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Review Draft EPA/600/R-07/045 

DO NOT CITE OR QUOTE External Review Draft 

 May 2007 

EPA’s 2007 Report on the Environment: 

Science Report

NOTICE 

THIS DOCUMENT IS A PRELIMINARY DRAFT. It has not been formally released by the U.S. 

Environmental Protection Agency and should not at this stage be construed to represent Agency policy. It 

s being circulated for comment on its technical accuracy and policy implications. 

Office of Research and Development 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Washington, DC 

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EPA’s 2007 REPORT ON THE ENVIRONMENT:

SCIENCE REPORT 

CONTENTS 

1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................1-1 

2 Air 

2.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................2-5 

2.2 What are the trends in outdoor air quality and their effects on human health and the 

environment? ...................................................................................................................2-9 

2.3 What are the trends in greenhouse gas emissions and concentrations? .........................2-93 

2.4 What are the trends in indoor air quality and their effects on human health?..............2-108

3 Water 

3.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................3-6 

3.2 What are the trends in extent and condition of fresh surface waters and their effects on 

human health and the environment? ..............................................................................3-11 

3.3 What are the trends in extent and condition of ground water and their effects on human 

health and the environment? ..........................................................................................3-41 

3.4 What are the trends in the extent and condition of wetlands and their effects on human 

health and the environment? ..........................................................................................3-50 

3.5 What are the trends in extent and condition of coastal waters and their effects on human 

health and the environment? ..........................................................................................3-59 

3.6 What are the trends in the condition of drinking water and their effects 

on human health? ...........................................................................................................3-87 

3.7 What are the trends in the condition of recreational waters and their effects 

on human health and the environment? .........................................................................3-96 

3.8 What are the trends in the condition of consumable fish and shellfish and their 

effects on human health? ...............................................................................................3-99 

4 Land 

4.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................4-5 

4.2 What are the trends in land cover and their effects on human health and 

 the environment? .............................................................................................................4-9 

4.3 What are the trends in land use and their effects on human health and 

 the environment?............................................................................................................4-22 

4.4 What are the trends in wastes and their effects on human health and the 

 environment? .................................................................................................................4-38 

4.5 What are the trends in chemicals used on the land and their effects on human health 

and the environment?.....................................................................................................4-48 

4.6 What are the trends in contaminated land and their effects on human health 

and the environment?.....................................................................................................4-67 

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5 Human Health 

5.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................5-5 

5.2 What are the trends in health status in the U.S.?............................................................5-11 

5.3 What are the trends in human disease and conditions for which environmental pollutants 

may be a risk factor including across population subgroups and geographic regions? .5-25 

5.4 What are the trends in exposure to common environmental pollutants including across 

population subgroups and geographic regions?.............................................................5-72 

6 Ecological Condition 

6.1 Introduction......................................................................................................................6-5 

6.2 What are the trends in the extent and distribution of the nation’s ecological systems?.6-11 

6.3 What are the trends in the diversity and biological balance of the nation’s ecological 

systems? .........................................................................................................................6-29 

6.4 What are the trends in the ecological processes that sustain the nation’s ecological 

systems? .........................................................................................................................6-43 

6.5 What are the trends in the critical physical and chemical attributes and processes of the 

nation’s ecological systems?..........................................................................................6-50 

6.6 What are the trends in biomeasures of exposure to common environmental pollutants in 

plants and animals?........................................................................................................6-72

7 Afterword....................................................................................................................................7-1

Appendix A Acronyms and Glossary

Appendix B Development of EPA’s 2007 ROE Science Report 

Appendix C Comparison of Indicators Used in EPA’s 2003 Draft ROE and 2007 ROE 

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1. INTRODUCTION 

To accomplish its mission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must pay close attention to 

trends in the condition of the nation’s air, water, and land, and related or associated trends in human 

health and ecological systems. Compiling relevant, scientifically sound data on the status and trends of 

the nation’s environment provides valuable input for developing EPA’s strategic outlook and priorities 

and allows EPA and the public to assess whether the Agency is succeeding in its overall mission to 

protect human health and the environment. 

EPA embarked on a bold initiative in 2001 to assemble, for the first time, the most reliable available 

indicators of national environmental conditions and their trends over time that are important to its 

mission. EPA initially presented this information in its Draft Report on the Environment (ROE) Technical 

Document, released in 2003. Since then, EPA has revised, updated, and refined the ROE in response to 

scientific developments, as well as feedback from EPA’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and 

stakeholders. EPA’s 2007 Report on the Environment: Science Report presents the results of this work. 

EPA’s 2007 ROE Science Report (SR) compiles in one place, the most reliable indicators currently 

available that help to answer the questions that EPA believes are of critical importance to its mission and 

to the national interest. All of the indicators were screened and peer-reviewed to meet exacting standards 

for accuracy, representativeness, and reliability. This 2007 ROE SR presents trends wherever adequate 

data are currently available, and it establishes some reliable national baselines where trend data are not 

yet available. Equally important, the report identifies key limitations of these indicators and gaps where 

reliable indicators do not yet exist. Data limitations are noted to provide the reader with information about 

the quality or extent of the data presented that may affect the way in which they are used. Generally, such 

limitations cause uncertainty in drawing conclusions about actual conditions in the environment. Data 

gaps are noted to identify areas or aspects of the environment in which little or no measurement is done. 

This report does not propose actions to reduce data limitations or fill gaps, nor does it analyze the costs 

and benefits of doing so. 

Written for environmental professionals, the ROE Science Report provides the scientific basis for two 

other components of EPA’s ROE project: 

• A web-enabled version, the e-ROE, that provides access to the details of the methodology, 

databases, references, and sources of additional information behind the indicators that form the 

basis for the ROE Science Report 

• EPA Report on the Environment: Highlights of National Trends 2007, which highlights the most 

important content of the Science Report for the general public. 

The indicators presented in this report are supported by data gathered from different federal and state 

agencies and non-government organizations using a variety of methods. EPA is committed to releasing 

periodic updates of the ROE so that information on environmental condition and trends can be provided 

on a long-term basis within EPA and to external scientists and interested members of the public. 

Organization of This Report 

This report consists of five chapters: Air, Water, Land, Human Health, and Ecological Condition. The 

Air, Water, and Land chapters (Chapters 2, 3, and 4) focus on trends in air, water, and land media, and 

their effects on human health and ecological systems. The Human Health and Ecological Condition 

chapters (Chapters 5 and 6) follow with information on overall trends in human health and ecological 

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systems. These latter two chapters address questions that are intrinsically affected by multiple factors 

across media, as described below. 

For each of these five chapters, EPA identified a set of priority questions (see below) that it considers to 

be most important and relevant to the Agency’s mission to protect the environment and human health. 

The report is organized around these questions. The response to each of the questions has three 

components: 

• An introduction that describes the scope of the question (see below) and provides relevant 

background information. 

• A set of indicators that answer (or more often partially answer) the question. 

• A discussion of (1) the “answer” that the indicators collectively provide to the question; and 

(2) the most critical indicator gaps, limitations, and challenges that prevent the question from 

being fully answered. 

The document concludes with Chapter 7, Afterword, which discusses the next steps for improving 

indicators and summarizes the challenges to answering the questions and synthesizing and integrating 

information across indicators. Appendix A lists acronyms and provides a glossary of terms that have 

particular definitions within this document or whose definitions are not commonly available. Appendix B 

describes the process used to develop the 2007 ROE Science Report. Appendix C compares indicators 

used in the 2003 Draft ROE Technical Document with those in this 2007 version. 

ROE Questions 

As described above, the ROE is organized around 26 priority questions that EPA considers to be 

important and relevant to its mission. EPA developed these questions in 2002 and refined them in 2004 in 

a series of workshops involving specialists from across the Agency. These are questions that EPA 

believes should be answered with confidence if it is to be adequately informed about important 

environmental trends. They are not necessarily, however, questions that EPA can fully answer at present 

based on available data. 

The questions in the Air, Water, and Land chapters examine trends in the condition, quality, and/or extent 

of environmental media (e.g., outdoor air, fresh surface waters) and trends in stressors to those media 

(e.g., pollutant emissions, chemicals used on land). These questions also address trends in human health 

and ecological systems that are expected to be clearly linked to the foregoing media-related trends. For 

example, downward trends in the acidity of lakes and streams in certain geologically sensitive regions of 

the country are expected to be clearly linked to declining acid deposition, and some types of damage to 

leaves in forest plants can be clearly attributed to ozone exposure. Therefore, these types of effects 

indicators are presented in these media-specific chapters of this document. 

The questions in the chapters on Human Health and Ecological Systems, on the other hand, do not 

explicitly ask about particular effects arising from particular media. At the national or regional scales 

covered in this report, most trends in human health or in the condition of ecological systems cannot be 

definitively linked to trends in particular stressors arising from particular media, such as air pollutant 

emissions or concentrations of contaminants in food or drinking water, because many factors, some 

having nothing to do with pollutants or particular media, affect the trends in these indicators. For 

example, the Human Health chapter includes a question about trends in human disease and conditions for 

which environmental pollutants may be a risk factor, and the Ecological Condition chapter includes 

questions about trends in biological diversity and critical physical and chemical attributes of ecological 

systems. Environmental pollutants are known to influence these types of trends, but trends in these health 

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or ecological outcomes cannot be attributed with any confidence to particular pollutants or other causes.. 

Nevertheless, EPA believes that it is important to ask questions about such trends and to maintain 

surveillance of related indicators in order to identify emerging issues that may need additional research or 

investigation. 

Each chapter is organized into sections, one for each ROE question. Each section begins by discussing the 

range of issues related to that question that are particularly important to EPA’s mission. This includes not 

only EPA’s regulatory responsibilities, but also areas where the Agency conducts or sponsors research, 

exerts policy leadership, provides information to the public, or shares an interest in human health and the 

environment with its federal, state, and tribal partners. It is important to note that the ROE does not cover 

other important environmental issues, such as natural resource management, land management, or the 

control of communicable diseases, that are more closely related to the missions of other government 

agencies. 

ROE Indicators 

Environmental conditions can be represented in many ways. For particular issues or particular locations, 

many reports conduct an integrated assessment by gathering and weighing the strengths and weaknesses 

of all the relevant information available. This integrated approach is not feasible for the ROE because it 

covers so many different topics across the entire nation. Instead, the ROE relies on an indicator approach. 

To maintain a high level of scientific integrity and consistency among the indicators used in the ROE, 

EPA established an explicit definition and six criteria that all ROE indicators must meet (see Box 1-1). 

The criteria are based in part on EPA’s Information Quality Guidelines 

(http://www.epa.gov/quality/informationguidelines/), which cover important information that EPA 

provides to the public. Together, the six criteria are intended to ensure that all indicators in the ROE are 

useful to EPA and the public, and that they are objective, transparent, and based on high-quality, 

comparable, and representative data across space and time. The ROE emphasizes indicators that can be 

tracked over time; therefore, one-time studies are not included unless they serve as baselines for future 

trends. 

Indicators, whether they represent baseline conditions or trends, involve uncertainties. While statistical 

analyses have been or could be done on some of the indicators in this report, such analyses require 

considerably more complex indicator development and peer review. Due to time and resource limitations, 

EPA determined that this 2007 edition of the ROE Science Report would not include statistical analysis 

of uncertainty and trends; however, the Agency recognizes that this is an important issue and does plan to 

quantify uncertainty in indicators in the next edition of the ROE. 

The ROE indicator definition intentionally excludes some categories of indicators. For example, ROE 

indicators include measures of pollutant emissions, but not measures of corresponding causal factors such 

as energy generation or agricultural production. Also excluded are economic indicators such as the value 

of land or natural resources and the cost of health care or pollution control, or efficiency factors such as 

pollutant emissions per vehicle mile traveled. Because ROE indicators focus on actual physical 

measurements, administrative indicators such as permits issued, regulations promulgated, and 

enforcement actions also are excluded. Indicators based on results predicted by environmental fate and 

transport models or risks to people or ecological systems also are excluded, because they are not based on 

actual measurements. Indicators based on emissions factor are necessary exceptions, because most 

emissions cannot be measured directly. 

This document is a draft for review purposes only and does not constitute Agency policy. 1-6 
Box 1-1. Indicator Definition and Criteria. 

Indicator Definition: For EPA’s Report on the Environment, an indicator is a numerical value derived 

from actual measurements of a pressure, state or ambient condition, exposure, or human health or 

ecological condition over a specified geographic domain, whose trends over time represent or draw 

attention to underlying trends in the condition of the environment. 

Indicator Criteria: 

• The indicator is useful. It answers (or makes an important contribution to answering) a question 

in the ROE. 

• The indicator is objective. It is developed and presented in an accurate, clear, complete, and 

unbiased manner. 

• The indicator is transparent and reproducible. The specific data used and the specific 

assumptions, analytic methods, and statistical procedures employed are clearly stated. 

• The underlying data are characterized by sound collection methodologies, data management 

systems to protect its integrity, and quality assurance procedures. 

• Data are available to describe changes or trends and the latest available data are timely. 

• The data are comparable across time and space, and representative of the target population. 

Trends depicted in this indicator accurately represent the underlying trends in the target 

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Selection of the indicators for this 2007 ROE Science Report was conducted internally at EPA, based on 

indicators suggested by EPA’s Program and Regional Offices, and by other federal agencies, state 

agencies, and non-governmental organizations. As the first step, EPA developed a list of 93 proposed 

indicators. This included indicators from the 2003 Draft ROE that EPA judged to be relevant and 

consistent with the ROE 2007 indicator definition and criteria as well as many new indicators (see 

Appendix C for a list). All proposed indicators were evaluated via an independent public peer review 

process (see http://cfpub.epa.gov/eroe/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.peerReview for detailed information 

on the peer review). Of the proposed indicators, 86 were ultimately selected for inclusion in the ROE. 

Appendix B provides more information on the indicator development process. 

Each indicator consists of graphics or tables and explanatory text. All indicators present the most recent 

relevant, quality-assured data available when this report went to press. EPA intends to update these 

indicators in the e-ROE as new data become available. The baselines and reference levels for most 

indicators follow the underlying sources. Thorough documentation of the indicator data sources can be 

found at http://cfpub.epa.gov/eroe. For ease of use in both the print and e-versions, each indicator was 

developed to stand alone, with sufficient information for the reader to understand its scope, origin, and 

data sources. As a result, some redundancies of text exist in the hardcopy version of the document. 

Some indicators are used to answer more than one ROE question. In all but one case, these indicators are 

presented where they are first used to answer a question and referenced when they are used to answer a 

subsequent question. For example, the Blood Cotinine indicator is first used to answer a question in the 

Air chapter and then another question in the Health chapter. This indicator is presented in the Air chapter; 

the Health chapter refers the reader to the Air chapter for details. Tables listing indicators and their page 

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numbers are provided as navigation aids at the end of this Introduction (Table 1-1), in the introduction to 

each chapter, and in the introduction to each question. 

More than half the indicators and supporting data derive from sources other than EPA, including other 

federal agencies, state agencies, and non-government organizations. These external sources also maintain 

many environmental datasets that are valuable for other purposes and offer potential for development of 

future ROE indicators (see Box 1-2). 

Box 1-2. The Role of Other Important Environmental Datasets 

Many important environmental datasets are not included in this report because the data do not yet meet 

the ROE indicator criteria. For example, since 1971, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), EPA, and 

the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists have maintained a surveillance system for collecting 

and periodically reporting data on occurrences and causes of waterborne-disease outbreaks (WBDOs). 

State, territorial, and local public health agencies have the primary responsibility for detecting and 

investigating WBDOs, and these agencies voluntarily report WBDOs to the CDC and EPA. These 

surveillance activities are useful in characterizing the epidemiology of WBDOs, identifying changing 

trends in the etiologic agents that caused WBDOs, and determining why the outbreaks occurred. The data 

are also useful for identifying major deficiencies in providing safe drinking water. The number and 

etiology of WBDOs are reported annually. Results to date range from a high of 53 outbreaks in 1980 to a 

low of 8 outbreaks in 2002, with 207 WBDOs and 433,947 illnesses reported in the most recent 12-year 

period. Because of the differences in investigating outbreaks, differences in reporting patterns from state 

to state, and underreporting, the actual number of WBDOs nationwide is unknown. In addition, outbreaks 

represent only a portion of waterborne illness associated with drinking water exposure. Due to these 

limitations, the data from this passive surveillance system do not currently meet the indicator criteria for 

the ROE. EPA continues to work with CDC and other federal, state, and private organizations on 

important programs such as this one, so that they may meet the indicator criteria and be used in future 

editions of EPA’s Report on the Environment. 

The topics of air, water, land, human health, and ecological condition under which the indicators are 

presented are all interconnected. For example, changes in one medium affect other media, human health 

depends on environmental condition, and environmental condition is affected by human factors. At the 

indicator level, the interconnections are complex and multi-factorial. In reality, humans and ecological 

systems are exposed to multiple pollutants from multiple sources; large spatial and temporal variations in 

environmental exposures exist; and numerous non-environmental factors may also contribute to an 

outcome. The ROE recognizes these complexities, and will continue to work in future versions of the 

ROE and the e-ROE to look for ways to better link and integrate indicators across questions and chapters. 

Regional Indicators 

The ROE focuses on trends within the United States, even though the indicators may be impacted by 

sources outside U.S. borders. National-level indicators (indicators for which nationally consistent data are 

available) are the focus of this report. However, highly aggregated national data may mask important 

variations that take place at finer scales. Therefore, the ROE takes two preliminary steps to demonstrate 

how relevant indicators might be identified, developed, and presented at finer geographic scales. 

• National data are broken out by EPA Regions for 23 indicators where the data are sufficiently 

representative at that geographic scale. EPA Regions follow state borders, and do not reflect 

natural boundaries based on physiography, climate, or biota. Rather than adopt 

regionalization schemes based on natural boundaries that would be unique to each individual 

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indicator, EPA chose to adopt a consistent approach for all 23 indicators based on EPA 

Regions. To aid readers who are unfamiliar with EPA Regional boundaries, the ten EPA 

Regions are delineated in Exhibit 1-1, and also depicted in icons on each indicator graphic 

that displays regional data. 

• Ten Regional Indicators (indicators that cover an EPA Region or substantial parts of one or 

more EPA Regions) were selected to demonstrate how such indicators can answer part of an 

ROE question that is unique to a particular region, or could eventually be expanded to answer 

an ROE question at the national level. All Regional Indicators were required to satisfy the 

ROE indicator definition and criteria. EPA hopes that these Regional Indicators will serve as 

useful models, and that lessons learned from them will help the Agency identify and present a 

more robust set of indicators that answer ROE questions at multiple scales in the future. 

However, it is important to note that these Regional Indicators are presented as examples 

only— they do not represent an exclusive set of indicators needed to answer the ROE 

questions at a regional scale, and they may or may not scale up to National Indicators. EPA 

may or may not include these indicators in future versions of the ROE. 

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Changes from 2003 Draft ROE 

As mentioned earlier, EPA released the first edition of ROE as a draft report in 2003 (see 

http://www.epa.gov/indicators/roe/html/tsd/index.htm). A number of changes, designed to increase the 

clarity, consistency, and usefulness of the report, have been incorporated into this 2007 edition in 

response to comments on the 2003 draft. The major changes comprise: 

• Indicators − As a result of revisions to the indicator definition and criteria, there have been 

several changes to the 2003 indicators, including combining some indicators and deleting others. 

Additionally, as mentioned earlier, some new indicators have been added that were not available 

for the 2003 version of the report. See Appendix C for details. 

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• Spatial Scale − National-level indicators were the focus of the 2003 Draft ROE and continue to 

be the focus in this 2007 ROE. However, as discussed above under “Regional Indicators,” this 

2007 ROE demonstrates how relevant indicators might be identified, developed, and presented at 

finer geographic scales in two ways: 

• Questions and Indicator Placement − The questions in the 2007 report have been revised to 

present a more consistent format and depth across chapters. In addition, wherever a health or 

environmental effect is linked predominantly to a single medium (air, water, land), that indicator 

has been moved from the Human Health or Ecological Condition chapter to the relevant “media” 

chapter. 

Conclusion 

To be effective, policies and programs addressing environmental concerns must be founded in firm 

scientific understanding of the issues, and adjusted based on monitoring of health and environmental 

conditions. The Report on the Environment represents a commitment by EPA to continually improve the 

quality and quantity of information available to understand the condition of human health and the 

environment and how they are changing over time. Within EPA, this commitment provides ongoing 

opportunities to use the ROE to inform strategic planning and related activities. The ROE also creates 

opportunities to establish and strengthen partnerships among federal, state, and non-government 

organizations for monitoring, data sharing, and data needs planning to support indicator development and 

improvement. 

Table 1-1. Chapter Questions and Supporting Indicators.1 

Air Chapter Section Page 

Outdoor Air Quality 

What are the trends in outdoor air quality and their effects on human health and the environment? 2.2 2-9 

Carbon Monoxide Emissions 2.2.2 2-13 

Ambient Concentrations of Carbon Monoxide 2.2.2 2-16 

Lead Emissions 2.2.2 2-19 

Ambient Concentrations of Lead 2.2.2 2-21 

Nitrogen Oxides Emissions 2.2.2 2-23 

Ambient Concentrations of Nitrogen Dioxide 2.2.2 2-26 

Volatile Organic Compounds Emissions 2.2.2 2-29 

Ambient Concentrations of Ozone 2.2.2 2-32 

Ozone Injury to Forest Plants 2.2.2 2-37 

Particulate Matter Emissions 2.2.2 2-40 

Ambient Concentrations of Particulate Matter 2.2.2 2-44 

Regional Haze 2.2.2 2-50 

Sulfur Dioxide Emissions 2.2.2 2-53 

Acid Deposition 2.2.2 2-56 

Lake and Stream Acidity 2.2.2 2-62 

Percent of Days with Air Quality Index Values Greater Than 100 2.2.2 2-65 

Mercury Emissions 2.2.2 2-68 

Air Toxics Emissions 2.2.2 2-70 

Ambient Concentrations of Benzene 2.2.2 2-74 

Concentrations of Ozone-Depleting Substances 2.2.2 2-76 

Ozone Levels over North America 2.2.2 2-79 

Ozone and Particulate Matter Concentrations for U.S. Counties in the U.S./Mexico Border Region 2.2.2 2-82 

Ambient Concentrations of Manganese Compounds in EPA Region 5 2.2.2 2-86 

1

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where they are first used to answer a question and referenced under subsequent questions. 

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Greenhouse Gases 

What are the trends in greenhouse gas emissions and concentrations? 2.3 2-93 

U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2.3.2 2-96 

Atmospheric Concentrations of Greenhouse Gases 

Indoor Air Quality 

2.3.2 2-100 

What are the trends in indoor air quality and their effects on human health? 2.4 2-108 

U.S. Homes Above EPA’s Radon Action Level 2.4.2 2-111 

Blood Cotinine Level 

Water Chapter 

2.4.2 

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Water and Watersheds 

What are the trends in extent and condition of fresh surface waters and their effects on human health and the 

environment? 

3.2 3-11 

High and Low Stream Flows 3.2.2 3-14 

Streambed Stability in Wadeable Streams 3.2.2 3-19 

Lake and Stream Acidity 2.2.2 2-62 

Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Wadeable Streams 3.2.2 3-22 

Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Streams in Agricultural Watersheds 3.2.2 3-25 

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Discharge from Large Rivers 3.2.2 3-28 

Pesticides in Streams in Agricultural Watersheds 3.2.2 3-32 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates in Wadeable Streams 

What are the trends in extent and condition of ground water and their effects on human health and the 

environment? 

3.2.2 

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Nitrate and Pesticides in Shallow Ground Water in Agricultural Watersheds 

What are the trends in the extent and condition of wetlands and their effects on human health and the 

environment? 

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Wetland Extent, Change, and Sources of Change 

What are the trends in extent and condition of coastal waters and their effects on human health and the 

environment? 

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Wetland Extent, Change, and Sources of Change 3.4.2 3-53 

Trophic State of Coastal Waters 3.5.2 3-62 

Coastal Sediment Quality 3.5.2 3-67 

Coastal Benthic Communities 3.5.2 3-71 

Coastal Fish Tissue Contaminants 3.8.2 3-103 

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay 3.5.2 3-74 

Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and Long Island Sound 3.5.2 3-77 

Harmful Algal Bloom Outbreaks Along the Western Florida Coastline 

Drinking Water 

3.5.2 3-81 

What are the trends in the condition of drinking water and their effects on human health? 3.6 3-87 

Population Served by Community Water Systems with No Reported Violations of Health-Based Standards 

Recreation in and on the Water 

3.6.2 3-90 

What are the trends in the condition of recreational waters and their effects on human health and the 

environment? 

Consumption of Fish and Shellfish 

3.7 3-96 

What are the trends in the condition of consumable fish and shellfish and their effects on human health? 3.8 3-99 

Coastal Fish Tissue Contaminants 3.8.2 3-103 

Contaminants in Lake Fish Tissue 

Land Chapter 

3.8.2 

Section 

3-107 

Page 

Land Cover 

What are the trends in land cover and their effects on human health and the environment? 4.2 4-9 

Land Cover 4.2.2 4-11 

Forest Extent and Type 6.2.2 6-14 

Land Cover in the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin 4.2.2 4-17 

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Land Use 

What are the trends in land use and their effects on human health and the environment? 4.3 4-22 

Land Use 4.3.2 4-24 

Urbanization and Population Change 4.3.2 4-31 

Waste 

What are the trends in wastes and their effects on human health and the environment? 4.4 4-38 

Quantity of Municipal Solid Waste Generated and Managed 4.4.2 4-40 

Quantity of RCRA Hazardous Waste Generated and Managed 

Chemicals 

4.4.2 4-43 

What are the trends in chemicals used on the land and their effects on human health and the environment? 4.5 4-48 

Fertilizer Applied for Agricultural Purposes 4.5.2 4-50 

Toxic Chemicals in Production-Related Wastes Released, Treated, Recycled, or Recovered for Energy Use 4.5.2 4-54 

Pesticide Residues in Food 4.5.2 4-58 

Reported Pesticide Incidents 

Contaminated Lands 

4.5.2 4-61 

What are the trends in contaminated land and their effects on human health and the environment? 4.6 4-67 

High-Priority Cleanup Sites with No Human Contact to Contamination in Excess of Health-Based Standards 4.6.2 4-70 

High-Priority Cleanup Sites Where Contaminated Ground Water Is Not Continuing to Spread Above Levels of 

Concern 

Human Health Chapter 

4.6.2 

Section 

4-73 

Page 

Health Status 

What are the trends in health status in the U.S.? 5.2 5-11 

General Mortality 5.2.2 5-13 

Life Expectancy at Birth 5.2.2 5-17 

Infant Mortality 

Disease and Conditions 

5.2.2 5-19 

What are the trends in human disease and conditions for which environmental pollutants may be a risk factor 

including across population subgroups and geographic regions? 

5.3 5-25 

Cancer Incidence 5.3.2 5-31 

Childhood Cancer Incidence 5.3.2 5-35 

Cardiovascular Disease Prevalence and Mortality 5.3.2 5-37 

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Prevalence and Mortality 5.3.2 5-43 

Asthma Prevalence 5.3.2 5-48 

Infectious Diseases Associated with Environmental Exposures or Conditions 5.3.2 5-53 

Birth Defects Rates and Mortality 5.3.2 5-58 

Low Birthweight 5.3.2 5-62 

Preterm Delivery 

Human Exposure to Pollutants 

5.3.2 5-65 

What are the trends in exposure to common environmental pollutants including across population subgroups and 

geographic regions? 

5.4 5-72 

Blood Lead Level 5.4.2 5-76 

Blood Mercury Level 5.4.2 5-79 

Blood Cadmium Level 5.4.2 5-82 

Blood Persistent Organic Pollutants Level 5.4.2 5-85 

Blood Cotinine Level 2.4.2 2-118 

Urinary Pesticide Level 5.4.2 5-94 

Urinary Phthalate Level 

Ecological Condition Chapter 

5.4.2 

Section 

5-100 

Page 

Extent and Distribution of Ecological Systems 

What are the trends in the extent and distribution of the Nation’s ecological systems? 6.2 6-11 

Land Cover 4.2.2 4-11 

Forest Extent and Type 6.2.2 6-14 

Forest Fragmentation 6.2.2 6-17 

Wetland Extent, Change, and Sources of Change 3.4.2 3-53 

Land Use 4.3.2 4-24 

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1 

Urbanization and Population Change 4.3.2 4-31 

Land Cover in the Puget Sound/Georgia Basin 4.2.2 4-17 

Ecological Connectivity in EPA Region 4 6.2.2 6-20 

Relative Ecological Condition of Undeveloped Land in EPA Region 5 6.2.2 6-22 

Diversity and Biological Balance 

What are the trends in the diversity and biological balance of the Nation’s ecological systems? 6.3 6-29 

Coastal Benthic Communities 3.5.2 3-71 

Benthic Macroinvertebrates in Wadeable Streams 3.2.2 3-35 

Bird Populations 6.2.2 6-32 

Fish Faunal Intactness 6.2.2 6-34 

Submerged Aquatic Vegetation in the Chesapeake Bay 3.5.2 3-74 

Harmful Algal Bloom Outbreaks Along the Western Florida Coastline 3.5.2 3-81 

Non-Indigenous Species in the Estuaries of the Pacific Northwest 6.2.2 6-37 

Ecological Processes 

What are the trends in the ecological processes that sustain the Nation’s ecological systems? 6.4 6-43 

Carbon Storage in Forests 6.4.2 6-45 

Critical Physical and Chemical Attributes 

What are the trends in the critical physical and chemical attributes and processes of the Nation’s ecological 

systems? 

6.5 6-50 

U.S. and Global Mean Temperature and Precipitation 6.5.2 6-53 

Sea Surface Temperature 6.5.2 6-58 

High and Low Stream Flows 3.2.2 3-14 

Streambed Stability in Wadeable Streams 3.2.2 3-19 

Sea Level 6.5.2 6-61 

Nitrogen and Phosphorus Discharge from Large Rivers 3.2.2 3-28 

Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Wadeable Streams 3.2.2 3-22 

Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Streams in Agricultural Watersheds 3.2.2 3-25 

Lake and Stream Acidity 2.2.2 2-62 

Hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico and Long Island Sound 3.5.2 3-77 

Exposure to Pollutants 

What are the trends in biomarkers of exposure to common environmental pollutants in plants and animals? 6.6 6-72 

Coastal Fish Tissue Contaminants 3.8.2 3-103 

Ozone Injury to Forest Plants 2.2.2 2-38 

Contaminants in Lake Fish Tissue 3.8.2 3-107 

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