unit-specific recording of permit determinations, and ensuring that
these data are properly reflected in EPA's national data system by
delegated States and Regions. EPA expects to have data available by
the end of FY 2000.
APG 36-190 additional
facilities will be in compli-
ance with spill prevention,
control and countermea-
sure (SPCQ provi-sions
of the oil pollution regu-
lations (for a cumu-lative
total of 490 addi-tional
facilities since 1997).
190
774
This goal was significantly exceeded in large part because of the
success of EPA's Region 6 pilot program to correct violations and
ensure compliance. Pilot implementation will be expanded in FY
2000.
APG 37 - Complete pro-
totype model for assessing
cumulative exposure-risk
assessment integrating the
environmental impact of
multiple chemicals through
multiple media and
pathways.
9/30/99
9/30/99
GOAL 6 - Reducing Risks
APG 38 - One additional
water/wastewater project
along the Mexican Border
will be certified for design-
construction.
The significant success toward this goal is the result of efforts by
parties in both Mexico and the United States to ensure that residents
have adequate water and wastewater treatment facilities.
APG 39 - Reduce US.
greenhouse emissions by
35 million metric ton
carbon equivalent
(MMTCE) per year
through partnerships with
businesses, schools, State
and local governments, and
other organizations.
35
While final data covering all of FY 1999 will not be available until
Spring 2000, current estimates indicate that EPA may exceed this
goal by about 15%.
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
APG 40 - Conduct
preliminary assessment of
consequences of climate
change at three
geographical locations:
(Mid-Atlantic, Gulf Coast,
and upper Great Lakes).
The Gulf Coast Regional Assessment, delayed due to difficulties in
obtaining peer review acceptance of the project proposal, is now
underway. The performance level is not expected to impede the
achievement of the strategic objective.
APG 41 - Ensure that
domestic consumption of
class H HCFCs will be
restricted to below
208,400 MTs and
domestic exempted
production and import of
newly produced class I
CFCs and halons will be
restricted to below
130,000 Mis.
<208,400
< 130,000
Based on results in the first three quarters of FY 1999, EPA was
on track to meet this goal. Calculations for the total data in FY
1999 will be available in Spring 2000.
APG 42 - Obtain
international agreement on
criteria for selecting
Persistent Organic
Pollutants (POPs) to be
covered in a new global
POPs treaty, and on
capacitybuilding activities
to support the
convention's
implementation.
9/30/99
EPA obtained substantial international agreement on criteria for
selecting Persistent Organic Pollutants to be covered in a new
global POP's treaty. Complete agreement is anticipated by the end
of March. No agreement has been reach-ed on capacity building
to support the treaty's implementation. Resolution for both issues
is required by the end of negotiations in December 2000.
APG 43 - Deliver 30
international training
modules; implement six
technical
assistance/technology
dissemination projects;
implement five
cooperative policy
development projects; and
disseminate information
products on US.
environmental
technologies and
techniques to 2,500
foreign customers.
30
6
16
6
The annual performance .goal for developing and delivering 30
training modules to host countries was not met. The Agency
completed and delivered 16 of the 30 training modules. The
remaining 14 modules were not completed due to problems in host
countries (i.e., political and economic unrest, US. Government
sanctions, and inability to provide resource share.)
2,500
2,500
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
GOAL 7 - Right-to-Know
APG 44 - The Agency
will streamline and
improve the information
reporting process between
State partners and EPA by
increasing the number of
participants in the
OneStop Reporting
Program (for a total of
29).
EPA was able to award only four new OneStop grants (for a total
of 25) primarily because candidate States had not demonstrated
the required level of systems integration. To remedy this, EPA has
added a technology transfer activity to help additional States meet
the OneStop reporting eligibility criteria..
APG 45 - Provide over
100 grants to assist
communities with
understanding and address
Environmental Justice
issues.
100
100
APG 46 - Process
110,000 facility chemical
release reports, publish
the Toxic Release
Inventory (TR1) Data
Release Report, and
provide improved
information to the public
about TRI chemicals,
enhancing community
right-to-know and effi-
ciently processing
information from industry.
110,000
117,171
APG 47 - Increase
compliance with right-to-
know reporting
requirements by
conducting 1,300
inspection and
undertaking 200
enforcement actions.
1,300
200
1,034
285
EPA targeted its inspections to the most likely noncompliers, thus
surpassing the target for necessary enforcement actions while
completing fewer inspections than projected.
APG 48 - EPA will
partner with the States in
implementation activities
that will ensure all public
water systems- large,
medium, and especially
small- are informed of
both the requirements of
the consumer confidence
report regulation and
implementation tools for
complying with this rule.
50
50
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
APG 49 - By 1999,
complete five to seven
monitoring pilot projects in
Environmental Monitoring
for Public Access and
Com-munity Track-ing
(EMPACT) cities,
implement timely and high
quality environmental
monitoring technology in
five to seven EMPACT
cities.
Planned
57
Actual
8
Explanation
GOAL 8 - Sound Science
APG 50 - Complete and
eval-uate a multi-tiered
ecological monitoring
system for the Mid-Atlantic
region and provide select
land cover and aquatic
indicators for measuring
status and trends.
APG 51 - Analyze existing
monitoring data for acid
deposition and Ultraviolet-
B (UVB) and implement a
multiple site UVB
monitoring system for
measuring status and
trends.
APG 52 - Provide
ecological risk assessment
case studies for two
watersheds, final guidelines
for reporting ecological risk
assessment, and ecological
risk assessment guidance
and support.
APG 53 - Produce first
generation exposure mod-
els describing residential
exposure to pesticides.
APG 54 - Develop and
verify innovative methods
and models for assessing
the susceptibilities of
population to
environmental agents,
aimed at enhancing risk
assessment and
management strategies and
guidelines.
9/30/99
9/30/99
9/30/99
9/30/99
9/30/99
9/30/99
Target year is 2001 to achieve the performance goal. In FY 1999,
EPA researchers completed the first stage of the Envi-ronmental
Monitoring and Assessment Program; proving that EPA can
costeffectively monitor the condition of ecosystems at a regional
scale.
Target year is 2008 to achieve the performance goal. In FY 1999,
EPA awarded seven new grants for studies on a variety of topics
related to the risk to children's health from environmental
pollutants.
fcl^
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
APG 55 - Initiate field
exposure study of children
to two endocrine
disrupting chemicals.
9/30/99
9/30/99
APG 56 - Improve
Computational Efficiency
of Fine Paniculate Model
by 25%.
9/30/99
9/30/99
APG 57-A total of 50
Project excellence and
Leadership (XL) projects
•will be in development or
implementation, an
increase of 23 over 1998.
23
24
The cumulative total is 51.
GOAL 9 - Credible Deterrent
APG 58 - Deter
noncompliance by
maintaining levels of field
presence and enforcement
actions, particularly in high
risk areas and/or where
populations are
disproportionately exposed.
In 1999, EPA will conduct
15,000 inspections and
undertake 2,600
enforcement actions.
15,000
2,600
21,410
3,935
APG 59 - Target high
priority areas for
enforcement and
compliance assistance and
complete baseline data
assessment in major
databases needed to
measure quality of key
indicators of compliance.
The Agency will identify
five high priority areas and
improve two data systems.
5
2
7
2
APG 60 - Assist States and
Tribes with their
enforcement and
compliance assurance and
incentive programs. EPA
will provide speciali2ed
assistance and training,
including 83 courses, to
State and Tribal officials to
enhance the effectiveness
of their programs.
83
218
Actual deliveries exceeded the projected target because EPA
emphasized capacity-building-and provide more training
opportunities for State, local, and Tribal professionals than
originally projected, particularly in topic areas such as basic
inspector training, penalty calculation courses, and environmental
crimes training for Tribal officials.
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
APG 61 - Increase
regulated community's use
of compliance incentives
and their understanding of,
and ability to comply with,
regulatory requirements.
The Agency will continue
to operate nine small
business compliance
assistance centers and will
complete sector notebooks,
guides, and other outreach
materials begun in FY
1998.
GOAL 10 - Effective Management
APG 62 - By the end of
1999, evaluate five EPA
regulations to ensure they
are protective of children's
health.
The Agency is currently working to evaluate eight regulations
and/or regulatory areas selected based on recommendations by the
Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee. Evaluations of
the eight regulati9ns and/or regulatory areas are expected to be
completed in FY 2001.
APG 63 - All mission-
critical systems will
continue to support core
Agency functions without
interruption across Year
2000 date change.
100%
100%
APG 64 - By the end of
1999, the Agency can plan
and track performance
against annual goals and
capture 100% of costs
through the new PBAA
structure, based on
modified budget and
financial accounting
systems, a new
accountability process, and
new cost accounting
mechanisms.
9/30/99
9/30/99
APG 65 - EPA will
improve the quality,
effectiveness and efficiency
of EPA's acquisition and
contract management
process by completing 10%
of contracts utili2ing
performance-based
statement of works.
10%
15%
-------
Annual Performance
Goal and Measures
Planned
Actual
Explanation
APG 66 - Implement
Phase 1 of the Integrated
Grants Management
System (IGMS) award
module in all Regions.
10
11
EPA implemented the IGMS award module in each of its ten
Regional Offices as well as the Headquarter's Grants Management
Office.
APG 67 - Complete at
least 50% of construction
of the consolidated
research lab at Research
Triangle Park, North
Carolina.
50%
60%
APG 68 - Continue
renovation of the new
consolidated headquarters
complex, completing 100%
build out of the Ariel Rios
north and Wilson Building,
and 50% of the Interstate
Commerce Commission,
and moving 38% of EPA
personnel from vacated
spaces to the new
consolidated complex.
100%
50%
38%
90%
50%
31%
EPA's decision to relinquish the Wilson Building to the District of
Columbia Government has delayed achievement of the 1999
performance goal. EPA is conducting a market survey, to be
completed by mid-FY 2000, of available space to house the
remaining EPA Headquarter's employees.
APG 69-In 1999, the
OIG will provide •
objective, timely and
independent auditing,
consulting, and
investigative services
through such actions as
completing 15 construction
grant closeout audits.
15
24
The OIG exceeded its goal for completing construction grant
audits due to audits that did not take as long as anticipated,
substitution of projects that were not as resource intensive, and
initial risk assessments that did not reveal vulnerabilities
warranting a full audit, thus allowing more audits to be closed
upon issuance than anticipated.
-------
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
APG Annual Performance Goal
APR Annual Performance Report
BOSC Board of Scientific Counselors
CAA Clean Air Act
CCR Consumer Confidence Report
CEC Commission for Environmental Cooperation
CEIS Center for Environmental Information and Statistics
CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and liability Act
CFC Chlorofluorocarbon
CO Carbon Monoxide
CPM Core Performance Measure
CRTK Chemical Right-to-Know
CSI Common Sense Initiative
CWAP Clean Water Action Plan
CWSRF Clean Water State Revolving Fund
DHHS Department of Health and Human Services
DOE Department of Energy
EGOS Environmental Council of the States
EDC Endocrine Disrupting Chemical
EMAP Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program
EMPACT Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking
EPA Environmental Protection Agency
EPCRA Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
ETV Environmental Technology Verification
FDA Food and Drug Administration
FQPA Food Quality Protection Act
FY Fiscal Year
GAO General Accounting Office
GAP General Assistance Program
GCRP Global Change Research Program
GIS Geographic Information System
GPRA Government Performance and Results Act
GSA General Services Administration
HEPA High Efficiency Paniculate Air
HUD Department of Housing and Urban Development
IRIS Integrated Risk Information System
IWI Index of Watershed Indicators
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
LUST Leaking Underground Storage Tank
MEMS Multimedia Integrated Modeling System
MSW Municipal Solid Waste
MTBE Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether
NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards
NARAP North American Regional Action Plan
NAG National Advisory Committee
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement
NEP National Estuary Program
NEPA National Environmental Policy Act
NEPPS National Environmental Performance Partnership System
NHANES National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey
NO2 Nitrogen Dioxide
NOx Nitrogen Oxide
NOAA National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
NPDES National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
NPL National Priorities List
NPS Non-Point Source
NRDC Natural Resources Defense Council
NTI National Toxics Inventory
O3 Ozone
ODS Ozone-Depleting Substance
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
OEI Office of Environmental Information
OIG Office of the Inspector General
OMB Office of Management and Budget
OP Organophosphate
P2 Pollution Prevention
Pb Lead
PBT Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic
PCB Polychlorinated Biphenyl
PERS Bsrformance and Environmental Results System
PM Particulate Matter
PPA Performance Partnership Agreement
PRP Potentially Responsible Party
RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
REI Reinventing Environmental Information
RFP Request for Proposal
RGI Regional Geographic Initiative
RTF Research Triangle Park
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
SAB
SAMI
SDWIS
SITE
S02
STAR
Science Advisory Boafd.
Southern Appalachian. Mountains Initiative
Safe Drinking Water Information System
Superfund Innovative Technology Evaluation
Sulfur Dioxide
Science to Achieve Results
TEA-21 Transportation Equality Act for the 21 st Century
TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load
TRI Toxics Release Inventory
TSCA Toxic Substances Control Act
USDA Department of Agriculture
UST Underground Storage Tank
UV Ultraviolet
voc
"Volatile Organic Compound
Environmental Protection Agency
-------
-------
EPA PROGRAM OFFICES
Office of the Administrator 202564-4700
Office of Air and Radiation 202 260-7400
Office of the Chief Financial 202 564-1151
Officer
Office of Enforcement &
Compliance Assurance
Office of Inspector General 202 260-3137
Office of Policy & Reinvention 202 564-4332
Office of Prevention, Pesticides, 202 260-2902
& Toxic Substances
Office of Research & 202 564-6620
Development
Office of Solid Waste & 202 260-4610
Emergency Response
Office of Water 202 260-5700
http://www.epa.gov/adminweb
http://www.epa.gov/oar
http://www.epa.gov/ocfopage
202 564-2440 http://www.epa.gov/oeca
http://www.epa.gov/oigearth
http://www.epa.gov/reinvent/oprindex
http://www.epa.gov/internet/oppts
http://www.epa.gov/ORD
http://www.epa.gov/swerrims
http://www.epa.gov/OW
.
WE WELCOME YOUR COMMENTS!
Thank you for your interest in the Environmental Protection Agency's FY1999 Annual
Performance Report. We welcome your comments on how we can make this report a more
informative document for our readers. We are particularly interested in your comments on
the usefulness of the information and the manner in which it is presented. Please send
your comments to:
Office of Planning, Analysis, & Accountability
Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Environmental Protection Agency
Ariel Rios Federal Building, Mail Code 2721AR
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
Wishington, DC 20460
This report is available on EPA's Internet page: http://www.epa.gov/ocfopage, through
EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications at 1-800-490-9198, or by
ordering online at: http://www.epa.gov/epahome/publications.
-------
-------
-------
iss
iiisfaw.M
';;^^:^; ^:&;s&!;* 1*^^
-:-^^?^ ±>;;::;'if:^:;;-,:|::i;;:^^^^^^^^^
------- |