United States
Environmental Protection Agency
FISCAL YEAR 2023
Justification of Appropriation
Estimates for the Committee
on Appropriations
Tab 02: Cross-Agency Strategies
April 2022
EPA-190-R-22-001	www.epa.gov/cj

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Environmental Protection Agency
FY 2023 Annual Performance Plan and Congressional Justification
Table of Contents - Cross-Agency Strategies	
Cross-Agency Strategy 1: Ensure Scientific Integrity and Science-Based Decision Making 7
Cross-Agency Strategy 2: Consider the Health of Children at All Life Stages and Other
Vulnerable Populations	9
Cross-Agency Strategy 3: Advance EPA's Organizational Excellence and Workforce
Equity	11
Cross-Agency Strategy 4: Strengthen Tribal, State, and Local Partnerships and Enhance
Engagement	14
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Cross-Agency Strategy 1: Ensure Scientific Integrity and Science-Based Decision Making
Deliver rigorous scientific research and analyses to inform evidence-based decision-making.
EPA's ability to protect human health and the environment depends on the integrity and quality of
the information, data, and evidence that provide the scientific foundation for Agency decision
making. Identifying and implementing effective strategies, including strategies to adapt to the
changing climate, advance environmental justice and equity, and protect children, require that
decisions be grounded in the best available science and evidence. EPA's Cross-Agency Strategy
1 in the FY2022 - 2026EPA Strategic Plan will strengthen EPA's culture of scientific integrity,
advance the delivery of rigorous and independent scientific evaluation and analyses, and ground
EPA's actions in the best available science.
Cross-Agency Strategy 1, Ensure Scientific Integrity and Science-Based Decision Making is
directly supported by the following long-term performance goals in the FY 2022 - 2026 EPA
Strategic Plan:
•	By September 30, 2026, increase the annual percentage of Office of Research and
Development (ORD) research products meeting partner needs to 95% from a baseline of
93% in FY 2021.1
•	By September 30, 2026, implement 126 actions for scientific integrity objectives that are
certified by Deputy Scientific Integrity Officials in each EPA program and region.
EPA's research and science programs, including the Office of Research and Development's (ORD)
Research Centers and the Regional Laboratory Enterprise, support this strategy through the
delivery of rigorous scientific research and analyses.
The primary mission of the Agency's Research Centers is to provide the research and science
needed to guide EPA's national regulatory process and other long-range decision processes. This
research portfolio also enables scientists to provide short-term technical expertise in support of the
Agency's national programs, regional offices, and Tribal and state partners. Scientific research and
development will support: 1) tackling the climate crisis by addressing the causes and consequences
of climate change and developing more resilient communities; 2) addressing current, emerging,
and long-term water resource challenges; 3) developing scientific and technical approaches to
enhance the Agency's ability to evaluate chemicals and their risks; 4) accelerating the pace of
cleanups at contaminated sites so they can be returned to beneficial use; 5) revitalizing and
protecting the most vulnerable communities and groups; and 6) conducting environmental risk
assessments to better inform policies for protecting human health, particularly for children at all
life stages.
1 ORD is tracking environmental justice and climate products as annual performance goals. Please see the Annual Performance
Plan table in Tab 14: FY 2023 Performance Measures.
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Scientific integrity results from adherence to professional values and practices when conducting,
communicating, supervising, and using science. It ensures objectivity, clarity, reproducibility, and
utility, and it safeguards against bias, fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, outside interference,
censorship, and inadequate procedures and information security. EPA will advance and strengthen
a culture of scientific integrity across the Agency by ensuring adherence to the scientific and
ethical standards outlined in EPA's Scientific Integrity Policy. To support employees, contractors,
and officials, EPA will provide Agency-wide training on scientific integrity. Employees,
contractors, and officials have access to Scientific Integrity Officials and their staff and a network
of Deputy Scientific Integrity Officials on whom they can rely for advice or to report allegations
of a loss of scientific integrity.
In FY 2023, EPA will make significant investments in applied science and tools to support
historically overburdened and underserved communities in achieving tangible environmental
improvements. EPA will assess the consequences of climate change and the vulnerability of
communities and ecosystems to climate change impacts, including wildfires and other extreme
events, and identify and evaluate strategies to adapt to and build resilience to these impacts. In
addition, EPA will conduct research and provide technical support to assess the distribution,
composition, and potential health risks of known and emerging chemical and biological
contaminants. EPA will conduct chemical exposure research to develop advanced analytical and
computational tools to detect and identify unknown chemicals in complex environmental media,
biological media, and consumer products.
EPA also will evaluate and communicate the benefits from remediation, restoration, and
revitalization of contaminated sites and provide community-driven solutions with measurable
outcomes. These efforts will help communities meet their needs for building resilience to the
impacts of climate change, including the health and well-being of those most vulnerable. The
Agency will continue to emphasize per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) research,
including methods to detect and measure PFAS and PFAS toxicity assessments and exposures.
Likewise, the Agency will continue to emphasize lead (Pb) research, including methods to identify
lead service lines, model blood levels, and map communities at risk to lead exposure.
The FY 2023 budget request includes resources to enhance the capability of Regional Laboratories,
which focus on providing expertise and scientific information needed to make short-term localized
decisions. Replacement of older, high-maintenance equipment are critical to the production of
accurate data and analyses needed to protect public health and will enable Regional Laboratories
to meet growing demands related to contaminants such as PFAS and expand the Regional
Laboratory network's capabilities to meet tight turnaround times during national emergencies. In
addition, this investment will enable Regional Laboratories to expand their capability to screen,
identify, and quantify emerging contaminants, especially in vulnerable and highly exposed
individuals in impacted communities.
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Cross-Agency Strategy 2: Consider the Health of Children at All Life Stages and Other
Vulnerable Populations
Focus on protecting and improving the health of children at all life stages and other vulnerable
populations in implementing our programs.
EPA's programs will apply and promote the use of science, policy, partnerships, communications,
and action to protect children at all life stages and other vulnerable populations from adverse health
effects resulting from exposure to pollution and the impacts of climate change. EPA also will take
actions to protect children and other vulnerable populations in underserved communities where
socio-economic determinants of health exacerbate the harm caused by these environmental
stressors.
Children's environmental health refers to the effect of the environment on children's growth,
wellness, development, and risk of disease. EPA actions will be informed by two important
considerations; first, the scientific understanding of childhood as a sequence of life stages, from
conception through infancy and adolescence to early adulthood (age 21); and second, the
recognition that protecting children's health is necessary to protect human health, because every
adult was once a child. The effects of early life exposures may become apparent during childhood
and/or may not arise until adulthood or in later generations.
Cross-Agency Strategy 2, Consider the Health of Children at All Life Stages and Other Vulnerable
Populations is directly supported by the following long-term performance goal in the FY 2022 -
2026 EPA Strategic Plan:
•	By September 30, 2026, assess and consider environmental health information and data for
children at all life stages for all completed EPA actions that concern human health.
To best protect children's environmental health at all life stages and vulnerable populations, EPA
will identify, assess, develop, and promote the use of science to support its policies, decisions, and
actions, including regulations and voluntary programs. EPA will ensure that Agency toxicity,
exposure, and risk assessments consider all relevant and available science to address the unique
vulnerabilities of children and vulnerable populations, including disproportionate impacts related
to race, ethnicity, income, or other social determinants of health.
In FY 2023, EPA's Children's Health Program will continue its core work to:
•	Coordinate and advance the protection of children's environmental health across the EPA
by assisting with development of regulations, improving risk assessment and science
policy, implementing community-level outreach and education programs, and tracking
indicators of progress on children's health.
•	Coordinate two plenary meetings of the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee,
including delivery of an expert review of EPA's Consideration of Legally Working
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Children in Pesticide Exposure Assessment2 and the issuance of a new charter for this
group of experts on issues facing the future of children's health protection nationally.
•	Support health care professionals via the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units
to better address risks from childhood exposures, particularly in communities with
environmental justice concerns.
•	Partner with the Department of Health and Human Services to lead the cross-federal
President's Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children.
Recognizing the 25th anniversary of Executive Order (EO) 13045: Protection of Children from
Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks3, in FY 2023 EPA also will:
•	Support the EPA Administrator to convene the President's Task Force on Environmental
Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children. The focus of this work will be on protecting
children from adverse consequences of climate change and disasters, addressing disparities
in asthma among children, and reducing childhood lead poisoning.
•	Obtain expert input from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine
to identify the highest scientific priorities to advance children's health for the next quarter
century.
•	Take actions to protect children in underserved communities who suffer disproportionately
from the effects of pollution exposures exacerbated by socio-economic determinants of
health.
•	Take actions to address children's environmental health that is exacerbated by climate
change.
2	For additional information, please see: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-12/chpac-pesticide filial-letter-
1.2.21. 508c O.pdf.
3	Executive Order 13045: Protection of Children's Health from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks (April 23, 1997) '.
https://www.epa.gov/children/executive-order-13045-protection-children-enviromnental-health-risks-and-safety-risks
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Cross-Agency Strategy 3: Advance EPA's Organizational Excellence and Workforce
Equity
Foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workforce within an effective and mission-driven
workplace.
To support its mission to protect human health and the environment, EPA will make significant
progress in FY 2023 to advance organizational excellence and workforce equity. The Agency will
strengthen workforce planning of mission-critical positions and support succession management
for the next generation of workers while emphasizing diversity, equity, inclusivity, and
accessibility (DEIA). EPA will modernize information technology systems, enhance the physical
workplace for a hybrid workforce, support employee-friendly work policies, and transition to a
paperless work environment. EPA will focus on implementing efficient and effective processes
across the full range of Agency efforts, utilizing proven continuous improvement techniques and
training to equip staff to solve problems and make improvements to enhance our ability to
accomplish our mission. Additionally, EPA will continue to safeguard against cybersecurity risks
to protect Agency assets and infrastructure from potentially malicious attacks. Further, EPA will
be a leader in the federal government in advancing the sustainability of facilities and operations
while developing resiliency to respond to the risks of climate change. EPA will eliminate barriers
to its procurement processes through greater diversification of the Agency's vendor base,
increasing engagement and technical assistance, and enhancing the Agency's contracts with new
vendors, including with small and underserved businesses and targeting businesses located in
Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones).4
Cross-Agency Strategy 3, Advance EPA 's Organizational Excellence and Workforce Equity is
directly supported by the following long-term performance goals in the FY 2022 - 2026 EPA
Strategic Plan:
•	By September 30, 2026, EPA will achieve the highest Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and
Accessibility (DEIA) Maturity Level of "Leading and Sustaining" as defined by the
November 2021 Government-wide Strategic Plan to Advance DEIA in the Federal
Workforce and achieve all EPA goals identified in the Agency's Gender Equity and
Equality Action Plan.
•	By September 30, 2026, improve 1,000 operational processes.
•	By September 30, 2026, initiate all priority climate resiliency projects for EPA-owned
facilities within 24 months of a completed facility climate assessment and project
prioritization.
•	By September 30, 2026, EPA will be in full compliance with the five high-priority
directives in Executive Order 14028 - Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity.
4 Small Business Administration's HUBZone Program: https://www.sba.gov/federal-contracting/contracting-assistance-
programs/hubzone-program.
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•	By September 30, 2026, award 4% of EPA contract spending to small businesses located
in Historically Underutilized Business Zones (HUBZones) compared to the FY 2018-2020
average annual baseline of 2.2%.
•	By September 30, 2026, automate the major EPA permitting programs.
•	By September 30, 2026, automate all priority internal administrative processes.
In FY 2023, EPA will implement the Agency's Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, and Accessibility
(DEIA) Plan to advance progress towards recruiting and maintaining a workforce representative
of the American public that promotes a culture of inclusion and accessibility within the Agency.
By the end of FY 2023, EPA will have achieved at least the Level 1: Foundational Capacity
maturity level as defined by the November 2021 Government-wide Strategic Plan to Advance
DEIA in the Federal Workforce.
In FY 2023, EPA will make progress towards equity goals by eliminating barriers in its
procurement processes and increasing the amount of spending on small and disadvantaged
businesses. EPA will provide technical assistance to small business vendors on navigating federal
contracting requirements and ensure that new EPA procurements are accessible in scope and
requirements for small businesses to successfully compete. This work will yield an increase in
contract spending awarded to small and socioeconomic businesses, including those located in
HUBZones.
In FY 2023, EPA will continue to implement its Future of Work plans that will re-envision both
the workforce and the physical workspace of the Agency. Activities will include modernization
and transformation of collaborative spaces across several Agency facilities to encourage seamless
engagement of a hybrid workforce, leveraging the latest collaboration and productivity IT tools
and software, and a continued investment in IT infrastructure to maintain a permanent increase in
telework, remote work, and operational readiness. Additionally, EPA will continue to manage
increasingly flexible workforce policies and procedures that support a hybrid workforce and enable
EPA to be a model employer.
In FY 2023, EPA will continue to pursue information technology systems and infrastructure
modernization. Activities will include the enhancement of the electronic records management
system to meet Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and National Archives and Records
Administration (NARA) requirements to manage records permanently, and automation of internal
administrative forms and processes to achieve a paperless work environment. In addition, EPA
will increase adoption of Multifactor Authentication, encryption for Agency systems and data,
Zero Trust Architecture, and advanced logging requirements to accomplish Executive Order (EO)
14028: Improving the Nation's Cyber security.
In FY 2023, in support of EO 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, EPA will
conduct climate resiliency assessments at five EPA-owned facilities. These assessments will
include identifying potential projects the Agency can implement to increase facility resiliency
against the impacts of climate change, such as roofing stability, building envelope, and emergency
power projects. Following completion of a climate assessment, EPA will initiate high-priority
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projects within 24 months. Further, EPA will continue progress towards achieving carbon-
pollution free energy use and net-zero emissions in line with Administration sustainability goals.
In FY 2023, EPA will collaborate with the Agency's major permitting programs to establish the
target number of permit processes to be automated.5 Automation of permit processes will reduce
processing time on issuing permits, decrease the time between receiving monitoring data and
engaging in enforcement actions, and foster transparency by allowing communities to search,
track, and access permitting actions easily. Further, permit automation will enable the integration
of climate change and environmental justice considerations into permit processes and ensure that
they are addressed within the terms and conditions of the permit. For the regulated community,
permit automation will allow for a simplified, streamlined, and transparent permitting process
which will result in time and costs savings. For communities and stakeholders, permit automation
can empower communities, especially communities with environmental justice concerns, to
actively participate in the permit decision-making process and post-permit related compliance.
5 Broad statutory frameworks for the permitting programs are found in Sections 165, 173, and 502 of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.
§§ 7475, 7503, and 7661a), Section 402 of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. § 1342), Section 3006 of the Resource Conservation
and Recovery Act (42 U.S.C. § 6926), and Section 1422 and Section 1425 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. §§ 300h and
300h-4).
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Cross-Agency Strategy 4: Strengthen Tribal, State, and Local Partnerships and Enhance
Engagement
Collaborate and engage effectively with Tribal Nations in keeping with the Federal
Government's trust responsibilities, state and local governments, regulated entities, and the
public to protect human health and the environment.
Protecting human health and the environment is a shared responsibility of EPA and its Tribal, state,
and local government partners. With Tribal governments, EPA also has a historic and fundamental
trust responsibility. Environmental outcomes are best achieved through collaborative and effective
partnerships across all levels of government, successful oversight of federally delegated programs,
and robust engagement with non-governmental organizations, national and community groups,
stakeholders, and the public, built on a foundation of public trust and transparency, including
through timely responses to information requests. Through a renewed focus on fostering
intergovernmental relationships, improving on-the-ground community engagement, delivering
high-impact environmental education programs, and increasing public trust and transparency, EPA
will forge stronger partnerships. As a result, EPA will be better positioned to advance durable
solutions to its most pressing challenges and ensure the equitable protection of all communities,
including those who have historically been underserved and overburdened.
Cross-Agency Strategy 4, Strengthen Tribal, State, and Local Partnerships and Enhance
Engagement is directly supported by the following long-term performance goals in the FY 2022 -
2026 EPA Strategic Plan:
•	By September 30, 2026, consider Tribal treaty rights as part of all EPA Tribal consultations
that may affect Tribal treaty rights.
•	By September 30, 2026, eliminate the backlog of overdue Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) responses, compared to the FY 2021 baseline of 1,056.
In light of the disproportionate impact of environmental pollution on Native Americans, EPA is
committed to strengthening its Nation-to-Nation relationship with American Indian and Alaska
Native Tribal Nations. EPA will strive to meet its federal trust responsibility and work to integrate
consideration of Tribal treaty and reserved rights early into decision making and regulatory
processes.
The early, meaningful, and substantial involvement of EPA's co-regulator partners is critical to
the development, implementation, and enforcement of the Nation's environmental programs. With
a renewed focus on climate, environmental justice, and children's health, EPA will emphasize
frequent and early communication as a keystone of its partnership with Tribal and state co-
regulators, since EPA must thoughtfully consider their concerns and existing regulatory programs
to develop effective and lasting solutions to our most pressing environmental challenges.
In FY 2023, EPA will continue to support the Agency's web-based Tribal Consultation
Opportunities Tracking System, a publicly accessible database used to communicate upcoming
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and current EPA consultation opportunities to Tribal governments. The system provides a
management, oversight, and reporting structure that helps ensure accountability and transparency.
In addition, EPA will update key policies and guidances related to overseeing states'
implementation of federal environmental programs. These updates are intended to strengthen and
improve the Agency's oversight of federally delegated environmental programs to ensure climate
change and environmental justice challenges are addressed.
In FY 2023, EPA will enhance transparency, build public trust in Agency actions, and support
public participation by strengthening its implementation of the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA). EPA will continue to focus on improving its processing of FOIA requests, in particular,
to address the increasing complexity and volume of electronic documents required to be searched,
collected, and reviewed when responding to FOIA requests. The Agency will work to increase
processing speed and to apply appropriate technologies to ensure it supports the timely searching
and collection of information for purposes of responding to FOIA requests and other information
needs in a cost-effective and sustainable manner. In addition, in FY 2023, EPA will procure and
prepare to launch a new FOIA recordkeeping and processing software solution to replace
FOIAonline at the beginning of FY 2024.
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