Innovating
for Better Environmental Results:
A Strategy To Guide
The Next Generation of Innovation at EPA
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A Message From the Administrator:
As America works to meet the next generation of
environmental challenges, innovative new tech-
nologies and techniques will be a key contributor
to our success. Making America's air cleaner, its
water purer, and its land better protected will
require the best, most creative, and most inventive
efforts the public, private, academic, and non-profit
sectors can devise.
Encouraging such innovation and ensuring that the best innovative ideas
are widely shared is a role I believe the Environmental Protection Agency is
well-positioned to perform.That is why, early last year, I directed EPA's Office
of Policy, Economics and Innovation to work with the Innovation Action
Council to assess the Agency's innovation activities and propose a long-
term innovation strategy to guide the EPA in the years ahead.
This report is the result of their efforts. It provides the EPA with a practical
roadmap for encouraging innovative solutions to environmental challenges
and for making sure those solutions are available to everyone who shares
our common goal of protecting the environment and safeguarding public
health.
As you will see, this report also emphasizes the importance of developing
clear, easily understandable benchmarks against which we can judge the
success of ourefforts.lt is not just enough to measure process, we must also
measure progress. In addition, we must do so in active cooperation with our
many partners - the most important of which are the American people.
I want EPA to become a model for innovation in the federal government, a
place others can look to when developing their own efforts to promote
innovative solutions to today's problems and tomorrow's challenges.The
proud record of this Agency is the foundation on which we can build that
model. I look forward to working together to ensure that EPA does its part
to help tap into the innovative spirit that has long been the hallmark of
America to achieve the next generation of environmental progress.
Christine Todd Whitman
Administrator
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Introduction 2
An Expanded Vision of
Environmental Protection 4
A New Strategic Framework for
Environmental Innovation 6
• Strengthen Innovation Partnership with
States and Tribes 8
• Focus on Priority Issues 12
• Diversify Environmental Protection
Tools and Approaches 16
• Foster a More Innovative Culture and
Organizational Systems 20
Conclusion .23
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The United States is entering a new era of environmental
policy, one that emphasizes improved results in the form of
cleaner air, purer water, and better protected lands, and inno-
vative approaches as a means of accelerating progress.This evolution
responds to a growing consensus that our nation's current environ-
mental protection system alone is not adequate for handling an
increasingly complex set of challenges. Indeed, problems, such as
polluted runoff from streets and farms, global climate change, and
loss of habitat and biodiversity, require a broader set of tools than we
have relied upon in the past.
Strengthening environmental partnerships, targeting priorities,
expanding the current collection of tools, and creating a more
innovative culture to effectively address challenging problems is what
this innovation strategy is all about. It positions EPA to improve its
problem-solving capabilities, and provides a framework for innovative
approaches to become a routine part of our work. It also acknowledges
other drivers that make environmental innovation an imperative.These
drivers include continued pressure to create more value for each tax
payer dollar invested, the constraint of working under a set of environ-
mental laws that in many cases have not been updated for years, the
extra attention that is needed to tailor environmental strategies and
assure environmental justice for all people, and the need to move
beyond the single medium approaches that have traditionally dominat-
ed our work, and toward more integrated, holistic approaches.
Clearly, EPA must innovate to move forward. But the process presents
us with a challenge—to maintain those vital elements of the existing
system, such as the standards, permits, and compliance assurance
efforts that are part of our basic mandate, while simultaneously pur-
suing creative new tools and approaches to complement and
enhance its efficiency and effectiveness.
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Fortunately, many factors are working in our favor.Today, the United
States is much more sophisticated about environmental protection
compared to when environmental programs were first established. We
no longer debate whether to protect the environment; rather we dis-
cuss how to do so in ways that boost our economy. Increasingly,
American companies are looking beyond minimum environmental
requirements for additional opportunities to prevent pollution and
improve efficiency. States and local governments have more experi-
enced environmental managers to run programs and work with local
stakeholders. Citizens are tuned in to environmental issues and condi-
tions, and are likely to be involved in improvement efforts right in
their own neighborhoods. We also have the advantages of better
information, science, and technology than ever before.
Recognizing these advantages and determined to bring about the
improvements we know are needed, EPA is proposing a new strategy
to guide the next generation of environmental innovation efforts.This
strategy is based on an extensive review of EPA's innovation initiatives
by EPA's Innovation Action Council—the senior career leaders respon-
sible for managing innovation at headquarters and in the regions. It
also reflects EPA's extensive experience in addressing environmental
problems, careful consideration of recommendations from outside
policy groups, and discussions with the states and a variety of
stakeholders. We believe this strategy represents the best opportuni-
ties for making environmental progress at this point in time, and
provides concrete steps toward realizing a stronger system of envi-
ronmental protection for the future.
I6V6 this strategy embodies the best
opportunities for advancing environ-
mental progress at this point in time,
and provides concrete steps toward
realizing a stronger system of environ-
mental protection for the future.
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of Enviro
Environmental protection will be defined more broadly in the
21 st century than it has been in the past. No longer will envi-
ronmental managers focus on just controlling pollution. Rather,
we will strive to prevent pollution from occurring in the first place and
think longer-term about how we protect human health and safeguard
the natural environment—the air, water, and land upon which life
depends.
So, what does this mean for the environmental protection system
currently in place? That is the question that policy groups have been
wrestling with for several years. While there is variation in the recom-
mendations, there is also a remarkable degree of consensus around
five key traits.They are presented below as a statement of what we
are working toward with this innovations strategy.
• Focus on environmental performance and results.
Environmental agencies should emphasize results more than the
means to achieve them, using regulatory and nonregulatory tools
and working in partnership with others. In such instances, public
accountability should be provided through use of meaningful
performance measures.
• Emphasize greater environmental responsibility, not just
pollution control. Environmental programs should address a
broader range of issues than they typically do today.The goal
should be greater environmental responsibility and natural
resource stewardship across all of society, along with successful
integration of environmental, economic, and social objectives.
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nmentaJ Protection
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Integrate environmental management more fully across facili-
ties, problems, and media. Environmental management should
be practiced with a holistic approach rather than as a series of
separate air, water, and waste management tasks.This "systems
approach" provides more complete attention to the many issues
that affect environmental outcomes, and results in more tailored
improvement strategies.
Use market-based incentives to achieve environmental goals.
Government should create more financial incentives for strong
environmental performance.These incentives should be used in
regulatory and nonregulatory programs, and they should take
many different forms—ranging from trading programs that
provide flexible, cost-effective compliance options for industrial
facilities to liability provisions that reduce costs for safer, cleaner
operations.
Emphasize partnership and stakeholder collaboration.
Businesses, government agencies, community groups, and other
interested stakeholders should become more involved in devel-
opment of environmental solutions. With fewer opportunities for
making progress with centralized command-and-control regula-
tion and growing sophistication among environmental managers,
this brand of teamwork becomes not only desirable, but essential.
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EPA has been working toward this expanded system for more
than a decade, providing leadership for innovative environ-
mental initiatives among federal agencies. While significant
advances have been made, the result has sometimes been a disparate
array of projects that were not designed to achieve system-wide
improvement.The transactions costs have often been high and there
has not been a consistent process for moving successful pilots into
broader use. By failing to recognize all achievements, we have missed
opportunities to increase their use and encourage innovative
approaches in other aspects of our work.
EPA considered these and other limitations in the course of crafting a
new innovation strategy. Several key findings emerged that set the
stage for its development.The first is that innovation must be encour-
aged from senior management as a way of fulfilling a clearly
articulated vision and commitment to measurable results.There was
agreement that innovation needs to be discussed widely and agreed
upon with major partners and then nurtured patiently. Second, inno-
vation must be oriented to achieving measurable, affordable progress,
and the expected benefits should outweigh costs.Third, innovation
will increase when staff begin to see their job as environmental prob-
lem solvers—helping to develop new tools and creatively applying
them to solve specific environmental problems. Finally, innovation
must be an attitude, an outlook, and an integral part of EPA's daily
work, management systems and culture.
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These findings provided the basis for the following strategy, which
presents a framework for pursuing results through innovative
approaches. It features four elements:
Strengthen our innovation partnership with states and tribes.
Focus innovation efforts on priority environmental problems.
Diversify our environmental protection tools and approaches.
• Foster a more innovative culture and organizational systems.
These elements are strongly connected, and should be implemented
in combination, to the greatest extent possible. With an emphasis on
partnerships, tools, and results, they also directly support the expand-
ed vision for environmental protection outlined earlier.
must be an attitude, an
outlook, and an integral part of
EPA's daily work, management
systems, and culture.
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THEN INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP
EPA believes that partnerships with other organizations are
essential for developing and pursuing new ideas, and we are
eager to work with all stakeholders that share our goals for
achieving environmental results. We see multiple partnership oppor-
tunities among businesses, environmental and public policy
organizations, community groups, and other agencies at the local,
regional, and federal levels of government. But of all these, EPA's most
important partnerships are those with states and tribes.These part-
ners, which include varied agencies with environmental management
responsibilities, are closer to the front lines of environmental protec-
tion, and must be an integral part of a strategy to obtain better results
through innovation.
EPA and states lately have been using two key
mechanisms to advance innovative approach-
es.The first is the National Environmental
Performance Partnership System (NEPPS),
which was established in 1995 to build a more
effective working relationship between the
states and EPA. NEPPS provides a framework
for the states and EPA to negotiate a set of pri-
orities and assure that respective activities are
aligned to achieve results more efficiently and
effectively.The resulting collaboration is guid-
ed by a set of well-defined principles, shown
on the next page.
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PRINCIPLES FROM THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL
PERFORMANCE PARTNERSHIP SYSTEM
• Continuous environmental improvements are desirable and achievable throughout the
country.
• A core level of environmental protection must be maintained for all citizens.
• National environmental progress should be reported using indicators that are reflective of
environmental conditions, trends,and results.
• Joint EPA/state planning should be based on environmental goals that are adaptable to local
conditions while respecting the need for a "level playing field"across the country.
• EPA/state activity plans and commitments should allocate federal and state resources to the
highest priority problems across all media, and should seek pollution-prevention approach-
es before management, treatment,disposal,and cleanup.
• The new approach to the EPA/state relationship should facilitate and encourage public
understanding of environmental conditions and government activities.
• A differential approach to oversight should provide an incentive for state programs to per-
form well, rewarding strong state programs and freeing up federal resources to address
problems where state programs need assistance.
The second supporting mechanism is the Joint EPA/State Agreement
to Pursue Regulatory Innovation (State/EPA Innovations Agreement).
Signed by EPA and the Environmental Council of the States in 1998,
this agreement addresses the development, testing, and implementa-
tion of regulatory innovations.The principles that guide these specific
actions are shown on the next page.
This strategy reaffirms EPA's commitment to both sets of principles
and to the vision of a strong, collaborative, and innovative partnership
that is so important for increasing environmental results. It also
extends this vision to tribes, which face their own unique set of issues
and which stand to gain a great deal through innovative approaches
that can provide strong, cost-effective results.
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PRINCIPLES FROM THE
STATE/EPA INNOVATIONS AGREEMENT
Experimentation: Innovation involves change, new ideas,experimentation and some
risk of failure. Experiments that will help us achieve environmental goals in better ways are
worth pursuing when success is clearly defined, costs are reasonable, and environmental and
public health protections are maintained.
Environmental Performance: Innovations must seek more efficient and/or effective
ways to achieve our environmental and programmatic goals, with the objective of achieving a
cleaner, healthier environment and promoting sustainable ecosystems.
Smarter Approaches: To reinvent environmental regulation, regulator should seek cre-
ative ways to remedy environmental problems and improve the environmental protection
systems, and be receptive to innovative, common sense approaches.
Stakeholder Involvement: Effective stakeholder involvement produces better innova-
tion projects and catalyzes public support for new approaches. Stakeholders must have an
opportunity for meaningful involvement in the design and evaluation of innovations.
Stakeholders may include other state/local government agencies, the regulated community,
citizen organizations, environmental groups, and individual members of the public.
Stakeholder involvement should be appropriate to the type and complexity of the innovation
proposal.
Measuring and Verifying Results: Innovation must be based on agreed-upon goals
and objectives with results that can be reliably measured to enable regulators and stakehold-
ers to monitor progress, analyze results,and respond appropriately.
Accountability/Enforcement: For innovations that can be implemented within the
current regulatory framework, current systems of accountability and mechanisms of enforce-
ment remain in place. For innovations that involve some degree of regulatory flexibility, inno-
vators must be accountable to the public, both for alternative regulatory requirements that
replace existing regulations and for meeting commitments that go beyond compliance with
current requirements. Regulators will reserve full authority to enforce alternative regulatory
requirements to ensure that public health and environmental protections are maintained, and
must be willing to explore new approaches to establish accountability for beyond compliance
commitments.
State-EPA Partnership: The States and EPA will promote innovations at all levels to
increase the efficiency and effectiveness of environmental programs. We must work together
in the design, testing, evaluation, and implementation of innovative ideas and program, utiliz-
ing each other's strengths to full advantage.
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Strengthen State-EPA Partnerships
Guided by a renewed vision of partnership, EPA will work with states
to make effective use of resources to achieve the greatest environ-
mental results possible.Together, we will collaborate in setting goals
and priorities and in implementing strategies to solve environmental
problems. As we do so, we will maximize use of innovative and flexible
approaches to improve environmental performance. We will also
encourage use of valuable partnering tools, such as partnership
agreements and grants and projects under the State/EPA Innovations
Agreement.To this end, we will create new incentives for their use and
address barriers, such as transaction costs, that might have diminished
their real or perceived value in the past. Finally, we will effectively inte-
grate state priorities and needs into EPA's planning, budgeting, and
accountability systems to ensure progress in meeting national goals
while giving states the flexibility to tailor protection efforts to fit their
own environmental conditions and program needs.
Work with Tribes to Develop and Implement
Tailored Innovation Approaches for Indian
Country
EPA will collaborate with tribes to encour-
age the use of innovative environmental
management approaches in Indian Country.
These approaches will be based on the
same partnership principles that guide our
work with states, but will take into account
the particular environmental issues that
tribes face, the status of tribal environmen-
tal programs and infrastructure, and
funding needs.
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Believing in the need for a focused agenda to achieve results,
EPA identified specific environmental challenges that are
serious in nature, national in scope, and where innovation is
needed to assure progress.These challenges—greenhouse gases,
smog, water quality, and water infrastructure—will be targeted for
particular attention and resource investments. We will work with our
partners to develop innovations for these problems specifically, and
as part of broader, multimedia improvement strategies.This is not
an exclusive list, and should not be perceived as limiting innovative
pursuits for other issues. However, the problems identified here are
priorities for EPA.
Our focused efforts will consider all potential avenues to progress—
regulations, policy, guidance, voluntary initiatives, technical and
compliance assistance, outreach, and, as appropriate, development of
legislative proposals.
Reduce Greenhouse Gases
The core of EPA's climate change efforts are partnership programs
designed to capitalize on sound investments in energy-efficient
equipment and practices. We are especially interested in innovative
partnerships that extend across economic sectors to catalyze reduc-
tions in greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously increasing
economic productivity and competitiveness. Potential strategies and
tools include industry sector agreements or company pledges to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions; voluntary transportation programs
that promote fuel efficiency; agricultural carbon sequestration; and
incentives for use of clean, renewable power sources.
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Reduce Smog
Many areas of the country struggle to meet air quality standards, par-
ticularly those for ground-level ozone and particulate matter. In many
of these areas, all conventional technologies and strategies have
already been implemented. We, together with our partners in state
and local government, need to find innovative, cost-effective emission
reduction strategies, including opportunities for regulatory flexibility,
where appropriate, to reach the 1-hour ozone standard. We will use a
number of different strategies including: market-based programs, vol-
untary programs, tribal programs, and new approaches that are just
being created. One example of a market-based program is our
legislative proposal for controlling emission of three pollutants—SO2,
NOx, and mercury.The SO2 and NOx emissions reductions will help
communities significantly as they work to meet the ozone and partic-
ulate matter standards.To promote voluntary reductions, we will issue
a policy aimed at controlling emissions from currently unregulated
small stationary sources of air pollution. Other strategies include
developing an integrated resource assessment tool for
decision-makers to create and test alterna-
tive emission control strategies, and
expanding "Ozone Flex," a voluntary ozone
reduction program for areas that meet, but
are close to exceeding, the 1-hour ozone
standard. We will conduct three to five tribal
clean air projects to identify strategies that
might be useful in Indian Country. Finally, as
an example of a new approach, we will
expand "Cool Cities," a program that uses
reflective coatings and vegetative cover to
help reduce the urban heat island effect that
can hasten smog formation.
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Restore and Maintain Water Quality
Sediments, nutrients, pathogens, and toxic substances continue to
threaten the quality of many of the nation's waters.The sources of these
pollutants are often diffuse: runoff from urban, suburban, and agricul-
tural lands; onsite septic systems; and air deposition.To address these
problems, we will support, build on, and expand the many creative part-
nerships underway with corporations, states, local governments, and
watershed groups to achieve healthy watersheds. We will implement
policies and projects that enable water quality trading programs to
thrive, along with other collaborative and cost-effective approaches to
meeting water quality goals.To foster innovative approaches to manag-
ing onsite wastewater (septic) systems, we will develop voluntary
performance guidelines and encourage performance-based designs.
Because sufficient and reliable water quality data are key to under-
standing and addressing problems in local watersheds, EPA will
continue and enhance efforts to improve water monitoring programs
and data availability. Finally, we will conduct research on ecosystem
assessment and restoration and on biological, physical, and social stres-
sors in watersheds to help EPA and others determine the optimal
strategy for achieving water quality goals.
Close the Water Infrastructure Gap
Our nation's drinking water and wastewater treatment systems pro-
vide Americans with significant benefits: reduced water pollution and
safe drinking water. However, this critical infrastructure is aging and
deteriorating.There is concern that current spending will not keep
pace with future needs, threatening to rev<
gains in water quality made over the past 1
decades. Ensuring the long-term integrity <
nation's water infrastructure requires a con
hensive approach that addresses funding I
and mechanisms; respective roles of all lev
of government and the private sector;
expanded use of innovative technology, ra
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structures, and water conservation; and greater use of innovative
approaches in managing financial assets and physical infrastructure.
EPA will work with stakeholders to create a more sustainable, efficient,
and innovative water infrastructure system. In particular, EPA will
explore innovations that can increase flexibility in funding
mechanisms, create incentives for adoption of best management
practices, and advance technologies that provide better service at
lower cost.
EPA identified two additional and
significant opportunities for creative,
multimedia solutions—agriculture
and brownfields redevelopment.
Many EPA programs have responsi-
bilities that relate to agriculture, and
most focus on reducing environ-
mental impacts from agricultural
production. But agriculture also
presents opportunities for improv-
ing environmental quality,such as
carbon storage, cleaner water, and
better habitat for fish and wildlife.To
realize these and other benefits and to help address specific environ-
mental problems more effectively, EPA will develop a strategy to
increase coordination and collaboration with agricultural interests,
including the related public agencies and the agricultural producers.
EPA will also seek to extend innovations achieved through the
Brownfields Economic Redevelopment Initiative to a wider range of
properties.The goal is to increase the number of properties cleaned
up and redeveloped, and to take a wider range of environmental
issues, such as air and water quality, into account in the process.
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DIVERSIFY ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
"T"V T"Thile focusing more attention on specific environmental
problems, EPA's innovation strategy must promote also
V V the continued development of new tools and approaches
that can not only solve, but prevent problems from occurring. We
believe the future system of environmental protection will include
many more options for addressing different environmental chal-
lenges. It will rely less on end-of-pipe technology requirements and
more on tailored strategies that address the needs of whole facilities,
communities, and sectors or segments of the population. It will put
more emphasis on pollution prevention and natural resource conser-
vation. It also will boost accountability for meeting specific
performance goals.To this end, EPA must develop new tools that can
be effective for problem-solving, and use tools in creative combina-
tions that make the most of both traditional and new approaches.
Target Tools and Approaches for Strategic
Development
Working with states and tribes, EPA will provide leadership in moving
new tools and approaches through all stages of development—test-
ing, monitoring, evaluation, and finally application. However, this
process should not occur on an ad hoc basis. EPA, states, and tribes
have limited resources, and so we must develop new tools with a
strategic purpose in mind.This means focusing on tools that have
potential for addressing high priority problems or that have proven
effective and show strong potential for broader, multimedia applica-
tion. EPA's initial priorities for tool development are as follows:
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Improve the use and deployment of information resources
and technology to achieve greater environmental results.
Building on the Environmental Information Exchange Network,
currently under development, work with states on a strategy for
harnessing the power of information and information technology
to transform environmental protection. Specific goals include
providing better information to the public, handling information
exchanges with states and regulated communities more efficient-
ly, and linking information more directly with state and EPA
decision-making processes.
Support environmental technology innovation. Find ways to
support development and use of new technologies that can
achieve more effective and lower cost solutions to environmental
problems. Establish a challenge and award program to encourage
and recognize the development of innovative technologies. Be
inclusive in identifying the problems needing technology solu-
tions, and in developing criteria for assessing technology
performance. Ensure that environmental regulations and other
core activities encourage and provide flexibility for use of innova-
tive technologies.
Increase use of incentives. Apply economic, information, compli-
ance assistance, and other types of incentives that can motivate
sound environmental performance and pollution prevention by
individuals, communities, businesses, and industry sectors.To
promote flexible and innovative approaches, incentives should
be considered: (1) during the regulatory economic analysis for
each new rulemaking, (2) as permitting options, (3) as part of a
systematic review for identifying where economic and other
incentives could be added to existing programs, and (4) in
voluntary, collaborative partnerships with facilities, sectors,
co-regulators, and others.
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Encourage use of environmental management systems
(EMSs). Support use of effective EMSs in a variety of applications,
and expand studies of how EMSs fit into environmental policy as a
way to ensure compliance and promote "beyond compliance" per-
formance.
Develop results-based performance goals and measures.
Develop more outcome-oriented performance goals and meas-
ures that describe the results achieved by EPA's programs, and
incorporate those goals and measures, as appropriate, into all
activities. Emphasizing results will facilitate and encourage use
of innovative approaches for protecting human health and the
environment.
Build Upon Flagship Innovation Programs
EPA will build upon a broad base of innovative activities that already
exist—an accumulation of many years and much hard work. We will
work with our stakeholders to identify the appropriate next phases
for several multimedia programs.
They include programs that test
alternative regulatory approach-
es, based on the lessons learned
from programs such as Project XL;
the National Environmental
Performance Track, which recog-
nizes high performing
companies; and Industry
Performance Improvement
Partnerships, which offer a more integrated approach to environmen-
tal management for specific industrial sectors. We will also engage in
dialogue with parties that are interested in applying the flexibility and
multimedia dimensions of these and other innovation programs more
broadly through new legislative authority.
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At the same time, EPA will continue support for innovative approach-
es in national programs. Examples of innovative partnership programs
include Brownfields, ENERGY STAR®, High Production Volume testing pro-
gram for chemicals, Design for the Environment, and Compliance
Assistance Centers. EPA also supports innovative approaches in tradi-
tional programs, such as the mitigation banking program for wetlands
and demonstrations of facility-wide emission caps under Title V of the
Clean Air Act, and the diffusion of the Massachusetts Environmental
Results Program. As EPA works with stakeholders to define next steps
on such programs, it will do so consistent with the expanded vision of
environmental protection in mind.
Just as important, EPA will set up a process to ensure that proven
innovations, achieved through these or other initiatives, realize their
full potential.This will include evaluating innovations results to make
strategic decisions about those that can and should be applied on a
broader scale. It will substantially increase the value realized from
individual innovation, and demonstrate to environmental personnel
in the public and private sectors that innovation is worth pursuing.
ill set up a process
to ensure that proven
innovations realize their full
potential.
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Focusing on environmental problem-solving—and not just the
necessary routine of day-to-day program operations—poses
significant management challenges for EPA as well as states
and tribes. But for this strategy to be effective, such a change must
occur. In many cases, solving problems will mean doing something
different from what we are doing today. And so as the Innovation
Action Council found, innovation must become an attitude, an out-
look, and an integral part of EPA's daily work, management systems,
and culture. It must become our new way of seeing and doing and
must be expressed through concrete actions.lt cannot be an
extracurricular activity or a collection of special projects run out of
one organization.
Recent experience at EPA, as well as from other federal and state
agencies that attempted similar"reinvention," underscores the need
for a well planned and managed approach to fostering a more inno-
vative organizational culture. EPA believes the next round of
innovation activities should take on this challenge, integrating sup-
port for innovation into planning, budgeting, and other organizational
systems, and promoting and supporting an innovative spirit within
the attitudes and culture of our staff.That spirit will require each indi-
vidual to view his or her job more broadly—as an environmental
problem-solver, a partner, a facilitator, and a leader, not solely a pro-
gram implementor. Such change will depend upon raising awareness
of and access to the full range of problem-solving approaches that
have been tried, providing support for testing wholly new ideas to
further diversify the environmental protection tool kit, and creatively
applying traditional and new tools in appropriate combinations to
solve specific problems.
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As part of its review of EPA's past innovation activities, the Innovation
Action Council made detailed recommendations on how to incorpo-
rate innovation into the business processes and attitudes of the
Agency. Based on those recommendations, EPA will:
• Promote innovation in all we do. Provide a clear message that
innovation is strongly encouraged and expected at all levels of
the Agency.This message will start with the Administrator, and
get repeated continuously by managers in all levels of the organi-
zation. It will be reinforced through a set of actions that include
rewarding innovative individuals and organizations, providing
training that can enhance creativity and problem-solving ability,
rotating personnel and cataloging innovations to increase expo-
sure to new ideas, encouraging multimedia approaches to
environmental management, and exploring all available options
in regulatory and non-regulatory decision making.
• Plan, budget, and manage for results. Develop better outcome-
based performance measures, starting with the four problem
areas identified earlier, to more effectively communicate results to
the public and open the door for greater flexibility. In addition,
seek earlier agreement on priorities between national programs,
regions, states, and tribes, which will allow innovative initiatives to
be incorporated into the Agency's annual and long-term plans
and budget requests. Routinely examine priorities to ensure that
resources are invested for the greatest possible return.
• Manage the full cycle of the innovations process. Establish a
system to move innovative approaches through each stage of
development so benefits are realized as quickly and broadly as
possible.These stages include experimentation, monitoring, and
evaluation, followed by timely decision-making about the appro-
priateness of further application. Evaluate results based on
specific performance criteria established at the onset.
Communicate results to increase understanding of innovations
and to build confidence in the value of pursuing innovative ideas.
Follow through by applying those innovations that prove effec-
tive.
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Recharterthe Innovation Action Council. Recharter EPA's
Innovation Action Council to enable implementation of this strat-
egy, and to include regular participation by states and tribes.
Increase responsibilities for scaling up successful innovations, and
for monitoring trends in the economy, in state and tribal govern-
ments, and in other countries that might affect the environment
and policy options for environmental management. Also increase
responsibility for communicating with the Administrator, EPA staff,
state agencies, and other interested stakeholders on the status of
innovation activities at EPA and on related policy, technical,
resource, or legislative issues that might need attention.
Plan strategically for the future. Undertake futures planning, as
recently conducted in several EPA programs, to ensure that EPA
and its partners are ready for new trends and circumstances
that might affect environmental quality. Identify and harness
opportunities created by emerging fields, such as industrial
ecology, lean manufacturing, supply chain management, and
product stewardship.
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This strategy, accompanied by an initial set of actions that EPA
will take to implement it, provides a solid framework for mak-
ing innovation integral to environmental protection
programs. Our goal is to enable innovation to flourish, as a way of get-
ting better environmental results for America. We look forward to
working with states, tribes, local governments, and interested stake-
holders to pursue innovative approaches and the many exciting
opportunities they present for expanding and enhancing our environ-
mental protection system.
J>tr6nCjtn6niriCj environmental partnerships,
targeting priorities, expanding the current collection
of tools, and creating a more innovative culture to
effectively address challenging problems is what this
innovation strategy is all about.
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