UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
WASHINGTON D.C. 20460
OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD
March 26, 2010
EPA-SAB-10-005
The Honorable Lisa P. Jackson
Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20460
Subject: Science Advisory Board Comments on the President's Requested FY 2011
Research Budget
Dear Administrator Jackson:
In recent years, the Science Advisory Board (SAB) has conducted two parallel sets of
discussions on research with the Office of Research and Development (ORD): 1) ongoing
discussion of strategic research directions and 2) reviews of the President's research budget
requests for upcoming fiscal years. The SAB has now reviewed the President's FY 2011
research budget request within the context of these ongoing interactions with ORD on strategic
research directions and assessed how well the requested budget will permit EPA to advance the
goals set in its strategic research planning. Progress toward these goals will provide the science
underpinnings for meeting your environmental protection priorities. The SAB plans to continue
its discussions of strategic issues with ORD at an advisory meeting planned for April 2010, and
we will provide you with an advisory letter on strategic research directions after that meeting.
The SAB notes that the President's budget request shows a modest increase in nominal
dollars and a slight increase in constant dollars for ORD for FY 2011, as compared with ORD's
FY 2010 enacted budget. Considering the importance of ORD's research agenda to national and
global imperatives for responding to climate change and sustainability of water, air, and land
resources in the face of growing population and energy demands, we believe that the budget
request overall, with just a few exceptions, reflects appropriate choices about investments as well
as difficult decisions about disinvestments in research. Given budget constraints across the
federal government, we commend EPA for a thoughtful and prudent budget request that supports
science as the foundation for EPA decision-making and that invests in research as a resource to
address future environmental needs and issues.
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Among the research investment choices, the SAB highlights as appropriate the planned
increase for STAR grants and fellowships (+$25.8 M). The STAR fellowships invest in the next
generation of environmental scientists and STAR grants facilitate EPA's interaction with the
wider scientific community and leverage expertise on key emerging issues. The SAB also
highlights increases in air quality research as a "down payment" to develop and maintain a next
generation monitoring network for ambient air pollutants (+$3.4 M), an important and
appropriate early step in research towards a multi-pollutant approach to air quality management.
The SAB notes, however, that substantial funding will be required to fully develop this new
approach.
The increased investment in hydraulic fracturing research (+$2.5 M) is urgently needed
to study the impact of these technologies on ground water quality protection and implications for
drinking water safety. It is encouraging that while the actual increase is small, it represents a
doubling of the budget for this important work. The SAB recommends that EPA pursue
additional resources in the next budget cycle to ensure that this program becomes as robust as it
needs to be. The investment in green water infrastructure research (+$6.4 M) is needed to
address green infrastructure practices relating to storm water management, drinking water and
ambient water quality, and water quantity issues at multiple scales, including large watersheds.
Finally, we view the planned investments in endocrine disrupters (+$6.0 M) and computational
toxicology (+$1.8 M) as important for strengthening human health and ecological risk
assessment. Along with these highlighted investments, the budget request generally reflects
appropriate choices about sustaining programs and disinvesting in others (such as the mercury
research program and some homeland security efforts), where research projects have reached a
natural decision or ending point.
The SAB had four areas of concern in reviewing the FY 2011 research budget request in
light of the Agency's strategic research needs. We draw your attention in the following
paragraphs to the specific issues that deserve special notice and that merit reconsideration in the
FY 2012 budget currently being planned. Research investment to protect endangered public
health, sensitive ecosystem services, and vulnerable populations becomes even more important
in difficult economic times when these resources may be most at risk. Investment in social,
behavioral, and decision sciences across the ORD research portfolio is critically needed to help
EPA develop and implement workable solutions to the major environmental challenges that you
recognize as priorities for EPA.
The SAB believes that the relatively modest increase for ORD proposed for the clean air
(+$3.4 M) and global change (+$1.2 M) research programs is not sufficient even though the
President's budget request provides Science and Technology (S&T) Funds for EPA's Office of
Air and Radiation to address climate change science and research. While the U.S. Global
Change Research Program has historically complemented and leveraged EPA's past limited
research investments in climate change, EPA will have a substantial need for new knowledge to
support regulatory strategies, as a result of the Agency's Endangerment Finding on greenhouse
gases. The types and number of scientific activities will need to increase to support EPA's
central, critical role.
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The requested budget for the Ecological Services Research Program shows a significant
reduction in FTE (-13.9 FTE) as well as a reduction in funding (-$1.5 M) for this program, which
studies the direct and indirect contributions that ecosystems make to the well-being of human
populations. The SAB has recently commended the Agency "for developing a research program
that has the potential to be transformative for environmental decision making," but noted that
"the considerable potential of the program is unlikely to be achieved with its current level of
funding and staff (see SAB Report, Consultation on EPA 's Implementation of the Ecosystem
Services Research Program, EPA-SAB-09-019). These proposed reductions are not in
alignment with this advice. The success of the Ecological Services Research Program depends
on sustaining the work of EPA's highly trained scientists. The planned FY 2011 FTE cuts for a
research area modestly funded at the outset are so significant as to threaten the future of the
entire program. The Ecological Services Research Program is critical for understanding the ways
in which policy and management choices affect the type, quality, and magnitude of the goods
and services ecosystems provide to sustain human well-being. Furthermore, these cuts
jeopardize EPA's sustainability research program efforts.
Although environmental justice is identified as your priority, the SAB notes that ORD's
requested budget does not provide a broad capability for developing the science to support
environmental justice programs and policies. Moreover, the requested budget indicates a
planned reduction in funding for cumulative risk research (-$1.1 M) and research on susceptible
populations (-$2.1 M), essential research for understanding environmental justice issues. A
reduction in research characterizing drinking water risk (-5.4 FTEs) will also make it difficult for
EPA to understand and address cumulative risk issues. Although the budget shows a planned
increase in funding for the child health stressor study and ORD staff can point to planned
activities involving cumulative risk, the budget does not demonstrate a sustained investment in
this important area consistent with your emphasis on environmental justice and the call for
increased attention to multi-chemical analysis by the National Research Council (Science and
Decisions, 2009). When funding for major priorities depends on unstable, episodic funding,
research suffers.
As mentioned above, the SAB believes that investment in social, behavioral, and decision
sciences across the ORD research portfolio is critically needed. The SAB has repeatedly noted
the serious lack of Agency research activity and staff expertise in the area of social, behavioral,
and decision sciences. The President's FY 2011 budget does not include investment in these
areas again this year. The SAB believes that EPA must invest in research in these areas to help
fashion solutions to environmental problems. Effective design and implementation of policies
and programs and effective communication of them require an understanding of human
perceptions, values, and behavior. ORD requires a sufficient intramural cadre of behavioral,
social, and decision scientists to provide this understanding, to conduct relevant social science
research, and to guide the Agency in forming appropriate partnerships and collaborations in this
area. The SAB welcomes additional dialogue with the Agency on this issue.
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The SAB is pleased to have again reviewed the EPA research budget and looks forward
to working with you to strengthen the Agency's vital research base and addressing your
priorities. We look forward to your response to this review and to continuing our interactions
with EPA to develop future advice on the Agency's science program.
Sincerely,
/Signed/
Dr. Deborah L. Swackhamer
Chair
Science Advisory Board
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NOTICE
This report has been written as part of the activities of the EPA Science Advisory Board, a public
advisory committee providing extramural scientific information and advice to the Administrator
and other officials of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Board is structured to provide
balanced, expert assessment of scientific matters related to problems facing the Agency. This
report has not been reviewed for approval by the Agency and, hence, the contents of this report
do not necessarily represent the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor
of other agencies in the Executive Branch of the Federal government, nor does mention of trade
names or commercial products constitute a recommendation for use. Reports of the EPA
Science Advisory Board are posted on the EPA Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Science Advisory Board
CHAIR
Dr. Deborah L. Swackhamer, Professor and Charles M. Denny, Jr., Chair in Science,
Technology and Public Policy and Co-Director of the Water Resources Center, Hubert
H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
SAB MEMBERS
Dr. David T. Allen, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of
Texas, Austin, TX
Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson, Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Ocean
Sciences and Marine Science Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC
Dr. Timothy Buckley, Associate Professor and Chair, Division of Environmental Health
Sciences, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Dr. Thomas Burke, Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns
Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Dr. Deborah Cory-Slechta, Professor, Department of Environmental Medicine, School
of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
Dr. Terry Daniel, Professor of Psychology and Natural Resources, Department of
Psychology, School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Dr. George Daston, Victor Mills Society Research Fellow, Product Safety and
Regulatory Affairs, Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, OH
Dr. Costel Denson, Managing Member, Costech Technologies, LLC, Newark, DE
Dr. Otto C. Doering III, Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue
University, W. Lafayette, IN
Dr. David A. Dzombak, Walter J. Blenko Sr. Professor of Environmental Engineering ,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Carnegie
Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
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Dr. T. Taylor Eighmy*, Vice President for Research, Office of the Vice President for
Research, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
Dr. Elaine Faustman, Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
Sciences, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA
Dr. John P. Giesy*, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Veterinary Biomedical
Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,
Canada
Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health and Community
Medicine, School of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA
Dr. James K. Hammitt, Professor, Center for Risk Analysis, Harvard University,
Boston, MA
Dr. Rogene Henderson, Senior Scientist Emeritus, Lovelace Respiratory Research
Institute, Albuquerque, NM
Dr. Bernd Kahn, Professor Emeritus and Associate Director, Environmental Radiation
Center, School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA
Dr. Agnes Kane*, Professor and Chair, Department of Pathology and Laboratory
Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI
Dr. Nancy K. Kim, Senior Executive, New York State Department of Health, Troy, NY
Dr. Catherine Kling, Professor, Department of Economics, Iowa State University,
Ames, IA
Dr. Kai Lee, Program Officer, Conservation and Science Program, David & Lucile
Packard Foundation, Los Altos, CA
Dr. Cecil Lue-Hing, President, Cecil Lue-Hing & Assoc. Inc., Burr Ridge, IL
Dr. Floyd Malveaux, Executive Director, Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc.,
Washington, DC
Dr. Lee D. McMullen, Water Resources Practice Leader, Snyder & Associates, Inc.,
Ankeny, IA
Dr. Judith L. Meyer, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, Odum School of
Ecology, University of Georgia, Lopez Island, WA
' Did not participate in the review.
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Dr. Jana Milford, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of
Colorado, Boulder, CO
Dr. Christine Moe, Eugene J. Gangarosa Professor, Hubert Department of Global
Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Dr. Eileen Murphy, Manager, Division of Water Supply, New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection, Trenton, NJ
Dr. Duncan Patten, Research Professor, Hydroecology Research Program , Department
of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman,
MT
Dr. Stephen Polasky, Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological/Environmental
Economics, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Dr. Stephen M. Roberts, Professor, Department of Physiological Sciences, Director,
Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Dr. Amanda Rodewald, Associate Professor, School of Environment and Natural
Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Dr. Joan B. Rose*, Professor and Homer Nowlin Chair for Water Research, Department
of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Dr. Jonathan M. Samet*, Professor and Flora L. Thornton Chair, Department of
Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Dr. James Sanders, Director and Professor, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography,
Savannah, GA
Dr. Jerald Schnoor, Allen S. Henry Chair Professor, Department of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, Co-Director, Center for Global and Regional Environmental
Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Dr. Kathleen Segerson, Professor, Department of Economics, University of
Connecticut, Storrs, CT
Dr. V. Kerry Smith*, W.P. Carey Professor of Economics , Department of Economics ,
W.P Carey School of Business , Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Dr. Herman Taylor*, Director, Principal Investigator, Jackson Heart Study, Jackson,
MS
' Did not participate in the review.
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Dr. Barton H. (Buzz) Thompson*, Jr., Robert E. Paradise Professor of Natural
Resources Law at the Stanford Law School and Perry L. McCarty Director, Woods
Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA
Dr. Paige Tolbert, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health, Rollins
School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Dr. Thomas S. Wallsten*, Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, University
of Maryland, College Park, MD
Dr. Robert Watts, Professor of Mechanical Engineering Emeritus, Tulane University,
Annapolis, MD
SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF
Dr. Angela Nugent, Designated Federal Officer, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
1400F, Washington, DC, Phone: 202-343-9981, Fax: 202-233-0643,
(nugent. angel a@epa. gov)
' Did not participate in the review.
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