United States

Environmental Protection

Agency

Office of Research and

Development

Washington DC 20460

EPA/600/R-01/003

January 2001

www.epa.gov

Office of R Office of Research and Development esearch and Development esearch and Development

Strategic Plan Strategic Plan Strategic Plan

Office of R Office of Research and Development esearch and Development esearch and Development

Strategic Plan Strategic Plan Strategic Plan

Office of R Office of Research and Development esearch and Development esearch and Development

Strategic Plan Strategic Plan Strategic Plan
ORD Strategic Plan

ORD’s mission: s mission:

To conduct leading-edge research and foster

the sound use of science and technology to

fulfill EPA’s mission to protect human health

and safeguard the natural environment.
Office of Research and Development

Strategic Plan

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Research and Development

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (8101R)

Washington, DC 20460
ORD Strategic Plan
Table of Contents

Executive Summary..................................................................................................................................... i

The Context of the Strategic Plan ............................................................................................................... 1

Emerging External Trends and Their Implications for ORD’s Future ........................................................ 4

ORD’s Strategic Organizational Goals ....................................................................................................... 6

Goal 1 – Support the Agency’s Mission .......................................................................................... 8

Goal 2 – Be a High-Performing Organization ............................................................................... 11

Goal 3 – Be a Leader in the Environmental Research Community............................................... 14

Goal 4 – Integrate Environmental Science and Technology to Solve Environmental Problems... 18

Goal 5 – Anticipate Future Environmental Issues ......................................................................... 22

Setting Research Priorities........................................................................................................................ 25

Conclusion

Achieving Our Future, Making a Difference ................................................................................. 35

Appendices ............................................................................................................................................. A-1

Appendix A: Office of Research and Development Organizational Chart ................................. A-2

Appendix B: Acronyms and Abbreviations ................................................................................ A-3
ORD Strategic Plan

The Office of Research and Development (ORD)

has taken the arrival of the millennium as an opportunity

to reassess itself. Over the last two years, building on

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s)

Strategic Plan and ORD’s two previous strategic plans,

we have developed a clear and strong strategic direction

that will guide us through the next decade. This

Strategic Plan reaffirms our commitment to providing

the best quality science possible in support of a

clean and safe environment and provides the roadmap

for how we will achieve each of the five organizational

goals that we believe collectively define our aspirations

and purpose. It also describes how our research priorities

align with and support EPA’s Strategic Goals.

ORD’s mission is to conduct leading-edge research

and foster the sound use of science and technology to

fulfill EPA’s mission to protect human health and

safeguard the natural environment. This mission

commits ORD to conduct its research in a way that will

have a direct and meaningful impact on EPA’s decisions

and programs. To determine how best to fulfill this

mission in a world of new and increasingly complex

environmental issues, we built upon our previously

published 1996 Strategic Plan and its 1997 update by

holding numerous discussions with: customers in the

EPA programs and regions; stakeholders in the research

and environmental protection communities including

organizations at the federal, state, local, and tribal levels;

and, most important of all, our staff. These discussions

provided valuable insights into emerging trends and

helped us to refine our goals, develop the actions under

each goal, and create appropriate measures of success.

This Plan describes ORD’s organizational goals and the

actions we will take over the next decade to achieve

these goals. In achieving these goals, we will ensure

that our science continues to be of high quality, timely,

relevant, and responsive. Our Strategic Plan does not

alter our research priorities, which are the product of a

careful and comprehensive Agency-wide planning

process. Instead, it focuses on ORD as an organization

and serves as the roadmap for how we will work together

and organize our activities over the next 10 years to more

efficiently and effectively support EPA’s mission. Rather

than concentrating on what research we will do, it sets

direction for how we will accomplish our mission.

ORD has established five strategic organizational goals

to meet the challenges of the future. First and foremost,

ORD seeks to support EPA’s mission by providing highquality, relevant, responsive, and timely science

(Goal 1). This means that ORD must ensure that a

balanced program of problem-driven and core research core research

is always guided by the principles of “science for a

purpose” and clearly serves the expressed needs of our

internal customers in the program and regional offices.

To accomplish Goal 1, ORD must be a highperforming organization (Goal 2). We are committed

to the growth and development of our staff and the

continuous improvement in the efficiency and

effectiveness of our organization and infrastructure.

Executive Summary

i
For ORD to support EPA’s mission effectively, our staff

and our organization must exercise leadership in the

broader scientific community (Goal 3). We will do

this by participating in scientific meetings, serving on

professional committees, contributing to scientific

debate, and playing a leading role in creating a

national environmental research agenda. These activities

will keep us abreast of cutting-edge science and provide

us with the scientific foundation necessary for effective

environmental protection.

Integration (Goal 4) addresses ORD’s unique role—our

ability to synthesize the broadest range of cutting-edge

science and engineering into a comprehensive set of

insights and an understanding of the increasingly

complex environmental problems that we face. It means

integrating across disciplines, scales of time, media,

and location to provide decision-makers with a

comprehensive picture of the risks posed and the

opportunities for preventing or mitigating those risks.

Anticipating future environmental issues (Goal 5)

represents our role in long-term environmental

stewardship. To meet this Goal, we must foresee and

react to environmental challenges before adverse effects

materialize or are widely noticed. This foresight will

allow us more time to perform the necessary research

and put into place the appropriate response before costs

become prohibitive or effects irreversible.

ORD’s Strategic Plan does not exist in a vacuum. It is

bounded by and connected to other planning activities

in ORD and EPA. Within the planning, budgeting, and

accountability framework established by EPA’s Strategic

Plan, ORD develops its research priorities through an

extensive annual planning process that includes input

from our customers in EPA’s program and regional

offices. The result is a portfolio of research spanning

the major elements of EPA’s work and is reflected in

ORD’s Annual Performance Plan and budget

justification. Recently, ORD initiated a “multi-year”

planning process as a way to link its Annual Plan both

to the longer-range objectives contained in the EPA

Strategic Plan and to the commitments made under the

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993

(GPRA). Our Plan also discusses our risk-based

planning approach and demonstrates the linkage of our

research program to Agency Goals.

ORD has developed this Strategic Plan as a path between

our past and our future. The scientific priorities

identified in our two previous Strategic Plans and the

current EPA Strategic Plan still hold true. Over the next

decade, we will carefully, consistently, and diligently

implement this Strategic Plan, action by action,

throughout ORD. An extensive effort is already

underway to prepare a detailed implementation plan

describing our priorities for action, available resources,

timelines, and methods for ensuring accountability. We

will track our results, measure our progress, and make

mid-course adjustments as necessary to reflect changing

conditions and new opportunities as they arise. We will

report our results to our customers and stakeholders

regularly and learn from other organizations as we go.

In so doing, we will hold ourselves accountable to each

other, and to our customers, stakeholders, and each other

for achieving our goals and future success.

ii
ORD Strategic Plan

iii
The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) mission

is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural

environment—air, water, and land—upon which life

depends. Science supports this mission by providing

EPA and the American people with the knowledge

needed to make informed decisions about risks to human

health and the environment, and with opportunities to

prevent or mitigate these risks. Within EPA, the Office

of Research and Development provides leadership in

science and engineering, and conducts most of the

Agency’s research and development. Through research

and technical assistance, ORD provides the scientific

foundation for EPA’s regulatory programs and decisions,

assesses the state of the environment, identifies new

issues of potential concern, and provides information

and tools to support risk-based decisions.

The Purpose of This Plan

ORD’s Strategic Plan is the latest stage in a multi-year

effort to improve ORD’s organizational effectiveness

and research program. This Plan describes ORD’s

organizational goals and the actions we will take over

the next decade to achieve these goals. In so doing, we

will ensure that our science continues to be of high

quality, timely, relevant, and responsive.

This Plan does not alter our research priorities, which

are the product of a careful and comprehensive Agencywide planning process. Instead, this Plan focuses on

ORD as an organization and serves as the roadmap for

how we will work together and organize our activities

over the next 10 years to more efficiently and effectively

support EPA’s mission. Rather than concentrating on

what research we will do, this Plan sets direction for

how we will accomplish our mission.

Background

ORD’s Strategic Plan builds on the evolution in ORD’s

organizational structure and research planning that began

in the mid-1990s in response to a number of external

reviews of EPA’s research programs, as well as a

Congressional directive that EPA examine its overall

laboratory structure. In 1995, as a result of these reviews

and a strong internal desire to strengthen and better focus

our research program, ORD implemented the most

sweeping reorganization in its history.

The scientific rationale for the new structure was the

scientific risk assessment/risk management paradigm—

a sequenced set of specific interrelated analytic steps

that are employed in assessing environmental risks and

making decisions on how to reduce those risks. Simply

stated, these steps involve a process to: 1) characterize

the nature and magnitude of human health or

environmental effects; 2) determine the magnitude and

routes of exposure to causative contaminants or

stressors; 3) combine these into an assessment of risk;

and, 4) evaluate sources and implement strategies or

technologies to reduce risk. Using this organizing

principle, ORD combined 12 existing laboratories into

three National Laboratories (covering environmental

effects, exposure, and risk management) and a National

Center for Environmental Assessment which mirror the

four components of the paradigm.

The Context of the Strategic Plan

1
ORD Strategic Plan

At the same time, ORD created a National Center for

Environmental Research to manage an enlarged and

strengthened competitive extramural grants and

fellowship program. Two Headquarter Offices were

formed to provide support and oversight, the Office of

Science Policy and the Office of Resources Management

and Administration (see Appendix A for the ORD

Organizational Chart).

Following the reorganization, ORD published a Strategic

Plan in May 1996. The 1996 Plan proposed evaluating

research and development priorities based on

comparative risk—or, stated in different terms, on

reducing uncertainty about the potentially greatest risks.

The 1996 Plan, which was updated in 1997, outlined

ORD’s high-priority research topics and included their

strategic focus, key elements, anticipated research

products, and intended uses. The 1996 Plan and its 1997

update also set in motion an effort to develop a series of

externally peer-reviewed research strategies and plans

describing the rationale, strategic direction, and key

components of ORD’s research program.

In 1997, EPA also implemented the Government

Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA) which

resulted in additional changes for ORD. The Agency

produced a comprehensive Strategic Plan and

restructured its budget around 10 Agency-wide Goals.

The Agency also prepared its first Annual Performance

Plan and Congressional Justification for 1999 in

accordance with the new GPRA structure. This Annual

Plan included Performance Goals and Measures that

would be accomplished with the proposed budget. It is

this process that ORD now uses to plan its research and

development program and is discussed in further detail

later in this document.

Concurrently, ORD has taken the lead in looking broadly

at EPA science by drafting the January 2000 Strategic

Framework for EPA Science. The Framework contains

three unifying principles for EPA science: use of the

Agency-wide science inventory; effective planning

(“doing the right science”); and sound science (“doing

the science right”). EPA, through its Science Policy

Council, has adopted and is implementing these

principles in cross-agency science activities sponsored

by the Council.

ORD Is Composed of Three Laboratories,

Two Centers, and Two Offices

These are:

• National Health and Environmental Effects

Research Laboratory

• National Exposure Research Laboratory

• National Risk Management Research

Laboratory

• National Center for Environmental

Assessment

• National Center for Environmental

Research

• Office of Science Policy

• Office of Resources Management and

Administration

2
The Future We Seek

ORD has developed this Strategic Plan as a path between

our past and our future. The scientific priorities

identified in our two previous strategic plans and the

current EPA Strategic Plan still hold true. We are on

track in providing high-quality, timely, relevant, and

responsive scientific research and technical assistance

to support EPA’s mission to protect human health and

the environment.

At the same time, we recognize that we face new

challenges that will alter how we plan, conduct, and

communicate science, how we view and anticipate

environmental problems, and how we manage our

organization. It is clear that the environmental issues

that we will address in the next decade are increasingly

complex, subtle, international, and interrelated.

Similarly, the solutions required to address these issues

will place a growing premium on sound science and riskbased decision-making.

Moreover, we face rising expectations from our partners,

stakeholders, and the American people for more

scientific information on: environmental and public

health risks; how these risks may differ for different

groups or different locations; and how they can be

reduced in a cost-effective manner.

We recognize and embrace these challenges as

opportunities to demonstrate the excellence of our work

and the strength of our commitment to a safe and clean

environment. This Strategic Plan will guide our efforts.

How This Plan Was Developed

The Plan focuses on five strategic organizational goals

that were originally drafted by ORD’s Executive

Council. The ORD Executive Council is composed of

the Assistant Administrator for Research and

Development, the Deputy Assistant Administrators for

Management and for Science, and the Directors of

ORD’s Laboratories, Centers, and Offices.

Meetings with the workforce were held throughout our

locations to discuss the goals, what they meant, why

they were important, and how we might achieve them.

These meetings, and much of the other consultation with

our workforce, were organized and coordinated

by the Strategic Plan Workgroup, which included

representatives throughout the organization.

In addition, many other staff members actively

participated in developing this Strategic Plan through

goal writing teams that were established for each of the

five goals. Each team was responsible for using the

diverse input collected to develop the specific objectives,

actions, and measures of success under each goal.

Whatever success derives from this Strategic Plan

belongs to all those who participated in its development.

3
ORD Strategic Plan

Emerging External Trends and Their

Implications for ORD’s Future

To complement and confirm the results of internal

planning, we held discussions throughout 1999 with our

internal EPA customers, other governmental

organizations, and key external stakeholders from trade

associations, professional societies, and public interest

organizations. These discussions focused on gathering

customer and stakeholder perspectives on the future of

science and environmental protection over the next 10

to 20 years, and on related demands and expectations

facing EPA. These meetings produced a broad consensus

about several significant, persistent, and highly relevant

trends. The details concerning our June 3, 1999, external

stakeholder meeting can be found on the Internet at

http://www.epa.gov/ORD/SP.

ORD’s customers and stakeholders believe that the

nature of environmental protection is changing

in significant ways. One of their most important

observations is that certain approaches to environmental

protection—which produced environmental gains over

the past 30 years—have begun to yield only marginal

returns in the face of continued population growth and

economic expansion. Using traditional regulation of

large municipal and industrial sources of pollution and

focusing on individual chemicals, pollutant classes, or

a single medium can no longer, by themselves, be

counted on to provide the level of environmental

protection that the American people desire.

Further, these traditional approaches, while still

necessary, are not likely to effectively address new issues

such as global climate change, loss of habitat and

biodiversity, non-point source pollution, and risks

associated with emerging technologies. In addition,

rising public expectations call for finely tuned

environmental solutions addressing the needs or special

circumstances of specific populations (such as the

elderly or children) and specific communities, water

bodies, or airsheds.

As a consequence, while EPA’s traditional media

programs will continue to be the mainstays of the

environmental protection system in the United States,

new or different and more complex approaches will be

required to realize significant environmental gains in

the future. Examples of these approaches include

market-based approaches, voluntary programs, greater

information sharing to allow for informed risk-based

decisions by individuals and corporations, and

partnerships with others concerned with human health

protection and environmental stewardship.

ORD’s Customers and Stakeholders

ORD’s customers are those who directly use

ORD’s research products and technical

assistance to protect human health and safeguard

the environment. ORD’s primary customers are

EPA’s program and regional offices but also

include state environmental agencies, tribal

organizations, and other parts of the federal

government.

ORD’s stakeholders are those individuals or

organizations with a specific interest in ORD’s

work and accomplishments. This larger set

includes industry, trade associations, the

academic research community, public interest

groups, and in the broadest sense, the American

people. Some stakeholders may also be

customers.

4
The following trends were identified by our customers

and stakeholders as likely to have the greatest influence

on ORD over the next 10 to 20 years:

• New arrangements among EPA and individual

citizens, states, tribes, industry, and other

organizations will be developed, driven by

changing needs and expectations for more

cooperative arrangements with industry and

community-based decision-making.

• Traditional single-medium problems and programs

will face new challenges because of continued

population growth, economic expansion, and aging

infrastructure.

• The complexity of emerging environmental issues

will place a premium on integrated, multimedia,

multidisciplinary research to allow for sound

decision-making where difficult, subtle, and

possibly uncertain trade-offs of risk and risk

management are involved.

• New technologies (e.g., miniaturization, energy

generation, transportation, remote sensing) offer

great promise to ameliorate existing problems and

provide better information about the state of the

environment, but also may bring with them new

risks that need to be assessed.

• An aging, more affluent, and better educated

society will have greater expectations for

environmental quality, including ecological

restoration (to complement environmental

protection), which will lead to greater demands for

environmental information.

• The increasing availability of environmental

information and tools for interpreting this

information, especially over the Internet,

will require increased and improved risk

communication.

• There is a need to expand our understanding of

environmental research so that the findings of

economics, sociology, psychology, and other social

sciences can be incorporated into decision-making,

because environmental protection increasingly

focuses on the decisions and behaviors of

individuals as consumers, commuters, and

property-owners.

The sum of these anticipated trends is a growing role

for scientific information in the formulation,

development, and implementation of public policy

toward the environment, and consequently, a potentially

growing role for ORD.

The perspectives of ORD’s customers and stakeholders

have offered us a look into the future and a basis for

better understanding the challenges we face as we try to

achieve our mission. Consideration of these trends and

their implications for how we plan, conduct, and manage

our research were influential in the development of the

goals, objectives, and actions in the Strategic Plan. It

should also be noted that, an implicit assumption

for the development of the Plan was that public attitudes

toward the environment and funding for environmental

protection and research would remain fairly stable over

the next decade.

5
ORD Strategic Plan

ORD’s Strategic Organizational Goals

ORD has established five strategic organizational goals

to meet the challenges of the future. The goals are as

follows:

• Support the Agency’ Agency’s Mission

• Be a High-Performing Organization

• Be a Leader in the Environmental onmental

Research Community

• Integrate Environmental Science and

Technology to Solve Environmental onmental

Problems

• Anticipate Future Environmental Issues

Each goal contains several focused objectives, under

which are specific actions. The actions represent the

set of activities that ORD will implement in order to

meet each objective and, taken together, achieve all of

the goals. Individually, each goal represents an

aspiration we seek to achieve. Collectively, our goals

define the full range of ORD’s role in shaping the future

of environmental protection.

As Figure 1 shows, ORD’s five goals are closely

interrelated. Supporting the ting the Agency’ Agency’s mission

(Goal 1) (Goal 1) is central to the other four goals and is the

guiding focus for all ORD employees. While other

agencies such as the National Science Foundation play

a critical role in pursuing our fundamental understanding

of nature and natural phenomena, ORD is committed to

pursuing “science for a purpose,” namely, protecting

human health and the environment from the unintended

consequences of humankind’s use of the earth and its

atmosphere. ORD is part of a regulatory Agency, and

ORD’s scientific products and expertise are critical to

supporting agency decision-making. First and foremost,

ORD must be a strong advocate for sound science across

the Agency.

Being a high-performing organization (Goal 2) (Goal 2) allows

us to achieve our other strategic goals. In order to

accomplish what we have set forth, our organization will

encourage scientific leadership, integration, and

anticipation in pursuit of our primary goal of supporting

the Agency’s mission. We will attract, retain, and

develop a highly qualified and diverse workforce to meet

the challenges we face. Policies and administrative

processes will provide tools to promote risk-taking,

integration, and anticipation of trends. The performance

and promotion system will encourage and reward

progress toward our strategic goals.

Science leadership (Goal 3) (Goal 3) is a key component of our

success. If we are to provide sound science for

environmental decision-making, it must be recognized

as leading edge. In addition, there is more missioncritical research than ORD scientists and engineers can

perform, which means that we will leverage ORD’s

resources with the research expertise in academia, in

other research institutes, and in state, federal, local, and

tribal organizations that conduct environmental research.

ORD will demonstrate and model environmental science

leadership within EPA and in the broader scientific

Figure 1: ORD’s Strategic Goals

6
community. This leadership will help us to integrate

science, anticipate the future, and become a highperforming organization.

Integration across environmental science and

technology (Goal 4) (Goal 4) requires leadership and is critical

to meeting the challenges of the future. EPA has long

known that solutions addressing problems one at a time

and one medium at a time are less efficient and,

therefore, only partially effective. Integration across

the risk paradigm (i.e., source-exposure-dose-effectmanagement) is a critical first step to achieving more

effective solutions and meeting future challenges.

Integration across environmental media (i.e., solutions

that solve a problem in one medium have additional

benefits in another, rather than unintended negative

consequences) is needed to recognize trade-offs.

Integration across disciplines, including the social

sciences, is yet another step leading to the ultimate goal

of solutions that integrate protection of human health

with protection of ecosystems. Finally, integration of

extramural research conducted through our Science to

Achieve Results (STAR) grants program with our

intramural research efforts greatly expands our scientific

effectiveness and impact.

Anticipating future environmental trends and issues

(Goal 5) (Goal 5) can help ORD maintain a leading-edge view

of scientific needs for preventing or ameliorating

potential environmental problems. Environmental

“futures” thinking will lead to better articulation of new

directions and strategic planning of research—before

problems emerge and lead to environmental damage and

degradation. Through futures thinking, ORD will

support more informed EPA decision-making, shape the

national environmental research agenda, and reinforce

ORD’s leadership position in the scientific community.

7
ORD Strategic Plan

Goal 1 Support the Agency’s Mission

Goal Statement

ORD will support the Agency’s Strategic Goals through

collaborative relationships with its program and regional

offices by providing high-quality, relevant, responsive,

and timely scientific information and research results.

What This Goal Means

Science is the foundation of all of EPA’s work. ORD’s

role is to deliver problem-driven and core research,

scientific advice, and technical support that provide a

solid scientific basis for EPA policy and program

decisions. Our research and scientific support activities

must clearly contribute to the Agency’s Strategic Goals.

Although ORD’s research may benefit many customers,

our success will be primarily measured by the extent to

which our research helps EPA accomplish its mission,

both now and in the future.

In achieving our mission ORD is committed to

following a balanced program of problem-driven

and core research–with the additional condition

that research must always be necessary for, not just

relevant to, environmental protection and restoration.

Problem-driven research directly addresses a specific,

identified need in order to support a regulatory action

or program activity. This research may be needed to

review a criterion, meet a legislative mandate, or provide

technical support to a program or regional office, such

as developing methods for detecting and removing

microbial contaminants from drinking water.

We also recognize the need for a strong body

of core research focusing on elucidating key physical,

chemical, biological, geological, sociological, and

economic processes that are important in understanding

and predicting the effects of human activities on human

health and the environment. This type of research

provides the scientific basis for understanding a wide

range of environmental issues and problems. It

includes, for example, research on biological indicators

of ecosystem health or development of improved

methodologies for assessing cumulative exposure to

contaminants.

Today’s core research program will provide the

foundation for our problem-driven research in future

years, and today’s problem-driven research helps to

shape our future core research portfolio. We conduct

both problem-driven and core research, focusing on the

common element of facilitating the work of the rest of

EPA.

An extensive discussion of problem-driven and core

research can be found in Building a Foundation for

Sound Environmental Decisions, Committee on Research

Opportunities and Priorities for EPA, National

Research Council, National Academy of Sciences, 1997.

As a result, ORD’s research must be results-oriented

and customer focused. Specifically, our research needs

to be:

• Rigorous, objective, and thorough;

• Structured and conducted to provide complete and

integrated information relevant to decisionmaking;

• Focused on the needs of our customers; and

• Provided in a timely and useful manner.

8
Why This Goal Is Important for ORD

EPA is a mission-oriented agency; its work is focused

on the specific goals and objectives described in EPA’s

Strategic Plan. ORD provides the scientific support that

enables the Agency to meet those goals and objectives.

EPA depends on ORD; its scientific reputation is built

on our work. As a result, our research must respond to

and anticipate the Agency’s needs. Science that is not

supportive of EPA’s mission may be important, but it

need not, and should not, be done by ORD. We must

keep ourselves focused on helping EPA program and

regional offices to fulfill their mandates and achieve their

goals to address the nation’s most important

environmental and human health risks through research

and development, assessment methods, and management

options.

Because EPA’s responsibilities are broad, important, and

heavily informed by science, ORD must maintain a

robust and wide-ranging research agenda. The challenge

for us is to ensure that this research is organized,

conducted, and delivered to the Agency in such a way

that it makes a positive difference in the lives of the

American people.

Goal 1 Objectives and Actions

1.1 Maintain a balanced program of problemdriven and core research.

1.1.1 – Develop multi-year plans that address key

outcomes needed by the Agency and a logical sequence

of work to achieve them.

1.1.2 – Communicate the value of core research

outcomes and products to the program and regional

offices to develop a common understanding of the link

between this research and the Agency’s long-term policy

and decision-making needs.

1.1.3 – As part of the planning process, link research

outcomes to current and emerging Agency needs.

1.1.4 – Continuously improve the research planning and

coordination process to engage ORD’s EPA partners,

enhance transparency and efficiency of the process, and

ensure that we are doing the right research.

1.1.5 – Clearly link the research funded by extramural

grants to the Agency’s Goals and GPRA framework.

1.2 Proactively lead EPA’s ef fort to ensure that 

sound science is synthesized, integrated, and

communicated in a form that supports

effective environmental decision-making by

EPA and its stakeholders. and its stakeholders.

1.2.1 – Promote more frequent and direct

communication between ORD scientists and engineers,

and programs, regions, and states to ensure that the

science is properly interpreted and communicated for

use in the regulatory process.

1.2.2 – Expand efforts to communicate the results of

ORD’s research inside and outside ORD (e.g., using

State-of-the-Science reports; assessments and criteria

documents; and sponsorship of national meetings,

workshops, and symposia on key human health and

ecological issues).

9
ORD Strategic Plan

1.2.3 – Develop, maintain, and promote a searchable

database of ORD research projects and results.

1.2.4 – Develop mechanisms to ensure that problemdriven research delivers a complete product that

integrates the relevant research across ORD.

1.3 Provide technical assistance and regulatory

support that meet the immediate needs of the

program and regional of egional offices.

1.3.1 – Include technical assistance and regulatory

support needs in our multi-year research plans.

1.3.2 – Build an accurate, up-to-date, electronic and

searchable ORD Technical Assistance Directory and

routinely assess its impact and usage.

1.3.3 – Modify performance and promotion criteria to

recognize the value of technical assistance and

regulatory support to EPA’s mission.

1.3.4 – Routinely interact with both the Regional and

Tribal Science Councils to ensure the relevance and

timeliness of ORD support.

1.4 Routinely obtain advice and feedback on our

performance from our customers. customers.

1.4.1 – Develop surveys and other tools to obtain and

evaluate customer feedback.

1.4.2 – Incorporate customer feedback into our research

planning process.

1.4.3 – Assess research productivity and performance

and evaluate accomplishments through EPA’s Science

Advisory Board (SAB), ORD’s Board of Scientific

Counselors (BOSC), and other external peer review

panels, and by benchmarking against other research

institutions.

Measures of Success

Consistent with the recognition that our work is and

should be focused on EPA’s mission, protecting human

health and safeguarding the environment are the ultimate

measures of our success. It should be noted that a full

set of Annual Performance Goals and Measures for our

research can be found in EPA’s Annual Performance

Plan, as required by GPRA. To further evaluate this

Goal, ORD will measure the feedback received from

program and regional partners, the scientific community,

Congress, and the public. Customer satisfaction surveys

will determine how well the value and results of our

research are communicated and how high our

satisfaction is with the level of customer involvement

in research planning. In addition, reports from the SAB,

BOSC, and others will be used to assess ORD

performance.

Other measures of success include the following:

• Citations or references in regulatory decisionmaking documents that reflect ORD’s advice and

research in formulating final decisions;

• EPA regulatory, enforcement, and other actions that

are not delayed or rejected because of a lack of

scientific and engineering rigor to support them;

• Peer reviews verifying that major uncertainties

across the risk paradigm impeding environmental

protection have been addressed; and

• Customer Satisfaction Surveys indicate that our

research results are valued and responsive to their

needs.

10
Goal 2 Be a High-Performing Organization

Goal Statement

ORD will be a high-performing organization in which

employees communicate openly, serve customers, and

work collaboratively to make ORD more effective and

efficient.

What This Goal Means

Excellence in scientific and engineering research

requires a strong, supportive organizational foundation.

We are committed to the growth and development of

our staff and the continuous improvement in the

efficiency and effectiveness of our organization and

infrastructure. Under this Goal, ORD will continue to

provide leadership and devote resources to develop and

foster our workforce, model effective management, and

create a supportive work environment that promotes

creativity, innovation, teamwork, and productivity. In

short, we will recruit and retain the best possible people

and provide them with the infrastructure, resources, and

rewards for conducting results-oriented, customerfocused research in support of ORD’s and EPA’s

missions. Becoming a high-performing organization

will mean developing and sustaining the following:

• A stimulating research environment that attracts,

holds, and values the best, brightest, and most

energetic workforce in science, engineering,

management, and administration and also

encourages their creativity, innovation, and

productivity;

• Career opportunities for staff to contribute to

ORD’s success, develop professionally, interact

with colleagues, and achieve recognition;

• Recognition and rewards for achieving results,

serving customers, and supporting each other;

• Open, clear, and concise communication that

builds trust;

• Efficiently managed and administered operations

that provide the resources and infrastructure for

an effective research and development program;

• Organizational flexibility that balances the

changing needs of the environmental agenda with

the need for a stable research environment and

ensures that administrative requirements are met

with integrity while contributing to an atmosphere

of trust;

• A diverse workforce whose varied backgrounds

and perspectives are utilized and whose individual

contributions are respected and valued; and

• Clean, healthy, and safe facilities that support

and enhance the quality of ORD’s science and

engineering.

Why This Goal Is Important for ORD

Investing in our workforce and improving our

organizational processes are key components of our

success. The single most important factor is the talent

and effort of our staff. None of our strategic goals

can be realized without a highly qualified, diverse,

and capable workforce. The discoveries and

accomplishments we seek will spring from the efforts

of a staff who are motivated in their work and provided

with the support and recognition needed to help them

do their best.

Motivating and supporting

our workforce requires a

culture that inspires respect,

honesty, and trust and

that rewards leadership,

innovation, teamwork, and

risk-taking. It also requires

efficient management and

administrative processes. All

of these elements add up to

11
ORD Strategic Plan

developing an organization where workforce policies,

management and administrative processes, internal

structure, and corporate culture are aligned to meet our

strategic goals. Fostering this high-performing

organization will directly contribute to achieving our

other strategic goals by providing the workforce with

tools and incentives to:

• Improve product delivery and customer service;

• Highlight our scientific excellence and leadership;

• Better integrate our work; and

• Better anticipate risks and issues.

Goal 2 Objectives and Actions

2.1 Recruit, retain, and develop a highly qualified

and diverse workforce.

2.1.1 – Conduct an ORD workforce planning analysis

to ensure staff competencies/skills mix to fulfill our

mission.

2.1.2 – Develop and implement recruitment strategies

to attract a highly qualified and diverse workforce.

2.1.3 – Institute an effective career development

program for all employees, which includes a range of

opportunities (e.g., rotations, training, Intergovernmental

Personnel Act assignments, individual development

plans, exchange programs with universities).

2.1.4 – Create and implement a consistent, ongoing

approach to assess what attracts people to work at ORD

and why they stay or leave.

2.1.5 – Modify promotion criteria to reflect ORD’s

mission and goals and clearly communicate performance

expectations to staff.

2.2 Create a culture that inspires respect, honesty,

and trust. and trust.

2.2.1 – Identify elements of a trusting work environment

and develop and implement a plan to improve workplace

trust at all levels of the organization.

2.2.2 – Train and evaluate all managers in

communication skills, particularly on providing

feedback and recognition to employees.

2.2.3 – Increase direct communication between

managers and staff (e.g., open-door practices, skip-level

meetings, informative e-mails).

2.2.4 – Develop and implement an internal

communication improvement strategy.

2.2.5 – Institute a feedback process (e.g., 360-degree

evaluations) for all employees.

2.2.6 – Publish statistics on hiring, awards, training,

developmental assignments, promotions, and travel.

2.3 Create a stimulating work environment that onment that

encourages and rewards leadership, creativity,

innovation, teamwork, and risk-taking. innovation, teamwork, and risk-taking.

2.3.1 – Provide opportunities for staff to share leadership

responsibilities.

2.3.2 – Design and implement a leadership development

training program.

2.3.3 – Institute a peer-nominated award that recognizes

an employee who exemplifies leadership.

2.3.4 – Increase recognition of and actively publicize

awards and employee accomplishments, including team

accomplishments.

2.3.5 – Identify and eliminate or reduce barriers to

innovation and risk-taking.

2.3.6 – Expand opportunities for use of multidisciplinary

teams.

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2.4 Align our management and administrative

processes and tools to help staf ocesses and tools to help staff achieve our

mission. mission.

2.4.1 – Use quality management techniques to analyze

and streamline administrative procedures and processes.

2.4.2 – Develop an orientation program that outlines

roles, responsibilities, processes, and procedures.

2.4.3 – Align the reward, recognition, and promotion

processes/criteria with strategic organizational goals and

directions.

2.4.4 – Maintain support for technicians, infrastructure,

and equipment.

2.4.5 – Develop and maintain a multifaceted, effective

communication system that permits the efficient flow

of accurate information into, within, and outside of ORD.

2.4.6 – Develop mechanisms to identify and disseminate

best practices throughout ORD.

2.4.7 – Benchmark other high-performing organizations

to identify and implement best practices.

2.4.8 – Invest in state-of-the-art information technology

that can significantly streamline internal processes,

promote information sharing and collaboration within

ORD and with outside organizations, and facilitate

ORD’s technical assistance and risk communication

activities.

Measures of Success

The principal assessment of how well we are achieving

this Goal will be quantitative and qualitative measures

of human resource performance, employee satisfaction

on organizational assessments, and measures of

administrative efficiency. In addition, a high-performing

workforce will be measured by the amount, quality, and

impact of the science produced, as found in performance

measures for Goals 1, 3, 4, and 5.

Specific measures for this Goal include the following:

• Objective human resources data on acceptance

rates, turnover, exit interviews, percentages of

operating budget spent on recruitment, diverse

employee backgrounds, and career development

and training;

• Organizational climate survey data on employee

satisfaction with career development and training,

communication, levels of trust, and rewards and

incentives;

• Administrative efficiency measures such as ratio

of scientists to administrative staff, average cost

per procurement, and average time for document

approval;

• Evaluation of the 360-degree feedback process on

whether the feedback is valued, provided openly

and honestly, and acted upon; and

• Demonstrated payback from information

technology investments.

13
ORD Strategic Plan

Goal 3 Be a Leader in the

Environmental Research Community

Goal Statement

ORD will enhance its role as a national leader in the

science and engineering research that underpins

protection of human health and the environment, both

by conducting and sponsoring mission-critical research

and by playing a pivotal role in the development of a

national environmental research agenda.

What This Goal Means

ORD’s science leadership involves playing a key role

in:

• Defining and developing a national environmental

research agenda;

• Upholding the highest standard of independence,

objectivity, and excellence in research;

• Being viewed as a source of expertise and

knowledge by the scientific community and the

American public;

• Communicating the value and results of scientific

work; and

• Being a prominent participant in scientific and

professional organization activities.

Leadership is not the same as recognition, and it is not

limited to the individual. While ORD seeks to be

recognized for the excellence of its work and the

expertise and accomplishments of its staff, we also

intend to lead by helping to coordinate the research

direction and priorities of other organizations and by

being a resource for communicating complex issues of

science and risk to the American public.

In this context, ORD’s science leadership will have

several important dimensions. First, we will ensure that

all of our research is: focused on issues of importance

to the Agency; provided in a timely, understandable, and

useful format; and used in a rigorous and credible

fashion. We will maintain our unwavering commitment

to sound science—science that is independent, objective,

and carefully peer-reviewed.

Second, we will involve others in achieving our research

mission. ORD has only about 5 percent of the federal

environmental research budget in the United States. As

a result, we seek to exert a beneficial influence on the

direction of environmental research conducted

elsewhere in the federal government by cooperatively

developing a national environmental research agenda.

14
Finally, we must exhibit leadership in a community-wide

sense. This involves helping to define the national

agenda through attracting and supporting the next

generation of scientists early in their professional

careers, being the prime source for reliable

environmental data and methods, sponsoring meetings

and workshops, and partnering with universities and

other research organizations to leverage our skills and

resources.

Cultivating and sustaining science leadership translates

into exhibiting leadership at all organizational levels.

Our scientists and engineers will be widely

acknowledged as leaders in their respective research

areas. Our managers and supervisors will be champions

for science and science quality and leaders within EPA

and ORD to ensure that our research is focused and

timely. Corporately, ORD will strive to play a critical

role in all aspects of national research initiatives that

provide the scientific basis for EPA’s mission. In

addition, we will be leaders in communicating our

research results to all of our stakeholders outside of EPA.

Why This Goal Is Important for ORD

Solving the complex environmental problems of the new

century will require substantial leadership to focus

research on issues that pose the greatest environmental

risks. It is particularly important for ORD to conduct,

stimulate, and support critical environmental research

that will lead to a significantly better understanding of

environmental risks and development of effective and

efficient solutions to environmental problems. Within

EPA, ORD’s leadership to uphold the highest standard

of independence, objectivity, and excellence in research

will contribute to sound decision-making and efficient

programs, thereby enhancing the public’s confidence

in EPA and its mission. At the same time, ORD’s

leadership in communicating risk and scientific

information to the American people will help them to

make their own informed decisions about environmental

issues at either a local or national level, as consumers,

commuters, property owners, and citizens.

Beyond EPA, ORD has an important leadership role in

catalyzing and coordinating the development of a

national environmental research agenda. To fill this role,

ORD must hold the trust, respect, and confidence of

scientists and administrators in other federal agencies,

universities, and external research organizations. This

trust will arise from the quality of our work, and the

active and prominent participation of our scientists in

professional societies and associations. Such activities

will further ORD’s ties to the scientific community,

provide professional development opportunities and

recognition to staff, and support Goal 4 on integration

by fostering collaboration across organizations,

disciplines, and topics.

Goal 3 Objectives and Actions

3.1 Lead the development and definition of a

national environmental research agenda for

integrating and coordinating federally funded

environmental research.

3.1.1 – Establish a cross-agency workgroup to engage

and coordinate with stakeholders and evaluate long-term

needs to be addressed in a national environmental

research agenda.

3.1.2 – Look for innovative ways to integrate federally

funded environmental research across institutions.

3.1.3 – Coordinate with existing science policy

institutions, such as the Office of Science and

Technology Policy, the National Academy of Sciences,

and other academic and scientific institutions.

3.2 Uphold the highest standard of independence, Uphold the highest standard of independence, Uphold the highest standard of independence,

objectivity, and excellence. , and excellence.

3.2.1 – Improve and expand EPA’s scientific peer review

processes.

3.2.2 – Account for peer review of plans, results, and

interpretation in the development of Lab/Center

operating plans, as well as project completion schedules.

15
ORD Strategic Plan

3.3 Be a widely used source of expertise and

knowledge. knowledge.

3.3.1 – Enhance the stature and visibility of ORD’s

science through an environment that fosters publication

in high-quality journals and presentations at national and

international scientific and technical meetings.

3.3.2 – Provide incentives for external collaborative

research projects, programs, and workshops with

researchers at universities and other research institutions.

3.3.3 – Provide incentives to encourage scientists to

assume national leadership roles in professional

organizations, such as scientific societies, editorial

boards, advisory boards, and adjunct university

appointments.

3.3.4 – Organize and sponsor technical workshops and

symposia on emerging environmental problems and

cutting-edge science.

3.4 Communicate the results and value of ORD

research.

3.4.1 – Build a capacity to measure the effectiveness of

ORD’s major research programs and benchmark

measures of effectiveness against other scientific

organizations.

3.4.2 – Develop and implement improved mechanisms

for synthesis and communication of research results and

risk information to ORD’s diverse audiences.

3.4.3 – Invest in information technology including an

expansion of ORD’s Web presence to share information

and promote collaboration.

3.4.4 – Develop a standard format/logo/look for EPA/

ORD products so that they are instantly recognizable to

customers and stakeholders.

Measures of Success

The measures of leadership are how positively we are

viewed and how much our scientific contributions are

valued, on an individual and organizational level, by

our customers and stakeholders. This feedback must

come from a variety of audiences—experts in specific

disciplines, the broader scientific and environmental

protection communities, Congress, and the American

people.

Measures of leadership at the individual level include

the following:

• External awards and recognition for ORD

scientists;

• Publications in high-quality journals;

• Appointments to scientific societies, editorial

boards, and adjunct university positions;

• Leadership roles at professional and scientific

meetings, conferences, and symposia; and

• Invitations to ORD scientists to participate in

conferences, workshops, symposia, and peer

reviews.

16
• Requests from international organizations to visit

EPA facilities or invitations to participate in their

planning and review activities;

• Workshops and symposia conducted with

researchers from other organizations;

• Cooperative Research and Development Act

Agreements and Interagency Agreements;

• Requests for ORD research results and expertise

from outside ORD; and

• Visits to the ORD Web site, including downloading

of documents and reports.

17

Measures of leadership at the organizational level

include the following:

• The creation and implementation of a national

environmental research agenda and the extent to

which it guides the planning and funding of

environmental research;

• Citation rates as an indicator of quality and impact

of publications;

• Critiques from independent organizations [e.g.,

National Research Council (NRC), SAB] regarding

the independence, objectivity, and excellence of

our research;

• Research programs involving multiple agencies or

institutions;
ORD Strategic Plan

Goal 4 Integrate Environmental Science and

Technology to Solve Environmental Problems

Goal Statement

ORD will integrate its research across media, disciplines,

and institutions to meet the challenges of complex

environmental problems and to promote the discovery

of holistic, efficient, and effective solutions.

What This Goal Means

Effectively solving environmental problems requires an

integrated approach in which the necessary people and

skills are brought together in a comprehensive program

of research to answer the fundamental scientific

questions. Furthermore, it means that the results of our

research are assembled, presented, and communicated

to Agency customers, key stakeholders, and the general

public in a way that facilitates understanding and wise

decisions.

Such integrated problem-solving is both a unique

capability of, and opportunity for, ORD. Because of

our broad mission related to both human health and

ecology, close working relationships with the program

and regional offices, established ties to universities and

other research institutions, and a large, multidisciplinary

research staff, we are qualified and positioned to

integrate scientific research to understand and solve

environmental problems.

To achieve this Goal, we will integrate research across

the following:

• Human and ecological health by maximizing the

degree to which relevant human health and

ecological endpoints are addressed, including

different health effects, levels of biological

organization, and human populations;

• The risk assessment/risk management paradigm

by ensuring that we evaluate the effectiveness of

risk management alternatives based on net risk

reduction, not merely pollutant reduction. We will

set our risk characterization and assessment

research priorities while recognizing the inherent

uncertainties in risk assessment and the potential

effect these uncertainties may have on decisions

to develop prevention or control options;

• Institutions by drawing expertise from the

appropriate ORD Laboratories and Centers, EPA

program and regional offices, other federal

agencies, universities, and U.S. and international

research organizations;

• Disciplines by involving staff from the biological,

physical, natural, and social sciences and from

engineering; and

• Media by recognizing that the conditions of air,

water, land, and human health are interrelated and

that addressing risks in the context of one medium

may alter risks in another.

18
All levels of ORD will pursue integration. At the

individual researcher level, integration will occur across

disciplines through coordination, cooperation, and

collaboration. At the laboratory or center level,

integration will require providing resources and

encouragement for work beyond that lab’s or center’s

traditional focus. Our scientists will coordinate with

grant project officers and recipients throughout the

research process. At the highest levels of ORD,

planning, budgeting, and research execution processes

and authorities will support integrated projects.

Why This Goal Is Important for ORD

In the past, the problems on which EPA focused, and

sometimes the solutions as well, involved a scientific

approach that was rather straightforward compared to

the challenges that EPA is addressing now. Today’s

environmental problems are more complex, their causes

less obvious, and their solutions more expensive and/or

less certain. Addressing risks associated with a single

environmental issue or problem often creates or alters

risks elsewhere. Issues such as global climate change,

ecological implications of emerging technologies,

persistent bioaccumulative toxics, endocrine disrupting

chemicals (EDCs), and habitat and biodiversity loss are

inherently complex. They involve complicated issues

related to fate and transport, exposure, and effects, and

the associated human and animal behavioral responses

to these risks or effects. Environmental science and

engineering also will play an even more important role

in the Agency’s efforts to harmonize existing regulations

and programs under its results-based management

approach.

Sound risk-based decisions and environmental

stewardship require the integration of the full range of

knowledge about an issue. Integration across all relevant

dimensions is neither easy nor straightforward, and it

requires a broad mix of skills and organizational

capabilities, including those outside of ORD. As

confirmed in discussions with our stakeholders, we are

uniquely positioned to fulfill this role because of our

broad expertise and capabilities and the importance of

our research to EPA’s decision-making process. In

addition, our relationships with universities and other

research institutions provide the opportunity for new and

more far-reaching partnerships to foster integrated

research.

The Goal of integrating environmental science and

technology to solve environmental problems

complements ORD’s Goal 1 on supporting the Agency’s

mission and Goal 3 on leadership. Integration will

reinforce a sense of common purpose both among our

staff and with EPA programs and regions. Through our

research and technology transfer activities, we will

provide our customers with integrated packages that

solve a problem, constitute a complete tool set, or resolve

the status of an emerging issue. We will encourage other

environmentally focused organizations to move toward

more holistic and comprehensive approaches to

assessing and managing risk.

19
ORD Strategic Plan

Goal 4 Objectives and Actions

4.1 Use ORD’ Use ORD’s multi-year planning process to

identify priority environmental problems to be

addressed by integrated research programs. ograms.

4.1.1 – Use the multi-year plans to identify and take

action on key environmental problems that require

integrated planning and implementation of research.

4.1.2 – Initiate projects that organize, integrate, and

synthesize data and theory from multiple disciplines and

research institutions to support integrated solutions to

complex environmental problems.

4.1.3 – Include cross-laboratory annual performance

goals and measures that provide integrative solutions

for ORD’s GPRA commitments.

4.1.4 – Elevate the priority of cross-organizational

research in the annual planning process.

4.2 Improve ORD’ ove ORD’s research management and

communication processes to facilitate and

support research that provides integrated

solutions to environmental problems. oblems.

4.2.1 – Make ORD models and data sets broadly

available to researchers across ORD, to program and

regional offices, and to the external scientific

community.

4.2.2 – Establish communication mechanisms (such as

scientist-to-scientist meetings, open houses, or staff

orientation programs) to ensure that all staff understand

the environmental problems being addressed, the need

and opportunities for integrated solutions, and the need

for the expertise of others.

4.2.3 – Conduct cross-laboratory program reviews to

hold managers (i.e., line managers, associate and

assistant directors, program managers, and team leaders)

accountable for accomplishing cross-laboratory research

goals.

4.2.4 – Modify the award and promotions program to

reward cross-disciplinary and cross-laboratory research.

4.2.5 – Identify ways to promote interaction between

EPA scientists, grantees, and external research

organizations by benchmarking best practices and

performance metrics from other multidisciplinary,

broadly focused research organizations.

4.3 Dedicate ef Dedicate efforts to increase utilization

of ORD developed science in the of ORD developed science in the Agency’ Agency’s

regulatory programs and by the environmental onmental

community at large. community at large.

4.3.1 – Actively participate in the Agency regulatory

process to communicate ORD research results and

ensure such results are considered in the decisionmaking process.

4.3.2 – Take steps to ensure that ORD scientists and

engineers are informed of, and understand, regulatory

program needs and requirements.

4.3.3 – Improve communication of ORD’s core research

program to facilitate better integration across EPA

program and regional offices.

20
Measures of Success

The ultimate measure of success of this Goal is the

usefulness of ORD’s integrated science and engineering

products to Agency decision-makers, key stakeholders,

and the public. More interim measures concern the

number and type of integrated research and technology

transfer activities occurring within ORD, including the

following:

• Satisfaction scores on ORD organizational

assessment surveys on questions related to the

extent to which staff and management

- are aware of the part their research plays

in providing integrated solutions to

environmental problems,

- believe this research is well coordinated and

complementary, and

- are working on, have volunteered to work on,

or want to work on integrative projects;

21

• Percentage of ORD’s operating budget and

staff devoted to integrated projects;

• Percentage of papers and presentations with

authors from multiple disciplines and multiple

institutions (other ORD laboratories, other parts

of EPA, other agencies, or other organizations);

• Number of ORD staff members leading integrated

programs and projects;

• Satisfaction scores on surveys of environmental

decision-makers (inside and outside of EPA)

regarding the utility of ORD’s integrated products;

and

• Reviews, scores, and comments by the SAB, NRC

committees, and other outside bodies on the value

and quality of ORD’s integrated scientific solutions

to environmental problems.
ORD Strategic Plan

Goal 5 Anticipate Future Environmental Issues

Goal Statement

ORD will evaluate opportunities for and, as appropriate,

will conduct research to anticipate and assess future

environmental stressors—whether human health or

ecological—before their effects adversely impact people

or the environment.

What This Goal Means

In 1995, EPA’s SAB published a report, Beyond the

Horizon: Using Foresight to Protect the Environmental

Future. In this report, the Board stated that “by engaging

in environmental foresight, the American people can

better understand the full range of risks and

opportunities—environmental and economic—possible

in the future and then better define the actions needed

today to reduce the risks and preserve the opportunities.”

The panel made several recommendations recognizing

the importance of understanding and managing future

risk, establishing early warning systems, and calling for

an EPA-led national effort to anticipate and respond to

environmental change.

Goal 5 is to foresee future environmental stressors and

understand or reasonably predict their potential impacts

so that EPA can take action to prevent or avoid these

impacts rather than just respond to them. Under this

Goal, we will undertake a systematic “foresight” effort

focused on potential issues 10 to 20 years into the future.

In contrast, our current research planning and budgeting

processes focus on a time horizon of approximately three

to eight years.

The “foresight” approach has two parts in which ORD,

working with the broader scientific community, EPA

programs, regions, futurists, stakeholders, and the

public, will:

• Search for detectable early warning signals and

extrapolate them into the future; and

• Identify new issues for which an early warning

signal does not currently exist.

By building capacity in this area, we expect to identify

and understand potential future risks to human health

and the environment, recommend new directions for

research and program management decisions, and

identify innovative, cost-effective solutions and

alternatives through an ongoing futures program.

Our futures effort will be realistic in scope and focused

primarily on workshops and information gathering rather

than actual lab and field research. The work will focus

on carefully selected issues for which the outcome may

be highly uncertain but the reward is potentially very

large. While our activities will include direct and

frequent interaction with experts throughout EPA, we

also will draw heavily from the views and thoughts of

those from other agencies and organizations. Our

outputs will inform the research planning and

prioritization process and are expected to shape not only

our future research efforts and priorities but also those

of EPA’s program and regional offices, other agencies,

and organizations concerned with environmental quality.

22
Why This Goal Is Important for ORD

The benefit of foresight is the promise of increased

environmental protection at less cost. As noted by the

SAB, greater commitment to futures research will

provide the following advantages:

• More time to study an issue and determine the best

approach to address it before its full effects are

felt;

• The opportunity to avoid or significantly reduce

the sickness, injury, or environmental damage

associated with an issue; and

• Lower costs and less social disruption by

addressing an issue before its effects are large and

widespread.

A systematic futures program is highly complementary

with Goal 1 in supporting the Agency’s mission and Goal

3 on scientific leadership. New insights on potential

stressors will give EPA additional time for research and

evaluation to support decision-making. Our futures

program will supply new knowledge to shape the

national environmental research agenda, maintain the

relevancy and focus of our core research, and reinforce

our leadership in the scientific community.

Goal 5 Objectives and Actions

5.1 Develop an organizational capability for

environmental foresight. esight.

5.1.1 – Establish a futures coordinating group, consisting

of representatives from ORD Laboratories, Centers, and

Offices and interested program and regional offices, to

guide futures activities.

5.1.2 – Designate a senior champion and provide

dedicated support staff to coordinate activities, provide

continuity, and directly engage appropriate expertise.

5.1.3 – Provide resources to procure expertise in

foresight analysis and other disciplines beyond ORD’s

traditional areas of science, and from organizations

beyond ORD’s traditional stakeholders.

5.1.4 – Benchmark processes and performance metrics

from other organizations recognized for their futures

analysis.

5.2 Stimulate dialogue both inside and outside

EPA on future environmental developments

and their significance. and their significance.

5.2.1 – Convene discussions and workshops with outside

experts using the two-part foresight approach to search

for early signals and identify new opportunities. These

discussions will focus on methodology and tools for

doing futures analysis such as processes for data

collection, characterization of issues, criteria for

promotion of future action or investigation, and

communication of the key potential efforts.

5.2.2 – Routinely gather information and input from EPA

program and regional offices, the external scientific

research community, futurists, and other stakeholders,

on their visions and observations of the future relevant

to environmental protection.

23
ORD Strategic Plan

5.3 Pilot futures analysis for a few key a few key

environmental issues. onmental issues.

5.3.1 – Develop and evaluate pilot projects to identify

one to three emerging issues of future concern within a

one-year time frame to demonstrate the concept and to

evaluate effective approaches to this type of analysis.

5.3.2 – Evaluate pilot projects, brief the ORD Science

Council on the results, and recommend actions for future

activities to the Assistant Administrator for ORD.

Measures of Success

By its very nature, futures analysis resists rigorous,

immediate evaluation of its effectiveness. Because the

impacts of stressors identified by futures analysis are

more distant, judging whether ORD identified the

“right” issues will only be known in time—most likely

10 years or more. More immediately, we will measure

our performance by our outputs and the impact of these

outputs on the research and policy agenda of ORD, EPA,

and other organizations concerned with human health

protection and environmental quality. Measures of

success include the following:

• Extent to which issues identified from futures

analysis inspire innovative research focusing on

cost-effective risk management, new critical

knowledge, risk avoidance, and/or better risk

communication;

• Extent to which issues identified from futures

analysis are an impetus for national research

inquiry and debate;

• Extent to which Agency leaders seek advice on

future environmental developments and foresight

from ORD’s futures coordinating group;

• Extent to which future environmental

considerations and developments are used in

rulemaking and major Agency initiatives;

• Resources committed to research or regulatory

programs focusing on issues identified through

futures analysis;

• Requests for technical assistance on conducting

futures analysis from outside organizations; and

• Explicit incorporation of futures analysis in the

Agency’s strategic planning process.

24
Human Health and

Ecological Health Criteria

• What type of effect would 

 research investigate/mitigate 

 and how severely might this effect

 impact humans or ecosystems?

• Over what time scale might this 

 effect occur?

• How easily can the effect be 

 reversed and will it be passed on 

 to future generations?

• What level of human or ecological

 organization would be impacted 

 by the effect?

• On what geographic scale might 

 this effect impact humans or 

 ecosystems?

Methods/Models Criteria

• How broadly applicable is the proposed

 method or model expected to be?

• To what extent will the proposed method or 

 model facilitate or improve risk assessment

 or risk management?

• How large is the anticipated user community

 for the proposed method or model?

Risk Management Criteria

• Have the problem's source(s) and risk been

 characterized sufficiently to develop risk

 management options?

• Do risk management options (i.e., political, legal,

 socioeconomic, or technical) currently exist?

 If so, are they acceptable to stakeholders,

 implementable, reliable, and cost-effective?

• Could new or improved technical solutions

 prevent or mitigate the risk efficiently, cost-effectively, 

 and in a manner acceptable to stakeholders?

• Are other research organizations (e.g., agencies, 

 industry) currently investigating/developing these 

 solutions or interested in working in partnership 

 with ORD on these solutions?

Apply when appropriate

Apply when appropriate

Setting Research Priorities

The goals, objectives, and actions contained in this

Strategic Plan will improve, but not fundamentally

change, ORD’s research planning process which has

been steadily evolving since ORD’s reorganization in

1995. ORD’s priority-setting process for research has

several significant characteristics, most notably the

following:

• We seek input from our customers throughout EPA

as to the type of research and technical assistance

of greatest importance to their programs,

identifying in particular the research required to

fulfill a legislative mandate, court order, or Agency

GPRA commitment.

• We seek input from our staff as to the state-ofthe-science and where the opportunities are for

reducing uncertainty in our understanding of

important environmental issues.

• For our preliminary ranking decisions, we

examine research activities in terms of their

scientific feasibility, resource constraints,

compatibility with existing expertise, and our

ability to make a contribution relative to other

research institutions who may be doing work in

the area.

In addition, we keep in

mind a sense of human

health, ecological health,

and risk management

criteria that we use to

evaluate proposed research

activities according to

their potential to support

effective risk reduction.

The general criteria used in

making these risk-based decisions are shown

in Figure 2.

Figure 2: ORD’s Criteria for Risk-Based Prioritization

25
ORD Strategic Plan

The result of this comparative risk ranking is a broad

portfolio of research spanning the full range of EPA’s

work. This process creates an appropriate balance

between problem-driven and core research and aligns

ORD’s work in support of eight of EPA’s 10 Strategic

Goals. The research portfolio is then used to develop

ORD’s budget request and is reflected in the Annual

Performance Plan, which EPA must submit under

GPRA. In this way, all of ORD’s work is aligned with,

and linked to, specific annual performance goals that

derive from EPA’s Strategic Plan (see Table 1 on Page

28 for EPA’s Strategic Goals).

Recently, ORD initiated a multi-year planning process

as a way to link the Annual Performance Plan to the

longer range objectives contained in the EPA Strategic

Plan. Issue-specific plans are under development that

will identify Annual Performance Goals and Measures

for ORD’s research program over a 5- to 10-year period.

These plans will enable ORD both to better design its

research program in support of EPA’s Strategic Goals

and to simplify the annual planning effort. Table 2 on

Page 29 shows the linkage between ORD multi-year

plans and EPA’s Strategic Goals.

In addition to these planning efforts, ORD also develops

strategies and plans for specific research areas. These

plans are developed on an as-needed basis for large,

complex research programs that require coordination

and planning across the risk paradigm, several different

media or organizations [e.g., Children’s Research,

Particulate Matter, Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

(EDCs)]. These strategies and plans identify the most

important scientific questions to be addressed, what

research is needed to answer these questions, and how

ORD can uniquely contribute. In addition to input from

within the Agency, these strategies and plans also receive

independent, external peer review. All of ORD’s

research strategies and plans are available on the Internet

at http://www.epa.gov/ORD/WebPubs/final.

The result of these inclusive, transparent planning efforts

is a robust research program that identifies ORD’s areas

of research emphasis in support of EPA’s mission to

protect human health and the environment.

Many of our highest-priority research areas continue to

be those identified in the 1997 Update to ORD’s Strategic

Plan. While we have accomplished a great deal in these

areas since then, more remains to be done to provide

the best possible scientific basis for environmental

decision-making. The following is a brief discussion of

ORD’s eight highest-priority research areas, described

within the context of EPA’s goals.

EPA Goal 1: Clean Air

Particulate Matter

In July 1997, EPA revised the National

Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS)

for particulate matter (PM), recognizing

that exposure to both fine and coarse

fraction particles is associated with

adverse health effects. The basis for these revisions was

new epidemiological evidence of increased illness and

death associated with exposure to PM. The health risks

estimated from current PM exposures represent

thousands to tens of thousands of premature deaths each

year.

Significant scientific uncertainties remain, however,

about the biological mechanisms that cause increased

mortality or morbidity from PM exposures. Many

studies are underway to identify and evaluate

mechanistic hypotheses and to explore exposure-doseresponse relationships. In addition, improving our

estimates of potential PM risks requires research to better

measure and characterize PM exposure (i.e., who is

exposed and at what levels). Lastly, research to quantify

and control PM sources is the central focus of risk

management research efforts.

ORD’s PM research program is devoted to the mission

of providing an improved scientific basis for periodic

review and revision as needed of the NAAQS

(i.e., effects, exposure, and risk assessment) and

26
27

implementation and attainment of the NAAQS (i.e., risk

management). Our program is focused on human health

rather than ecological concerns, with complementary

research on PM-associated ecological effects (e.g., acid

deposition) addressed under ecosystem protection

programs. Key research questions include the following:

• What characteristics of PM (e.g., size,

composition) produce toxicity and by what

mechanisms?

• What is the role of PM alone and in combination

with gaseous copollutants in producing health

effects?

• What subpopulations are most sensitive to PM

health effects, and what are the levels of exposure

for these groups?

• What are the sources of PM, and how can we best

estimate the atmospheric transformation and fate

of PM and precursors to support control strategy

development?

EPA Goal 2: Clean and Safe Water

Safe Drinking Water

Disinfection of drinking water has been

one of the greatest public health success

stories of the twentieth century.

Nevertheless, care must be taken to

ensure our drinking water is safe. For

example, the occurrence of waterborne

disease outbreaks in the United States demonstrates that

the safety of drinking water can still be compromised

by waterborne pathogens (e.g., cryptosporidium) if

treatment is inadequate. Concerns have also been raised

about chemical contaminants in our drinking water

supply. Surface water and groundwater sources may be

contaminated with many different natural substances

(e.g., arsenic) and synthetic substances (e.g., pesticides)

that may pose a risk. Even the disinfection process itself

can lead to the formation of a number of potentially toxic

organic and inorganic chemical by-products. Some

subpopulations, such as infants and children or those

with weakened immune systems, are known to be

particularly sensitive to the effects of many waterborne

pathogens and chemicals.

The 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act

require EPA to conduct research to provide a strong

scientific foundation for standards that limit public

exposure to specific drinking water contaminants. In

response to this requirement, ORD has established an

integrated, multidisciplinary research program to address

the following key questions:

• What are the microbiological and chemical

contaminants of greatest public health concern?

What are the effects caused by exposure to these

agents?

• What analytical methods are needed to adequately

estimate the occurrence of contaminants in

drinking water? What are the levels of

contaminants to which people are actually

exposed?

• How can the risks posed by pathogens, individual

chemicals, and mixtures of contaminants be

characterized?

• What are the most cost-effective treatment methods

to minimize or remove contaminants from drinking

water? How can the quality of treated water be

maintained in the distribution system, and how can

source water be adequately protected?

Clean Water

The health and sustainability of aquatic

ecosystems and their ecological

components are affected by chemical,

biological, and physical stressors.

These stressors can result both from

point sources of pollution or by

disturbances in the watersheds.
ORD Strategic Plan

28

Table 1: EPA’s Strategic Goals

Goal 1: Clean Air — The air in every American community will be safe and healthy to breathe. In particular,

children, the elderly, and people with respiratory ailments will be protected from health risks of breathing polluted air.

Reducing air pollution will also protect the environment, resulting in many benefits, such as restoring life in damaged

ecosystems and reducing health risks to those whose subsistence depends directly on those ecosystems.

Goal 2: Clean and Safe Water — All Americans will have drinking water that is clean and safe to drink. Effective

protection of America’s rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers, and coastal and ocean waters will sustain fish, plants, and

wildlife, as well as recreational, subsistence, and economic activities. Watersheds and their aquatic ecosystems will

be restored and protected to improve public health, enhance water quality, reduce flooding, and provide habitat for

wildlife.

Goal 3: Safe Food — The foods Americans eat will be free from unsafe pesticide residues. Particular attention will

be given to protecting sub-populations that may be more susceptible to adverse effects of pesticides or have higher

dietary exposures to pesticide residues. These include children and people whose diets include large amounts of

noncommercial foods.

Goal 4: Preventing Pollution and Reducing Risk in Communities, Homes, Workplaces, and Ecosystems —

Pollution prevention and risk management strategies aimed at eliminating, reducing, or minimizing emissions and

contamination will result in cleaner and safer environments in which all Americans can reside, work, and enjoy life.

EPA will safeguard ecosystems and promote the health of natural communities that are integral to the quality of life

in this nation.

Goal 5: Better Waste Management, Restoration of Contaminated Waste Sites, and Emergency Response —

America’s wastes will be stored, treated, and disposed of in ways that prevent harm to people and to the natural

environment. EPA will work to clean up previously polluted sites, restore them to uses appropriate for surrounding

communities, and respond to and prevent waste-related or industrial accidents.

Goal 6: Reduction of Global and Cross-Border Environmental Risks — The United States will lead other nations

in successful, multilateral efforts to reduce significant risks to human health and ecosystems from climate change,

stratospheric ozone depletion, and other hazards of international concern.

Goal 7: Quality Environmental Information — The public and decision makers at all levels will have access to

information about environmental conditions and human health to inform decision making and help assess the general

environmental health of communities. The public will also have access to educational services and information

services and tools that provide for the reliable and secure exchange of quality environmental information.

Goal 8: Sound Science, Improved Understanding of Environmental Risk, and Greater Innovation to Address

Environmental Problems — EPA will develop and apply the best available science for addressing current and

future environmental hazards as well as new approaches toward improving environmental protection.

Goal 9: A Credible Deterrent to Pollution and Greater Compliance with the Law — EPA will ensure full

compliance with laws intended to protect human health and the environment.

Goal 10: Effective Management — EPA will maintain the highest-quality standards for environmental leadership

and for effective internal management and fiscal responsibility by managing for results.
The topics addressed in these multi-year plans are ORD's highest research priorities

Directly contributes to meeting this EPA Strategic Goal

Supports achievement of this EPA Strategic Goal

*

EPA Goal 10 : Effective Management

EPA Goal 1 : Clean Air 

EPA Goal 2 : Clean and Safe Water

EPA Goal 3 : Safe Food 

EPA Goal 4 : Safe Communities 

EPA Goal 5 : Waste Management and Restoration

EPA Goal 6 : Reduction in Global Risks

EPA Goal 7 : Quality Environmental Information

EPA Goal 8 : Sound Science, Improved Understanding, and Greater Innovation

EPA Goal 9 : A Credible Deterrent to Pollution and Greater Compliance with the Law 

ORD

Multi-Year Plan

Particulate Matter *

Air Toxics

Tropospheric Ozone

Drinking Water *

Water Quality *

Safe Food

Safe Communities

RCRA Waste 

Management

Contaminated Sites

Global Change *

Ecosystem Assessment 

and Restoration *

Human Health

Risk Assessment *

Mercury

Endocrine Disrupting

Chemicals *

Socioeconomics

Pollution Prevention

and New Technologies*

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

29

Table 2: ORD’s Research is Aligned with EPA’s Strategic Goals
ORD Strategic Plan

Protecting and enhancing the integrity of aquatic

ecosystems and their biotic components require research

on quantifying impacts and understanding cause-andeffect relationships.

ORD’s research focuses on the development of

watershed diagnostic methods and understanding the

importance of critical habitats and the impacts of habitat

alteration on aquatic communities. In addition, ORD’s

research provides the scientific foundation supporting

the development of water quality criteria and total

maximum daily loads (TMDLs), including the

development and refinement of models, understanding

chemical stressors such as nutrients and toxic chemicals

in both water and sediments, and the impact of

sedimentation on aquatic ecosystems. Research on the

impacts of wet weather flows offers a technology focus

for the mitigation of the unique impacts of these stresses.

There are five critical ecological research questions for

water quality. These are:

• How can numerical nutrient criteria be formulated

to protect natural waters from the harmful impacts

of excessive loadings of nitrogen and phosphorus?

• Can population dynamic models be refined to

estimate the cumulative risks of critical habitat

disturbance and contaminated sediments on the

integrity of fish, shellfish, and other communities?

• Can diagnostic indicators and models be assembled

into a decision-support system to accurately

prescribe mitigation and restoration options for

TMDLs?

• How can chemical criteria be incorporated into

site-specific risk assessments for the protection of

aquatic life, wildlife, and birds from toxic

chemicals?

• Can methods for controlling pathogens, sediments,

and toxic chemicals arising from point and nonpoint sources be integrated into a comprehensive

watershed management approach?

EPA Goal 6: Reduction of Global and

Cross-Border Environmental Risks

Global Change

The earth’s environment is constantly

changing due to the complex interplay

of natural processes and human

activities. Changes in climate, climate

variability, land use, and ultraviolet B

band radiation are all occurring on a

global scale. The potential consequences of these

changes are wide ranging and could adversely affect

human health, ecosystems, and socioeconomic sectors,

all of which are vital to sustainable development.

Recognizing that policy makers and resource managers

are making decisions today that have important longterm ramifications for our global environment, the

Global Change Research Program seeks to inform

decision-making processes by providing comprehensive

assessments of potential long-term consequences of

global change.

EPA is one of the member agencies of the U.S. Global

Change Research Program (USGCRP), which is focused

on understanding the Earth system as a whole and the

dynamics of environmental change and connecting that

knowledge to societal needs. Within the USGCRP,

EPA’s principal role is to assess the potential

consequences of global change on human health,

ecosystems, and socioeconomic systems in the United

States. This entails: improving the scientific basis for

evaluating effects of global change in the context of other

environmental stressors and human activities;

conducting assessments of the risks and opportunities

presented by global change; and assessing adaptation

options to improve society’s ability to effectively

respond to change.

30
ORD’s Global Change Research Program is focusing

on those areas where EPA has the most to offer—

assessments of the consequences of global change on

air quality, water quality, human health, and ecosystem

health. Therefore, researchers are addressing the

following scientific questions:

• What are the potential consequences of global

change on vector- and water-borne weather-related

morbidity and health effects related to air pollution,

especially tropospheric ozone and PM?

• What are the potential effects of global change on

aquatic ecosystems, invasive nonindigenous

species, and ecosystem services?

• How may global change affect air quality,

especially tropospheric ozone and PM? How will

global change affect cities’ ability to meet Clean

Air standards?

• What are the potential impacts of global change

on pollutants and microbial pathogens in aquatic

resources?

Goal 8: Sound Science, Improved

Understanding of Environmental Risk, and

Greater Innovation to Address Environmental

Problems

It should be noted that most of the core research

conducted under this Goal also provides direct support

to the objectives of other EPA Strategic Goals. For

example, the work done under Human Health Risk

Assessment to address cumulative risk will directly

support requirements of the Food Quality Protection Act

covered under EPA Goal 3: Safe Food.

Research to Improve Ecological

Risk Assessment and Management

Natural ecosystems are under constant

stress from a variety of factors: pollutants

through air, water, and soil; alteration or

fragmentation resulting from urban sprawl

and resource extraction; nonindigenous species; and

global change, to name a few. These “stressors” act

synergistically and/or antagonistically, both with each

other and with natural processes, at scales that range

from local to global. Many of the mechanisms by which

stressors act on and alter ecosystems are poorly

understood or quantified, as are their immediate and

long-term impacts, creating uncertainties in

environmental decision-making, such as whether to

protect, exploit, conserve, or restore natural resources

and processes.

The goal of ORD’s ecological research program is to

provide scientific leadership and knowledge for

assessing, improving, and restoring the integrity

of ecosystems. The program addresses the following

fundamental research questions:

• What are the most efficient and effective indicators,

monitoring systems, and designs for measuring the

exposures of ecosystems to multiple stressors and

the resulting responses of ecosystems at local,

regional, and national scales?

• How can we better identify and understand the

processes that lead from stressors to effects? Can

we develop models to predict the results of

alternative actions on the future exposures and

responses of ecosystems at the most relevant

scales?

• What are the best assessment methods, indices, and

guidelines for quantifying risks to ecosystems from

multiple stressors at multiple scales?

• What are the most efficient and effective

prevention, management, adaptation, and

remediation technologies to manage, restore, or

rehabilitate ecosystems to achieve local, regional,

and national goals?

31
ORD Strategic Plan

Research to Improve

Human Health Risk

Assessment and

Management

Human health risk assessment

is the process EPA uses to

identify and characterize

human health impacts associated with environmental

exposures. There are many uncertainties associated with

the risk assessment process due to limitations in

available data on pollutant sources and exposures, and

to limitations in our current understanding of the

physical, chemical, and biological processes that relate

human exposure, dose, and response.

The overarching goal of ORD’s human health risk

assessment research is to improve our scientific

knowledge base and to develop risk assessment

methodologies to enable the Agency to more accurately

assess and characterize hazards and risks to the general

population and vulnerable subgroups, such as children

and communities that practice subsistence lifestyles,

from exposures to single pollutants from multiple

sources and multiple pathways (i.e., aggregate risks) and

cumulative risks from exposures to multiple stressors

by increasing the use of measured data and mechanistic

information.

To meet this long-range Goal, ORD’s health risk

assessment research program is contributing to

answering the following questions:

• How can we improve our mechanistically based

understanding of toxicities and susceptibilities for

the general population and subpopulations such as

children, the elderly, and persons with pre-existing

diseases?

• What are the relevant biomarkers of exposure,

dose, effect, and susceptibility and their

relationships?

• What is the biological basis for adverse health

effects in children, especially asthma?

• What are the interactive effects from exposures to

chemical mixtures with common or different

modes of action?

• How can we develop improved models and

methodologies to better estimate human exposures,

assess aggregate exposures to single stressors, and

assess cumulative risks from exposures to multiple

stressors?

• How can we develop more consistent and

harmonized risk assessment approaches and

methods for all human health endpoints, with

special attention to different durations and patterns

of exposure and life stages?

• How can we conduct research to evaluate the

consequences of environmental risk management

decisions on public health?

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

In recent years, there has been growing

scientific concern and public awareness

regarding the potential of some

chemicals in the environment to cause

adverse health effects in human and

wildlife populations by interacting with

the endocrine system. Collectively

these substances are known as

endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs). It has been

hypothesized that exposure to EDCs might result in a

variety of adverse effects, including cancers that may

be mediated by endocrine mechanisms, developmental

or reproductive disorders, neurological impairment,

immune dysfunction, and thyroid damage.

There are numerous examples of adverse effects of EDCs

on wildlife such as birth defects in fish-eating birds

exposed to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in Lake

Michigan, mortality of young Lake Ontario trout as a

result of exposure to dioxin-like chemicals, abnormal

reproductive development in Lake Apopka alligators

following contamination by a pesticide. In humans, the

32
33

impact of prenatal exposure to diethylstilbestrol (DES)

on the reproductive tract of both male and female

offspring is well documented. In addition, studies have

demonstrated that PCBs cause neurodevelopmental

impairment in exposed children.

Despite these reported effects, there is little known about

their causes and what effects may result in the human

and wildlife populations from exposures to ambient

environmental concentrations of EDCs. However, it is

known that the endocrine system plays an important role

in normal growth, development, and reproduction and

that small perturbations in endocrine status, during

critical periods, could have profound and long-reaching

impacts. Based on the potential scope of the EDC

problem, the possibility of serious effects on the health

of human and wildlife populations, the persistence of

some EDCs in the environment, and the widespread

global concern about their fate and transport over

national boundaries, this area is a high-priority for ORD

research.

Key areas of uncertainty and research questions include

the following:

 • How, and to what degree, are human and wildlife

populations exposed to EDCs? What effects are

occurring in exposed human and wildlife

populations?

• Do current testing guidelines adequately evaluate

potential endocrine-mediated effects?

• What are the dose-response characteristics at

environmentally relevant concentrations?

• What are the major sources and environmental

fates of EDCs?

• How can unreasonable risks be managed? Are new

technologies needed?

Pollution Prevention and

New Technologies

Pollution prevention, or

anticipating and avoiding human

health and environmental

problems before they occur, offers

a proactive alternative to the legal mandates and

command and control regulations traditionally used to

protect the environment. The goal of pollution

prevention research is to provide more flexible, lower

cost, and less polluting alternatives to address the

pollution challenges facing the United States and the

world in the twenty-first century.

Development of new pollution prevention tools and

technologies, verification of new environmental

technologies, and research that advances the

fundamental understanding of the economic and

behavioral sciences as they relate to the environment

are important components of ORD’s pollution

prevention and new technologies research program. This

research program relies on substantial stakeholder input

and participation as a means of identifying those human

health and environmental problems most conducive to

innovative, alternative approaches to environmental

protection. Because of the broad applicability of this

research program and its potential for realizing

significant economic and environmental benefits,

pollution prevention and new technology for

environmental protection are extremely important risk

management components of ORD’s research agenda.
ORD Strategic Plan

34

• How best can the performance of private sector

products, technologies, and approaches that

address human health and environmental problems

be verified using a high-quality and efficient

program to target important performance and

operational characteristics?

• What are the socioeconomic and behavioral aspects

of decision-making that foster the adoption of

pollution prevention by the public and private

sector at all levels (e.g., local, state, regional) to

manage human health and environmental risks?

Research in this area focuses on four important

questions:

• What pollution prevention technologies and

approaches can be employed in various economic

sectors, particularly on industrial and consumer

products, to advance “green” processes and clean

technologies?

• What tools and methodologies can be applied in

various economic sectors to utilize the most

cost-effective pollution prevention technologies

and approaches to protect ecosystems?
Achieving Our Future, Making a Difference

Implementing This Strategic Plan

Developing this Strategic Plan is only the first step of

our effort. To be successful, we must execute this Plan

to its full extent. We will develop an implementation

plan that sets priorities, assigns clear responsibility and

deadlines, and commits resources to carry out the actions

described in this Plan. This implementation plan will

be specific as to how and when we will move from our

current state to the organization we envision and intend

to be.

We will implement this Plan on both the national and

local levels, taking steps to ensure that the actions are

completed and that our objectives are achieved. In

implementation, the Strategic Plan will be a key

component of all of our planning processes, thereby

ensuring that we provide both the resources and attention

to the commitments that we have made in the Plan.

The goals of: (1) supporting the Agency; (2) highperformance; (3) scientific leadership; (4) integration;

and (5) anticipating the future will be used to frame our

research planning and prioritization, as well as our

resource allocation and workforce planning.

We see the Strategic Plan as having far-reaching effects

on our organization, infusing itself into all aspects of

our operation. As such, we will also ensure that each

level of the organization is aware of and is fully

participating in achieving our goals. Each organization’s

management team will be responsible for evaluating how

best to incorporate the tenets, goals, objectives, and

actions into their organization’s activities.

To measure and assess our progress toward achieving

our goals, we will regularly track the measures of success

that we have included in the Plan. We will use this

information to evaluate what is working and what needs

improvement, and make adjustments accordingly. As

necessary, we will revisit our objectives and actions in

light of our progress and changing external

circumstances. Moreover, we will communicate our

progress regularly to our customers and stakeholders

and learn from them and other organizations how we

might improve implemention of this Plan. In so doing,

we will hold ourselves accountable to our customers,

stakeholders, and each other for achieving our goals and

future success.

The Future We Seek

Successfully achieving the goals of the Strategic Plan

will mean an organization where:

• Our close relationships with EPA’s program and

regional offices allow us to assess and anticipate

their needs and collaborate to provide scientific

research and technical assistance to achieve greater

environmental protection;

• Investment in our workforce and organizational

processes has led to a staff who are motivated,

trained, and equipped in their work to achieve the

best results;

• Our leadership capabilities and accomplishments

are recognized by providing world-class science,

being influential in the development of a national

environmental research agenda, and being at the

cutting edge of proactive environmental protection;

• Our capacity to integrate across all aspects of a

problem provides comprehensive solutions to

complex problems; and

• Our ability to anticipate and provide solutions to

future environmental issues before their adverse

effects are widely known or detected averts

potentially dangerous or expensive environmental

problems.

This is the future we seek and the commitment we make

to achieve this vision.

35
ORD Strategic Plan

A-1

Appendices
A-2

Appendix A:

Office of Research and Development Organizational Chart*

Assoc. Dir.,

Management

Assoc. Dir.,

Management

Assoc. Dir.,

Science

Assoc. Dir.,

Ecology

National Health &

Environmental Effects

Research Laboratory

(NHEERL)

Director

Deputy Director

Assoc. Dir.,

Health

Assoc. Dir.,

Ecology

National Center for 

Environmental Assessment

(NCEA)

Director

Deputy Director

Assoc. Dir.,

Health

Assoc. Dir.,

Ecology

National Risk Management

Research Laboratory

(NRMRL)

Director

Deputy Director

Assoc. Dir.,

Health

Assoc. Dir.,

Ecology

National Exposure

Research Laboratory

(NERL)

Director

Deputy Director

Assoc. Dir.,

Health

Senior Science

Advisor

National Center for

Environmental Research

(NCER)

Director

Deputy Director

Ecosystems Research Div.

Microbiological & Chemical Exposure

Assessment Research Div.

Ecological Research Div.

Atmospheric Modeling Div.

Atlantic Ecology Div.

Gulf Ecology Div.

Mid-Continent Ecology Div.

Reproductive Toxicology Div.

Neurotoxicology Div.

Human Studies Div.

Research Triangle Park, NC 

Division

Washington, DC

Division

Air Pollution Prevention & Control Div.

Land Remediation & Pollution

Control Div.

Subsurface Protection &

Remediation Div.

Sustainable Technology Div.

Technology Transfer & Support Div.

Water Supply & Water Resources Div.

Environmental Engineering

Research Division

Environmental Sciences

Research Division

Peer Review Division

Executive Council

Management Council

Science Council

Assoc. Dir.,

Information Mgmt

Cincinnati, OH 

Division

Western Ecology Div.

Experimental Toxicology Div.

Environmental Carcinogenesis Div.

Human Exposure & 

Atmospheric Sciences Div.

Environmental Sciences Div.

Assistant Administrator

Deputy AA/Management Deputy AA/Science

Director

Office of Resources Management and Administration

(ORMA)

Director

Office of Science Policy

(OSP)

*This Organizational Chart is detailed to the Division level.
ORD Strategic Plan

BOSC Board of Scientific Counselors

EDCs Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

EPA U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

DES Diethylstilbestrol

GPRA Government Performance and Results Act of 1993

NAAQS National Ambient Air Quality Standards

NCEA National Center for Environmental Assessment

NCER National Center for Environmental Research

NERL National Exposure Research Laboratory

NHEERL National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory

NRC National Research Council

NRMRL National Risk Management Research Laboratory

ORDOffice of Research and Development

ORMA Office of Resources Management and Administration

OSP Office of Science Policy

PCBs Polychlorinated Biphenyls

PM Particulate Matter

RCRA Resource Conservation and Recovery Act

SAB Science Advisory Board

STAR Science to Achieve Results

TMDL Total Maximum Daily Load

USGCRP U.S. Global Change Research Program

Appendix B:

Acronyms and Abbreviations

A-3
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www.epa.gov/ORD/SP
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