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science in ACTION
INNOVATIVE RESEARCH FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
EnviroAtlas: An interactive web-based tool with a wealth of data to help
inform planning & policy decisions that protect our environment &
economy
What is EnviroAtlas?
EPA and partners have developed EnviroAtlas
— an interactive web-based tool that states,
communities, and citizens can use to help inform
policy and planning decisions that impact the
places where people live, learn, work and play.
EnviroAtlas combines maps, analysis tools, fact
sheets, and downloadable data into an easy-to-
use, web-based resource that allows users to
understand the implications of various decisions
and their potential impacts on ecosystems.
Communities are often faced with difficult
decisions, such as trade-offs between the
development of transportation, residential or
commercial infrastructures and the maintenance
of local water quality, wetlands, parks, and other
urban green-spaces. EnviroAtlas helps
communities better understand the potential
benefits and drawbacks of their decisi ons by
providing tools to analyze relationships between
nature; health and well-being; and the economy.
Health encompasses both physical and mental
health while well-being refers to quality of life.
For instance, state and regional planners and
advocacy groups considering routes for a
proposed high-speed rail-line might use
EnviroAtlas as a screening tool to see the
potential effects and merits of each route.
Conservation groups could note the presence of
threatened and endangered species or intact
habitats along proposed routes.
Local planners might use EnviroAtlas
demographics to help cite a new rail station to
maximize benefit to an economically-depressed
sector of the community while also considering
any impacts to close-by ecosystems. EnviroAtlas
provides fine-scale data for select communities
to help planners identify areas with low access to
parks or to prioritize tree planting to benefit
vulnerable or disadvantaged populations.
What data & analysis tools are in
EnviroAtlas?
The EnviroAtlas interactive map contains
hundreds of data layers including census and
land cover data; as well as information on stream
and river locations, pollutant loads, impaired
waters, threatened and endangered species, and
wetland, climate and soil characteristics.
EnviroAtlas presents data at two primary scales:
national and community. Analysis tools
embedded in the Interactive Map help users
interpret the data.
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development

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The national component of EnviroAtlas
summarizes data for the 48 mainland U.S. states
by 12-digit hydrologic unit codes (HUCs) of
which there are about 90,000 in the United
States. Each HUC covers approximately 40
square miles.
The community component of EnviroAtlas
includes fine-scale data for five pilot
communities: Durham, N.C.; Portland, Maine;
Tampa, Fla.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; and Phoenix, Ariz.
Data layers for a sixth pilot community —
Milwaukee, Wis. — are being finalized. Most
community data layers are summarized by
census block group, providing data at a fine
resolution that can be compared across select
communities.
Communities included in EnviroAtlas were
selected based on environmental and human
health data availability, population size,
geography, regional interest, and potential need
for detailed spatial data analysis. By 2017,
EnviroAtlas will feature fine-scale data for more
than 50 U.S. communities.
EnviroAtlas also features an Eco-Health
Relationship Browser that allows users to
explore literature on the linkages between
ecosystems, the services they provide, and their
impact on human health and well-being.
Protecting ecosystems & our
economy
Healthy ecosystems are intertwined with our
health and well-being, our economy and our
security. Ecosystems provide us with many
benefits like clean air and water, opportunities
for recreation, and protection from severe
weather like hurricanes and floods. They also
provide habitat for plants, fish and wildlife, and
materials we need to produce our food, clothing,
shelter, and pharmaceuticals.
These and other benefits from nature are referred
to as "ecosystem services." The services
provided by ecosystems are multifaceted,
intertwined and often difficult to quantify.
The decisions we make individually and
collectively can affect ecosystems and their
ability to provide the goods and services that
promote well-being and a healthy economy.
Using EnviroAtlas, people from a wide variety
of disciplines and interests can access, view and
analyze diverse information to better understand
how to conserve, restore and sustain ecosystems.
EnviroAtlas partners & availability
EnviroAtlas was developed collaboratively by
EPA in partnership with the U.S. Geological
Survey (USGSI Landscope America, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and
Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS). and other federal and non-profit
organizations, universities, and communities,
including state, county and city-level
stakeholders.
EnviroAtlas is available to anybody with a
computer and an internet connection. No special
software is needed. It is currently not optimized
for smartphones or tablets, but a mobile-friendly
version is planned for the future.
EnviroAtlas —connecting people, human health,
ecosystems and the economy. Making informed
decisions will ensure people can continue to
enjoy the economic, social and environmental
benefits of ecosystems for years to come.
Find EnviroAtlas online at:
http ://enviroatlas. epa. gov/enviroatlas
For questions about EnviroAtlas, email:
Enviro Atlas@epa. gov
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2
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development

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