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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Inspector General
At a Glance
2005-P-00007
February 17, 2005
Catalyst for Improving the Environment
Why We Did This Review
The Office of Inspector General
initiated this evaluation to
outline and characterize EPA's
approach to environmental
stewardship. We specifically
wanted to learn how
stakeholders defined and
approached environmental
stewardship, what role EPA
played in promoting and
fostering stewardship activities,
and how effectively stewardship
programs assist EPA in
achieving environmental
outcomes.
Background
EPA defined environmental
stewardship as "behavior that
includes, but also exceeds,
required compliance with
environmental laws and
regulations." The programs
selected by EPA to accomplish
its stewardship goal are only a
subset of a much larger group of
voluntary programs. EPA
defines voluntary programs as
those programs that "motivate
people to take actions not
required by regulation that
benefit the environment."
Ongoing Management Improvements and Further Evaluation
Vital to EPA Stewardship and Voluntary Programs
What We Found
We asked a selected sample of stakeholders to define stewardship, list motivators
and obstacles to participating in stewardship programs, and outline key roles for
EPA to play to encourage and foster participating in environmental stewardship
activities. The definitions and views of the selected stakeholders were generally
broader than what EPA has articulated to date, and varied based on their role in
stewardship programs. Based on these interviews, we determined that EPA needs
to identify motivators and barriers to participation, and continue to incorporate
stakeholder feedback into planning, designing, and implementing stewardship
programs. EPA should also examine what roles it should play in promoting
stewardship activities.
EPA has created a strategic goal that utilizes stewardship programs to achieve
environmental outcomes and offer ways for participants to move above and
beyond compliance. The Agency has also developed a plan to improve managing
voluntary programs through better coordination, increased stakeholder
interaction, and developing measurement processes. However, EPA still needs to
address additional management issues. The Agency has yet to fully implement
internal recommendations to strategically plan, coordinate, and manage its
voluntary programs, or to develop a process for assessing these programs to
determine how they will be integrated into the Agency's mission and its strategic
goals and objectives.
We also found that additional program evaluation needs to be conducted to
determine (1) what motivates participation in these types of programs and what
causes voluntary environmental behavior change to occur, (2) the most efficient
ways to measure the outcomes and impacts of stewardship and voluntary
programs, and (3) which stewardship and/or voluntary programs are most
effective in encouraging voluntary behavior change and achieving environmental
results.
For further information,
contact our Office of
Congressional and Public Liaison
at (202) 566-2391.
To view the full report, click on
the following link:
www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2005/
20050217-2005-P-00007.pdf
hat We Recommend
We recommend that EPA (1) develop a statement that outlines how voluntary
programs are expected to assist EPA in achieving its overall mission and its
stewardship goals and objectives; and (2) develop criteria, guidance, and an
action plan for assessing how voluntary programs will be included in the next
revision of the Agency's Strategic Plan.

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