U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
FY 2011 -2015
EPA Strategic Plan
Achieving
Our Vision
v
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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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Fiscal Year 2011-2015
EPA Strategic Plan
Achieving Our Vision
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
September 30, 2010
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Table of Contents
Message from the Administrator 1
Introduction 4
Strategic Goals 6
Goal 1: Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality 6
Goal 2: Protecting America's Waters 11
Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development 15
Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution 19
Goal 5: Enforcing Environmental Laws 23
External Factors and Emerging Issues 25
Summary of Program Evaluation 27
Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategies 28
Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism 29
Working for Environmental Justice and Children's Health 30
Advancing Science, Research, and Technological Innovation 32
Strengthening State, Tribal, and International Partnerships 34
Strengthening EPA's Workforce and Capabilities 36
Strategic Measurement Framework 37
Goal 1: Taking Action on Climate Change and Improving Air Quality 43
Goal 2: Protecting America's Waters 46
Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development 49
Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution 52
Goal 5: Enforcing Environmental Laws 54
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Message from
the Administrator
Since beginning my tenure as Administrator of the U.S. Environ-
mental Protection Agency, I have been challenged by the difficult
issues we face and inspired by the talent and dedication of our
extraordinary workforce. There is no doubt the EPA is on the job.
We have made exceptional progress in protecting the environ-
ment 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 2077-2075 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 out-
comes, 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 strengthen-
ing 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 disas-
ters, 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 commit-
ments 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 environ-
mental and human-health effects and set the Gulf Coast on the path to recovery.
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.
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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 pollu-
tion 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 envi-
ronmental challenges. The collapse of a coal-ash impoundment in Kingston, Tenn., focused the EPA'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, economi-
cally vibrant communities. And by 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 trans-
parency 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
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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 Environmentalism: 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 conver-
sation 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.
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 regula-
tions, 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 environ-
mentalism, 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 increas-
ingly 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 c eaner, 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 workforce,
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.
t
Lisa P.Jackson
3
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ntroduction
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) 2077-2075 EPA Strategic
Plan responds to this increasing degree of
environmental awareness and the challenges
that lie ahead.1 We have created a stream-
lined executive-level Plan that sets the Agency's
direction, advances the Administrator's priorities, and
will be used routinely by the Agency's senior leader-
ship 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
•f Goal 2: Protecting America's Waters
+ Goal 3: Cleaning Up Communities and
Advancing Sustainable Development
•f Goal 4: Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and
Preventing Pollution
4- 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 per-
formance 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 per-
formance 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 2077-2075 EPA Strategic
Plan draw upon some of the indicators contained in
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EPA's 2008 Report on the Environment
(ROE).2 The indicators help us to
monitor trends in environmental
conditions and environmental influ-
ences on human health. Our 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 environ-
ment 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 success—federal3, state, tribal,
and local governments, and cooperat-
ing partners and stakeholders—are
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 2077-2075 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 stra-
tegic 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 through-
out the effort to develop the Draft Plan.
Significantly expanded our outreach efforts for public
review of the Draft FY2011-2015 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; environ-
mental, 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 discus-
sion 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 com-
ments, compared to approximately 50 public comments
for prior Draft Strategic Plans.
1 The Fiscal Year 2077-2075 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.
Climate change poses risks to human
health, the environment, cultural
resources, the economy, and quality of
life.1 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 signifi-
cantly.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
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 43 through 45.
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
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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 cost-effective, volun-
tary programs while pursuing additional regulatory
actions as needed. Our efforts include:
•f 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
•f 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
•f Developing standards to reduce GHG emis-
sions from nonroad sources such as marine and
aircraft and land-based nonroad equipment and
locomotives.
•f Implementing permitting requirements for
facilities that emit large amounts of GHGs to
encourage design and construction of more
efficient and advanced processes that will con-
tribute to a clean energy economy.
•f 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.
•f Collaborating with state, local, and tribal gov-
ernments on regulatory and policy initiatives,
technical assistance, and voluntary programs
related to climate change mitigation and adaption.
•f Collaborating with countries and other interna-
tional partners to reduce methane emissions and
deliver clean energy to markets around the world
through the Global Methane Initiative.
•f Developing a comprehensive report to Congress
on black carbon that will provide a foundation
for evaluating future approaches to black carbon
mitigation.
•f Pursuing a sustainable, life-cycle approach to
managing materials.
•f Identifying and assessing substitute chemical and
ozone-depleting substances and processes for
their global-warming potential.
•f 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 work-
ing to attain are sensitive to weather and climate.
Consequently, every action EPA takes, including pro-
mulgating 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 stan-
dards, 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 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 findings8, 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
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work with states and tribes to develop and imple-
ment 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 imple-
menting 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 emis-
sions 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 imple-
mentation 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 tech-
nological 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 reduc-
tions 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 develop-
ing a strategy
aimed at reduc-
ing toxic air
pollution
from station-
ary 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 refin-
ing, 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 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
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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 com-
munities' 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 responsibi -
ity for protecting people and the environment from
harmful and avoidable exposures. In fulfilling this
responsibility, we will review and update our radia-
tion protection regulations and guidance, operate the
national radiation monitoring system, maintain radio-
logical 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.
Applied Research
EPAs research efforts will focus on a number of air
quality and climate areas over the next several years.
In particular, EPA will:
•f Conduct integrated science assessments of
criteria air pollutants and provide new data and
approaches for improving these assessments;
•f Improve inventory and risk information to better
inform Agency actions relative to air toxics;
•f Promote resilience and adaptation by connecting
air quality, water quality, and land use managers
with climate change information and decision-
support tools;
•f Promote systems research and life-cycle analy-
sis in analyzing the health and environmental
impacts of energy production and operation,
including biofuels; and,
•f Investigate the influence of climate change on
clean air, as well as the impacts of emissions from
low-carbon fuels in transportation.
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End
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 Cuide 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 publicly
available 100 percent of facility-level GHG emissions data submitted to EPA in accordance with the GHG Reporting Rule, compli-
ant 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 implemen-
tation 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 (PL 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.
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/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?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/recordisplay.cfm?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.
The nation's water resources are the life-
blood 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 seri-
ous 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.
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 46 through 48.
Pollution discharged from industrial, municipal,
agricultural, and stormwater sources continue to be
causes of water quality problems, but other signifi-
cant 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 vegeta-
tion, which affect upwards of 50 percent of our lakes
and streams.1 Climate change will compound these
-------
problems, highlighting the urgency to evaluate with
our partners options for protecting infrastructure, con-
serving water reducing energy use, adopting "green"
infrastructure and watershed-based practices, and
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 areas3, and take action on climate
change. EPA has established two Priority Goals for
the revision of drinking water standards to strengthen
public health protection4
and the development of
state watershed implemen-
tation 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:
•f Financing public water system infrastructure to
protect and maintain drinking water quality;
•f Strengthening compliance with drinking water
standards;
•f Continuing to protect sources of drinking water
from contamination;
•f Developing new and revising existing drinking
water standards; and,
•f Supporting states, tribes, territories, and local
water systems in implementing these standards.
While promoting sustainable management of drink-
ing 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 con-
struction of infrastructure that brings safe drinking
water into the homes of small, rural, and disadvan-
taged 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 mak-
ing and expand protection
to meet the needs of rural,
urban, and other communi-
ties. 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 drin king 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 water-
bodies, and recreational waters. These standards are
the foundation for tools to 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 test-
ing methods that provide quicker results and enable
faster action on beach safety.
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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:
•f Protect, restore, maintain, and improve water
quality by financing wastewater treatment
infrastructure;
•f Conduct monitoring and assessment;
•f Establish pollution reduction targets;
•f Update water quality standards;
•f Issue and enforce discharge permits; and,
•f 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 communi-
ties, 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 pollut-
ants 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 pollu-
tion from stormwater events.6
EPA will also lead efforts to restore and protect
aquatic ecosystems and wetlands, particularly in
key geographic areas3, 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 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 associ-
ated 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:
•f Evaluating individual and groups of contami-
nants for the protection of human health and
the environment;
•f Developing innovative tools, technologies, and
strategies for managing water resources (includ-
ing stormwater); and,
•f 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.
13
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End
1 U.S. EPA, 2006. Wadeable Streams Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Streams. EPA 841-B-06-002. Available a: http://
www.epa.gov/owow/s:reamsurvey. See also EPA, 2010. National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Lakes. EPA
841-R-09-001. Available a: h::p://www.epa.gov/lakessurvey/pdf/nla_chap:er0.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 informa-
tion, 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.
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.
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 high-
est 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 com-
munity 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 bal-
ance their economic and natural assets so that
the diverse needs of local residents can be met
now and in the future with limited environmental
Objectives:
Promote Sustainable and Livable
Communities. Support sustainable, resil-
ient, 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 equi-
table 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 condi-
tions and measure results, and implement
environmental programs in Indian country.
Strategic Measures associated with this Goal
are on pages 49 through 51.
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impacts. EPA accomplishes these outcomes by work-
ing 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.
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.1 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 com-
munities 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.
EPAs brownfields program emphasizes environmen-
tal 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 com-
munities.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 EPAs brownfields Priority Goal, area-wide
planning will be conducted with the participation of
other federal agencies, states, tribes, and local govern-
ments 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 facilities4, 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.
EPA is increasing emphasis on life-cycle based
materials management. In order to respond to RCRAs
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 extrac-
tion 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 environ-
mentally intensive and toxic materials and continue to
promote downstream solutions, like reuse and recy-
cling, 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
16
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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 ground-
water that can cause human health concerns, persist
at many contaminated properties. EPAs Superfund,
RCRA corrective action, leaking underground stor-
age tank, and brownfields cleanup programs, and
Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) cleanups of
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), reduce risks to
human health and the envi-
ronment by assessing and
cleaning up these sites to
maintain or put them back
into productive use.
In an effort to improve the
accountability, transpar-
ency, and effectiveness of
EPAs cleanup programs, EPA
has initiated the Integrated
Cleanup Initiative (ICI), a
multi-year effort to better use
the most appropriate assess-
ment and cleanup authorities
to address a greater number
of sites, accelerate cleanups,
and put sites back into
productive use while pro-
tecting 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 improve-
ments and enhanced efficiencies. As part of the ICI,
EPA will develop a new suite of performance mea-
sures that will support comprehensive management
of the cleanup life cycle by addressing three critical
points in the cleanup process—starting, advancing,
and completing site cleanup.
EPA is continuing to improve its readiness to respond
to re eases 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 inci-
dents 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 agents, radiation, or
weapons of mass destruction. Consistent with the
government-wide National Response Framework,
EPA prepares for the possibil-
ity of multiple, simultaneous,
nationally significant inci-
dents across several regions
and provides guidance and
technical assistance to state
and local planning and
response organizations.
EPAs 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, EPAs 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 stakehold-
ers 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 partici-
pate meaningfully, to improve EPA responsiveness
to community perspectives, and to ensure timely
cleanup decisions.
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Strengthen Human Health and
Environmental Protection in
Indian Country
Under federal environmental statutes, EPA is respon-
sible for protecting human health and the environment
in Indian country. EPA's commitment to tribal envi-
ronmental 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 environ-
mental 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, reme-
diation, and long-term stewardship of contaminated sites.
It will also provide 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.
1 Our Bull: 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-pol icy-84.pdf
18
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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.
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.1
Other vulnerable groups, including low-income,
minority, and indigenous populations, are also dis-
proportionately 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 EPAs ability
to assess the safety of industrial chemicals and ade-
quately 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 regard-
ing 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 com-
merce. EPAs authority to require development and
submission of information and testing data is limited
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 promot-
ing pollution prevention and the adoption
of other stewardship practices by com-
panies, communities, governmental
organizations, and individuals.
Strategic Measures associated with this Goal
are on pages 52 through 53.
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 pre-
venting 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 indige-
nous 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 stat-
utes to ensure the safety of chemicals. These include:
4- Controlling the risks of new chemicals before
they are introduced or reintroduced into
commerce;
•f Evaluating chemicals already in use;
4- 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 unreason-
able 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 acceler-
ate 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 strength-
ening 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 poten-
tial 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 hun-
dreds of thousands of lead-paint professionals and
expand public awareness of lead risks by implement-
ing requirements for the use of lead-safe practices
in renovation, remodeling, and painting activities in
millions of older homes.8'9
Over the next five years, EPA will manage a compre-
hensive pesticide risk reduction program through
science-based registration and reevaluation processes,
a worker safety program, certification and training
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activities, and support for integrated pest manage-
ment. 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 popula-
tions, 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 chemi-
cals' 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 chemi-
cals 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 pre-
vention, a long-standing priority for EPA, encourages
companies, communities, governmental organiza-
tions, 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 col-
laborate 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 pol-
lution prevention infrastructures and fund technical
assistance for local businesses.
EPA promotes "green" chemistry through the devel-
opment and use of innovative chemical technologies.
The Agency advances environmentally-conscious
design, commercialization, and use of "green" engi-
neering processes and sets standards for labeling
programs that meet stringent criteria giving consum-
ers 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.
21
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End
1 Environmental Working Group, 2005. Body Burden-H'ie Pollution in Newborns. Available a: h::p://www.ewg.org/repor:s/
bodyburden2/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, January 21, 2010. Available at http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/bd4379a92ceceeac85257359004
OOc27/631cf22eb540c4db852576b2004eca47!OpenDocument.
4 Executive Orders include: E.0.13045 (Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks) and E.0.12898
(Federal Actions to Address Environmental Justice 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.
Vigorous enforcement supports EPA's ambi-
tious 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:
•f 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 pollu-
tion in communities improves the health of
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 54 through 55.
communities, particularly low-income, minority,
and tribal communities that are dispropor-
tionately impacted by pollution. Enforcement
supports reductions in greenhouse gases (GHG)
through enforcement settlements that encour-
age GHG emission reductions. EPA will also work
to ensure compliance with new standards and
reporting requirements for GHG emissions as
they are developed.
•f Protecting America's Waters: EPA is re-
vamping enforcement and working with state
permitting authorities under the Clean Water
Act Action Plan1 to make progress on the most
important water pollution problems. This work
includes, as a Priority Goal, increasing enforce-
ment actions in waters that do not meet water
quality standards. In addition the Agency will
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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 revital-
izing urban communities by protecting urban
waters. Enforcement will also support the goal of
assuring safe drinking water for all communities,
including in Indian country.
•f 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 hazard-
ous pollutants and contaminants, provides for
long-term human health protection, and makes
contaminated properties available for reuse.
•f Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and
Preventing Pollution: Reforming chemical
management enforcement and reducing expo-
sure 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. EPAs
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 pollu-
tion 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 implemen-
tation 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 dispro-
portionately impact low-income, minority, and tribal
communities. Ensuring compliance with environ-
mental laws is particularly important in communities
that are exposed to greater environmental health
risks. EPA fosters community involvement by mak-
ing information about compliance and government
action available to the public.3
Increased transparency is an effective tool for improv-
ing compliance. By making information on violations
both available and understandable, EPA empowers
citizens to demand better compliance.
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.
24
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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 eco-
nomic 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 antici-
pated 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:
•f 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 alterna-
tive energy sources and increased investments
in energy efficiency can reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and improve local air quality.
•f American Reinvestment and Recovery
Act (ARRA): We expect the long-term impact
of ARRA1 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.
•f 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.
•f 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.
•f Protective Site Cleanup: Hazardous waste
programs are intended to provide permanent
solutions to contaminated media at sites or facili-
ties to the extent practicable. Complications can
arise when new scientific information concern-
ing 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 appro-
priate, EPA must incorporate emerging science
into decision making to maintain its commit-
ment to provide permanent solutions.
•f Chemical Safety: Legislative reforms to the
Toxic Substances Control Act in line with the
Administration's principles would provide EPA
25
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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 science—individual
citizens and community groups that monitor
and document environmental trends—can
expand the reach of EPA's own field presence.
Communities have access to more environ-
mental 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, com-
munities 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 nanoso-
lar 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 technologi-
cal 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
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 demon-
strate 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 obliga-
tions 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
(NAPA) 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 environment.1
Recommendations and feedback from this evaluation
have informed EPA's strategic changes and invest-
ment decisions in the program.
Our plans for future program evaluations include
cyclical reviews of our research and develop-
ment 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 label-
ing 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 pro-
gram effectiveness. Recently completed process and
program evaluations from EPA and external organiza-
tions 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 website.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/5-21-09_Final_Evaluation_
Report.pdf.
2 EPA Strategic Plan website: http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/plan.htm.
27
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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 accom-
plish 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 prin-
ciples for each of the cross-cutting strategies:
•f Expanding the conversation on environmentalism;
•f Working for environmental justice and children's health;
•f Advancing science, research, and technological innovation;
•f Strengthening state, tribal, and international partnerships; and,
•f 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 implement-
ing 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.
28
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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 stron-
ger working relationships throughout the country,
particularly with tribes, communities of colon
economically-distressed cities and towns, young
people, and others.
To accomplish these goals, we will:
•f 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.
•f Ensure that our science is explained clearly and
accessible to all communities, communicating
and educating in plain language the com-
plexities of environmental, health, policy, and
regulatory issues.
•f Educate and empower individuals, communi-
ties, and Agency partners in decision making
through public access to environmental infor-
mation and data.
•f Ensure that the Agency's regulations, policies,
budget, and decision-making processes are trans-
parent and accessible through increased access to
environmental data sources, community right-to-
know tools, and direct stakeholder engagement.
•f Address barriers to improve engagement with
historically under-represented sectors of the
nation.
•f Use traditional and new media to inform and
educate the public about Agency activities and
provide opportunities for community feedback.
•f Encourage citizens to understand the complexi-
ties 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 protect-
ing 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.1 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 protec-
tion 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 advanc-
ing 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:
•f 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 disproportion-
ately 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.
•f Develop and use environmental and human
health indicators to measure improvements in
environmental conditions and health in dispro-
portionately impacted communities and among
vulnerable age groups.
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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 encour-
age the use of "green chemistry" to spur the
development of safer chemicals and produc-
tion processes.
Apply the best available scientific methods to as-
sess 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 deci-
sion making, and to develop the tools to assess
risk from multiple stressors.
Engage communities in our work to protect hu-
man health and the environment. EPA will align
multiple community-based programs to provide
funding and technical assistance to communi-
ties to build capacity to address critical issues
affecting children's health and disproportionately
impacted populations.
Work with other federal agencies3 to engage com-
munities and coordinate funding and technical
support for efforts to build healthy, sustainable,
and green neighborhoods, and work with resi-
dents to promote equitable development.
End
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-02/001F. Available at http://cfpub.epa.
gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=54944; and,
EPA, 2004. Ensuring Risk Reduction in Communities with Multiple Stressors: Environmental justice and Cumulative Risks/Impacts.
Available at http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/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.
31
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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 unin-
tended and/or unwanted consequences, addressing
pollutants, chemicals, and materials throughout their
life cycle from raw materia 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.12 OMB identifies priori-
ties 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 sci-
ence, 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 sci-
ence, 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:
•f Provide timely, responsive, and relevant
solutions: EPAs science, research, and techno-
logical 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 lever-
age the scientific discoveries of others to achieve
even more responsive solutions to the environ-
mental problems that our communities face.
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•f Transcend traditional scientific disciplines: A
broad perspective—one that integrates knowledge
from a wide variety of sources—is key to develop-
ing 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 comple-
ments traditional single-discipline approaches.
•f Communicate widely and openly: Great work
done invisibly cannot have an impact. To maximize
the impact and utility of our research, EPA will com-
municate the design definition conduct, transfer,
and implementation of the work we do. We will
translate our science so that it is accessible, under-
standable, relevant to, and used by stakeholders and
the general public. EPA must document our suc-
cesses to maximize the value of our scientific work
Catalyze sustainable innovation: EPAs efforts
alone will not be enough to address the environ-
mental challenges our nation faces. As we develop
and promote these technology innovations, EPA
must account for life-cycle perspectives and sup-
port technologies that fully consider environmental
and social impacts, and collaborate with partners
in academia, government, and industry to assess
impacts and promote effective product steward-
ship. 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
EPAs effectiveness in fulfilling our mission.
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/m10-30.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-lnnovation/.
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 inter-
national 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 authori-
ties, 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
With States
contribution toward the final result. By collaborat-
ing, 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 responsi-
bilities, 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.
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:
•f Improve implementation and consistent delivery
of national environmental programs through
closer consultation and transparency.
•f Work with states to seek efficient use of resourc-
es through work-sharing, joint planning using
data analysis and targeting to address priorities,
and other approaches.
•f Play a stronger management role to facilitate the
exchange of data with states to improve program
effectiveness and efficiency.
•f 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 73732 (Federalism), which recog-
nizes the division of governmental responsibilities
between the federal government and the states.
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•f Strengthen state-EPA shared accountability by
focusing oversight on the most significant and press-
ing state program performance challenges, using
data and analysis to speed program improvements.
Ensure a level playing field across states to im-
prove compliance and address the most serious
violations.
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:
•f Focus on increasing tribal capacity to establish
and implement environmental programs while
ensuring that our national programs are as effec-
tive in Indian country as they are throughout the
rest of the nation.
•f 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.
•f Strengthen our cross-cultural sensitivity with
tribes, recognizing that tribes have cultural,
jurisdictional, and legal features that must be
considered when coordinating and implement-
ing 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:
•f Expand our partnership efforts in multilateral
forums and in key bilateral relationships.
•f 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 protec-
tion 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 con-
tinuously 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:
•f Recruit, develop, and retain a diverse and creative
workforce, equipped with the technical skill and
knowledge needed to accomplish the Agency's mis-
sion and to meet evolving environmental challenges.
•f Cultivate a workplace that values a high quality
work life, provides employee-friendly policies and
facilities, and invests in the information infra-
structure, technology, and security essential to
support a mobile workforce.
•f Practice outstanding resource stewardship to
ensure that all Agency programs operate with fis-
cal responsibi ity and management integrity, are
efficiently and consistently delivered nationwide,
and demonstrate results.
•f Take advantage of existing and emerging tools to
improve and enhance communication, transpar-
ency, and accountability.
•f Integrate energy efficiency and environmental
considerations into our work practices as core com-
ponents of Agency business models and operations.
•f Improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the
Agency's acquisition function by strengthening
requirements development, contract manage-
ment, and internal review practices; maximizing
the use of competition in contracting, reducing
high-risk contracts; 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 sys-
tem—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 environ-
mental 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 measure-
ment 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 strate-
gic measures—the measurable environmental and
human health outcomes we are working to achieve—
in 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 framework—the 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 work into the programmatic objectives; this criti-
cal work supports many of our strategic measures and
will continue to be tracked through annual perfor-
mance 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, wet-
lands, 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.
•f Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation:
The ability of communities to respond to chang-
es 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 green-
house 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.
•f Land Cleanup: EPA has begun an Integrated
Cleanup Initiative, a multi-year effort to bet-
ter use assessment and cleanup authorities to
address a greater number of sites, acce erate
cleanups, and put those sites back into produc-
tive use while protecting human health and the
environment. The Agency is working to develop
a suite of measures that will allow for compre-
hensive management across cleanup programs
and across the cleanup life cycle, with a focus
on three critical points in the cleanup pro-
cess—starting, 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 devel-
oped 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
•f Chemical Safety: One of EPAs highest pri-
orities 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 subpopula-
tions 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 concen-
tration of targeted chemicals and pesticides in
the general population and children.
•f Enforcement and Compliance Assurance:
The Agency's enforcement and compliance
assurance program is moving from a tool-based
38
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(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 viola-
tions, including:
4- Building self-monitoring and reporting require-
ments into rules, which will allow government
to better understand the compliance status at
regulated facilities.
•f Using 21st century
technologies to fa-
cilitate the eectronic
transmission of data
directly from regu-
lated sources and
states that generate
the data, to govern-
ment agencies that
receive the data,
which will improve
the quality and
timeliness of data
available to make
decisions.
•f Making more information available to the public
in an easy-to-use, understandable format so the
public can demand better facility and govern-
ment performance.
As part of this new approach, the Agency's enforce-
ment 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:
•f Enforcement Presence/Level-of-Effort
Measures: The extent of the general enforce-
ment and compliance assurance presence in
communities;
•f Case-Linked Outcome Indicators: The annual
and long-term trends in environmental benefits
resulting from EPA enforcement actions; and
•f Strategic Enforcement Measures: The
results of EPAs 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 on the
next page.
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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
The Strategic Plan includes five-year measures for
EPA's enforcement presence and outcome indica-
tors 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 communi-
cate 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.
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 depend-
ing 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
40
-------
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 enforce-
ment 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 pollu-
tion 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 pub-
lic about our progress than the traditional measures
alone can do. What we learn from measures devel-
oped 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 re eases and compliance. These infor-
mation 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 comprehen-
sive electronic reporting. These efforts will increase
transparency and create incentives to reduce pollu-
tion 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 e ectronically
reported facility information take effect, consistently
reported, sector-wide data may enable us to gener-
ate realistic compliance rates for some sectors. These
efforts will help us to strengthen both performance
and measures in the years ahead.
Where data, baselines, and targets are available to
support the measures, EPA will include new measures
for the national initiatives in the FY 2072 Annual Plan
and Budget in February 2011 and will amend the
Strategic Plan to include those that are suitable stra-
tegic 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 part-
ners 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.
41
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EPA's High Priority Performance Goals (Priority Goals)
In addition to the long-term strategic measures, EPA EPA will report progress on these Priority Goals in the
established six near-term Priority Goals in FY 2010 with Annual Plan and Budget and through the Office of
18- to 24-month operational targets that advance our Management and Budget, with results regularly avail-
strategic goals and serve as key indicators of our work. able to the public at www.performance.gov.
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 publicly 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 communi-
ties. 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.
Lnd
1 EPA will continue to report site construction completions as an annual performance measure in its Annual Plan and Budget
1 Information about EPA's National Enforcement Initiatives for Fiscal Years 2011-2013 is available at http://www.epa.gov/compli-
ance/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/enforcementnationalpriority).
3 EPA letters available at http://www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/pdf/pdf_chesbay/tmdl_implementation_letter_110409.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/region03/chesapeake/bay_letter_1209.pdf and
http://www.epa.gov/ reg3wapd/pdf/pdf_chesbay/TMDLSc heduleLetter.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
•f By 2015, the light-duty vehicle greenhouse gas
rule will achieve reductions of 99 MMTCO2Eq.
(Baseline FY 2010: 0 MMTCO2Eq.)
•f By 2015, additional programs from across EPA
will promote practices to help Americans
save energy and conserve resources, leading
to expected greenhouse gas emissions reduc-
tions 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 Programs1
314.2 MMTCO Eq, Smartway Transportation
Partnership 4.2 MMTCO2Eq., Pollution
Prevention Programs 6.5 MMTCO2Eq.,
Sustainable Materials Management Programs2
343 MMTCO2Eq, WaterSense Program 0.4
MMTCO2Eq, Executive Order 135143 GHG
Reduction Program 0.0 MMTCO2Eq.)
•f By 2015, EPA will integrate climate change sci-
ence trend and scenario information into five
major scientific models and/or decision-support
tools used in implementing Agency environ-
mental management programs to further EPAs
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 pro-
cesses to further EPAs 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 EPAs mission, consistent with
existing authorities (preference for one related to
air quality, water quality, cleanup programs, and
scientific research).4 (Baseline FY 2010: 0)
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
•f 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 ug/m3
compared to the average of 11.7 ug/m3 in 2009.
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•f By 2015, reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides
(NO ) to 14.7 million tons per year compared to
the 2009 level of 19.4 million tons emitted.
•f By 2015, reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO )
to 7.4 million tons per year compared to the
2009 level of 13.8 million tons emitted.
•f By 2015, reduce emissions of direct particulate
matter (PM) to 3.9 million tons per year com-
pared to the 2009 level of 4.2 million tons emitted.
•f 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 visibil-
ity on the 20 percent worst days during the
2000-2004 baseline.
•f By 2015, with EPA support for developing
capabi ity including training, policy, and admin-
istrative and technical support, 15 additional
tribes will possess the expertise and capabi ity 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
•f By 2015, reduce emissions of air toxics (toxicity-
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
•f 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 east-
ern United States by approximately 10 percent
below the 2001 baseline of approximately 500
lakes and 5,000 kilometers of stream length.
Reduce Exposure to Indoor Air Pollutants
•f By 2015, the number of future premature lung
cancer deaths prevented annually through low-
ered radon exposure will increase to 1,460 from
the 2008 baseline of 756 future premature lung
cancer deaths prevented.
•f By 2015, the number of people taking all essential
actions to reduce exposure to indoor environmen-
tal 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
•f By 2015, U.S. consumption of hydrochlorofluo-
rocarbons (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 "equiva-
lent effective stratospheric chlorine" (EESC) in the
atmosphere will have peaked at 3.185 parts per bil-
lion (ppb) of air by volume and begun its gradual
decline to less than 1.800 ppb (1980 level).
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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
•f Through 2015, EPA will maintain a 90 percent
level of readiness of radiation program person-
nel 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 WasteWise, National Waste Recycling, and Coal Combustion Products
Recycling (C2P2).
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.
45
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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
•f By 2015, 90 percent of community water systems
will provide drinking water that meets all
applicable health-based drinking water stan-
dards through approaches including effective
treatment and source water protection. (2005
baseline: 89 percent. Status as of FY 2009: 89
percent.)
•f 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.)
•f 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
•f 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
•f 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 multi-
plied 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.
Strategic Measures:
Improve Water Quality on a Watershed Basis
•f 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 bod-
ies 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.)
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By 2015, improve water quality conditions in
330 impaired watersheds nationwide using the
watershed approach (cumulative). (2002 base-
line: 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 param-
eters 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 improve-
ment 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 qual-
ity 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.)
Improve Coastal and Ocean Waters
•f By 2015, improve regional coastal aquatic ecosys-
tem 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.)
•f 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 re-
sults are expected to have some change each year.)
4- 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.)
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Increase Wetlands
•f 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
•f 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 se ect 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.)
•f By 2015, remediate a cumulative total of 10.2 mil-
lion 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.)
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
•f 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
•f 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
•f By 2015, improve water quality and enable the
lifting of harvest restrictions in 4,300 acres of
shellfish bed growing areas impacted by degrad-
ed 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 shell-
fish beds with harvest restrictions in 2006.)
Sustain and Restore the U.S.-Mexico Border
Environmental Health
•f 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
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.
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
•f 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) com-
munities, 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
•f By 2015, conduct environmental assessments
at 20,600 (cumulative) brownfield properties.
(Baseline: As of the end of FY 2009, EPA assessed
14,600 properties.)
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.
+ 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
•f 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 and 2009.)
Strategic Measures:
Waste Generation and Recycling
•f 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.)
•f By 2015, increase beneficial use of coal combus-
tion ash to 50 percent from 40 percent in 2008.
By 2015, increase by 78 the number of tribes cov-
ered 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 com-
pared 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
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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
•f By 2015, prevent releases at 500 hazardous
waste management facilities with initial ap-
proved 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 facili-
ties 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 require-
ments 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
re eases 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
•f 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 pre-
paredness for, 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
•f 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 respond-
ing to emergencies.)2
•f 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.)
•f 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 av-
erage of 1.7 million gallons spilled from 2005-2009.
Cleanup Contaminated Land
•f By 2015, complete 93,400 assessments at poten-
tial 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 num-
ber of assessments completed was 88,000.)3
•f 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
•f 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
50
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end of FY 2009, the migration of contaminated
groundwater was controlled at 58 percent of all
3746 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 14 percent in 2015. (At the end of FY 2009,
there were 100,165 releases not yet cleaned up.)
•f 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.
•f 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
•f By 2015, increase the percent of tribes imple-
menting 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.
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 leak-
ing underground storage tank program goals.
51
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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
•f By 2015, reduce by 40 percent the number of
moderate to severe exposure incidents associ-
ated 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 organophos-
phate and carbamate pesticides.)
•f By 2014, reduce the percentage of children with
blood lead levels above 5 ug/dl to 1.0 percent
or less. (Baseline is 3.0 percent in the 2005-2008
sampling period.)1
•f By 2014, reduce the percent difference in the
geometric mean blood lead level in low-income
children 1 to 5 years old as compared to the geo-
metric mean for non-low income children 1 to 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 to 5 years old as
compared to the geometric mean for non-low-
income children 1 to 5 years old in 2005-2008.)1
•f 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 umol/L) and
chlorpyrifos metabolite (TCPy) (12.4 ug/L). PFOA
baseline is based on 2005-2006 geometric mean
data in serum (3.92 ug/L).)
•f By 2014, reduce concentration for the following
chemicals in children: non-specific organophos-
phate 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 organophos-
phate metabolites (0.55 umol/L) and chlorpyrifos
metabolite (TCPy) (16.0 ug/L).)
•f By 2015, complete endocrine disrupter screen-
ing 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 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 poten-
tial to interact with the estrogen, androgen, or
thyroid hormone systems to otherwise deter-
mining whether further endocrine related testing
is necessary.)
Protect Ecosystems from Chemical Risks
•f 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
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Assessment (NAWQA) program, urban
watersheds that exceed the National Pesticide
Program aquatic life benchmarks are 73
percent for diazinon, 37 percent for chlorpy-
rifos, and 13 percent for carbaryl. Agricultural
watersheds that exceed the National Pesticide
Program aquatic life benchmarks are 18 per-
cent for azinphos-methyl and 18 percent for
chlorpyrifos.)
Ensure Transparency of Chemical Health and
Safety Information
•f Through 2015, make all health and safety studies
available to the public for chemicals in com-
merce, 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
•f By 2015, reduce 15 billion pounds of hazardous
materials cumulatively through pollution preven-
tion. (Baseline is 4.8 billion pounds reduced
through 2008.)
•f By 2015, reduce 9 million metric tons of carbon
dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2Eq.) cumulatively
through pollution prevention. (Baseline is 6.5
MMTCO2Eq. reduced through 2008. The data
from this measure are also calculated into the
Agency's overall GHG measure under Goal 1.)
•f By 2015, reduce water use by an additional 24
billion gallons cumulatively through pollution
prevention. (Baseline is 51 billion gallons reduced
through 2008.)
•f By 2015, save $1.2 billion through pollution pre-
vention improvements in business, institutional,
and government costs cumulatively. (Baseline is
$3.1 billion saved through 2008.)
•f Through 2015, increase the use of safer chemi-
cals 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.
53
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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
•f By 2015, conduct 105,000 federal inspections and
evaluations (5-year cumulative). (FY 2005-2009
baseline: 21,000 annually)
•f By 2015, initiate 19,500 civil judicial and admin-
istrative enforcement cases (5-year cumulative).
(FY 2005-2009 baseline: 3,900 annually)
+ By 2015, conclude 19,000 civil judicial and admin-
istrative enforcement cases (5-year cumulative).
(FY 2005-2009 baseline: 3,800 annually)
•f By 2015, maintain review of the overall compli-
ance status of 100 percent of the open consent
decrees. (Baseline 2009:100 percent)
•f Each year through 2015, support cleanups 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 settle-
ment or EPA taking an enforcement action (FY
2007-2009 annual average); 100 percent cost
recovery statute of limitation cases addressed
(FY 2009))
•f By 2015, increase the percentage of criminal cases
with charges filed to 45 percent. (FY 2006-2010
baseline: 36 percent)
•f 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
•f By 2015, reduce, treat, or eliminate 2,400 mil-
lion 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
•f By 2015, reduce, treat, or eliminate 1,600 mil-
lion 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)
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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)
•f By 2015, obtain commitments to clean up 1,500
million cubic yards of contaminated soil and
groundwater media1 as a result of concluded
CERCLA and RCRA corrective action enforce-
ment 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
•f By 2015, reduce, treat, or eliminate 19.0 million
estimated pounds of toxic and pesticide pollut-
ants 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
•f By 2015, increase the percentage of criminal
cases having the most significant health, environ-
mental, and deterrence impacts to 50 percent.
(FY 2010 baseline: 36 percent)2
•f By 2015, maintain 75 percent of criminal cases
with an individual defendant. (FY 2006-2008
baseline: 75 percent)
End
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.
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 (2721A)
United States Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
http://www.epa.gov/ocfo/plan/plan.htm
EPA-190-R-10-002
September 2010
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