Environmental Protection Agency’s Laboratory Enterprise Essential Products and Services: Recommendations to Increase Coordination and Performance


Environmental Protection Agency's
Laboratory Enterprise Essential Products and Sendees:
Recommendations to Increase Coordination and Performance
Executive Summary
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Laboratory Enterprise Forum (LEF) was established
underthe Science and Technology Policy Council (STPC) in July 2015. This cross-Agency Forum focuses
on improving the effectiveness, efficiency, and collaboration across EPA's Laboratory Enterprise. In June
of 2017, the LEF was tasked with assessing the services provided by EPA's Laboratory Enterprise,
evaluating the value of those products and services in the context of EPA's mission of protecting human
health and the environment and the Agency's strategic goals (FY 2014-2018 EPA Strategic Plan), and
providing recommendations for making the Laboratory Enterprise even more effective through continuous
improvement. The Laboratory Enterprise consists of EPA's Program, Regional and Research laboratories.
An essential component of this study was the
identification and use of quantitative and
qualitative approaches to characterize the products
and services from EPA's Laboratory Enterprise,
explain how the Enterprise supports EPA's
mission, and to demonstrate the value these
products and services provide to customers and
stakeholders. The study provides data that can be
used to identify processes, procedures, and other
approaches to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
The LEF initially identified major products and
services categories offered by the Laboratory
Enterprise. Once these categories were determined,
a data collection tool was used to collect
information across the Laboratory Enterprise on
these products and services for Fiscal Year (FY)
2017. Additional information was also collected
from across the laboratories to provide greater
context and a more complete understanding of the
Laboratory Enterprise's efforts. The information in
the report will help improve the Agency's
understanding of the value provided by its
Laboratory Enterprise system, and its ability to
communicate this value both internally and to
parties outside the Agency (e.g., the Office of Management and Budget - OMB, the U.S. Government
Accountability Office - GAO, the States, etc.). Through this report, the Agency will gain a better
understanding of the categories of functional products and services (as opposed to individual products
such as research papers or reports) that are provided, approaches for improving effectiveness and
efficiency, and how the laboratories complement each other to collectively form a world-class laboratory
enterprise.
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
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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Laboratory Enterprise Functional Products and Services
Mission Support Functional Products and Services
The Laboratory Enterprise identified six core products and
service categories that are key for EPA programs and regions
to meet their mission, using quality science to protect
environmental and public health:
•	Sample analysis;
•	Field sampling, field measurements, and monitoring;
•	Method development, validation, and evaluation;
•	Tool development and use;
•	Technical assistance; and
•	Training and education.
In FY 2017-EPA laboratories provided extensive sample analysis (-1,088,000) and supported a wide
range of customers, stakeholders and programs. While 14 of the 21 labs indicated use of a Laboratory
Information Management System (LIMS) for the sample analysis data, -90% of the analyses were not
conducted on equipment that were part of a LIMS. In the field, the Labs collected samples (~111,700),
conducted field measurements (-379,600), and undertook monitoring. Monitoring was conducted at 1,572
sites, which resulted in billions of data points used to prepare products for decision-making.
The Laboratory Enterprise also provides a variety of other products and services. In FY 2017, the
Enterprise developed, validated, and/or evaluated nearly 300 analytical methods. Over 300 different types
of tools have been developed by the Laboratory Enterprise to support both EPA and its myriad of
stakeholders protecting human health and the environment. These tools are unique, both in structure and
application. The most common forms of technical assistance provided by EP A's Laboratory Enterprise in
FY 2017 were providing reference standards to states, localities, and tribes (over 4,200 instances),
followed by assisting with technical inquiries/support or troubleshooting requests associated with
measurement methods (over 3,900 instances) and performing or supporting risk assessments
(approximately 2,500 instances). Additionally, the Laboratory Enterprise plays a critical role in training
and educating students, partner organizations, and others to help prepare the next generation of scientists
dedicated to environmental protection and public health. In FY 2017, the Laboratory Enterprise trained
approximately 68,000 people, e.g., EPA and state staff, and members of the public.
Scientific Excellence Functional Products and Services
In addition to products and services that support the EPA's mission, the Enterprise is also dedicated to
creating 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.
Source: EPA
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The report also calculated the numbers of: labs and centers conducting peer reviews, external
accreditations held by EPA laboratories, and datasets generated. In FY 2017, respondents indicated that:
1,400 scientific products were peer reviewed externally (most of which were reported by the Office of
Research and Development [ORD]), EPA labs hold 19 external accreditations, and EPA datasets include
qualitative and quantitative data pertinent to EPA's Laboratory Enterprise. Datasets support internal and
external decision-making and assist EPA's collaborative partners (local, state, and tribal agencies or other
federal agencies) in generating their own datasets. The report provides descriptions of highlighted datasets.
Recommendations
While EPA's Laboratory Enterprise produces world-class scientific results that inform decisions about our
nation's most pressing environmental and public health concerns, there are always opportunities to increase
effectiveness, efficiency, and collaboration within the Laboratory Enterprise. Recommendations include:
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 need for improving the Laboratory Enterprise centered on approaches to strengthen data
management capabilities by:
>	Greater use of automated systems to promote more consistent data collection, storage, and
management (e.g., greater adoption of Laboratory Information Management Systems [LIMS]).
>	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 operational activities needing focus:
>	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 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.
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