Report on Essential Products and Services;
Recommendations to Increase Coordination
and Performance
Laboratory Enterprise
This report provides a comprehensive description of EPA's Laboratory Enterprise products and
services; demonstrates the value the lab enterprise provides to EPA partners and stakeholders;
describes how the Laboratory Enterprise supports EPA's mission, and makes recommendations for
increased effectiveness. EPA's Laboratory Enterprise is comprised of EPA's Program, Region, and
Office of Research and Development laboratories.
Mission Support and Scientific Excellence Functional Products and Services
Findings from FY 2017 Data:
i
~ 1,088,000 sample analyses conducted
~ 111,700 samples collected
~ 379,600 field measurements conducted
= 1,572 sites monitored
~ 300 methods developed, validated, and/or evaluated
>300 tools developed for environmental decision-making
o
The Laboratory Enterprise
identified six core products and
services associated with assisting
the Agency in its mission to
produce the quality science used
to protect public and
environmental health:
•	Sample analysis;
•	Field sampling, field
measurements, and
monitoring;
•	Method development,
validation, and evaluation;
•	Tool development and use;
•	Technical assistance; and
•	Training and education.
=J >4,200 reference standards shipped to State, Tribal, and local agencies
1ST >3,900
technical assistance inquiries or troubleshooting requests
H~H ~ 2,500 risk assessments performed/supported
68,000 people trained (e.g. EPA, state, public)
= 1,400 products peer-reviewed externally
O =19
external accreditations held by EPA labs
In addition to products and services that
support the EPA's mission, the
Enterprise is dedicated to driving and
supporting scientific excellence. The
Laboratory Enterprise has
institutionalized practices that promote
credibility, transparency, and quality
assurance practices to support the
Agency's commitment to crucial
scientific needs, producing the highest
quality scientific information for
environmental decision-making, and
making data more publicly available.

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Recommendations for Increasing Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Collaboration
within the Laboratory Enterprise
Leadership
Greater focus in the following areas:
>	Reaffirmation or refinement of the
Agency's vision for the Laboratory
Enterprise and increased intra-agency
communication and improved coordination
of management processes.
>	Continuous evaluation and tracking by
refining the FY 2017 data collection tool to
improve the quality and consistency of
future data gathered across the Laboratory
Enterprise.
Data Management
A high priority on strengthening the Laboratory
Enterprise's data management capabilities by:
>	Facilitating greater use of automated
systems to promote more consistent data
collection, storage, and management.
>	Improving accessibility and availability of
datasets through the Environmental Dataset
Gateway (EDG) to ensure the Agency
maintains a culture of transparency and
openness with the public.
Functional Areas
Data call respondents also highlighted the following recommendations for operational activities:
>	Establish goal that approved Quality Assurance Project Plans (QAPPS) should be in place for
100% of projects that include components of the Laboratory Enterprise by FY 2020.
>	Develop best practices and approaches for planning scientific activities that promote
effectiveness and efficiency in laboratory and field work.
>	Increase the use of existing equipment's capacity using a database system to search available
equipment within the Agency, creating processes to prioritize equipment purchasing and
identify opportunities for equipment reuse.
>	Increase efforts to maintain a well-educated, experienced workforce by retaining seasoned
personnel's knowledge and investing in the future thought leaders within the Agency through
professional training opportunities.
>	Enhance intra-agency coordination and collaboration on sampling and method development
activities to safeguard best practices and prevent redundancies in data gathering procedures.
>	Establish a tool similar to TechTracker, developed by ORD, to track and coordinate technical
assistance efforts across the Agency at the federal, state, local, and tribal levels.
EPA's Laboratory Enterprise Value Statement
EPA's Laboratory Enterprise provides expert knowledge and unique capabilities to address
environmental and public health concerns on a national, state, local, and tribal level using the
latest state-of-the-art and innovative approaches. The Enterprise is specially positioned to
advance communication, cooperation, and management activities across the three inner-agency
laboratory types, as well as with other federal and non-federal entities, to provide consistent and
effective environmental analysis, data collection, and other customer-driven scientific and
technical functions. These functions ensure that EPA continues to produce world-class scientific
results to make informed decisions about our nation's most pressing environmental and public
health concerns.

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