vxEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Fiscal Year 2011-2015 EPA Strategic Plan
September 30,2010
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20460
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EPA's Mission:
To Protect Human Health and the Environment
Strategic Goals
Goal 1: Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
Goal 2: Protecting America's Waters
Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development
Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution
Goal 5: Enforcing Environmental Laws
Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategies
Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism
Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health
Advancing Science, Research, and Technological Innovation
Strengthening State, Tribal, and International Partnerships
Strengthening EPA's Workforce and Capabilities
Core Values:
Science, Transparency, Rule of Law
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Table of Contents
Message from the Administrator 1
Introduction 5
Strategic Goals 7
Goal 1: Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality 7
Goal 2: Protecting America's Waters 13
Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development 18
Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution 23
Goal 5: Enforcing Environmental Laws 27
External Factors and Emerging Issues 29
Summary of Program Evaluation 31
Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategies 32
Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism 33
Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health 34
Advancing Science, Research, and Technological Innovation 36
Strengthening State, Tribal, and International Partnerships 38
Strengthening EPA's Workforce and Capabilities 40
Strategic Measurement Framework 42
Goal 1: Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality 49
Goal 2: Protecting America's Waters 53
Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development 57
Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution 62
Goal 5: Enforcing Environmental Laws 65
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^ WASHINGTON, D.C.
SEP 30 2010
THE ADMINISTRATOR
Message from the Administrator
Since beginning my tenure as Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, I
have been challenged by the difficult issues we face and inspired by the talent and dedication of
our extraordinary work force. There is no doubt the EPA is on the job. We have made
exceptional progress in protecting the environment of America's communities and restoring the
trust of the American people. And we have made a number of historic environmental advances
along the way. The year 2010 marks the EPA's 40th anniversary. It is a moment of celebration
but also a time when we face some of the most complex and far-reaching environmental
challenges in the history of the EPA, our nation and our planet. It is critical that we work harder
and look further ahead.
The EPA's FY 2011-2015 Strategic Plan provides a blueprint for accomplishing our priorities
for the next five years. This plan presents five strategic goals for advancing our environmental
and human-health mission outcomes, accompanied by five cross-cutting fundamental strategies
that seek to focus the EPA's work to meet the growing environmental protection needs of the
day. To follow the Administration's focus on strengthening programs and achieving results, the
EPA is implementing near-term Priority Goals that serve as key indicators of progress toward
our five strategic goals. We will continue to affirm the core values of science, transparency and
the rule of law in addressing these priorities. These are the most urgent issues we must confront
through 2015.
As we prepared this strategic plan, we also were responding to one of the nation's worst
environmental disasters, the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, which seriously affected the
ecological and economic health of the Gulf Coast's communities. A sustained, effective recovery
and restoration effort will require significant commitments of resources, scientific and technical
expertise and coordination with a range of partners in the months and years ahead. This strategic
plan offers a solid foundation for the EPA's long-term response to the impacts of the BP oil spill.
As President Obama has said, our government will do "everything in our power to protect our
natural resources, compensate those who have been harmed, rebuild what has been damaged, and
help this region persevere like it has done so many times before." The EPA will work tirelessly
to address the environmental and human-health effects and set the Gulf Coast on the path to
recovery.
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The EPA's Strategic Goals
Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality: America's communities face
serious health and environmental challenges from air pollution and the growing effects of
climate change. During my first year as Administrator, the EPA finalized an endangerment
finding on greenhouse gases, proposed the first national rules to reduce greenhouse-gas
emissions under the Clean Air Act and initiated a national reporting system for greenhouse-gas
emissions. All of these advances signaled historic progress in the fight against climate change.
Climate change must be considered and integrated into all aspects of our work. While the EPA
stands ready to help Congress craft strong, science-based climate legislation that addresses the
spectrum of issues, we will assess and develop regulatory tools as warranted under law using the
authority of the Clean Air Act.
We have strengthened the ambient air-quality standards for nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide
and proposed stronger standards for ozone, which will help millions of Americans breathe easier
and lead healthier lives. We also are developing a comprehensive strategy for a cleaner and more
efficient power sector, with strong and achievable emission-reduction goals for sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen oxide, mercury and other air toxics. Strengthening the ambient air-quality standards
consistent with the latest scientific information and gaining additional reductions in air toxics
from a range of industrial facilities will significantly improve air quality and reduce risks to
communities across the country. Improved monitoring, timely and thorough permitting and
vigorous enforcement are our key tools for air-quality improvement.
Protecting America's Waters: Despite considerable progress, America's waters remain
imperiled. From nutrient loadings and stormwater runoff to invasive species and drinking-water
contaminants, water quality and enforcement programs face complex challenges that demand
both traditional and innovative strategies. We will work hand-in-hand with states and tribes to
develop nutrient limits and intensify our work to restore and protect the quality of the nation's
streams, rivers, lakes, bays, oceans and aquifers. The EPA also will use its authority to protect
and restore threatened natural treasures such as the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay and the
Gulf of Mexico; to address our neglected urban rivers; to ensure safe drinking water; and to
reduce pollution from nonpoint and industrial dischargers. We will initiate measures to address
post-construction runoff, water-quality impairments from surface mining and drinking-water
contamination.
Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development: Using all the tools at
our disposal, including targeted enforcement and compliance efforts, the EPA will continue to
make our communities safer and healthier. We are accelerating these efforts through our
Superfund program to confront significant local environmental challenges. The collapse of a
coal-ash impoundment in Kingston, Tenn., focused the E^PA's attention on how these disposal
facilities are managed nationwide. In response, the EPA proposed options for the nation's first
rules to address the risks from the disposal of coal ash generated by coal-fired power plants. By
maximizing the potential of our brownfields program to spur environmental cleanups and by
fostering stronger partnerships with stakeholders affected by our cleanups, we are moving
toward our goal of building sustainable, healthy, economically vibrant communities. And by
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strengthening our work with tribal communities, we are advancing our efforts to build
environmental-management capacity and program implementation in Indian country.
Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution: One of our highest priorities is
ensuring the safety of the chemicals that make up the building blocks of modern society.
Increasingly, the chemicals used to make our products, build our homes and support our way of
life end up in the environment and in our bodies. Last year, the Administration announced
principles for modernizing the more than 30-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act, under
which we assess and regulate chemicals. To move forward and to make long-overdue progress,
we are shifting our focus to filling in critical missing information on the chemicals most widely
produced and used in commerce and addressing chemicals that pose unreasonable risk to the
environment or human health. Pending legislative action by Congress, the EPA is strengthening
its chemical safety program by coordinating with appropriate federal agencies to maximize use
of current TSCA authorities, supported by the best available science, to aggressively assess and
manage the risks of chemicals used in consumer products, the workplace and the environment.
Additionally, under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, the EPA and the
states register or license pesticides for use in the U.S. The EPA also is taking steps to increase
transparency and public access to TSCA-related chemical information, committing to review
and, where appropriate, to challenge and declassify Confidential Business Information claims for
hundreds of annual new submissions and more than 20,000 previous submissions through FY
2015. By encouraging pollution prevention, we will promote the use of safer chemical
alternatives, implement conservation techniques, promote efficient reuse of materials and better
align the chemical-production processes with the principles of green chemistry.
Enforcing Environmental Laws: Effective, consistent enforcement is critical to achieving the
human-health and environmental benefits expected from our environmental laws. The EPA,
through the rule of law, will ensure compliance with environmental requirements and, as
warranted, will employ vigorous and targeted civil and criminal enforcement. We will achieve
significant environmental results by focusing our efforts on the most serious water, air and
chemical hazards and by working closely with states and tribes. We will protect the public by
criminally prosecuting willful, intentional and serious violations of federal environmental laws.
The EPA's Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategies
As a companion to our strategic goals, which chart the agency's direction for achieving mission
results during the next five years, the EPA's five cross-cutting fundamental strategies set explicit
expectations for changing the way we approach our work. These five strategies will inform the
work of every program and regional office and help us meet the challenges we face today.
Expanding the Conversation on Environnicntalism: Every American has a stake in clean air
and water, chemical safety, restoring contaminated industrial and mining sites and strong
enforcement of environmental statutes. Every community must be part of the conversation. We
will take broad steps to expand the conversation on environmentalism to communities across
America, building capacity, increasing transparency and listening to the public. We will engage
citizens to hear all the voices that must be part of our nation's dialogue on environmental issues.
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Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health: We will work alongside entities
that bear important responsibilities for the day-to-day mission of environmental protection and
strengthen oversight to ensure programs are consistently delivered nationwide. We will use a
variety of approaches, including regulations, enforcement, research, community-based programs
and outreach to protect children and low-income, minority and tribal populations
disproportionately impacted by environmental and human-health hazards.
Advancing Science, Research and Technological Innovation: The EPA will advance the
scientific research and technological innovation that is essential to enhancing our ability to
protect human health and the environment.
Strengthening State, Tribal and International Partnerships: We will strengthen partnerships
with states, tribes and the international community. Hand-in-hand with these partnership efforts
and inclusive environmentalism, we will address pollution problems and protect human health.
Strengthening the EPA's Work Force and Capabilities: We will adopt improved, innovative
and creative management approaches and exemplify stewardship, transparency and
accountability in addressing increasingly complex environmental and human-health challenges.
We will foster a culture of excellence and provide the infrastructure, technology, training and
tools to support a talented, diverse, and highly motivated work force that supports the
Administration's human capital and acquisition priorities.
Forty years after the birth of the EPA, we have a rare opportunity to spark a new era of
environmental and human-health protection. The American people and countries around the
world look to us for leadership. It is up to us to embrace this moment, so our children and
grandchildren can have a cleaner, healthier future. We will face new challenges, new
opportunities and new possibilities for achieving our vision of a cleaner, greener and more
sustainable environment. I have tremendous confidence in the talent and spirit of our work force,
and I know we will meet our challenges head-on, as One EPA. Fueled by our energy, our ideas,
and our passion, this strategic plan will help guide our path to success.
Lisa P. Jackson
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Introduction
Recent events in the Gulf Coast region and elsewhere have brought to the forefront how much
we value our environment. Our homes, our livelihoods, our health and that of our children
depend on clean water to drink, clean air to breathe, and healthy ecosystems that produce our
food and the raw materials that support modern life. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and its mission to protect human health and the environment have never been more vital
than they are today.
The Fiscal Year (FY) 2011-2015 EPA Strategic Plan responds to this increasing degree of
environmental awareness and the challenges that lie ahead.[l] We have created a streamlined,
executive-level Plan that sets the Agency's direction, advances the Administrator's priorities,
and will be used routinely by the Agency's senior leadership as a management tool. We have
sharpened our strategic goals and objectives and offer a more focused set of strategic measures to
better inform our understanding of progress and challenges alike in managing our programs. We
intend to pursue these goals and objectives as One EPA, through meaningful collaboration across
the Agency. Our new cross-cutting fundamental strategies are directed at refocusing and
tangibly changing the way we carry out our work. We anticipate that this new approach will
foster a renewed commitment to accountability, transparency, and inclusion.
Our five strategic goals represent a simplified and meaningful approach to our work and reflect
the results we hope to achieve on behalf of the American people:
Goal 1: Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
Goal 2: Protecting America's Waters
Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development
Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution
Goal 5: Enforcing Environmental Laws
To achieve the long-term goals and associated objectives and strategic measures set out in this
Plan, we will track progress through annual performance measures, which are presented in
EPA's Annual Performance Plans and Budgets. We will report on our performance against
these annual measures in our Annual Performance Reports, and use this performance
information as we establish priorities, develop future budget submissions, and manage programs.
Additionally, EPA reports on High Priority Performance Goals (Priority Goals), a new
component of this Administration's performance management framework. Priority Goals are
specific, measurable, ambitious, near-term targets that align with our long-term strategic
measures and annual measures. The Priority Goals communicate the performance improvements
we will accomplish relative to our priorities using existing legislative authority and resources.
The Priority Goals constitute 18- to 24-month operational targets the Agency will work to
accomplish, distinguishing the Priority Goals from the longer-term measures. This process will
come full circle as we evaluate these performance data to develop future Strategic Plans.
Our measures for the FY 2011-2015 EPA Strategic Plan draw upon some of the indicators
contained in EPA 's 2008 Report on the Environment (ROE).[2] The indicators help us to
monitor trends in environmental conditions and environmental influences on human health. Our
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efforts to develop the report and regularly update the indicators have advanced our performance
measurement work by bringing
together existing and new
analytical information on the
environment and human health.
During the five-year horizon of
this Plan, we know that we will
face unanticipated challenges and
opportunities that will affect our
ability to achieve our objectives
and the specific measurable results
that we have described. In
particular, we recognize that
numerous entities vital to our
successfederal[3], state, tribal,
and local governments, and
cooperating partners and
stakeholdersare operating under
resource constraints that could
impede our joint progress. This
Plan provides the framework to
address these challenges and make
necessary adjustments.
This FY 2011-2015 EPA Strategic
Plan sets forth our vision and
commitment to preserve the
environment for future generations
and to protect human health in the
places where people live, work,
learn, and play. It is our hope that
you will join us as we undertake the important work that lies ahead.
Consultation Efforts
The Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 directs all
federal departments and agencies to consult with parties interested in or
likely to be affected by a strategic plan. Consultation with EPA's
federal, state, local, and tribal government partners and our many
stakeholders is an integral part of the Agency's strategic planning
process. To that end, EPA:
Engaged with key partners and co-regulators throughout the effort to
develop the Draft Plan.
Significantly expanded our outreach efforts for public review of the
Draft FY 2011-2015 EPA Strategic Plan to enhance transparency and
inclusion. We issued, for the first time, a news release in both
English and Spanish and a Federal Register Notice and used
www.regulations.gov to encourage feedback on the Draft Plan.
Sent notification letters to over 800 organizations and individuals to
request input. These entities included leaders of the Agency's
Congressional authorizing and appropriations committees; states and
state associations; all federally-recognized tribes; tribal organizations;
local government representatives; other federal agencies; public
health organizations; environmental, public interest, and public policy
groups; and representatives of the regulated community.
Established an on-line discussion forum to engage with the public on
implementing the cross-cutting fundamental strategies to tangibly
change the way we work. Comments received through the discussion
forum can be viewed at https://blog.epa.gov/strategicplan.
Our efforts to significantly expand our outreach for public review of the
Draft Plan resulted in over 500 public comments, compared to
approximately 50 public comments for prior Draft Strategic Plans.
End Notes:
[1] The Fiscal Year 2011-2015 EPA Strategic Plan covers the timeframe from October 1, 2010 through
September 30, 2015 unless otherwise noted.
[2] EPA electronic Report on the Environment is available at http://www.epa.gov/roe.
[3] Federal entities with whom we expect continued cooperation or coordination for EPA's five strategic
goals include: Agriculture, Army Corps of Engineers, Commerce, Consumer Product Safety
Commission, Defense, Education, Energy, Federal Emergency Management Agency, General Services
Administration, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development,
Interior, Justice, Labor, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation,
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Small Business Administration, State, Transportation, Treasury,
Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S. Agency for International Development, and U.S. Trade Representative.
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Goal 1:
Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop adaptation strategies to address climate change
and protect and improve air quality.
Objectives:
Address Climate Change. Reduce the threats posed by climate change by reducing greenhouse
gas emissions and taking actions that help communities and ecosystems become more resilient to
the effects of climate change.
Improve Air Quality. Achieve and maintain health-based air pollution standards and reduce risk
from toxic air pollutants and indoor air contaminants.
Restore the Ozone Layer. Restore the earth's stratospheric ozone layer and protect the public
from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Reduce Unnecessary Exposure to Radiation. Minimize unnecessary releases of radiation and
be prepared to minimize impacts should unwanted releases occur.
Strategic Measures associated with this Goal are on pages 49 through 52.
Climate change poses risks to human health, the environment, cultural resources, the economy,
and quality of life.[l] These changes are expected to create further challenges to protecting
human health and welfare. Many effects of climate change are already evident and will persist
into the future regardless of future levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Potential climate
change impacts may include, for example, increased smog levels in many regions of the country,
making it more difficult to attain or maintain clean air. A rise in sea level or increased
precipitation intensity may increase flooding, which would affect water quality, as large volumes
of water can transport contaminants and overload storm and wastewater systems. In order to
protect human health and the environment, EPA must recognize and consider the challenge a
changing climate poses to the environment.
Since passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments in 1990, nationwide air quality has improved
significantly.[2] Despite this progress, about 127 million Americans lived in counties that did
not meet air quality standards for at least one pollutant in 2008. Long-term exposure to air
pollution can cause cancer and damage to the immune, neurological, reproductive,
cardiovascular, and respiratory systems. [3] Because people spend much of their lives indoors,
the quality of indoor air is also a major concern. Twenty percent of the population spends the
day indoors in elementary and secondary schools, where problems with leaky roofs and with
heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems can trigger a host of health problems, including
asthma and allergies. Exposure to indoor radon is responsible for an estimated 20,000 premature
lung cancer deaths each year. [4]
Reduce GHG Emissions and Develop Adaptation Strategies to Address Climate Change
EPA's strategies to address climate change support the President's GHG emissions reduction
goals. EPA and its partners will reduce GHG emissions domestically and internationally through
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cost-effective, voluntary programs while pursuing additional regulatory actions as needed. Our
efforts include:
Developing and implementing a national system for reporting GHG emissions.
(Implementing the mandatory GHG reporting rule is one of the Agency's Priority
Goals.)[5]
Issuing new standards to reduce emissions from cars and light-duty trucks for model
years 2012 through 2016, extending that program to model year 2017 and beyond, and
creating a similar program to reduce GHGs from medium- and heavy-duty trucks for
model years 2014-2018. (Implementing the light-duty GHG rule is one of the Agency's
Priority Goals.)[6]
Developing standards to reduce GHG emissions from nonroad sources such as marine
and aircraft and land-based nonroad equipment and locomotives.
Implementing permitting requirements for facilities that emit large amounts of GHGs to
encourage design and construction of more efficient and advanced processes that will
contribute to a clean energy economy.
Implementing refocused voluntary programs that maximize GHG reductions through the
greater use of energy-efficient technologies, products, and practices, and promoting
energy and transportation policies that benefit the environment and human health.
Collaborating with state, local, and tribal governments on regulatory and policy
initiatives, technical assistance, and voluntary programs related to climate change
mitigation and adaption.
Collaborating with countries and other international partners to reduce methane emissions
and deliver clean energy to markets around the world through the Global Methane
Initiative.
Developing a comprehensive report to Congress on black carbon that will provide a
foundation for evaluating future approaches to black carbon mitigation.
Pursuing a sustainable, life-cycle approach to managing materials.
Identifying and assessing substitute chemical and ozone-depleting substances and
processes for their global-warming potential.
Educating the public about climate change and actions people can take to reduce GHG
emissions.
Adaptation initiatives aim to increase the resilience of communities and ecosystems to climate
change by increasing their ability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the
impacts of climate change. Many of the outcomes EPA is working to attain are sensitive to
weather and climate. Consequently, every action EPA takes, including promulgating regulations
and implementing programs, should take these fluctuations into consideration. For example,
EPA models the ways in which weather affects air quality when it develops air quality standards,
and cannot assume that climate is constant, an assumption typically made in the rulemaking
process.
EPA must adapt and plan for future changes in climate, work with state, tribal, and local
partners, and continue to collaborate with the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the
Interagency Task Force on Climate Change Adaptation. [7] The Agency must incorporate the
anticipated, unprecedented changes in climate into its programs and rules, drawing on the critical
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information and tools provided by EPA researchers, to continue to fulfill statutory, regulatory,
and programmatic requirements.
Improve Air Quality
Taking into account the most current health effects research findings[8], EPA recently completed
new, more health-protective standards for lead, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. We are in
the process of reviewing the ozone, particulate matter, and carbon monoxide standards. Over the
next five years, we will work with states and tribes to develop and implement plans to achieve
and maintain these standards. Our research provides the tools and information necessary for
EPA, states, and tribes to implement air quality standards and controls.
In 2011, we expect to complete and begin implementing a rule to replace the Clean Air Interstate
Rule that was remanded to us by the courts in 2008. Strengthening the standards and decreasing
the emissions that contribute to interstate transport of air pollution will help many areas of the
country attain the standards and achieve significant improvements in human health. As we
implement the standards, we will do so in a way that protects disproportionately-impacted low-
income and minority communities. We are also working with partners and stakeholders to
improve the overall air quality management system and to address air quality challenges
expected over the next 10 to 20 years. These efforts include improving the state implementation
plan approval process, implementing a national training strategy, and developing effective air
quality strategies that address multiple pollutants and consider the interplay between air quality
and factors such as land use, energy, transportation, and climate.
We will address emissions from vehicles, engines, and fuels through an integrated strategy that
combines regulatory approaches that take advantage of technological advances and cleaner fuels
with voluntary programs that reduce vehicle, engine, and equipment activity and emissions. We
are working with refiners, renewable fuel producers, and others to implement regulations to
increase the amount of renewable fuel blended into gasoline. Through the National Clean Diesel
Campaign, we support diesel emission reductions that can be achieved through such actions as
switching to cleaner fuels; engine retrofit, repair, and replacement; and idle reduction.
Air toxics are both widespread and community-specific. They are emitted by large industry,
small businesses, motor vehicles, and many other common activities. While certain chemicals
are ubiquitous throughout the country, in some areas of concentrated industrial and/or mobile
source activity, concentrations may be significantly greater. EPA will continue to set and
enforce control technology-based air toxics emissions standards and, where needed, amend those
standards to address residual risk and technology advancements.
EPA is developing a strategy aimed at reducing toxic air pollution from stationary sources in a
way that targets priority categories of sources, reduces pollution in communities, utilizes a more
cost-effective 'sector-based' approach, and provides tools to help communities and other
stakeholders participate in rulemaking. These priority categories include petroleum refining,
iron and steel, chemical manufacturing, utilities, non-utility boilers, oil and gas, and Portland
cement. As part of this strategy, EPA will take advantage of the natural overlap of certain air
toxics and criteria pollutant rules and coordinate the development and implementation of
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Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) and New Source Performance Standards
(NSPS) where it makes sense. Often, there are opportunities to control air toxic and criteria
pollutants together. By coordinating MACT standard development for specific source categories
with other rulemaking efforts, EPA can substantially reduce the resources needed to develop
standards; provide more certainty and lower cost for industry; simplify implementation for states,
local, and tribal agencies; and, enhance cost-effective regulatory approaches.
Along with these regulatory efforts, EPA has a wide range of voluntary efforts to reduce
emissions, including programs to reduce multi-media and cumulative risks. Through data from
our national toxics monitoring network and from national and local assessments, we are able to
better characterize risks and assess priorities. We work with state and local agencies, tribes,
schools, and community groups to identify communities where air toxics pollution is occurring at
unsafe levels and aggressively take action to reduce air toxics pollution within those areas.
Often the people most exposed to air pollutants are those most susceptible to the effects - the
young, the elderly, and the chronically ill. To improve indoor air quality, EPA deploys programs
that educate the public about indoor air quality concerns, including radon, and promotes public
action to reduce potential risks in homes, schools, and workplaces. EPA also collaborates with
state and tribal organizations, environmental and public health officials, housing and building
organizations, school personnel who manage school environments, and health care providers,
who treat children prone to or suffering disproportionately from asthma. The focus of these
efforts is to support communities' efforts to address indoor air quality health risks. We also
provide policy and technical support and financially assist states and tribes in developing and
implementing effective radon programs.
Restore the Ozone Layer
EPA will implement programs that reduce and control ozone-depleting substances (ODS),
enforce rules on their production, import, and emission, and facilitate the transition to substitutes
that reduce GHG emissions and save energy. We will continue partnership programs that
minimize the release of ODS and programs that educate the public about the importance of
protection from ultra-violet radiation.
Reduce Unnecessary Exposure to Radiation
Recognizing the potential hazards of radiation, Congress charged EPA with the primary
responsibility for protecting people and the environment from harmful and avoidable exposures.
In fulfilling this responsibility, we will review and update our radiation protection regulations
and guidance, operate the national radiation monitoring system, maintain radiological emergency
response capabilities, oversee the disposal of radioactive waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant,
inspect waste generator facilities, and evaluate compliance with applicable environmental laws
and regulations.
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Applied Research
EPA's research efforts will focus on a number of air quality and climate areas over the next
several years. In particular, EPA will:
Conduct integrated science assessments of criteria air pollutants and provide new data
and approaches for improving these assessments;
Improve inventory and risk information to better inform Agency actions relative to air
toxics;
Promote resilience and adaptation by connecting air quality, water quality, and land use
managers with climate change information and decision-support tools;
Promote systems research and life-cycle analysis in analyzing the health and
environmental impacts of energy production and operation, including biofuels; and,
Investigate the influence of climate change on clean air, as well as the impacts of
emissions from low-carbon fuels in transportation.
End Notes:
[1] Thomas R. Karl, Jerry M. Melillo, and Thomas C. Peterson (eds.). 2009. Global Climate Change
Impacts in the United States (New York. New York: Cambridge University Press). Available at
http://downloads.globalchange.gov/usimpacts/pdfs/climate-impacts-report.pdf.
[2] U.S. EPA, 2010. Our Nation's Air-Status and Trends through 2008. EPA-454/R-09-002. Available
at http://epa.gov/airtrends/2010/index.html.
[3] U.S. EPA, 2007. The Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act. EPA-456/K-07-001. Available at
http://www.epa.gov/air/peg/peg.pdf.
[4] U.S.EPA, 2003. EPA's Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes. EPA 402-R-03-003. Available
at http://www.epa.gov/radon/pdfs/402-r-03-003 .pdf
[5] Implementing the mandatory GHG reporting rule is one of the Agency's Priority Goals: By June 15,
2011, EPA will make publically available 100 percent of facility-level GHG emissions data submitted to
EPA in accordance with the GHG Reporting Rule, compliant with policies protecting confidential
business information (CBI).
[6] Implementing the light-duty GHG rule is one of the Agency's Priority Goals: In 2011, EPA,
working with DOT, will begin implementation of regulations designed to reduce the GHG emissions from
light-duty vehicles sold in the U.S. starting with model year 2012.
[7] The U.S. Global Change Research Program coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in
the global environment and their implications for society. It was mandated by Congress in the Global
Change Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-606). In 2009, the White House Council on Environmental
Quality, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration initiated the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force. When the President
signed the Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance
in October 2009, he called on the Task Force to develop federal recommendations for adapting to climate
change impacts both domestically and internationally.
[8] U.S. EPA, 2006. Air Quality Criteria for Lead (2006) Final Report. EPA/600/R-05/144aF-bF.
Available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=158823.
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U.S. EPA, 2008. Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Sulfur Oxides-Health Criteria (Final Report).
EPA/600/R-08/047F. Available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfin/recordisplav.cfin?deid=198843.
U.S. EPA, 2008. Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen-Health Criteria (Final Report).
EPA/600/R-08/071. Available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplav.cfin?deid=194645.
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Goal 2:
Protecting America's Waters
Protect and restore our waters to ensure that drinking water is safe, and that aquatic
ecosystems sustain fish, plants and wildlife, and economic, recreational, and subsistence
activities.
Objectives:
Protect Human Health. Reduce human exposure to contaminants in drinking water, fish and
shellfish, and recreational waters, including protecting source waters.
Protect and Restore Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems. Protect the quality of rivers, lakes,
streams, and wetlands on a watershed basis, and protect urban, coastal, and ocean waters.
Strategic Measures associated with this Goal are on pages 53 through 56.
The nation's water resources are the lifeblood of our communities, supporting our economy and
way of life. Across most of our country, we enjoy and depend upon reliable sources of clean and
safe water. Several decades ago, however, many of our drinking water systems provided water
to the tap with very limited treatment. Drinking water was often the cause of illnesses linked to
microbiological and other contaminants. Many of our surface waters would not have met
today's water quality standards. Some of the nation's rivers were open sewers, posing health
risks, and many waterbodies were so polluted that safe swimming, fishing, and recreation were
not possible.
We have made significant progress since enactment of the landmark Clean Water Act and Safe
Drinking Water Act almost 40 years ago. Today, the enhanced quality of our surface waters and
the greater safety of our drinking water are testaments to decades of environmental protection
and investment, but serious challenges remain. Small drinking water systems are particularly
challenged by the need to improve infrastructure and develop the capacity to meet new and
existing standards. Tens of thousands of homes, primarily in tribal and disadvantaged
communities and the territories, still lack access to basic sanitation and drinking water. The rate
at which new waters are listed for water quality impairments exceeds the pace at which restored
waters are removed from the list.
Pollution discharged from industrial, municipal, agricultural, and stormwater sources continue to
be causes of water quality problems, but other significant contributors include loss of habitat and
habitat fragmentation, hydrologic alteration, the spread of invasive species, and climate change.
For many years, nonpoint source pollution, principally nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments, has
been recognized as the largest remaining impediment to improving water quality. Recent
national surveys have found that our waters are stressed by nutrient pollution, excess
sedimentation, and degradation of shoreline vegetation, which affect upwards of 50 percent of
our lakes and streams.[l] Climate change will compound these problems, highlighting the
urgency to evaluate with our partners options for protecting infrastructure, conserving water,
reducing energy use, adopting "green" infrastructure and watershed-based practices, and
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improving the resilience of infrastructural and natural systems, including utilities, watersheds,
and estuaries.[2]
Over the next five years, EPA will work with states, territories, and tribes to safeguard human
health, make America's water systems sustainable and secure, strengthen the protection of our
aquatic ecosystems, improve watershed-based approaches, focus efforts in key geographic areas
[3], and take action on climate change. EPA has established two Priority Goals for the revision
of drinking water standards to strengthen public health protection[4] and the development of
state watershed implementation plans in support of the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily
load called for in the Chesapeake Bay Protection and Restoration Executive Order. [5] Working
with our partners, the Agency's effort to protect our waters is aimed at two objectives
protecting human health and protecting and restoring watersheds and aquatic ecosystems.
Protect Human Health
Sustaining the quality and supply of our water resources is essential to safeguarding human
health. More than 290 million people living in the United States rely on the safety of tap water
provided by public water systems that are subject to national drinking water standards. Over the
next five years, EPA will help protect human health and make America's water systems
sustainable and secure by:
Financing public water system infrastructure to protect and maintain drinking water
quality;
Strengthening compliance with drinking water standards;
Continuing to protect sources of drinking water from contamination;
Developing new and revising existing drinking water standards; and,
Supporting states, tribes, territories, and local water systems in implementing these
standards.
While promoting sustainable management of drinking water infrastructure, we will provide
needed oversight and technical assistance to states, territories, and tribes so that their water
systems comply with or exceed existing standards and are able to comply with new standards.
We will also promote the construction of infrastructure that brings safe drinking water into the
homes of small, rural, and disadvantaged communities and increase efforts to guard the nation's
critical drinking water infrastructure.
In addition, EPA is actively working Agency-wide and with external partners and stakeholders to
implement a new, multi-faceted drinking water strategy. It is designed to streamline decision
making and expand protection to meet the needs of rural, urban, and other communities. This
shift in approach seeks to address chemicals and contaminants by group, as opposed to working
on a chemical-by-chemical basis; fostering the development of new drinking water treatment
technologies; using the authority of multiple statutes; and, encouraging collaboration with states
and tribes to share more complete data from monitoring at public water systems.
Science-based standards are essential to protect our public water systems, groundwater and
surface waterbodies, and recreational waters. These standards are the foundation for tools to
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safeguard human health such as advisories for beaches, fish consumption, and drinking water.
Over the next five years, we will expand that science to improve our understanding of emerging
potential waterborne threats to human health. We will also increase efforts to protect and
improve beach water quality for our communities, including the development of new criteria and
testing methods that provide quicker results and enable faster action on beach safety.
Protect and Restore Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems
People and the ecological integrity of aquatic systems rely on healthy watersheds. EPA employs
a suite of programs to protect and improve water quality in the nation's watersheds - rivers,
lakes, wetlands, and streams - as well as in our estuarine, coastal, and ocean waters. In
partnership with states, territories, local governments, and tribes, EPA's core water programs
help:
Protect, restore, maintain, and improve water quality by financing wastewater treatment
infrastructure;
Conduct monitoring and assessment;
Establish pollution reduction targets;
Update water quality standards;
Issue and enforce discharge permits; and,
Implement programs to prevent or reduce nonpoint source pollution.
Over the next five years, EPA will continue efforts to restore waterbodies that do not meet water
quality standards, preserve and protect high quality aquatic resources, and protect, restore, and
improve wetland acreage and quality. The Agency will improve the way existing tools are used,
explore how innovative tools can be applied, and enhance efforts and cross-media collaboration
to protect and prevent water quality impairment in healthy watersheds.
In partnership with states, tribes, and local communities, EPA is developing a clean water
strategy that will outline objectives for advancing the vision of the Clean Water Act and actions
EPA will take to achieve those objectives. The Agency will explore ways to improve the
condition of the urban waterways that may have been overlooked or under-represented in local
environmental problem solving. We will also work more aggressively to reduce and control
pollutants that are discharged from industrial, municipal, agricultural, and stormwater sources,
and vessels, as well as to implement programs to prevent and reduce pollution that washes off
the land during rain events. By promoting "green" infrastructure and sustainable landscape
management, EPA will help restore natural hydrologic systems and reduce pollution from
stormwater events. [6]
EPA will also lead efforts to restore and protect aquatic ecosystems and wetlands, particularly in
key geographic areas[3], to address complex and cross-boundary challenges. EPA is heading up
a multi-agency effort to restore and protect the Great Lakes, one of America's great waters,
through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. [7] In other parts of the nation, we will focus on
nutrient pollution, which threatens the long-term health of important ecosystems such as the
Chesapeake Bay. Further, given the environmental catastrophe resulting from the Deepwater
Horizon BP oil spill, EPA will take necessary actions to support efforts to remove oil from and
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restore the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. EPA will provide assistance to other federal, state, tribal,
and local partners as they work to restore the water, wetlands, beaches, and surrounding
communities of this vital area. We will also begin to identify actions to respond and adapt to the
current and potential impacts of climate change on aquatic resources, including the current and
potential impacts associated with warming temperatures, changes in rainfall amount and
intensity, and sea level rise. [8]
Applied Research
EPA's research will help ensure that natural and engineered water systems have the capacity and
resiliency to meet current and future water needs for the range of water-use and ecological
requirements. These efforts will help position the Agency to meet the future needs in water
resources management by:
Evaluating individual and groups of contaminants for the protection of human health and
the environment;
Developing innovative tools, technologies, and strategies for managing water resources
(including stormwater); and,
Supporting a systems approach for protecting and restoring aquatic systems. The
development of watershed-level data, tools, and approaches is crucial to our ability to
provide adequate and safe water resources.
End Notes:
[1] U.S. EPA, 2006. Wadeable Streams Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Streams.
EPA 841-B-06-002. Available at http://www.epa.gov/owow/streamsurvey. See also EPA, 2010.
National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Lakes. EPA 841 -R-09-001.
Available at http://www.epa.gov/lakessurvev/pdf/nla chapter0.pdf.
[2] Resilience is the ability of a system to absorb change and disturbance and still retain its fundamental
function and/or structure.
[3] Key geographic areas in the national water program include the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, the
Gulf of Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico Border region, the Pacific Islands, the Long Island Sound, the South
Florida Ecosystem, the Puget Sound Basin, the Columbia River Basin, and the San Francisco Bay Delta
Estuary. For more information on these programs and their performance measures, see the annual
National Water Program Guidance, available at http://www.epa. gov/water/waterplan/index.html.
[4] EPA has developed a Priority Goal as part of the drinking water strategy efforts: Over the next two
years, EPA will initiate review/revision of at least four drinking water standards to strengthen public
health protection.
[5] EPA has developed a Priority Goal to support the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order: Chesapeake
Bay watershed states (including the District of Columbia) will develop and submit Phase I watershed
implementation plans by the end of CY 2010 and Phase II plans by the end of CY 2011 in support of
EPA's final Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL) and consistent with the expectations and
schedule described in EPA's letters of November 4 and December 29, 2009, and June 11, 2010. For more
information, see http://executiveorder.chesapeakebay.net.
[6] For information on managing wet weather with green infrastructure, see
http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program id=298.
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[7] Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, information available at http://greatlakesrestoration.us/. [8]
United States Global Change Research Program, information available at
http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts.
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Goal 3:
Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development
Clean up communities, advance sustainable development, and protect disproportionately
impacted low-income, minority, and tribal communities. Prevent releases of harmful
substances and clean up and restore contaminated areas.
Objectives:
Promote Sustainable and Livable Communities. Support sustainable, resilient, and livable
communities by working with local, state, tribal, and federal partners to promote smart growth,
emergency preparedness and recovery planning, brownfield redevelopment, and the equitable
distribution of environmental benefits.
Preserve Land. Conserve resources and prevent land contamination by reducing waste
generation, increasing recycling, and ensuring proper management of waste and petroleum
products.
Restore Land. Prepare for and respond to accidental or intentional releases of contaminants and
clean up and restore polluted sites.
Strengthen Human Health and Environmental Protection in Indian Country. Support
federally-recognized tribes to build environmental management capacity, assess environmental
conditions and measure results, and implement environmental programs in Indian country.
Strategic Measures associated with this Goal are on pages 57 through 61.
Uncontrolled releases of waste and hazardous substances can contaminate our drinking water and
threaten healthy ecosystems. EPA leads efforts to preserve, restore, and protect these precious
resources so they are available for both current and future generations. Over the next several
years, our highest priorities under this goal are to prevent and reduce exposure to contaminants
and accelerate the pace of cleanups across the country. EPA works collaboratively with
international, state, and tribal partners to achieve these aims and with communities to ensure that
they have a say in environmental decisions that affect them. Our efforts are guided by scientific
data, research, and tools that alert us to emerging issues and inform decisions on managing
materials and addressing contaminated properties.
Promote Sustainable and Livable Communities
EPA supports urban, suburban, and rural community goals of improving environmental, human
health, and quality-of-life outcomes through partnerships that also promote economic
opportunities, energy efficiency, and revitalized neighborhoods. Sustainable communities
balance their economic and natural assets so that the diverse needs of local residents can be met
now and in the future with limited environmental impacts. EPA accomplishes these outcomes by
working with communities, other federal agencies, states, and national experts to develop and
encourage development strategies that have better outcomes for air quality, water quality, and
land preservation and revitalization.
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Development and building construction practices may result in a broad range of impacts on
human health and the environment. EPA is working with other federal, state, and local partners
to develop best practices and guidance on aspects of sustainability related to how and where
development occurs, including promoting smarter growth patterns and encouraging widespread
adoption of green building technologies to support our strategic goals.
For example, EPA has joined with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to minimize the environmental
impacts of development, which may include improved access to affordable housing, more
transportation options, and lower transportation costs.[l] Through a set of guiding "livability"
principles and a partnership agreement that will guide the agencies' efforts, this partnership is
coordinating federal housing, transportation, water, and other infrastructure investments to
protect the environment, promote equitable development, and help to address the challenges of
climate change.
EPA is committed to ensuring environmental justice regardless of race, color, national origin, or
income. Recognizing that minority and/or low-income communities may face disproportionate
environmental risks, we work to protect these communities from adverse health and
environmental effects and to ensure they are given the opportunity to participate meaningfully in
environmental cleanup decisions.
EPA's brownfields program emphasizes environmental and human health protection in a manner
that stimulates economic development and job creation by awarding competitive grants to assess
and clean up brownfield properties and providing job training opportunities, particularly in
underserved communities. [2] We also provide outreach and technical assistance to communities,
including area-wide planning approaches, to identify: viable end uses of a single, large property
or groups of brownfield properties; associated air and water infrastructure investments; and,
environmental improvements in the surrounding area to revitalize the community. Under EPA's
brownfields Priority Goal, area-wide planning will be conducted with the participation of other
federal agencies, states, tribes, and local governments and communities to identify resources and
approvals necessary to carry out actions identified in area-wide plans.[3] This new approach
differs from the way EPA brownfields resources have traditionally been used, recognizing that
approaching the assessment and cleanup needs of a brownfields-impacted area can be more
effective than focusing on individual sites in isolation of the adjacent or surrounding area.
Preserve Land
EPA and authorized states issue and enforce permits for the treatment, storage, or disposal of
hazardous wastes to ensure that facilities subject to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA) regulations operate safely. To prevent future environmental contamination and to
protect the health of the estimated three million people living within a mile of hazardous waste
management facilities[4], EPA and its state partners continue their efforts to issue, update, or
maintain RCRA permits for approximately 10,000 hazardous waste units (such as incinerators
and landfills) at these facilities.
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EPA is increasing emphasis on life-cycle based materials management. In order to respond to
RCRA's mandate to conserve resources and energy, EPA will focus on strategies that emphasize
sustainable materials management by identifying and reducing or minimizing waste at all life-
cycle stages, from extraction of raw materials through end of life. [5] Through this approach,
EPA will focus on improving resource use through evaluating the environmental impacts of life-
cycle stages of a material, product, or service, including identifying GHG benefits. EPA will
develop national strategies that consider using less environmentally intensive and toxic materials
and continue to promote downstream solutions, like reuse and recycling, to conserve our
resources for future generations.
To reduce the risk posed by underground storage tanks (USTs) located at nearly a quarter of a
million facilities throughout the country, EPA and states are working to ensure that every UST
system is inspected at least once every three years. As fuel types change, UST systems must be
equipped to safely store the new fuels. EPA is working to ensure biofuels are stored in
compatible UST systems.
Restore Land
Challenging and complex environmental problems, such as contaminated soil, sediment, and
groundwater that can cause human health concerns, persist at many contaminated properties.
EPA's Superfund, RCRA corrective action, leaking underground storage tank, and brownfields
cleanup programs, and Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) cleanups of poly chlorinated
biphenyls (PCBs), reduce risks to human health and the environment by assessing and cleaning
up these sites to maintain or put them back into productive use.
In an effort to improve the accountability, transparency, and effectiveness of EPA's cleanup
programs, EPA has initiated the Integrated Cleanup Initiative (ICI), a multi-year effort to better
use the most appropriate assessment and cleanup authorities to address a greater number of sites,
accelerate cleanups, and put sites back into productive use while protecting human health and the
environment. By using the relevant tools available in each of the cleanup programs, including
enforcement, EPA will better leverage the resources available to address needs at individual
sites. EPA will examine all aspects of the cleanup programs, identifying key process
improvements and enhanced efficiencies. As part of the ICI, EPA will develop a new suite of
performance measures that will support comprehensive management of the cleanup life cycle by
addressing three critical points in the cleanup processstarting, advancing, and completing site
cleanup.
EPA is continuing to improve its readiness to respond to releases of harmful substances,
including oil spills, by clarifying authorities, training personnel, and providing proper equipment.
Given the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill and the efforts to clean up and restore the Gulf of
Mexico, EPA will review its current rules, guidelines and procedures on oil spills. EPA will
ensure that it has the appropriate tools to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from such
incidents within its jurisdiction. [6]
National preparedness is essential to ensure that emergency responders are able to address
multiple, large-scale emergencies, including those that may involve chemicals, oil, biological
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agents, radiation, or weapons of mass destruction. Consistent with the government-wide
National Response Framework, EPA prepares for the possibility of multiple, simultaneous,
nationally significant incidents across several regions and provides guidance and technical
assistance to state and local planning and response organizations.
EPA's hazardous waste programs are working to reduce the energy use and environmental
footprint during the investigation and remediation of sites. As part of this effort, EPA's
Superfund program will implement its green remediation strategy to reduce the energy, water,
and materials used during site cleanups while ensuring that protective remedies are
implemented. [7]
EPA is also implementing its Community Engagement Initiative designed to enhance our
involvement with local communities and stakeholders so that they may meaningfully participate
in decisions on land cleanup, emergency response, and management of hazardous substances and
waste. The goals of this initiative are to ensure transparent and accessible decision-making
processes, to deliver information that communities can use to participate meaningfully, to
improve EPA responsiveness to community perspectives, and to ensure timely cleanup decisions.
Strengthen Human Health and Environmental Protection in Indian Country
Under federal environmental statutes, EPA is responsible for protecting human health and the
environment in Indian country. EPA's commitment to tribal environmental and human health
protection, through the recognition of tribal sovereignty and self-determination, has been
steadfast for over 25 years, as formally established in the Agency's 1984 Indian Policy.[8] EPA
works with over 500 federally-recognized tribes located across the United States to improve
environmental and human health outcomes. Indian country totals more than 70 million acres
with reservations ranging from less than 10 acres to more than 14 million acres. Difficult
environmental and health challenges remain in many of these areas, including lack of access to
safe drinking water, sanitation, adequate waste facilities, and other environmental safeguards
taken for granted elsewhere.
In collaboration with our tribal partners and fulfilling our government-to-government
responsibilities, EPA will engage in a two-part strategy for strengthening human health and
environmental protection in Indian country. First, EPA will provide the opportunity for
federally-recognized tribes to create an effective and results-oriented environmental capacity-
building presence. Second, EPA will ensure that its programs are implemented in Indian country
either by EPA or through opportunities for implementation of environmental programs by tribes
themselves.
Applied Research
In the area of cleaning up communities, research will allow EPA to identify and apply
approaches that better inform and guide environmentally sustainable behavior, protect human
health and ecosystems, and provide the products and services needed for mitigation,
management, remediation, and long-term stewardship of contaminated sites. It will also provide
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state, tribal, and local decision makers with the knowledge needed to make smart, systems-based
decisions that will inform a balanced approach to their cleanup and development needs.
End Notes:
[1] Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions between Land Use,
Transportation, and Environmental Quality. Information available at http://www.epa.gov/dced/built.htm.
[2] For more information about EPA's brownfields program, see http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.
[3] EPA has developed a Priority Goal for brownfields: By 2012, EPA will have initiated 20 enhanced
brownfields community level projects that will include a new area-wide planning effort to benefit under-
served and economically disadvantaged communities. This will allow those communities to assess and
address a single large or multiple brownfields sites within their boundaries, thereby advancing area-wide
planning to enable redevelopment of brownfields properties on a broader scale. EPA will provide
technical assistance, coordinate its enforcement, water, and air quality programs, and work with other
federal agencies, states, tribes, and local governments to implement associated targeted environmental
improvements identified in each community's area-wide plan.
[4] This refers to the total estimated number of people that live within a mile of each of the RCRA
hazardous waste facilities that have approved controls in place. Site-specific data can be queried from the
Enforcement and Compliance History On-line database, which provides fast, integrated searches of EPA
and state data for regulated facilities (see http://www.epa-otis.gov/echo/compliance report rcra.html).
Population data included in the database is from the 2000 U.S. Census.
[5] For more information on sustainable materials management, see Sustainable Materials Management:
The Road Ahead. EPA 530R-09-009. Available at
http://www.epa.gov/osw/inforesources/pubs/vision2.pdf
[6] Several federal agencies have jurisdiction and authority for oil spill preparedness, response, and
recovery in the U.S. in addition to EPA, including the Department of Transportation and the Coast Guard.
EPA's efforts will focus on those aspects of the national oil spill program for which they have authority
and responsibility, primarily the inland area and fixed facilities, as well as sharing best practices, pertinent
research, and lessons learned with its federal partners.
[7] More information about Superfund and green remediation at EPA is available at
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/greenremediation.
[8] The 1984 EPA Policy for the Administration of Environmental Programs on Indian Reservations is
available at http://www.epa.gov/tribal/pdf/indian-policy-84.pdf.
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Goal 4:
Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution
Reduce the risk and increase the safety of chemicals and prevent pollution at the source.
Objectives:
Ensure Chemical Safety. Reduce the risk of chemicals that enter our products, our environment,
and our bodies.
Promote Pollution Prevention. Conserve and protect natural resources by promoting pollution
prevention and the adoption of other stewardship practices by companies, communities,
governmental organizations, and individuals.
Strategic Measures associated with this Goal are on pages 62 through 64.
Chemicals are involved in the production of everything from our homes and cars to the cell
phones we carry and the food we eat. Thousands of chemicals have become ubiquitous in our
everyday lives and everyday products, as well as in our environment and our bodies. Chemicals
are often released into the environment as a result of their manufacture, processing, use, and
disposal. Research shows that children receive greater exposures to chemicals because they
inhale or ingest more air, food, or water on a body-weight basis than adults do.[l] Other
vulnerable groups, including low-income, minority, and indigenous populations, are also
disproportionately impacted by, and thus particularly at risk from, chemicals.
In 2009, the Administration announced principles for modernizing the Toxic Substances Control
Act (TSCA) to help inform efforts underway in Congress to reauthorize and significantly
strengthen EPA's ability to assess the safety of industrial chemicals and adequately protect
against unreasonable environmental or public health risks.[2] TSCA is outdated and should be
revised to provide stronger and clearer authority for EPA to collect and act upon critical data
regarding chemical risks. While TSCA does provide some authority to EPA to collect chemical
information and mandate industry to conduct testing, there remain large, troubling gaps in the
available data and state of knowledge on many widely used chemicals in commerce. EPA's
authority to require development and submission of information and testing data is limited by
legal hurdles and procedural requirements. As we look to the future, it is important to work
together with Congress and stakeholders to modernize and strengthen the tools available under
TSCA to prevent harmful chemicals from entering the marketplace and to increase confidence
that those chemicals that remain are safe and do not endanger the environment or human health,
especially for consumers, workers, and sensitive subpopulations like children.
The 1990 Pollution Prevention Act established preventing pollution before it is generated as
national environmental policy. EPA is enhancing cross-cutting efforts to advance sustainable
practices, safer chemicals, greener processes and practices, and safer products.
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Ensure Chemical Safety
Chemical safety is one of EPA's highest priorities. EPA's approach to chemical risk
management leverages expertise, information, and resources by collaborating with other
countries, federal agencies, states, tribes, and the public to improve chemical safety.[3] Children
and other disproportionately exposed and affected groups, including low-income, minority, and
indigenous populations, require more explicit consideration in EPA's chemical risk assessments
and management actions, in accordance with the Executive Orders and guidance on children's
health and environmental justice. [4]
EPA employs a variety of strategies under several statutes to ensure the safety of chemicals.
These include:
Controlling the risks of new chemicals before they are introduced or reintroduced into
commerce;
Evaluating chemicals already in use;
Developing and implementing regulatory and other actions to eliminate or reduce
identified chemical risks; and,
Making public the data necessary to assess chemical safety to the extent allowed by
law. [5] [6]
EPA has enhanced its work to ensure the safety of existing chemicals by taking action to restrict
the production and use of chemicals posing unreasonable risks and better assess chemicals that
may pose environmental or public health concerns. This will quicken the Agency's pace in
characterizing the hazards posed by the highest volume chemicals, maximize use of existing
TSCA authorities to increase the availability of chemical information, and accelerate work to
identify safer alternatives.
Over the next five years, the Agency will implement risk management actions for chemicals that
pose unreasonable risk to the environment or human health, carefully considering how the most
vulnerable populations are potentially affected. EPA is strengthening rules to keep track of
chemicals in commerce and adding chemicals and data requirements to better inform both EPA
and the public about releases of toxic chemicals into the environment. EPA is increasing its
evaluation of claims of confidentiality in order to make all health and safety data for chemicals in
commerce more publicly available to the extent allowed by law. EPA is also applying
increasingly sophisticated scientific tools in reviewing hundreds of new chemical submissions
each year under TSCA and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of these reviews through
the implementation of electronic submission and management systems.[7]
EPA will make major strides in guarding against exposure to chemicals that continue to pose
potential risks to human health and the environment even after their hazards have been identified
and certain uses have been phased out. For example, to continue to reduce childhood blood lead
levels, EPA is working in partnership with states and tribes to certify hundreds of thousands of
lead-paint professionals and expand public awareness of lead risks by implementing
requirements for the use of lead-safe practices in renovation, remodeling, and painting activities
in millions of older homes.[8][9]
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Over the next five years, EPA will manage a comprehensive pesticide risk reduction program
through science-based registration and reevaluation processes, a worker safety program,
certification and training activities, and support for integrated pest management. EPA's current
pesticide review processes focus on ensuring that pesticide registrations comply with the
Endangered Species Act and achieve broader Agency objectives for water quality protection.
The review processes will continue to place emphasis on the protection of potentially sensitive
populations, such as children, by reducing exposures from pesticides used in and around homes,
schools, and other public areas. EPA is reviewing its worker safety certification and training
regulations to ensure that they are adequately protective. EPA's review processes ensure that
pesticides can be used safely and are available for use to maintain a safe and affordable food
supply, to address public health outbreaks, and to minimize property damage that can occur from
insects and pests. [10]
EPA is also working to identify and address any potential risks of nanoscale materials during
new and existing chemical review and on improving data collection efforts.[11] In addition,
EPA is implementing a comprehensive testing program to screen for chemicals' potential to
interact with the endocrine system.[12] More broadly, EPA is looking comprehensively across
statutes to determine the best tools to apply to specific problems. For example, under a new
drinking water strategy, the Agency is exploring how to use the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide,
and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and TSCA to ensure that drinking water is protected from
pesticides and industrial chemicals and that chemicals found in drinking water are being
screened for endocrine disrupting properties using the authorities of the Safe Drinking Water Act
(SDWA), the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), and FIFRA.
Prevent Pollution at the Source
The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 established national pollution prevention policy. Time and
experience have added to our understanding and appreciation of the value of preventing pollution
before it occurs. Pollution prevention is central to all of EPA's sustainability strategies, and EPA
will continue to incorporate pollution prevention principles into our policies, regulations, and
actions. Pollution prevention, a long-standing priority for EPA, encourages companies,
communities, governmental organizations, and individuals to prevent pollution and waste before
generation by implementing conservation techniques, promoting efficient re-use of materials,
making production processes more sustainable, and promoting the use of safer substances.
Together with new technology development, these pollution prevention practices result in
significant co-benefits, such as the conservation of raw materials, water, and energy; reduction in
the use of hazardous and high global-warming-potential materials; promotion of safer chemical
substitutes; reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and, the elimination of pollutant transfers
across air, water, and land. EPA will collaborate with states and other partners to review
pollution prevention results and identify enhanced pollution prevention strategies. This will also
include continuing grants to states to support vital state pollution prevention infrastructures and
fund technical assistance for local businesses.
EPA promotes "green" chemistry through the development and use of innovative chemical
technologies. The Agency advances environmentally-conscious design, commercialization, and
use of "green" engineering processes and sets standards for labeling programs that meet stringent
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criteria giving consumers assurance about the environmental integrity of the products they use.
In addition, EPA helps agencies across the federal government comply with green purchasing
requirements, thereby stimulating demand for "greener" products and services.[13]
Research
EPA chemicals research will continue to provide the scientific foundation for addressing the
risks of chemical exposure in humans and wildlife. It will include enhanced chemical screening
and testing approaches for priority-setting and context-relevant chemical assessment and
management. Research will inform Agency actions and help local decision makers address
contaminants of greatest concern to them, particularly with respect to air toxics and drinking
water issues. EPA will continue assessments of high priority chemicals. EPA's research
program also will promote discoveries and innovations in green chemistry and green engineering
to help encourage use of safer chemicals in commerce.
End Notes:
[1] Environmental Working Group, 2005. Body Burden-The Pollution in Newborns. Available at
http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodvburden2/execsumm.php.
[2] Essential Principles for Reform of Chemicals Management Legislation. Available at
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/principles.html.
[3] "EPA Increases Transparency of Chemical Risk Information: Action part of continued
comprehensive reform of toxic substances laws." EPA News Release, lanuary 21, 2010. Available at
http://vosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/bd4379a92ceceeac8525735900400c27/631cf22eb540c4db8525
76b2004eca47! OpenDocument.
[4] Executive Orders include: E.O. 13045 (Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and
Safety Risks) and E.O. 12898 (Federal Actions to Address Environmental lustice in Minority Populations
and Low Income Populations). Relevant guidance documents can be found on EPA's environmental
justice and children's health websites, http://www.epa.gov/compliance/environmentaljustice/index.html
and http://yosemite.epa. gov/ochp/ochpweb .nsf/content/homepage .htm.
[5] Collecting and Assessing Information on Chemicals. Available at
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/collectinfo.html.
[6] Managing Chemical Risk. Available at
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/managechemrisk.html.
[7] Overview of EPA New Chemicals Program. Available at http://www.epa.gov/oppt/newchems.
[8] Information about childhood lead poisoning is available at http://www.leadfreekids.org
[9] EPA Lead-Safe Certification Program. Available at http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/toolkits.htm
[10] EPA pesticides program information is available at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides.
[11] Information about nanotechnology is available at http://www.epa.gov/ncer/nano/factsheet/.
[12] Information about the EPA Endocrine Disrupter Screening Program is available at
http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/oscpendo/index.htm.
[13] Information about the EPA Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program is available at
http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/about/about.htm.
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Goal 5:
Enforcing Environmental Laws
Protect human health and the environment through vigorous and targeted civil and criminal
enforcement. Assure compliance with environmental laws.
Objective:
Enforce Environmental Laws. Pursue vigorous civil and criminal enforcement that targets the
most serious water, air, and chemical hazards in communities. Assure strong, consistent, and
effective enforcement of federal environmental laws nationwide.
Strategic Measures associated with this Goal are on pages 65 through 67.
Vigorous enforcement supports EPA's ambitious goals to protect human health and the
environment. Achieving these goals for safe drinking water, lakes and streams that are fishable
and swimmable, clean air to breathe, and communities and neighborhoods that are free from
chemical contamination requires both new strategies and compliance with the rules we already
have. By addressing noncompliance swiftly and effectively, EPA's civil and criminal
enforcement cases directly reduce pollution and risk, and deter others from violating the law.
EPA enforcement takes aggressive action against pollution problems that make a difference in
communities. Through vigorous civil and criminal enforcement and other compliance tools,
EPA targets the most serious water, air, and chemical hazards, and advances environmental
justice by protecting low-income, minority, and tribal communities that are disproportionately
impacted by such hazards.
Vigorous civil and criminal enforcement plays a central role in achieving the bold goals below
that the Administrator has set for EPA:
Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality: EPA will take effective
actions to reduce air pollution from the largest sources, including coal-fired power plants and
the cement, acid, and glass sectors, to improve air quality. Enforcement to cut toxic air
pollution in communities improves the health of communities, particularly low-income,
minority, and tribal communities that are disproportionately impacted by pollution.
Enforcement supports reductions in greenhouse gases (GHG) through enforcement
settlements that encourage GHG emission reductions. EPA will also work to ensure
compliance with new standards and reporting requirements for GHG emissions as they are
developed.
Protecting America's Waters: EPA is revamping enforcement and working with state
permitting authorities under the Clean Water Act Action Plan [1] to make progress on the
most important water pollution problems. This work includes, as a Priority Goal, increasing
enforcement actions in waters that do not meet water quality standards. In addition the
Agency will continue to focus on getting raw sewage out of water, cutting pollution from
animal waste, and reducing pollution from stormwater runoff. [2] Enforcement will help to
clean up great waters like the Chesapeake Bay and will assist in revitalizing urban
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communities by protecting urban waters. Enforcement will also support the goal of assuring
safe drinking water for all communities, including in Indian country.
Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development: EPA protects
communities by requiring responsible parties to conduct cleanups, saving federal dollars for
sites where there are no other alternatives. Aggressively pursuing these parties to clean up
sites ultimately reduces direct human exposures to hazardous pollutants and contaminants,
provides for long-term human health protection, and makes contaminated properties
available for reuse.
Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution: Reforming chemical
management enforcement and reducing exposure to pesticides will help protect human
health. Enforcement reduces direct human exposures to toxic chemicals and pesticides and
supports long-term human health protection.
Criminal enforcement underlines our commitment to pursuing the most serious pollution
violations. EPA's criminal enforcement program will focus on cases across all media that
involve serious harm or injury; hazardous or toxic releases; ongoing, repetitive, or multiple
releases; serious documented exposure to pollutants; and, violators with significant repeat or
chronic noncompliance or prior criminal conviction.
EPA shares accountability for environmental and human health protection with states and tribes.
We work together to target the most important pollution violations and ensure that companies
that do the right thing and are responsible neighbors are not put at a competitive disadvantage.
EPA also has a responsibility to oversee state and tribal implementation of federal laws to ensure
that the same level of protection for the environment and the public applies across the country.
Enforcement can help to promote environmental justice by targeting pollution problems that
disproportionately impact low-income, minority, and tribal communities. Ensuring compliance
with environmental laws is particularly important in communities that are exposed to greater
environmental health risks. EPA fosters community involvement by making information about
compliance and government action available to the public.[3]
Increased transparency is an effective tool for improving compliance. By making information on
violations both available and understandable, EPA empowers citizens to demand better
compliance.
End Notes:
[1] An overview of the Clean Water Action Plan is available at
http: //www .epa. gov/oecaerth/civil/cwa/cwaenfplan .html.
[2] EPA has developed a Priority Goal for water enforcement: EPA will increase pollutant reducing
enforcement actions in waters that do not meet water quality standards, and post results and analysis on
the web.
[3] Information about compliance and government action is available at
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/index.html.
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External Factors and Emerging Issues
EPA sets goals and objectives in carrying out its mission to protect human health and the
environment, but there are always factors outside of EPA's control that affect our ability to do
our work. For example, the changing economic, legal, and regulatory landscape often affects the
Agency's resources, anticipated activities, and direction. As part of a dynamic global
community addressing technological changes, EPA is confronted with challenges, emerging
issues, and opportunities every day. An oil spill, flood, hurricane, tragedy, or other disasters can
swiftly divert the Agency's anticipated focus. Other issues, such as climate change and
population growth, can create long-term challenges that run deep and across many EPA
programs. Additionally, EPA accomplishes much of its work through partnerships, particularly
with states and tribes, and any budget shortfalls they experience can affect our ability to achieve
our goals.
External factors and emerging issues present both opportunities and challenges to EPA.
Specifically, over the next five years, EPA will be actively engaged in a variety of areas:
Climate Change: Energy and transportation policies continue to evolve and influence the
Agency's ability to improve air quality and address climate change issues. Impacts of
climate change, such as changes in rainfall amount and intensity, shifting weather and
seasonal patterns, and increases in flood plain elevations and sea levels, will also affect
progress towards many of the goals. Yet other developments may have positive
environmental impacts. The growth of alternative energy sources and increased investments
in energy efficiency can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve local air quality.
American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA): We expect the long-term impact of
ARRA[1] funding will advance assessment and cleanup activities at former industrial sites,
help address local water infrastructure needs, and spur technological innovation, promoting
energy efficiency, alternative energy supplies, and new technologies and innovation in water
infrastructure.
Water Quality: Water quality programs face challenges such as increases in nutrient
loadings and stormwater runoff, aging infrastructure, and population growth (which can
increase water consumption and place additional stress on aging water infrastructures). The
Agency needs to examine carefully the potential impacts of and solutions to these issues,
including effects on water quality and quantity that could result in the long term from climate
change.
Waste Management: Our necessary reliance on private parties, state and tribal partners, the
use of new and innovative control technologies, and the involvement of other federal
agencies in remediation efforts can all affect our efforts to remediate contaminated sites and
prevent waste. New waste streams are continually emerging, such as those from mining of
rare earth elements which are used in clean-energy technologies, potentially presenting
increased opportunities for recycling of valuable materials and challenges for safe disposal of
new waste streams
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Protective Site Cleanup: Hazardous waste programs are intended to provide permanent
solutions to contaminated media at sites or facilities to the extent practicable. Complications
can arise when new scientific information concerning contaminants at a site suggests that a
risk assessment that was protective when a remedy was selected is no longer protective given
the contaminant levels remaining at a site and their potential exposure pathways and uses.
As appropriate, EPA must incorporate emerging science into decision making to maintain its
commitment to provide permanent solutions.
Chemical Safety: Legislative reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act in line with the
Administration's principles would provide EPA with the ability to obtain and publicly
disclose critical information on the risks posed by chemicals. This will strengthen our
chemical risk assessment and management programs, and significantly improve federal and
state ability to manage and mitigate risk from industrial chemicals.
Communities: Citizen scienceindividual citizens and community groups that monitor and
document environmental trendscan expand the reach of EPA's own field presence.
Communities have access to more environmental, economic, and social data than ever before
that can be synthesized and analyzed through varying tools and technologies. With this
information, communities can make smarter management decisions which may lead to
increasingly effective stewardship. While citizen science requires expert support to ensure
the quality of environmental data and to facilitate knowledge-building, with the right tools,
communities can spur local industry and others to do a better job of complying with
environmental laws and regulations.
The world in which EPA works continues to change rapidly. The recent oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico is a catastrophic environmental problem that will have significant consequences and
require innovative technological and other solutions. A wide range of new technologies are on
the horizon in areas as diverse as nanotechnology catalysts and nanosolar cells, nanomaterials for
rehabilitation of water pipes, advanced battery technologies, accurate and inexpensive portable
and real-time sensors, and the application of synthetic biology to algal biofuel production.
Emerging technologies may present new environmental problems that need to be understood and
addressed, and at the same time will create opportunities for building an advanced technological
infrastructure. EPA will continue to do its best to anticipate change and be prepared to address
the inevitable challenges and opportunities that we will face in the future.
End Note:
[1] Information about the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act is available at
http://www.recovery.gov.
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Summary of Program Evaluation
The Administration has emphasized the importance of using program evaluation to provide the
evidence needed to demonstrate that our programs are meeting their intended outcomes. By
assessing how well a program is working and why, program evaluation can help EPA identify
where our activities have the greatest impact on protecting human health and the environment,
provide the road map needed to replicate successes, and conversely, identify areas needing
improvement. This is particularly important as EPA meets its obligations for transparency and
accountability.
For the Strategic Plan, we look to the results of past evaluations to inform our program strategies
for the next five years. Evaluation results may affirm existing strategies or identify opportunities
for improvement and may lead to changes in policy, resource decisions, and program
implementation. For example, the Government Accountability Office's 2007 evaluation of the
Toxic Substances Control Act helped frame Administrator Jackson's September 2009
announcement of an integrated approach to chemical management and a set of principles for
reform. Additionally, EPA commissioned the National Academy of Public Administration
(NAP A) to conduct an independent evaluation of the Community Action for a Renewed
Environment (CARE) Demonstration Program, a competitive grant program that offers an
innovative way for a community to organize and take action to reduce toxic pollution in its local
environmental] Recommendations and feedback from this evaluation have informed EPA's
strategic changes and investment decisions in the program.
Our plans for future program evaluations include cyclical reviews of our research and
development programs. These are geared to ensure that our research priorities meet our future
challenges. Examples of other future evaluations include assessing the impact of our "green"
chemical labeling program on consumer purchasing habits and measuring the success of less
resource-intensive remediation strategies to clean up hazardous waste sites across the country.
While EPA conducts a variety of design, process, and outcome evaluations, under the
Administration's government-wide evaluation initiative, EPA is working to evolve and expand
our portfolio to conduct more rigorous impact evaluations that will enhance program
effectiveness. Recently completed process and program evaluations from EPA and external
organizations that informed the strategies in the Strategic Plan and a preliminary list of future
program evaluations EPA plans to conduct are described in more detail at the EPA Strategic
Plan web site. [2]
End Notes:
[1] National Academy of Public Administration, 2009. Putting Community First: A Promising
Approach to Federal Collaboration for Environmental Improvement. Available at
http://www.napawash.org/pc_management_studies/CARE/5-2 l-09_Final_Evaluation_Report.pdf.
[2] EPA Strategic Plan website: http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/plan.htm.
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Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategies
Introduction
Since EPA's inception over 40 years ago, we have focused not only on our mission to achieve
environmental and human health results but also on how we work to accomplish those results.
Achievement of each of these goals and objectives is shared across EPA. Through this Plan,
EPA is placing an increased focus on how we work to achieve those results.
We have developed a set of cross-cutting strategies that stem from the Administrator's priorities
and are designed to fundamentally change how we work, both internally and externally, to
achieve the mission outcomes articulated under our five strategic goals. This Plan describes the
vision and operating principles for each of the cross-cutting strategies:
Expanding the conversation on environmentalism;
Working for environmental justice and children's health;
Advancing science, research, and technological innovation;
Strengthening state, tribal, and international partnerships; and,
Strengthening EPA's workforce and capabilities.
The Agency will develop annual action plans with commitments that align with existing
planning, budget, and accountability processes. In implementing these strategies through annual
action plans, we are embarking on a deliberate, focused effort to take tangible, measurable
actions to transform the way we deliver environmental and human health protection.
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Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism
Engage and empower communities and partners, including those who have been historically
under-represented, in order to support and advance environmental protection and human
health nationwide.
We have begun a new era of outreach at EPA and seek to include a broader range of people and
communities in our work and expand our engagement with communities historically under-
represented in our decision-making processes. We will build stronger working relationships
throughout the country, particularly with tribes, communities of color, economically-distressed
cities and towns, young people, and others.
To accomplish these goals, we will:
Call for innovation and bold thinking and ask all employees to bring their creativity and
talents to their everyday work to enhance outreach and transparency in all our programs.
Ensure that our science is explained clearly and accessible to all communities,
communicating and educating in plain language the complexities of environmental,
health, policy, and regulatory issues.
Educate and empower individuals, communities, and Agency partners in decision making
through public access to environmental information and data.
Ensure that the Agency's regulations, policies, budget, and decision-making processes
are transparent and accessible through increased access to environmental data sources,
community right-to-know tools, and direct stakeholder engagement.
Address barriers to improve engagement with historically under-represented sectors of
the nation.
Use traditional and new media to inform and educate the public about Agency activities
and provide opportunities for community feedback.
Encourage citizens to understand the complexities and impacts of environmental issues
and environmental stewardship, and provide avenues and tools that enhance their ability
to participate in processes that could affect them.
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Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health
Work to reduce and prevent harmful exposures and health risks to children and underserved,
disproportionately impacted low-income, minority, and tribal communities, and support
community efforts to build healthy, sustainable green neighborhoods.
Advancing environmental justice and protecting children's health must be driving forces in our
decisions across all EPA programs. The underlying principles for this commitment are reducing
exposures for those at greatest risk and ensuring that environmental justice and children's health
protection are integral to all Agency activities. All populations-including minority, low-income,
and indigenous populations-that are vulnerable to environmental pollution are at risk of having
poor health outcomes. These vulnerabilities may arise because of higher exposures to pollution
in places where they work, live, and play, and/or diminished abilities to withstand, cope with, or
recover from exposure to environmental pollution.[l] Children are often most acutely affected
by environmental stressors. Research has demonstrated that prenatal and early life exposures to
environmental hazards can cause lifelong diseases, medical conditions, and disabilities. [2]
Environmental justice and children's health protection will be achieved when all Americans,
regardless of age, race, economic status, or ethnicity, have access to clean water, clean air, and
healthy communities. To accomplish this, EPA will use a variety of approaches, including
regulation, enforcement, research, outreach, community-based programs, and partnerships to
protect children and disproportionately impacted, overburdened populations from environmental
and human health hazards. Our success in advancing environmental justice and children's health
protection will result from fully incorporating these priorities into all of our activities across each
of the strategic goals of the Agency. We anticipate that our leadership in advancing
environmental justice and children's health protection will inspire and engage a broad spectrum
of partners in the public and private sector to do the same.
Specifically, EPA will:
In our regulatory capacity, implement the nation's environmental laws using the best
science and environmental monitoring data to address the potential for adverse health
effects from environmental factors in disproportionately impacted, overburdened
populations and vulnerable age groups. EPA programs will incorporate environmental
justice and children's health considerations at each stage of the Agency's regulation
development process and in implementation of environmental regulations.
Develop and use environmental and human health indicators to measure improvements in
environmental conditions and health in disproportionately impacted communities and
among vulnerable age groups.
In our work on safe management of pesticides and industrial chemicals, take into account
disproportionately impacted, overburdened populations, and women of child-bearing age,
infants, children, and adolescents, and encourage the use of "green chemistry" to spur the
development of safer chemicals and production processes.
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Apply the best available scientific methods to assess the potential for disproportionate
exposures and health impacts resulting from environmental hazards on minority, low-
income, and indigenous populations, women of child-bearing age, infants, children, and
adolescents, to support EPA decision making, and to develop the tools to assess risk from
multiple stressors.
Engage communities in our work to protect human health and the environment. EPA will
align multiple community-based programs to provide funding and technical assistance to
communities to build capacity to address critical issues affecting children's health and
disproportionately impacted populations.
Work with other federal agencies[3] to engage communities and coordinate funding and
technical support for efforts to build healthy, sustainable, and green neighborhoods, and
work with residents to promote equitable development.
End Notes:
[1] See the following sources:
World Health Organization, 2006. Principles for Evaluating Health Risks in Children. Environmental
Health Criteria, 237. Available at http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2006/924157237X_eng.pdf;
EPA, 2003. Framework for Cumulative Risk Assessment. Risk Assessment Forum. EPA/630/P-
02/00IF. Available at http://crpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplav.cfm?deid=54944; and.
EPA, 2004. Ensuring Risk Reduction in Communities with Multiple Stressors: EnvironmentalJustice
and Cumulative Risks/Impacts. Available at
http://www.epa.gov/environmentaliustice/resources/publications/nejac/nejac-cum-risk-rpt-122104.pdf.
[2] National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 2008. Linking
Early Environmental Exposures to Adult Diseases. Available at
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/docs/linking-exposures.pdf.
[3] Including the Departments of Housing Urban and Development, Health and Human Services,
Energy, Agriculture, Transportation, Interior, Labor, and Education.
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Advancing Science, Research, and Technological Innovation
Advance a rigorous basic and applied science research and development agenda that informs,
enables, and empowers and delivers innovative and sustainable solutions to environmental
problems. Provide relevant and robust scientific data and findings to support the Agency's
policy and decision-making needs.
The major challenges we face to human health and the environment are not incremental
problems, and they do not lend themselves to incremental solutions. EPA will promote
innovative solutions to environmental problems that reduce or eliminate pollution while avoiding
unintended and/or unwanted consequences, addressing pollutants, chemicals, and materials
throughout their life cycle from raw material to final disposition.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has reiterated the critical and timely need for
innovation in science and technology, building on the President's Strategy for American
Innovation.[1][2] OMB identifies priorities that include new approaches to multi-disciplinary
research, new approaches for accelerating technology commercialization and innovation,
interagency and international collaborations, and better communication with the public on
science, technology, and innovation.
Environmental sustainability is a guidepost for science, research, and technological innovation at
EPA. [3] Sustainability is a broader approach to environmental protection that considers trade-
offs in production processes and materials use. Sustainable solutions prevent chemicals from
entering the environment or eliminate, rather than simply reduce, the production of waste
through better materials management.
EPA must help drive high quality research, sound science, and technology innovation to
sustainably address air quality, climate change, water quality and quantity, unreasonable risks
from toxic chemicals, ecosystem degradation, and other environmental issues. EPA will inform,
enable, and stimulate the development of sustainable solutions to current and future challenges
because sustainable and innovative environmental solutions can also be more economically
efficient.
EPA science and research must always inform the decisions that are essential to the protection of
human health and the environment and empower the broader community that supports our
mission. To address challenging environmental problems in this manner, EPA research will:
Provide timely, responsive, and relevant solutions: EPA's science, research, and
technological innovation depend on partnerships and a continuing dialogue with internal
and external partners and stakeholders to ensure that EPA efforts focus on the highest
priority problems faced by the Agency and the nation. Building on traditional
collaboration efforts, EPA will also leverage the scientific discoveries of others to
achieve even more responsive solutions to the environmental problems that our
communities face.
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Transcend traditional scientific disciplines: A broad perspectiveone that integrates
knowledge from a wide variety of sourcesis key to developing sustainable solutions.
In all aspects of our work, from problem identification, to research design and conduct, to
implementation and adoption of solutions, EPA must rely on diverse disciplines.
Environmental problems often raise complex scientific and technological issues that
require non-traditional approaches. If EPA is to advance progress on these challenging
problems, we must rely on integrated, trans-disciplinary research that complements
traditional, single-discipline approaches.
Communicate widely and openly: Great work, done invisibly, cannot have an impact.
To maximize the impact and utility of our research, EPA will communicate the design,
definition, conduct, transfer, and implementation of the work we do. We will translate
our science so that it is accessible, understandable, relevant to, and used by stakeholders
and the general public. EPA must document our successes to maximize the value of our
scientific work.
Catalyze sustainable innovation: EPA's efforts alone will not be enough to address the
environmental challenges our nation faces. As we develop and promote these technology
innovations, EPA must account for life-cycle perspectives and support technologies that
fully consider environmental and social impacts, and collaborate with partners in
academia, government, and industry to assess impacts and promote effective product
stewardship. EPA must also guide sustainable solutions on the path from conceptual and
proof-of-concept stages, through research and development, to commercialization and
deployment. EPA must understand and engage the marketplace to ensure the
effectiveness of these solutions. Additionally, EPA must be receptive to external
innovations in science, research, and technology that can enhance EPA's effectiveness in
fulfilling our mission.
End Notes:
[1] OMB Memorandum M-10-30, July 21, 2010. "Science and Technology Priorities for the FY2012
Budget." Available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2010/mlO-30.pdf.
[2] Press Release from the White House Office of the Press Secretary, September 21, 2009. "President
Obama Lays Out Strategy for American Innovation." Available at
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Lays-Out-Strategy-for-American-
Innovation/.
[3] Information on the EPA Sustainability Program is available at http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/.
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Strengthening State, Tribal, and International Partnerships
Deliver on our commitment to a clean and healthy environment through consultation and
shared accountability with states, tribes, and the global community for addressing the highest
priority problems.
EPA will strengthen its state, tribal, and international partnerships to achieve our mutual
environmental and human health goals. As we work together, our relationships must continue to
be based on integrity, trust, and shared accountability to make the most effective use of our
respective bodies of knowledge, our existing authorities, our resources, and our talents.
Successful partnerships will be based on four working principles: consultation, collaboration,
cooperation, and accountability. By consulting., we will engage our partners in a timely fashion
as we consider approaches to our environmental work so that each partner can make an early and
meaningful contribution toward the final result. By collaborating, we will not only share
information, but we will actively work together with our partners to use all available resources to
reach our environmental and human health goals. As our work progresses, we will cooperate,
viewing each other with respect as allies who must work successfully together if our goals are to
be achieved. Through shared accountability, we will ensure that environmental benefits are
consistently delivered nationwide. In carrying out these responsibilities, EPA will ensure
through oversight that state and tribal implementation of federal laws achieves a consistent level
of protection for the environment and human health.
With States
Under our federal environmental laws, EPA and the states share responsibility for protecting
human health and the environment. With this relationship as the cornerstone of the nation's
environmental protection system, EPA will:
Improve implementation and consistent delivery of national environmental programs
through closer consultation and transparency.
Work with states to seek efficient use of resources through work-sharing, joint planning
using data analysis and targeting to address priorities, and other approaches.
Play a stronger management role to facilitate the exchange of data with states to improve
program effectiveness and efficiency.
Consult with state and local governments on a routine basis to ensure that the
development and implementation of rules is consistent with EPA 's Action Development
Process: Guidance on Executive Order 13132 (Federalism), which recognizes the
division of governmental responsibilities between the federal government and the states.
Strengthen state-EPA shared accountability by focusing oversight on the most significant
and pressing state program performance challenges, using data and analysis to speed
program improvements.
Ensure a level playing field across states to improve compliance and address the most
serious violations.
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With Tribes
The relationship between the United States Government and federally-recognized tribes is
unique and has developed throughout the course of the nation's history. In strengthening this
relationship, EPA will:
Focus on increasing tribal capacity to establish and implement environmental programs
while ensuring that our national programs are as effective in Indian country as they are
throughout the rest of the nation.
Enhance our effort as we work with tribes on a government-to-government basis, based
upon the Constitution, treaties, laws, executive orders, and a long history of Supreme
Court rulings.
Strengthen our cross-cultural sensitivity with tribes, recognizing that tribes have cultural,
jurisdictional, and legal features that must be considered when coordinating and
implementing environmental programs in Indian country.
With Other Countries
To achieve our domestic environmental and human health goals, international partnerships are
essential. Pollution is often carried by winds and water across national boundaries, posing risks
many hundreds and thousands of miles away. Many concerns, like climate change, are universal.
In the international arena, EPA will:
Expand our partnership efforts in multilateral forums and in key bilateral relationships.
Enhance existing and nurture new international partnerships to promote a new era of
global environmental stewardship based on common interests, shared values, and mutual
respect.
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Strengthening EPA's Workforce and Capabilities
Continuously improve EPA's internal management, encourage innovation and creativity in all
aspects of our work, and ensure that EPA is an excellent workplace that attracts and retains a
topnotch, diverse workforce, positioned to meet and address the environmental challenges of
the 21st century.
Achieving positive environmental and human health outcomes through cleaner and safer air,
water, and land, and through protection of our natural resources is the focal point of all our work
at EPA. This compelling mission attracts workers eager to make a difference and drives
employees across the Agency to work together. EPA fully supports the Administration's efforts
to reform the federal government's hiring system to ensure highly qualified individuals are
available to strengthen EPA's workforce. EPA believes these reforms will improve the
Agency's ability to protect human health and the environment more effectively and efficiently.
EPA is a complex organization. This is both an asset and a challenge. To achieve its mission,
EPA is continuously building and nurturing a skilled workforce, finding new ways to use the
power of information, working together through enhanced communication, and demanding
transparency and accountability at all levels. With innovative and creative management and a
talented, diverse, and highly motivated workforce, EPA will be positioned to meet head-on the
complex environmental challenges of the present and future.
To achieve this goal, EPA will:
Recruit, develop, and retain a diverse and creative workforce, equipped with the technical
skill and knowledge needed to accomplish the Agency's mission and to meet evolving
environmental challenges.
Cultivate a workplace that values a high quality work life, provides employee-friendly
policies and facilities, and invests in the information infrastructure, technology, and
security essential to support a mobile workforce.
Practice outstanding resource stewardship to ensure that all Agency programs operate
with fiscal responsibility and management integrity, are efficiently and consistently
delivered nationwide, and demonstrate results.
Take advantage of existing and emerging tools to improve and enhance communication,
transparency, and accountability.
Integrate energy efficiency and environmental considerations into our work practices as
core components of Agency business models and operations.
Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the Agency's acquisition function by
strengthening requirements development, contract management, and internal review
practices; maximizing the use of competition in contracting, reducing high-risk contracts;
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improving how contracts are structured; building the skills of the acquisition workforce;
and improving management of the EPA acquisition workforce.
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Strategic Measurement Framework
Introduction
The Strategic Plan provides the foundation for EPA's performance management system
planning, budgeting, performance measurement, and accountability. The Plan contains EPA's
strategic measurement framework of long-term goals, objectives, and strategic measures, which
describe the measurable human health and environmental results the Agency is working to
achieve over the next five years.
To achieve the long-term goals, objectives, and strategic measures set out in this Plan, EPA
designs annual performance measures which are presented in EPA's Annual Performance Plans
and Budgets. The Agency reports on our performance against these annual measures in Annual
Performance Reports, and uses this performance information to establish priorities and develop
future budget submissions. The Agency also uses this performance data to evaluate our progress
and develop future Strategic Plans.
EPA's strategic planning and decision-making benefits from other sources of information as
well, including program evaluations and environmental indicators. A number of the strategic
measures in this Strategic Plan are based on indicators contained in EPA's 2008 Report on the
Environment (ROE). The ROE identifies a set of peer-reviewed human health and
environmental indicators that allows EPA to track trends in environmental conditions and
environmental influences on human health. This information also helps us better articulate and
improve the strategic measurement framework in EPA's Strategic Plan.
The Agency continues to look for new data and information sources to better characterize the
environmental conditions targeted by our programs and improve our understanding of the
integrated and complex relationships involved in maintaining human health and environmental
well-being.
Significant Changes in the Strategic Measurement Framework
We have made significant changes to our measurement framework in this Plan. We revised our
five strategic goals to sharpen and align them with the Administrator's priorities, including a
heightened focus on cross-program activities addressing climate change adaptation and
mitigation, sustainable communities, and chemical safety. We revised our suite of strategic
measuresthe measurable environmental and human health outcomes we are working to
achievein several significant ways. First, we significantly reduced the number of strategic
measures by focusing on the key outcomes most important to advance the Administrator's
priorities and the Agency's mission. The goal was to create a smaller, more strategic, and more
meaningful set that Agency leadership uses to manage. Second, for consistency purposes, we
placed all the quantified measurable results at the lowest level in the frameworkthe strategic
measures. Third, we updated the strategic measures to reflect targets and baselines appropriate
for the FY 2011-2015 time horizon. Lastly, we removed the separate objectives and strategic
measures for the Agency's research and development program from the Plan and integrated this
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work into the programmatic objectives; this critical work supports many of our strategic
measures and will continue to be tracked through annual performance measures.
Some of the new strategic directions in our measures are reflected in this Plan, but efforts will
continue over the next several years to make further revisions in key areas. Highlights of the
new measures and continuing efforts are described below.
Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico: While we are still assessing
the unprecedented environmental damage from the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill and
the Agency actions necessary to address the damage and prevent similar disasters in the
future, we have added a new strategic measure as a preliminary step to reflect the
challenge ahead. This measure addresses efforts to conduct a thorough review of our oil
spill program regulations to ensure that these regulations are up to date and effective.
The magnitude of the impacts has yet to be fully understood and assessed, so further
adjustments may be needed in the future. In addition, EPA is working to develop a
water-oriented measure in response to the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill in the Gulf of
Mexico. The measure will reflect efforts to assist in the restoration of the Gulf of Mexico
ecosystem, including water, wetlands, beaches, and surrounding communities. Currently,
EPA has two program-specific water measures, one that relates to Gulf of Mexico
hypoxia and the other to regional coastal aquatic ecosystem health that will be reassessed
for impact from the oil spill.
Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation: The ability of communities to respond to
changes in climate over the next decade is critical to achieving many of the
environmental outcomes in this Strategic Plan. We have incorporated consideration of
climate change across all five goals of the Strategic Plan and will continue to collaborate
with stakeholders, the US Global Change Research Program, the Interagency Taskforce
on Climate Change Adaptation, and others. We have added three strategic measures for
climate change adaptation under Goal 1. In addition, we have expanded the existing
greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation measure to capture reductions Agency-wide and added
a measure to reflect expected GHG reductions resulting from the light-duty vehicle
greenhouse gas rule.
Land Cleanup: EPA has begun an Integrated Cleanup Initiative, a multi-year effort to
better use assessment and cleanup authorities to address a greater number of sites,
accelerate cleanups, and put those sites back into productive use while protecting human
health and the environment. The Agency is working to develop a suite of measures that
will allow for comprehensive management across cleanup programs and across the
cleanup life cycle, with a focus on three critical points in the cleanup processstarting,
advancing, and completing site cleanups. As a first step in this process, we are shifting
our definition of success at a Superfund site from where the construction of a remedy is
complete, to when the site is actually "ready for anticipated use" in a community. In
addition, a new site assessment measure has been developed that fully captures the entire
assessment workload at the beginning of the Superfund process, a measure which also
may be expanded to include progress of other cleanup programs in the future. [1]
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Chemical Safety: One of EPA's highest priorities over the next five years is to ensure
the safety of chemicals and pesticides used in this country. As part of this effort, EPA is
taking a more integrated approach to managing chemical and pesticide risk reduction and,
in coordination with other relevant federal agencies, is focusing on consumers, workers,
and sensitive subpopulations like children. EPA is enhancing its ability to measure the
effects of chemicals and pesticides on human health and the environment by introducing
new measures to reduce the concentration of targeted chemicals and pesticides in the
general population and children.
Enforcement and Compliance Assurance: The Agency's enforcement and compliance
assurance program is moving from a tool-based (e.g., assistance, incentives, monitoring,
and enforcement) to an environmental problem-based (e.g., air, water) approach to
addressing noncompliance and environmental harms. Our current approach, rooted
largely in the traditional inspection and enforcement model, has shown substantial
environmental and human health benefits, but will not be able to keep up with expanding
universes of regulated sources. For example, the universe of National Pollutant
Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) sources has expanded from about one hundred
thousand when the Clean Water Act (CWA) was passed to almost one million today.
This is especially true in light of the current economic challenges faced by states, which
perform the majority of inspections and enforcement actions. For those programs and
sectors that have been the focus of EPA and state attention, the level of noncompliance
shows us that serious violations are likely widespread, all but ensuring that there are areas
across the country where basic health protections for Americans are in jeopardy.
EPA is adopting new strategic approaches to deal with these challenges that do not solely
depend on inspections and enforcement to address serious violations, including:
- Building self-monitoring and reporting requirements into rules, which will allow
government to better understand the compliance status at regulated facilities.
- Using 21st century technologies to facilitate the electronic transmission of data directly
from regulated sources and states that generate the data, to government agencies that
receive the data, which will improve the quality and timeliness of data available to
make decisions.
- Making more information available to the public in an easy-to-use, understandable
format so the public can demand better facility and government performance.
As part of this new approach, the Agency's enforcement program is developing a suite of
measures that expand its ability to communicate to the public. As part of this suite, the
Agency is including measures for its criminal enforcement program for the first time in
the Strategic Plan. The suite of measures addresses:
- Enforcement Presence/Level-of-Effort Measures: the extent of the general enforcement
and compliance assurance presence in communities;
- Case-Linked Outcome Indicators: the annual and long-term trends in environmental
benefits resulting from EPA enforcement actions; and,
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- Strategic Enforcement Measures: the results of EPA's focused efforts to address
specific, high-priority problems that make a difference to communities.
When viewed together, this suite of measures provides a more comprehensive
understanding of the program than has been available previously. This suite of measures
is captured in the figure below.
Suite of Strategic Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Measures
Measures in the FY 2011-2015 Strategic Plan
Enforcement Presence/Level of Effort
Measures
Inspections & evaluations
Initiated & concluded civil judicial &
administrative enforcement cases
Compliance status of open, non-
Superfund consent decrees
Address cost recovery statute of
limitations cases with total past costs
above $200,000
Reaching settlement with potentially
responsible parties (PRPs)
Criminal cases with charges filed
Criminal cases with defendants
convicted
Case-Linked Outcome Indicators
AIR
Air pollutants reduced
WATER
Water pollutants reduced
WASTE
Hazardous waste reduced
Contaminated media reduced
CHEMICALS
Toxic and pesticide pollutants
CRIMINAL
Criminal cases with most significant impacts
Criminal cases with individual defendants
Measures under Development
Strategic Enforcement Measures
(under development)
AIR
Air toxics
Criteria air pollutants
WATER
Raw sewage
Animal waste
Water compliance
WASTE
Wastes from mineral processing
Clean up hazardous waste sites in
communities
CHEMICALS
Reduce exposure to pesticides
Enforce chemical management rules
NOTE: These measures will set targets for
enforcement and compliance work that connect
with Goals 1-4 of the Strategic Plan.
The Strategic Plan includes five-year measures for EPA's enforcement presence and
outcome indicators for which EPA will develop annual performance measures for
inclusion in the Annual Plan and Budget, similar to all strategic measures included in this
Plan.
The Agency has historically relied on enforcement presence or level-of-effort measures
to communicate its enforcement and compliance presence to the public and regulated
industry. These measures illustrate that the Agency is actively and consistently
performing the activities necessary to find polluters, take appropriate action, and monitor
defendants' compliance with settled enforcement cases. The Agency targets these
activities toward the most serious human health and environmental problems across a
variety of regulatory programs.
The Agency uses case-linked outcome indicators to communicate the environmental
benefits gained from completed enforcement and compliance activities such as
compliance assistance, compliance incentives, and enforcement cases. While linked,
there is not a linear or proportional relationship between the activities and the outcomes.
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Unlike level-of-effort results, which tend to be relatively consistent on a yearly basis,
these outcome measures are dominated by very large enforcement cases and will
typically vary widely over time depending on the pollution problems being addressed.
For example, the measure of pounds of pollution reduced by enforcement actions varies
widely from year to year and is not expected to trend upwards from one year to the next.
In fact, as the most significant pollution sources are addressed, the amount of pollution
reduced by enforcement in a particular industrial sector should go down over time.
Over the next five years, the Agency will develop a new category of measurement-
strategic enforcement measures-designed to demonstrate progress toward achieving its
national enforcement goal of aggressively going after specific pollution problems that
matter to communities. In addition, the strategic enforcement measures will illustrate the
work done in Goal 5 to support Goals 1-4 of this Strategic Plan.
To launch this effort, the Agency's enforcement program will focus initially on
developing measures that demonstrate progress toward the goals of its six national
enforcement initiatives.[2] These initiatives target nationally important pollution
problems where enforcement can play an important role to address serious
noncompliance. We will develop strategic measures that chart our progress in addressing
these significant compliance problems, recognizing that the measures, like the solutions,
will vary with the problem. Two examples include: (1) targeting the sectors that
contribute the largest amount of serious air pollution that causes significant harm to
human health, which include coal-fired utilities and acid, glass, and cement plants; and,
(2) working to improve compliance by the tens of thousands of animal feeding operations
that contribute to water pollution in many communities. We need both aggressive
enforcement actions and new creative strategies to tackle sector compliance issues for
these important, but very different, problems. Our measures will reflect those strategies,
and attempt to do a more complete job of providing meaningful information to the public
about our progress than the traditional measures alone can do. What we learn from
measures developed for the national enforcement initiatives will be applied in setting
measures for our other national enforcement goals.
One of the challenges in improving compliance and reducing pollution is the lack of solid
information about facility releases and compliance. These information gaps make it
harder to target facilities for enforcement, to understand and develop measures for
compliance performance, and for communities to know what pollution is occurring in
their own neighborhoods. EPA recognizes that we need to improve facility monitoring of
pollution and make that information available to the public using 21st century
technologies including more comprehensive electronic reporting. These efforts will
increase transparency and create incentives to reduce pollution and to comply with the
law, while also giving state and federal governments the information they need to target
enforcement and track progress. Over the longer term, as efforts to increase
electronically reported facility information take effect, consistently reported, sector-wide
data may enable us to generate realistic compliance rates for some sectors. These efforts
will help us to strengthen both performance and measures in the years ahead.
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Where data, baselines, and targets are available to support the measures, EPA will
include new measures for the national initiatives in the FY 2012 Annual Plan and Budget
in February 2011 and will amend the Strategic Plan to include those that are suitable
strategic measures. For those measures where EPA does not have existing data, EPA will
identify necessary data sources and begin to collect the information with the intention of
developing baselines and targets for additional strategic enforcement measures to be
included in future Annual Plans.
The Agency will also work closely with its state partners to explore how to be more
transparent regarding our joint accountability to protect the environment and public
health by showing to the public, before FY 2015, both federal and state progress and
problems in enforcement and compliance programs, as well as compliance monitoring
coverage levels.
EPA's High Priority Performance Goals (Priority Goals)
In addition to the long-term strategic measures, EPA established six near-term Priority Goals in
FY 2010 with 18- to 24-month operational targets that advance our strategic goals and serve as
key indicators of our work.
EPA's Priority Goals
EPA will improve the country's ability to measure and control greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Building a
foundation for action is essential
By June 15, 2011, EPA will make publically available 100 percent of facility-level GHG emissions data
submitted to EPA in accordance with the GHG Reporting Rule, compliant with policies protecting
confidential business information (CBI).
In 2011, EPA, working with DOT, will begin implementation of regulations designed to reduce the GHG
emissions from light-duty vehicles sold in the U.S. starting with model year 2012.
Clean water is essential for our quality of life and the health of our communities. EPA will take actions over
the next two years to improve water quality.
Chesapeake Bay watershed states (including the District of Columbia) will develop and submit Phase I
watershed implementation plans by the end of CY 2010 and Phase II plans by the end of CY 2011 in support
of EPA's final Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL) and consistent with the expectations and
schedule described in EPA's letters of November 4 and December 29, 2009, and June 11, 2010. [3]
Increase pollutant reducing enforcement actions in waters that do not meet water quality standards, and post
results and analysis on the web.
Over the next two years, EPA will initiate review/revision of at least four drinking water standards to
strengthen public health protection.
EPA will ensure that environmental health and protection is delivered to our communities.
By 2012, EPA will have initiated 20 enhanced brownfields community level projects that will include a new
area-wide planning effort to benefit under-served and economically disadvantaged communities. This will
allow those communities to assess and address a single large or multiple brownfields sites within their
boundaries, thereby advancing area-wide planning to enable redevelopment of brownfields properties on a
broader scale. EPA will provide technical assistance, coordinate its enforcement, water, and air quality
programs, and work with other federal agencies, states, tribes, and local governments to implement
associated targeted environmental improvements identified in each community's area-wide plan.
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EPA will report progress on these Priority Goals in the Annual Plan and Budget and through the
Office of Management and Budget, with results regularly available to the public at
www.performance.gov.
End Notes:
[1] EPA will continue to report site construction completions as an annual performance measure in its
Annual Plan and Budget.
[2] Information about EPA's National Enforcement Initiatives for Fiscal Years 2011-2013 is available at
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/data/planning/initiatives/initiatives.html. EPA solicited feedback on its
FY 2011 -2013 national enforcement initiatives in a Federal Register Notice in January 2010 and in an on-
line discussion forum (see http://blog.epa.gov/enforcementnationalprioritv).
[3] EPA letters available at
http://www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/pdf/pdf_chesbay/tmdl_implementation_letter_l 10409.pdf.
http://www.epa.gov/region03/chesapeake/bay letter_1209.pdf, and
http://www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/pdf/pdf chesbay/TMDLScheduleLetter.pdf
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Goal 1: Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality. Reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and develop adaptation strategies to address climate change, and protect and
improve air quality.
Objective 1.1: Address Climate Change. Reduce the threats posed by climate change by
reducing greenhouse gas emissions and taking actions that help communities and ecosystems
become more resilient to the effects of climate change.
Strategic Measures:
Address Climate Change
By 2015, the light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas rule will achieve reductions of 99
MMTCO2Eq. (Baseline FY 2010: 0 MMTCO2Eq.)
By 2015, additional programs from across EPA will promote practices to help Americans
save energy and conserve resources, leading to expected greenhouse gas emissions
reductions of 740.1 MMTCO2Eq. from a baseline without adoption of efficient practices.
This reduction compares to 500.4 MMTCO2Eq. reduced in 2008. (Baseline FY 2008:
ENERGY STAR 140.8 MMTCO2Eq., Industrial Programs [1] 314.2 MMTCO2Eq.,
Smartway Transportation Partnership 4.2 MMTCO2Eq., Pollution Prevention Programs
6.5 MMTCO2Eq., Sustainable Materials Management Programs [2] 34.3 MMTCO2Eq.,
WaterSense Program 0.4 MMTCO2Eq., Executive Order 13514 [3] GHG Reduction
Program 0.0 MMTCO2Eq.)
By 2015, EPA will integrate climate change science trend and scenario information into
five major scientific models and/or decision-support tools used in implementing Agency
environmental management programs to further EPA's mission, consistent with existing
authorities (preference for one related to air quality, water quality, cleanup programs,
and chemical safety).[4] (Baseline FY 2010: 4 scientific models)
By 2015, EPA will account for climate change by integrating climate change science
trend and scenario information into five rule-making processes to further EPA's mission,
consistent with existing authorities (preference for one related to air quality, water
quality, cleanup programs, and chemical safety). [4] (Baseline FY 2010: 0)
By 2015, EPA will build resilience to climate change by integrating considerations of
climate change impacts and adaptive measures into five major grant, loan, contract, or
technical assistance programs to further EPA's mission, consistent with existing
authorities (preference for one related to air quality, water quality, cleanup programs,
and scientific research).[4] (Baseline FY 2010: 0)
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Objective 1.2: Improve Air Quality. Achieve and maintain health-based air pollution
standards and reduce risk from toxic air pollutants and indoor air contaminants.
Strategic Measures:
Reduce Criteria Pollutants and Regional Haze
By 2015, the population-weighted average concentrations of ozone (smog) in all
monitored counties will decrease to 0.073 ppm compared to the average of 0.078 ppm in
2009.
By 2015, the population-weighted average concentrations of inhalable fine particles in all
monitored counties will decrease to 10.5 |ig/m3 compared to the average of 11.7 |ig/m3 in
2009.
By 2015, reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX) to 14.7 million tons per year
compared to the 2009 level of 19.4 million tons emitted.
By 2015, reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (802) to 7.4 million tons per year compared
to the 2009 level of 13.8 million tons emitted.
By 2015, reduce emissions of direct particulate matter (PM) to 3.9 million tons per year
compared to the 2009 level of 4.2 million tons emitted.
By 2018, visibility in scenic parks and wilderness areas will improve by 15 percent in the
East and 5 percent in the West, on the 20 percent worst visibility days, as compared to
visibility on the 20 percent worst days during the 2000-2004 baseline.
By 2015, with EPA support for developing capability including training, policy, and
administrative and technical support, 15 additional tribes will possess the expertise and
capability to implement the Clean Air Act in Indian country (as demonstrated by
successful completion of an eligibility determination under the Tribal Authority Rule),
for a cumulative total of 62 from the 2009 baseline of 47 tribes.
Reduce Air Toxics
By 2015, reduce emissions of air toxics (toxi city-weighted for cancer) to 4.2 million tons
from the 1993 toxicity-weighted baseline of 7.2 million tons.[5]
Reduce the Adverse Ecological Effects of Acid Deposition
By 2015, air pollution emissions reductions will reduce the number of chronically acidic
water bodies and improve associated ecosystem health in acid-sensitive regions of the
northern and eastern United States by approximately 10 percent below the 2001 baseline
of approximately 500 lakes and 5,000 kilometers of stream length.
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Reduce Exposure to Indoor Air Pollutants
By 2015, the number of future premature lung cancer deaths prevented annually through
lowered radon exposure will increase to 1,460 from the 2008 baseline of 756 future
premature lung cancer deaths prevented.
By 2015, the number of people taking all essential actions to reduce exposure to indoor
environmental asthma triggers will increase to 7.6 million from the 2003 baseline of 3.0
million. EPA will place special emphasis on children at home and in schools, and on
other disproportionately impacted populations.
Objective 1.3: Restore the Ozone Layer. Restore the earth's stratospheric ozone layer and
protect the public from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
Strategic Measure:
Reduce Consumption of Ozone-Depleting Substances
By 2015, U.S. consumption of hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), chemicals that
deplete the Earth's protective ozone layer, will be less than 1,520 tons per year of ozone
depletion potential from the 2009 baseline of 9,900 tons per year. By this time, as a
result of worldwide reduction in ozone-depleting substances, the level of "equivalent
effective stratospheric chlorine" (EESC) in the atmosphere will have peaked at 3.185
parts per billion (ppb) of air by volume and begun its gradual decline to less than 1.800
ppb (1980 level).
Objective 1.4: Reduce Unnecessary Exposure to Radiation. Minimize unnecessary
releases of radiation and be prepared to minimize impacts should unwanted releases occur.
Strategic Measure:
Prepare for Radiological Emergencies
Through 2015, EPA will maintain a 90 percent level of readiness of radiation program
personnel and assets to support federal radiological emergency response and recovery
operations, maintaining the 2010 baseline of 90 percent.
End Notes:
[1] Industrial Programs include ENERGY STAR for Industry, Natural Gas STAR Coalbed Methane
Outreach Program (CMOP), Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP), Green Power Partnership,
Combined Heat and Power Partnership (CHP), Voluntary Aluminum Industry Partnership (VAIP), HFC-
23 Emission Reduction Partnerships, Mobile Air Conditioning Climate Protection Partnership (MAC),
Environmental Stewardship Initiative, Significant New Alternatives Policy Program (SNAP), Responsible
Appliance Disposal Program (RAD), GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership, and Landfill Rule.
[2] Sustainable Materials Management Programs include Waste Wise, National Waste Recycling, and
Coal Combustion Products Recycling (C2P2).
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[3] The Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance Executive Order was
signed on October 5, 2009. The Executive Order sets sustainability goals for federal agencies and focuses
on making improvements in their environmental, energy, and economic performance.
[4] The climate is changing and this can impact EPA's ability to achieve its mission and strategic goals.
EPA is currently participating in an Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force which will
develop recommendations towards a national climate change adaptation strategy in the fall of 2010.
EPA's adaptation measures provide a snapshot of EPA's overall effort to integrate climate change
adaptation into mainstream decision making within EPA. As the work of the Task Force continues,
future measures may be developed that assess the effectiveness of adaptation actions or that reflect a more
refined set of climate change adaptation priorities.
[5] The 2015 target is an estimate based on the 2005 National Emissions Inventory (NEI) released in
2008, which does not include the impacts of post-2007 rulemakings. Updated estimates that do include
the impacts of more recent rulemakings will be available after the release of the 2008 NEI in 2011.
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Goal 2: Protecting America's Waters. Protect and restore our waters to ensure that drinking
water is safe, and that aquatic ecosystems sustain fish, plants and wildlife, and economic,
recreational, and subsistence activities.
Objective 2.1: Protect Human Health. Reduce human exposure to contaminants in drinking
water, fish and shellfish, and recreational waters, including protecting source waters.
Strategic Measures:
Water Safe to Drink
By 2015, 90 percent of community water systems will provide drinking water that meets
all applicable health-based drinking water standards through approaches including
effective treatment and source water protection. (2005 baseline: 89 percent. Status as of
FY2009: 89 percent.)
By 2015, 88 percent of the population in Indian country served by community water
systems will receive drinking water that meets all applicable health-based drinking water
standards. (2005 baseline: 86 percent. Status as of FY 2009: 81 percent.)
By 2015, in coordination with other federal agencies, provide access to safe drinking
water for 136,100 American Indian and Alaska Native homes. (FY 2009 baseline:
80,900 homes. Universe: 360,000 homes.)
Fish and Shellfish Safe to Eat
By 2015, reduce the percentage of women of childbearing age having mercury levels in
blood above the level of concern to 4.6 percent. (2002 baseline: 5.7 percent of women of
childbearing age have mercury blood levels above levels of concern identified by the
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).)[1]
Water Safe for Swimming
By 2015, maintain the percentage of days of the beach season that coastal and Great
Lakes beaches monitored by state beach safety programs are open and safe for swimming
at 95 percent. (2007 baseline: Beaches open 95 percent of the 679,589 days of the beach
season (beach season days are equal to 3,647 beaches multiplied by variable number of
days of beach season at each beach). Status as of FY 2009: 95 percent.)[2]
Objective 2.2: Protect and Restore Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems. Protect the
quality of rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands on a watershed basis, and protect urban,
coastal, and ocean waters.
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Strategic Measures:
Improve Water Quality on a Watershed Basis
By 2015, attain water quality standards for all pollutants and impairments in more than
3,360 water bodies identified in 2002 as not attaining standards (cumulative). (2002
universe: 39,798 water bodies identified by states and tribes as not meeting water quality
standards. Water bodies where mercury is among multiple pollutants causing impairment
may be counted toward this target when all pollutants but mercury attain standards, but
must be identified as still needing restoration for mercury; 1,703 impaired water bodies
are impaired by multiple pollutants including mercury, and 6,501 are impaired by
mercury alone. Status as of FY 2009: 2,505 water bodies attained standards.)
By 2015, improve water quality conditions in 330 impaired watersheds nationwide using
the watershed approach (cumulative). (2002 baseline: Zero watersheds improved of an
estimated 4,800 impaired watersheds of focus having one or more water bodies impaired.
The watershed boundaries for this measure are those established at the " 12-digit" scale by
the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Watersheds at this scale average 22 square miles in
size. "Improved" means that one or more of the impairment causes identified in 2002 are
removed for at least 40 percent of the impaired water bodies or impaired miles/acres, or
there is significant watershed-wide improvement, as demonstrated by valid scientific
information, in one or more water quality parameters associated with the impairments.
Status as of FY 2009: 104 improved watersheds.)
Through 2015, ensure that the condition of the Nation's streams and lakes does not
degrade (i.e., there is no statistically significant increase in the percent rated "poor" and
no statistically significant decrease rated "good.") (2006 baseline for streams: 28 percent
in good condition; 25 percent in fair condition; 42 percent in poor condition. 2010
baseline for lakes: 56 percent in good condition; 21 percent in fair condition; 22 percent
in poor condition.)
By 2015, improve water quality in Indian country at 50 or more baseline monitoring
stations in tribal waters (cumulative) (i.e., show improvement in one or more of seven
key parameters: dissolved oxygen, pH, water temperature, total nitrogen, total
phosphorus, pathogen indicators, and turbidity) and identify monitoring stations on tribal
lands that are showing no degradation in water quality (meaning the waters are meeting
uses). (2006 baseline: 185 monitoring stations on tribal waters located where water
quality has been depressed and activities are underway or planned to improve water
quality, out of an estimated 2,037 stations operated by tribes.)
By 2015, in coordination with other federal agencies, provide access to basic sanitation
for 67,900 American Indian and Alaska Native homes. (FY 2009 baseline: 43,600
homes. Universe: 360,000 homes.)
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Improve Coastal and Ocean Waters
By 2015, improve regional coastal aquatic ecosystem health, as measured on the
"good/fair/poor" scale of the National Coastal Condition Report. (FY 2009 baseline:
National rating of "fair" or 2.8 where the rating is based on a 4-point system ranging from
1.0 to 5.0 in which 1 is poor and 5 is good using the National Coastal Condition Report
indicators for water and sediment, coastal habitat, benthic index, and fish contamination.)
By 2015, 95 percent of active dredged material ocean dumping sites, as determined by 3-
year average, will have achieved environmentally acceptable conditions (as reflected in
each site's management plan and measured through onsite monitoring programs). (2009
baseline: 99 percent. FY 2009 universe is 65.) (Due to variability in the universe of
sites, results vary from year to year (e.g., between 85 percent and 99 percent). While this
much variability is not expected every year, the results are expected to have some change
each year.)
By 2015, working with partners, protect or restore an additional (i.e., measuring from
2009 forward) 600,000 acres of habitat within the study areas for the 28 estuaries that are
part of the National Estuary Program. (2009 baseline: 900,956 acres of habitat protected
or restored, cumulative from 2002-2009. In FY 2009, 125,437 acres were protected or
restored.)
Increase Wetlands
By 2015, working with partners, achieve a net increase of wetlands nationwide, with
additional focus on coastal wetlands, and biological and functional measures and
assessment of wetland condition. (2004 baseline: 32,000 acres annual net national
wetland gain.)
Improve the Health of the Great Lakes
By 2015, prevent water pollution and protect aquatic systems so that the overall
ecosystem health of the Great Lakes is at least 24.7 points on a 40-point scale. (2009
baseline: Great Lakes rating of 22.5 (expected) on the 40-point scale where the rating
uses select Great Lakes State of the Lakes Ecosystem indicators based on a 1 to 5 rating
system for each indicator, where 1 is poor and 5 is good.)
By 2015, remediate a cumulative total of 10.2 million cubic yards of contaminated
sediment in the Great Lakes. (2009 baseline: Of the 46.5 million cubic yards once
estimated to need remediation in the Great Lakes, 6.0 million cubic yards of
contaminated sediments have been remediated from 1997 through 2008.)
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Improve the Health of the Chesapeake Bay Ecosystem
By 2015, achieve 50 percent (92,500 acres) of the 185,000 acres of submerged aquatic
vegetation necessary to achieve Chesapeake Bay water quality standards. (2008 baseline:
35 percent, 64,912 acres.)
Restore and Protect the Gulf of Mexico
By 2015, reduce releases of nutrients throughout the Mississippi River Basin to reduce
the size of the hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico to less than 5,000 km2, as measured by
the 5-year running average of the size of the zone. (Baseline: 2005-2009 running
average size is 15,670 km2.)
Restore and Protect the Long Island Sound
By 2015, reduce the maximum area of hypoxia in Long Island Sound by 15 percent from
the pre-TMDL average of 208 square miles as measured by the 5-year running average
size of the zone. (Baseline: Pre-total maximum daily load (TMDL) average conditions
based on 1987-1999 data is 208 square miles. Post-TMDL includes years 2000-2014.
Universe: The total surface area of Long Island Sound is approximately 1,268 square
miles; the potential for the maximum area of hypoxia would be 1,268 square miles.)
Restore and Protect the Puget Sound Basin
By 2015, improve water quality and enable the lifting of harvest restrictions in 4,300
acres of shellfish bed growing areas impacted by degraded or declining water quality in
the Puget Sound. (2009 baseline: 1,730 acres of shellfish beds with harvest restrictions
in 2006 had their restrictions lifted. Universe: 30,000 acres of commercial shellfish beds
with harvest restrictions in 2006.)
Sustain and Restore the U.S.-Mexico Border Environmental Health
By 2015, provide safe drinking water or adequate wastewater sanitation to 75 percent of
the homes in the U.S.-Mexico Border area that lacked access to either service in 2003.
(2003 Universe: 98,515 homes lacked drinking water and 690,723 homes lacked
adequate wastewater sanitation based on a 2003 assessment of homes in the U.S.-Mexico
Border area. 2015 target: 73,886 homes provided with safe drinking water and 518,042
homes with adequate wastewater sanitation.)
End Notes:
[1] EPA is in the process of developing a consistent methodology for analyzing the data from Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) reports.
The baseline and target may be reset when the analysis is complete at the end of CY 2010.
[2] In 2007, EPA added Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas, which resulted in a lower
baseline and target.
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Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development. Clean up
communities, advance sustainable development, and protect disproportionately impacted low-
income, minority, and tribal communities. Prevent releases of harmful substances and clean up
and restore contaminated areas.
Objective 3.1: Promote Sustainable and Livable Communities. Support sustainable,
resilient, and livable communities by working with local, state, tribal, and federal partners to
promote smart growth, emergency preparedness and recovery planning, brownfield
redevelopment, and the equitable distribution of environmental benefits.
Strategic Measures:
Promote Sustainable Communities
By 2015, reduce the air, water, land, and human health impacts of new growth and
development through the use of smart growth and sustainable development strategies in
600 (cumulative) communities, which includes local municipalities, regional entities, and
state governments, through activities resulting from EPA and federal partner actions.
(Baseline: In FY 2010, an estimated 34 communities will be assisted.)[1]
Assess and Cleanup Brownfields
By 2015, conduct environmental assessments at 20,600 (cumulative) brownfield
properties. (Baseline: As of the end of FY 2009, EPA assessed 14,600 properties.)
By 2015, make an additional 17,800 acres of brownfield properties ready for reuse from
the 2009 baseline. (Baseline: As of the end of FY 2009, EPA made 11,800 acres ready
for reuse.)
Reduce Chemical Risks at Facilities and in Communities
By 2015, continue to maintain the Risk Management Plan (RMP) prevention program
and further reduce by 10 percent the number of accidents at RMP facilities. (Baseline:
There was an annual average of 190 accidents based on RMP program data between
2005-2009.)
Objective 3.2: Preserve Land. Conserve resources and prevent land contamination by
reducing waste generation, increasing recycling, and ensuring proper management of waste
and petroleum products.
Strategic Measures:
Waste Generation and Recycling
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By 2015, increase the amount of municipal solid waste reduced, reused, or recycled by
2.5 billion pounds. (At the end of FY 2008, 22.5 billion pounds of municipal solid waste
had been reduced, reused, or recycled.)
By 2015, increase beneficial use of coal combustion ash to 50 percent from 40 percent in
2008.
By 2015, increase by 78 the number of tribes covered by an integrated waste
management plan compared to FY 2009. (At the end of FY 2009, 94 of 572 federally
recognized tribes were covered by an integrated waste management plan.)
By 2015, close, clean up, or upgrade 281 open dumps in Indian country and on other
tribal lands compared to FY 2009. (At the end of FY 2009, 412 open dumps were closed,
cleaned up, or upgraded. As of April 2010, 3,464 open dumps were listed in the Indian
Health Service Operation and Maintenance System Database, which is dynamic because
of the ongoing assessment of open dumps.)
Minimize Releases of Hazardous Waste and Petroleum Products
By 2015, prevent releases at 500 hazardous waste management facilities with initial
approved controls or updated controls resulting in the protection of an estimated 3 million
people living within a mile of all facilities with controls. (Baseline: At the end of FY
2009, it was estimated that 789 facilities will require these controls out of the universe of
2,468 facilities with about 10,000 process units. The goal of 500 represents 63 percent of
the facilities needing controls.)
Each year through 2015, increase the percentage of underground storage tank (UST)
facilities that are in significant operational compliance (SOC) with both release detection
and release prevention requirements by 0.5 percent over the previous year's target.
(Baseline: This means an increase of facilities in SOC from 65.5 percent in 2010 to 68
percent in 2015.)
Each year through 2015, reduce the number of confirmed releases at UST facilities to 5
percent fewer than the prior year's target. (Baseline: Between FY 1999 and FY 2009,
confirmed UST releases averaged 8,113.)
Objective 3.3: Restore Land. Prepare for and respond to accidental or intentional releases
of contaminants and clean up and restore polluted sites.
Strategic Measures:
Deepwater Horizon BP Oil Spill: Oil Spill Program Review
By 2015, in response to the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, EPA
will conduct a thorough assessment of its rules, guidelines, and procedures relating to all
relevant aspects of EPA's oil spill program, including prevention of, preparedness for,
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response to, and recovery efforts, and update them as needed, and ensure that the Agency
has the appropriate tools to respond to environmental disasters of this scale.
Emergency Preparedness and Response
By 2015, achieve and maintain at least 80 percent of the maximum score on the Core
National Approach to Response (NAR) evaluation criteria. (Baseline: In FY 2009, the
average Core NAR Score was 84 percent for EPA headquarters, regions, and special
teams prepared for responding to emergencies.)[2]
By 2015, complete an additional 1,700 Superfund removals through Agency-financed
actions and through oversight of removals conducted by potentially responsible parties
(PRPs). (Baseline: In FY 2009, there were 434 Superfund removal actions completed
including 214 funded by the Agency and 220 overseen by the Agency that were
conducted by PRPs under a voluntary agreement, an administrative order on consent, or a
unilateral administrative order.)
By 2015, no more than 1.5 million gallons will be spilled annually at Facility Response
Plan (FRP) facilities, a 15 percent reduction from the annual average of 1.7 million
gallons spilled from 2005-2009.
Cleanup Contaminated Land
By 2015, complete 93,400 assessments at potential hazardous waste sites to determine if
they warrant Comprehensive Emergency Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA) remedial response or other cleanup activities. (Baseline: As of 2010, the
cumulative total number of assessments completed was 88,000.)[3]
By 2015, increase to 84 percent the number of Superfund final and deleted NPL sites and
RCRA facilities where human exposures to toxins from contaminated sites are under
control. (Baseline: As of October 2009, 70 percent Superfund final and deleted NPL
sites and RCRA facilities have human exposures under control out of a universe of
5,330.)[4]
By 2015, increase to 78 percent the number of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
(RCRA) facilities with migration of contaminated groundwater under control. (Baseline:
At the end of FY 2009, the migration of contaminated groundwater was controlled at 58
percent of all 3,746 facilities needing corrective action.)
By 2015, increase to 56 percent the number of RCRA facilities with final remedies
constructed. (Baseline: At the end of FY 2009, all cleanup remedies had been
constructed at 32 percent of all 3,746 facilities needing corrective action.)
Each year through 2015, reduce the backlog of LUST cleanups (confirmed releases that
have yet to be cleaned up) that do not meet risk-based standards for human exposure and
groundwater migration by 1 percent. This means a decrease from 21 percent in 2009 to
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14 percent in 2015. (At the end of FY 2009, there were 100,165 releases not yet cleaned
up.)
Each year through 2015, reduce the backlog of LUST cleanups (confirmed releases that
have yet to be cleaned up) in Indian country that do not meet applicable risk-based
standards for human exposure and groundwater migration by 1 percent. This means a
decrease from 28 percent in 2009 to 22 percent in 2015.
By 2015, ensure that 799 Superfund NPL sites are "sitewide ready for anticipated use."
(Baseline: As of October 2009, 409 final and deleted NPL sites had achieved "sitewide
ready for anticipated use.")[5]
Objective 3.4: Strengthen Human Health and Environmental Protection in Indian
Country. Support federally-recognized tribes to build environmental management capacity,
assess environmental conditions and measure results, and implement environmental
programs in Indian country.
Strategic Measures:
Improve Human Health and the Environment in Indian Country
By 2015, increase the percent of tribes implementing federal regulatory environmental
programs in Indian country to 18 percent. (FY 2009 baseline: 13 percent of 572 tribes)
By 2015, increase the percent of tribes conducting EPA-approved environmental
monitoring and assessment activities in Indian country to 50 percent. (FY 2009 baseline:
40 percent of 572 tribes)
End Notes:
[1] Included in the cumulative number are communities receiving assistance from: (1) direct EPA
technical assistance programs; (2) EPA-funded grants and cooperative agreements to non-governmental
organizations; and (3) in a limited number of communities (i.e., 6 of the total 34 communities in the FY
2010 baseline), technical assistance done in collaboration with other EPA programs (such as EPA's
brownfields program) and other federal agencies (such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency
and the U.S. Departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development).
[2] Consistent with the government-wide National Response Framework (NRF), EPA will work to fully
implement the priorities under its internal NAR so that the Agency is prepared to respond to multiple
nationally significant incidents. Core NAR builds upon the Core Emergency Response concept while
integrating the priority elements of EPA's NAR Preparedness Plan, and the Homeland Security Priority
Workplan, to reflect an Agency-wide assessment of progress.
[3] This new strategic measure accounts for all remedial assessments performed at sites addressed under
the Superfund program, whereas the measure in the previous (2006-2011) Strategic Plan captured only a
subset of these assessments (i.e., the final assessments completed at sites). By capturing the assessment
work leading to final assessment decisions, including the initial screening assessments to determine
Superfund eligibility, the new measure more fully accounts for the work performed during the Superfund
site assessment process.
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[4] EPA is currently revising its dioxin risk assessment which may affect the targets and baselines for the
human exposures under control and sitewide ready for anticipated use measures.
[5] As part of the Integrated Cleanup Initiative, EPA is evaluating "sitewide ready for anticipated use"
across all cleanup programs and may modify the above Superfund measure in the future to include
corresponding brownfields, RCRA corrective action, and leaking underground storage tank program
goals.
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Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution. Reduce the risk and
increase the safety of chemicals and prevent pollution at the source.
Objective 4.1: Ensure Chemical Safety. Reduce the risk of chemicals that enter our
products, our environment, and our bodies.
Strategic Measures:
Protect Human Health from Chemical Risks
By 2015, reduce by 40 percent the number of moderate to severe exposure incidents
associated with organophosphates and carbamate insecticides in the general population.
(Baseline is 316 moderate and severe incidents reported to the Poison Control Center
(PCC) National Poison Data System (NPDS) in 2008 for organophosphate and carbamate
pesticides.)
By 2014, reduce the percentage of children with blood lead levels above 5 |ig/dl to 1.0
percent or less. (Baseline is 3.0 percent in the 2005-2008 sampling period.)[1]
By 2014, reduce the percent difference in the geometric mean blood lead level in low-
income children 1-5 years old as compared to the geometric mean for non-low income
children 1-5 years old to 10.0 percent. (Baseline is 23.4 percent difference in the
geometric mean blood lead level in low-income children 1-5 years old as compared to the
geometric mean for non-low income children 1-5 years old in 2005-2008.) [1]
By 2014, reduce the concentration in the general population for the following chemicals:
non-specific organophosphate metabolites by 75 percent; chlorpyrifos metabolite (TCPy)
by 75 percent; and, perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA) in serum by 2 percent. (Baselines
are derived from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) concentration data in the general population
and results are reported biennially. Pesticide baselines are based on 2001-2002 95th
percentile data for non-specific organophosphate metabolites (0.45 jimol/L) and
chlorpyrifos metabolite (TCPy) (12.4 |ig/L). PFOA baseline is based on 2005-2006
geometric mean data in serum (3.92 |ig/L).)
By 2014, reduce concentration for the following chemicals in children: non-specific
organophosphate metabolites by 75 percent and chlorpyrifos metabolite (TCPy) by 75
percent. (Baselines are derived from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) metabolite concentration
data in children and results are reported biennially. Pesticide baselines are based on
2001-2002 data for non-specific organophosphate metabolites (0.55 |imol/L) and
chlorpyrifos metabolite (TCPy) (16.0 |ig/L).)
By 2015, complete endocrine disrupter screening program (EDSP) decisions for 100
percent of chemicals for which complete EDSP information is expected to be available
by the end of 2014. (Baseline is no decisions have been completed through 2009 for any
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of the chemicals for which complete EDSP information is anticipated to be available by
the end of 2014. EDSP decisions for a chemical can range from determining potential to
interact with the estrogen, androgen, or thyroid hormone systems to otherwise
determining whether further endocrine related testing is necessary.)
Protect Ecosystems from Chemical Risks
By 2015, no watersheds will exceed aquatic life benchmarks for targeted pesticides.
(Based on FY 1992-2001 data from the watersheds sampled by the USGS National Water
Quality Assessment (NAWQA) program, urban watersheds that exceed the National
Pesticide Program aquatic life benchmarks are 73 percent for diazinon, 37 percent for
chlorpyrifos, and 13 percent for carbaryl. Agricultural watersheds that exceed the
National Pesticide Program aquatic life benchmarks are 18 percent for azinphos-methyl
and 18 percent for chlorpyrifos.)
Ensure Transparency of Chemical Health and Safety Information
Through 2015, make all health and safety studies available to the public for chemicals in
commerce, to the extent allowed by law. (Baseline is 21,994 confidential business
information (CBI) cases of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) health and safety
studies as defined in TSCA Section 3(6) that were submitted for chemicals potentially in
commerce between the enactment of TSCA and January 21, 2010.)
Objective 4.2: Promote Pollution Prevention. Conserve and protect natural resources by
promoting pollution prevention and the adoption of other stewardship practices by
companies, communities, governmental organizations, and individuals.
Strategic Measures:
Prevent Pollution and Promote Environmental Stewardship
By 2015, reduce 15 billion pounds of hazardous materials cumulatively through pollution
prevention. (Baseline is 4.8 billion pounds reduced through 2008.)
By 2015, reduce 9 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCC^Eq.)
cumulatively through pollution prevention. (Baseline is 6.5 MMTCC^Eq. reduced
through 2008. The data from this measure are also calculated into the Agency's overall
GHG measure under Goal 1.)
By 2015, reduce water use by an additional 24 billion gallons cumulatively through
pollution prevention. (Baseline is 51 billion gallons reduced through 2008.)
By 2015, save $1.2 billion through pollution prevention improvements in business,
institutional, and government costs cumulatively. (Baseline is $3.1 billion saved through
2008.)
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Through 2015, increase the use of safer chemicals cumulatively by 40 percent.
(Baseline: 476 million pounds of safer chemicals used in 2009 as reported to be in
commerce by Design for the Environment program.)
End Note:
[1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
(NHANES) data are collected in 2-year samples and released incrementally with the data typically
becoming available 2 to 3 years after the sampling period ends.
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Goal 5: Enforcing Environmental Laws. Protect human health and the environment through
vigorous and targeted civil and criminal enforcement. Assure compliance with environmental
laws.
Objective 5.1: Enforce Environmental Laws. Pursue vigorous civil and criminal
enforcement that targets the most serious water, air, and chemical hazards in communities.
Assure strong, consistent, and effective enforcement of federal environmental laws nationwide.
Strategic Measures:
Note: The enforcement measures in this Plan reflect: (1) the enforcement presence and
level-of-effort measures that reflect the Agency's continued and strong investment in
enforcement work; and, (2) the reductions in pollution achieved through enforcement
cases (i.e., case-specific outcome indicators) which are dominated by the very largest
cases and will typically vary widely over time depending on the pollution problems being
addressed. EPA is also developing enforcement measures for work done to support the
strategic outcomes under each of the media-specific goals in this Plan; these measures
will be described in future Annual Plans and Budgets and Annual Performance Reports.
Maintain Enforcement Presence
By 2015, conduct 105,000 federal inspections and evaluations (5-year cumulative). (FY
2005-2009 baseline: 21,000 annually)
By 2015, initiate 19,500 civil judicial and administrative enforcement cases (5-year
cumulative). (FY 2005-2009 baseline: 3,900 annually)
By 2015, conclude 19,000 civil judicial and administrative enforcement cases (5-year
cumulative). (FY 2005-2009 baseline: 3,800 annually)
By 2015, maintain review of the overall compliance status of 100 percent of the open
consent decrees. (Baseline 2009: 100 percent)
Each year through 2015, support clean ups and save federal dollars for sites where there
are no alternatives by: (1) reaching a settlement or taking an enforcement action before
the start of a remedial action at 99 percent of Superfund sites having viable responsible
parties other than the federal government; and, (2) addressing all cost recovery statute of
limitation cases with total past costs greater than or equal to $200,000. (Baseline: 99
percent of sites reaching a settlement or EPA taking an enforcement action (FY 2007-
2009 annual average); 100 percent cost recovery statute of limitation cases addressed (FY
2009))
By 2015, increase the percentage of criminal cases with charges filed to 45 percent. (FY
2006-2010 baseline: 36 percent)
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By 2015, maintain an 85 percent conviction rate for criminal defendants. (FY 2006-2010
baseline: 85 percent)
Support Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
By 2015, reduce, treat, or eliminate 2,400 million estimated pounds of air pollutants as a
result of concluded enforcement actions (5-year cumulative). (FY 2005-2008 baseline:
480 million pounds, annual average over the period)
Support Protecting America's Waters
By 2015, reduce, treat, or eliminate 1,600 million estimated pounds of water pollutants as
a result of concluded enforcement actions (5-year cumulative). (FY 2005-2008 baseline:
320 million pounds, annual average over the period)
Support Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development
By 2015, reduce, treat, or eliminate 32,000 million estimated pounds of hazardous waste
as a result of concluded enforcement actions (5-year cumulative). (FY 2008 baseline:
6,500 million pounds)
By 2015, obtain commitments to clean up 1,500 million cubic yards of contaminated soil
and groundwater media [1] as a result of concluded CERCLA and RCRA corrective
action enforcement actions (5-year cumulative). (FY 2007-2009 baseline: 300 million
cubic yards of contaminated soil and groundwater media, annual average over the period)
Support Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution
By 2015, reduce, treat, or eliminate 19.0 million estimated pounds of toxic and pesticide
pollutants as a result of concluded enforcement actions (5-year cumulative). (FY 2005-
2008 baseline: 3.8 million pounds, annual average over the period)
Enhance Strategic Deterrence through Criminal Enforcement
By 2015, increase the percentage of criminal cases having the most significant health,
environmental, and deterrence impacts to 50 percent. (FY 2010 baseline: 36 percent)[2]
By 2015, maintain 75 percent of criminal cases with an individual defendant. (FY 2006-
2008 baseline: 75 percent)
End Notes:
[1] Contaminated groundwater media, as defined for the Superfund and RCRA corrective action
programs, is the volume of physical aquifer (both soil and water) that will be addressed by the response
action.
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[2] EPA collects data on a variety of case attributes to describe the range, complexity, and quality of our
criminal enforcement national docket. Cases are tiered depending on factors such as the human health
(death, injury) and environmental impacts, the nature of the pollutant and the its release into the
environment, and the characteristics of the subject(s). This measure reflects the percentage of cases in the
upper tiers.
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Office of the Chief Financial Officer
Office of Planning, Analysis, and Accountability (2721 A)
United States Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/plan.htm
EPA-190-R-10-001
September 2010
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