&EPA
www.epa.gov/research
science in ACTION
INNOVATIVE RESEARCH FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
SUSTAINABLE AND HEALTHY COMMUNITIES RESEARCH
Revolutionizing EPA
Research
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) is
blazing a path forward to address
today's most challenging
environmental problems while
proactively anticipating those of
the future. Today's
environmental problems are
increasingly more complex and
require an innovative research
approach that provides effective.
efficient and sustainable
solutions.
This approach to EPA research
requires the diverse capabilities
of scientists and engineers as
well as economists, social
scientists, and policy makers.
EPA research plans must
incorporate continuous input
from external stakeholders such
as Federal, State, and local
government agencies, non-
governmental organizations,
industry, and communities
affected by environmental
problems.
Research innovations are needed
to meet the environmental
challenges of the 21st Century.
EPA is aligning and integrating
its research into six priority
program areas to meet these
needs. They are:
Air, Climate, and Energy
Safe and Sustainable
Water Resources
Sustainable and Healthy
Communities
• Chemical Safety for
Sustainability
• Human Health Risk
Assessment
• Homeland Security
Background
One of EPA's top priorities is to
support sustainable communities
that protect human health and
well-being and the ecosystem
services or natural benefits upon
which they depend, such as clean
water and air.
Communities are increasingly
challenged to find sustainable
solutions to urbanization;
competition for food, materials,
and energy; growing waste
streams; changing climate; and
socioeconomic inequities, among
other pressures.
protect and improve community
health, while they simultaneously
protect and improve nature's
benefits.
EPA's Sustainable and Healthy
Communities research is
responding to this need.
Researchers are entering into an
extensive dialogue with
community leaders, stakeholders,
and non-governmental
organizations across the nation to
better understand the challenges
they face.
Based on what is learned from
these interactions, research will
be conducted that can be used to
better weigh and integrate human
health, socio-economic, and
environmental factors into
decisions about both built and
natural environments.
To be sustainable, communities
need more efficient and effective
strategies and approaches that
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
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EPA will provide decision
makers with information,
approaches, and tools to:
• Effectively assess current
conditions
• Evaluate the outcomes of
alternative policies
• Identify indicators that can be
used to track their progress
toward sustainability goals
Research Focus Areas
Sustainable and Healthy
Communities research is focused
on three main areas:
1. Develop comprehensive
approaches to help communities
become more sustainable
The research will help
communities develop sustainable
solutions to environmental
problems and reduce unintended
consequences such as air or water
pollution.
Research will focus on problems
that are widespread across
communities in the U.S. such as
water quality and land-use issues
as well as comprehensive
approaches to help communities
address multiple barriers to
sustainability in an integrated
way.
The research aims to assist
decision makers in individual
communities and communities in
a region where cooperation could
help to solve common problems
or deal with potentially
conflicting goals.
2. Develop decision support
tools, models and metrics that
can be used to improve
sustainable community practices
The research will develop
decision support tools, models,
and metrics that can be used to
improve community
sustainability.
Examples include web-based
decision support tools to help
local managers and stakeholders
analyze and visualize the
consequences of alternative
policy decisions. These tools
would extend beyond particular
problems such as traffic
congestion or water use to
include consequences with
respect to other environmental
issues, economic impacts, and
social impacts on different
segments of the community.
These tools will use the latest
advancements in decision
analysis to be sure that they are
as useful and accurate as
possible.
Research will also develop
models and data bases that will
enhance the capabilities of the
decision support tools. The
models will take into account the
interactions between human
health, ecosystem services, and
the costs and benefits of
alternative choices about how to
solve environmental problems in
ways that are sustainable over
time.
EPA scientists will help
communities identify and/or
develop indicators that can be
used to measure and evaluate the
environmental integrity of their
community, diagnose problems,
and track the performance of
various approaches.
3. Meet EPA's regulatory
requirements
EPA has high-priority needs for
research and expertise to develop
and support regulations, protect
environmental health and
conduct environmental
monitoring, and other priorities.
Sustainable and Healthy
Communities research will
conduct highly focused, short-
term research to meet specific
regulatory or other operational
needs of EPA in the areas of
waste management, site
remediation, ecosystem
services, community health,
green technology, and
environmental justice.
Timeline
EPA will develop a Research
Action Plan that outlines in more
detail the research to be
conducted. The goal is to fully
implement this integrated,
transdisciplinary approach to
research by October 2011.
Web site:
http://www.epa.gov/research7p
riorities/sustainablecommuniti
es.htm
Contact:
Rick Linthurst, Interim National
Program Director, 919-451-4909,
linthurst.rick@epa.gov
April 2011
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
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