Evaluation EPA's Temporally
Integrated Monitoring of
Ecosystems (TIME) and Long
Term Monitoring (LTM)
Programs
May 2009
Fact Sheet
http://www.epa.gov/evaluate
For more information on
completed evaluations at
EPA or the Evaluation
Support Division, visit the
above link.
Introduction
The Temporally Integrated Monitoring of Ecosystems (TIME) and Long-Term Monitoring
(LTM) programs currently support data collection on surface water chemistry of lakes
and streams in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states to provide scientists and policy-
makers data on patterns and trends in response to changing air emissions and acid
deposition. The principal investigators and other staff involved in the TIME/LTM
program use funding from the Office of Research and Development (ORD) within the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to collect water samples and analyze data on
key chemical variables including sulfate, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, acid neutralizing
capacity, and dissolved organic carbon. ORD responsibilities for management of the
TIME/LTM program are being transferred to EPA's Office of Air and Radiation (OAR).
OAR will use the results of the evaluation to assess needs for program changes. The
evaluation entails an assessment of program objectives, design, implementation, costs,
and other factors to determine effectiveness, long-term sustainability, and contributions
to knowledge of ecological conditions affected by acid deposition.
Evaluation Questions
1. What is the purpose of the TIME/LTM program?
2. What are the key characteristics of the TIME/LTM program?
3. Who uses TIME/LTM data and for what purposes (e.g., basic research, policy
development)?
4. What is the relationship of TIME/LTM to other ecological monitoring programs?
5. What are the costs associated with TIME/LTM?
6. How is TIME/LTM administered and managed?
7. What opportunities exist to improve TIME/LTM?
Evaluation Methods
• Developed Logic Model of the TIME/LTM programs
• Refined Evaluation Questions and Measures
• Identified Data Sources and Collection methods to:
• Review research articles and other TIME/LTM-based publications from
peer-reviewed scientific journals from 1985-2007
• Collect information through telephone interviews with program
cooperators, EPA staff and managers, other federal agencies, and not-
for-profit organizations
• Conducted content analysis of data from documentation and interviews
• Prepared written report and posted at www.epa.gov
• Presented evaluation at TIME/LTM Cooperator Workshop June 3-4, 2009
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Key Findings
1. Objectives of the TIME/LTM program have changed over time. Current objectives are to measure patterns
and trends in acidity of freshwater ecosystems and establish a long-term record of ecological conditions.
2. The TIME/LTM program design has changed over the years to focus on sites with long-term data in the
Eastern United States. Similar chemical data are collected from current TIME/LTM sites but at different
frequencies for different purposes.
3. TIME/LTM data are used for a broad range of purposes, but by a relatively small number of people. The data
are generally used to better understand patterns of and trends in acidification in freshwater ecosystems;
reporting on the effectiveness of national and international programs to reduce acid deposition; developing
and implementing policies; and contributing to knowledge and understanding of interrelationships between
acidification and other ecological conditions.
4. TIME/LTM evolved from a variety of environmental monitoring programs and continues to evolve as sites are
added and eliminated. It is not integrated with other monitoring efforts.
5. Program costs have generally remained the same but EPA funding has declined. Overall costs and costs per
site sampled and analyzed vary significantly and are generally difficult to determine.
6. Details on the establishment and administration of cooperative agreements are unclear and need better
documentation. Interactions among cooperators may improve the program, but opportunities to interact have
been limited.
7. Cooperators believe that TIME/LTM data are collected and analyzed efficiently and offered suggestions for
future consideration including collection of additional variables and potential expansion of sites into other
geographic regions.
Recommendations
The evaluation resulted in seven recommendations:
1. Clearly articulate and document the scientific question of current interest relative to acidification of freshwater
lakes and streams.
2. Establish a forum for interaction and discussion among the appropriate individuals with expertise to identify
the right question(s) and knowledge of data needed to answer the question.
3. Based on the critical question and data gathered over the history of TIME/LTM, examine the methodologies
and protocols to affirm approaches to ensure relevance of data collected to the question being addressed.
4. Explore other long-term monitoring options and how TIME/LTM can leverage or benefit them.
5. While engaging in the above activities, identify short-term funding to continue data collection at some level to
ensure the integrity of the long-term TIME/LTM data record.
6. Continue to develop the OAR Web site to include not only TIME/LTM data sets in usable formats, but also
literature and documentation.
7. Based on the outcome of the above recommendations, determine optimal institutional arrangements for
program oversight and data management.
Contact(s)
Matt Keene
Evaluation Support Division - EPA OPEI
Keene. matt@epa .gov
David La Roche
EPA OAR
Laroche.David@epamail.epa.gov
Report Link: http://www.epa.gov/evaluate/reports.htm
Date Completed: May 5,2009
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