The National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) is an

independent federal advisory committee that provides recommendations to the Administrator

of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a broad range of environmental

issues. This report has not been reviewed for approval by the Agency, and hence, the contents of this report do not necessarily represent the views and policies of the EPA, nor of

other agencies in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government, nor does mention of

trade names or commercial products constitute a recommendation for use. Reports of

NACEPT are posted on the EPA Web Site at http://www.epa.gov/ocem/nacept.

EPA 130-K-08-001

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Cooperative Environmental Management

http://www.epa.gov/ocem

March 2008

Photo Credits: The background picture of mountains appearing on the cover and at other places in the

report and the three photos in the top row and the three photos in the bottom row of the cover are stock

photos available from Dreamstime (http://www.dreamstime.com). The photo in the middle row of the cover

was taken by Memphis Sierra Club volunteer James Baker (http://sierraclub.typepad.com/scrapbook/2007/

10/wolf-river-harb.html).
(NACEPT) is pleased to transmit the enclosed recommendations and report in

response to your charge of May 2006. You asked for the Council’s views on how

the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) might advance its efforts on environmental stewardship and cooperative conservation. Our report, entitled

Everyone’s Business: Working Towards Sustainability Through Environmental

Stewardship and Collaboration, advances five key recommendations, supported

by specific findings and immediate steps for EPA.

Our key message is straightforward. EPA should reframe its mission with stewardship as the unifying theme and ethic and strive to become the world’s premier

stewardship model and catalyst. 

As EPA’s Innovation Action Council stated in its November 2005 report,

Everyday Choices: Opportunities for Environmental Stewardship, “(S)tewardship

means taking responsibility for our choices.” Stewardship is a systemic approach

to addressing the challenge of sustainability—economic, environmental and

social. Strong regulatory programs are key tools in fostering responsibility, especially when they are integrated with the full policy toolbox that also includes

grants, voluntary partnerships, and information programs. To deliver on this challenge, EPA must invest in building the skills and competencies necessary for stewardship and drive stewardship deep into its organizational culture. 

The concept of stewardship is a logical—and timely—step in EPA’s ongoing

evolution. It is not a new idea. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of

1969 provides the direction and underlying authority to implement our recommendations. We commend EPA for already doing much to advance stewardship

but, as we state in our report, there is much more to do. 

Although EPA has a critical role to play in stewardship, its role is only one

piece of the overall systemic solution. The success of EPA’s stewardship efforts will

be determined by the extent to which other institutions and individuals become

stewards. Collaborative governance, which engages all stakeholders in the

design and direction of environmental policy, is a key strategy toward that end.

Working towards sustainability through environmental stewardship and collaboration is indeed everyone’s business.
Every day individuals and institutions make a myriad of choices that affect

the environment for better or worse. Interest in sustainability and environmental

stewardship is surging throughout the country and the world. Now is the time for

EPA to recast its role to provide the leadership needed for society to reach the

next level of environmental quality. 

With EPA at the forefront, environmental stewardship that is pursued in a vigorously collaborative manner should be everyone’s business. Informed actions by

millions of individuals and institutions can truly put us on the path to sustainability.

This is the Council’s vision and its hope for the future. 

I would be happy to brief you in person about this report. I think NACEPT also

might be able to be helpful by participating in dialogues with EPA headquarters

and regional offices to present the report and seek feedback from Agency managers and staff on what opportunities they see for stewardship and collaboration

from their operational vantage points. The Council would welcome the prospect

of continuing to assist you and the Agency in your efforts and wants to thank you

for the opportunity to provide this report.

John L. Howard, Jr.

NACEPT Chair
Interim Letter ....................................................................................................................10

Current Opportunity and Challenge ............................................................................10

DEFINING ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP ................................................15

RECOMMENDATIONS, FINDINGS, AND IMMEDIATE ACTION STEPS..........17

CONCLUSION................................................................................................33

APPENDICES..................................................................................................35

Appendix 1: Environmental Stewardship and Cooperative Conservation 

Workgroup and Acknowledgements ..................................................35

Appendix 2: Charge to the NACEPT Workgroup ........................................................37

Appendix 3: NACEPT’s Interim Advice Letter to Administrator

Stephen L. Johnson..................................................................................43

Appendix 4: Example Opportunities for Environmental Stewardship......................46

Appendix 5: Stewardship Traditional and Historical Usage ......................................51

Appendix 6: Alignment of NACEPT Recommendations with 

Everyday Choices....................................................................................54

Appendix 7: List of Acronyms ......................................................................................56

ENDNOTES ....................................................................................................57

1

— EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson1

In May 2006, Administrator Stephen Johnson asked the National Advisory

Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) to review the U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) recent response to two priorities—environmental stewardship and cooperative conservation. In this concluding report

to the Administrator, the Council advances key recommendations, findings, and

steps the Administrator and the Agency should take immediately to demonstrate

their clear and bold vision of environmental stewardship made possible through a

deliberate strategy of collaborative governance involving all sectors of American

society.

Our key message is straightforward. EPA should reframe its mission with stewardship as the unifying theme and ethic and EPA should strive to become the

world’s premier stewardship model and catalyst.

As the EPA Innovation Action Council (IAC) stated in its November 2005

report, Everyday Choices: Opportunities for Environmental Stewardship2,

“[S]tewardship means taking responsibility for our choices.” Stewardship is a systemic approach to addressing the challenge of sustainability—economic, environmental, and social. Strong regulatory programs are key tools in fostering

responsibility, especially when they are integrated with the full policy toolbox that

also includes grants, voluntary partnerships, and information programs. To deliver

on this challenge, EPA must invest in building the skills and competencies necessary for stewardship and drive stewardship deep into its organizational culture. 

The concept of stewardship is a logical—and timely—step in EPA’s ongoing

evolution. It is not a new idea. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of

1969 provides the direction and underlying authority to implement our recommendations. We commend EPA for already doing much to advance stewardship

but, as we state in this report, there is much more to do. 

Although EPA has a critical role to play in stewardship, its role is only one

piece of the overall systemic solution. The success of EPA’s stewardship efforts will

be determined by the extent to which other institutions and individuals become

stewards. We need a nation of 300 million environmental stewards, not just

approximately17,000 EPA staff. Collaborative governance, which engages all

stakeholders in the design and direction of environmental policy, is a key strategy

toward that end. Working towards sustainability through environmental stewardship and collaboration is everyone’s business.
2

orously collaborative manner should be everyone’s business. Informed actions by

millions of individuals and institutions can truly put us on the path to sustainability.

This is the Council’s vision and its hope for the future. 

This report focuses primarily on EPA’s environmental stewardship activities and

opportunities. We begin this report by offering a summary of our key recommendations, findings, and immediate action steps. We then describe NACEPT’s work

to date in the area of environmental stewardship and the opportunity and challenge before us. We define environmental stewardship as taking responsibility for

our choices and explore what taking responsibility means. With this introduction,

we present our recommendations, as well as the reasoning behind them, in

greater depth. We conclude with seven appendices. Appendix 1 provides a list

of the Workgroup members and our acknowledgments. Appendix 2 is a copy of

the charge to our Workgroup. Appendix 3 is our interim advice letter to EPA

Administrator Stephen Johnson. Appendix 4 contains three examples that illustrate opportunities for environmental stewardship and the array of approaches

needed to convey the stewardship message. Appendix 5 is a discussion of the

traditional roots of environmental stewardship. Appendix 6 is a table that shows

areas of overlap between our recommendations and those contained in EPA’s

Everyday Choices report. Finally, Appendix 7 defines the acronyms used in this

report.

Key Recommendations

1. EPA should reframe its mission with stewardship as the unifying theme and

ethic.

2. EPA should strive to become the world’s premier stewardship model and catalyst by integrating regulatory programs, grants, voluntary partnerships, information, in-house operations, and other tools into a common framework.

3. EPA should foster stewardship by providing leadership in collaborative governance and participating in partnerships organized by others.

4. EPA should systematically invest in the skills and competencies necessary for

the Agency’s domestic and global leadership in environmental stewardship.

5. EPA should drive the ethic and practice of stewardship deep into the culture

of the Agency.
3

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Finding 1.3 Strong regulatory programs are key tools for fostering

responsibility, especially when they are integrated with

the full policy toolbox that also includes grants, voluntary partnerships, and information programs. 

Finding 1.4 Fully embracing environmental stewardship will not be

easy but it is one of the best ways to ensure future prosperity.

Finding 1.5 Stewardship and sustainability are related concepts, but

quite different in meaning. Environmental stewardship is

an ethic and practice of shared responsibility for environmental quality. It is the best means of achieving the

environmental component of sustainability, a characteristic of natural and human systems that embodies

“the possibility of flourishing forever.”3

Finding 1.6 Working towards sustainability through environmental

stewardship and collaboration is everyone’s business.

Immediate Step 1.1 The Administrator should convene a committee drawn

from across the Agency to redraft EPA’s current mission

statement and formulate possible commitments to a

diverse set of specific national, regional, and local initiatives that exemplify good stewardship practices. The

commitments should integrate strong regulatory programs with other tools, such as grants, voluntary partnerships, and information programs. This task could be

done as an early step towards the next EPA Strategic

Plan.

Immediate Step 1.2 Using multiple channels, including speeches, memos,

and informal communications, the Administrator should

announce the new mission statement to EPA staff members and request their engagement. The message

should underscore that: EPA’s challenge lies in using

effectively its entire set of tools to get the best environmental results. Fully embracing environmental stewardship will not be easy but it is one of the best ways to

ensure future prosperity for all citizens.

Immediate Step 1.3 The Administrator should share and promote the environmental stewardship message with other cabinetlevel agencies; Congress; tribal, state, and local governments; as well as private-sector firms, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the American public.
4

programs, grants, information, public speeches, and in

house operations. EPA achieves its most effective results

when these tools are used in concert.

Finding 2.3 As EPA and others apply various tools of environmental

stewardship, everyone must recognize that some efforts

will be very successful and others will be less successful.

As is often the case with innovation, continuous

improvement, experimentation, and tenacity are key.

Immediate Step 2.1 In order to make EPA the world’s premier stewardship

model and catalyst, the Deputy Administrator should

ensure that stewardship is more fully integrated throughout the EPA Strategic Plan and Budget. EPA should set

specific benchmarks for implementation of environmental stewardship throughout the Agency and should

include stewardship more fully than it is now in all five

goals, rather than covering it mainly in Goal 5. When

EPA meets the benchmarks, it should celebrate; when it

does not, the Agency should redirect its efforts and

keep moving forward.

Immediate Step 2.2 Consistent with Immediate Step 1.3, the Administrator

should regularly use the platform his office provides to

speak to the American public and institutions about their

importance as partners in applying environmental stewardship concepts and behavior to enhance the nation’s

sustainability. The Administrator should offer audiences

specific examples of how to be stewards and showcase

success stories.

Immediate Step 2.3 The Administrator should communicate EPA’s interest in

exchanging ideas and information on the best environmental stewardship practices to leaders of foreign environmental agencies. The upcoming Organisation for

Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and

G8 environmental discussions present initial opportunities

to seek such exchanges. EPA should benchmark against

other countries and aim to put the United States and

EPA in a leadership position.

Immediate Step 2.4 The Office of Administration and Resources

Management (OARM) should continue its commendable efforts to make EPA an excellent steward in its inhouse operations.
5

ardship efforts greater impact. EPA can leverage its lim

ited resources by engaging in stewardship efforts organized by others.

Finding 3.4 EPA has proven ability to convene, catalyze, and otherwise support collaborative efforts of others.

Finding 3.5 EPA should be strategic in using collaboration, set clear

goals and measures, and evaluate results.

Immediate Step 3.1 The Administrator should ask each Regional Administrator

and Assistant Administrator to identify his or her three

best examples of collaborative governance in pursuit of

stewardship, analyze these examples for lessons learned,

and compile these into a report for broad distribution.

The Administrator should establish a program to collect

data systematically and analyze the successes of priority

EPA collaborative efforts.

Immediate Step 3.2 Each program office should set goals with measures of

progress and success for each major collaborative

effort—in cooperation with collaborators—taking into

account cultural, social, and economic benefits along

with environmental benefits. 

Immediate Step 3.3 Program and regional offices should, when they have

the opportunity and resources, join in collaborative

efforts in pursuit of stewardship organized by others, particularly when invited.

Immediate Step 3.4 EPA’s Office of Human Resources (OHR) should lead the

implementation of the Collaboration Training Strategy

for the Senior Executive Service (SES) Corps, supervisors

and managers, and staff. The training will enhance collaboration and partnering competencies throughout the

Agency.

Immediate Step 3.5 As recommended in Immediate Steps 1.3 and 2.2, the

Administrator should share and promote the environmental stewardship and collaboration message with

other public and private organizations.
6

collaborative governance. 

Finding 4.4 EPA’s substantial information capabilities can be used to

help define and encourage others to use responsible

environmental practices.

Immediate Step 4.1 The Innovation Action Council (IAC) should work with

OHR to appoint a subcommittee to focus on recruiting

and training strategies. The subcommittee should review

existing strategies and reaffirm or modify them as necessary to build a new generation of EPA employees with

collaborative governance and stewardship skills that

they are able to use both on the job and in their own

personal lives. The new subcommittee should be

assigned to: 

• review EPA’s Human Capital and Cooperative

Conservation Competencies plans and the work of

the SES “Stronger EPA” team;

• consider the necessary stewardship skills and competencies, including traditional knowledge, and

identify gaps that need to be filled to instill stewardship ethic and practices;

• reaffirm or recommend EPA recruiting strategy;

• recommend a strategy that builds on current efforts

for training on stewardship and collaborative governance principles, practices, and expectations with

the aim of reaching every employee;

• recommend a strategy to recognize and reward

stewardship champions as present and future leaders of the Agency; and

• lead and support implementation of these strategies.

Immediate Step 4.2 The Deputy Administrator and Assistant Administrators

should work with the Assistant Administrator for

Administration and Resources Management to determine how best to utilize retired EPA employees effectively to promote the stewardship ethic within the Agency

and externally. 

Immediate Step 4.3 The Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) and the

Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation (OPEI)

should enhance EPA’s evaluation and measurement of

the full range of stewardship activities, publicize the

results of such analyses inside and outside of the

Agency, and highlight success stories. 
7

Recommendation 5 EPA should drive the ethic and practice of stewardship

deep into the culture of the Agency.

Finding 5.1 Stewardship is linguistically difficult because it is both an

ethic and a set of practices.

Finding 5.2 Stewardship would benefit from an express set of principles, such as exists with pollution prevention.

Finding 5.3 The way that EPA currently is evaluating its stewardship

approaches focuses almost exclusively on its voluntary

partnership programs.

Finding 5.4 EPA’s program and regional offices are at the front lines

of stewardship and practical innovation.

Immediate Step 5.1 The EPA Administrator and the senior leadership team

should clearly and consistently communicate the ethic

and practice of stewardship to all employees and

establish a learning process to engage all employees in

understanding the stewardship ethic and applying stewardship practices. The Administrator also should consider asking the committee suggested in Immediate Step

1.1 to develop a brief set of stewardship principles for

EPA.

Immediate Step 5.2 The Administrator should regularly encourage Assistant

and Regional Administrators to use stewardship

approaches to address program and regional priorities.

Immediate Step 5.3 Consistent with Immediate Step 2.1, the Deputy

Administrator should align EPA strategic planning, budgeting, and accountability processes to explicitly address

stewardship goals.

Immediate Step 5.4 OHR should establish a new generic performance standard that EPA staff members can use in their individual

performance agreements that will recognize and

reward superior performance in the service of stewardship.
8
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vation and to make recommendations to the Agency on how it might pursue

these priorities most productively. In response, the Council established an

Environmental Stewardship/Cooperative Conservation Workgroup to pursue the

charge on its behalf. Through the Office of Cooperative Environmental

Management (OCEM), EPA assigned a Designated Federal Officer and provided

liaison staff members to assist the Workgroup and Council in addressing the

charge.

For the environmental stewardship aspect, the Council was directed to

Everyday Choices: Opportunities for Environmental Stewardship, the path-breaking report from the EPA Innovation Action Council (IAC), comprised of the

Agency’s most senior career officials. Everyday Choices proposes a vision of environmental stewardship for the Agency, identifies those stewardship efforts underway at present and the six most important systems for stewardship, and five

means through which EPA could effect stewardship within and outside of the

Agency. Specifically, the charge requested the Council’s views on whether the

vision was appropriate and whether the implications of that vision for EPA action

were realistic; whether the identified options or means of effecting stewardship

seem on target; and whether the implementation plan directs EPA’s attention to

the most important opportunities. The charge provided a host of related questions for the Council to consider as it conducted its review and developed its recommendations. 

With respect to cooperative conservation, the charge referenced Executive

Order 13352, which directs EPA and several other federal agencies to seek out

opportunities to work collaboratively, especially at the local level, in using natural

resources and protecting the environment. Specifically, the Council was asked to

address ways EPA might provide leadership among federal agencies, whether its

human resource systems were up to the task of working cooperatively, ideas on

innovative ways to engage the public, and advice on strategic approaches that

would empower states, tribes, and local communities to initiate more collaborative problem solving. 

The Council was asked to direct its response to the Administrator with its findings and recommendations on environmental stewardship and cooperative conservation. Most broadly, the Council was asked to provide its views on how EPA

could engage all parts of society in stewardship of the environment and natural

resources, a key challenge on the road to sustainable development. 

The Workgroup has met face-to-face six times, held more than 30 teleconferences, and conducted numerous interviews of EPA staff. The members of the

9
In December 2006, NACEPT sent its initial thoughts on environmental stewardship to the Administrator (see Appendix 3). That letter outlined key questions and

several observations made by the Council about environmental stewardship at

that stage in our work. Among the points the Council made in the letter were the

following:

The vision of environmental stewardship—“where all parts of society actively take responsibility to improve environmental quality and achieve sustainable results”—as proposed by the IAC and endorsed by the Administrator in

his foreword to Everyday Choices is not only appropriate but echoes the

earlier call contained in the National Environmental Policy Act (1969). NEPA

states in part that: [T]he Federal Government, in cooperation with the

State and local governments and other concerned public and private

organizations, [should] use all practicable means and measures...to foster

and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under

which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the

social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.5

For such a vision to take hold at EPA, there will need to be a shift in the

Agency’s organizational culture and such a shift can only occur if EPA’s

leadership is clear about the urgency and magnitude of the change needed. 

In our view, an enhanced leadership role for EPA in environmental stewardship will require much more than a rebranding of its current voluntary partnership programs. We identified the need for the implementation of the

vision of stewardship to include EPA’s regulatory programs and, indeed, all

of its modes of acting as well as the voluntary partnership programs. 

Current Opportunity and Challenge 

EPA already has embarked on the journey of environmental stewardship and

has made impressive contributions to improving the environment through its stewardship programs. The Agency now has a greater opportunity, however, to

announce stewardship as its vision for the future and to engage legions of willing

Americans in the effort to enhance environmental quality, use resources wisely,

and ensure a more prosperous and just future for all. The vision of stewardship

need not stop at our national borders. Today’s environmental challenges are

10
of many other institutions and individuals to accomplish its mission. 

A few specifics from the Report on the Environment will illustrate these points:

Groundwater. Thirty times more extensive than surface water volume,

groundwater is the chief source of drinking and agricultural water in the

United States. EPA has no control over withdrawals and can exercise only

limited regulatory authority on application of pesticides and fertilizers and

the disposal of toxic materials that can leach into groundwater resources. 

Water Supply. Much groundwater is, for practical purposes, a nonrenewable resource. The development of new sources of energy through technologies such as biofuels will consume vast quantities of water.7 Congress

has yet to authorize any federal agency the responsibility for water supply

planning. 

Air Quality. The number of U.S. homes with indoor air quality problems from

radon was double the rate of those remediated. This means more

Americans than ever are at risk from adverse impacts of radon exposure, a

problem the EPA staff and the Science Advisory Board described as one of

the top items of the Agency’s unfinished business nearly two decades ago.

Congress has not given EPA any regulatory authority so prevention and

remediation depend on the Agency’s ability to influence the actions of

others outside of EPA.

Land Use Changes. A huge factor in health of surface and ground waters,

air quality, and ecosystems, the extent of developed land increased at

twice the rate of U.S. population growth in the latest period measured

(1982-2002). EPA has very limited regulatory authority to affect the location,

design, use, or timing of development; exceptions include a couple of

Clean Water Act sections, some Clean Air provisions, and contaminated

site clean-up authorities. The ability to forestall most new problems (including sediment and additional nutrients, CO2 releases, and criteria air pollutants caused by the combination of land disturbance and such accompanying aspects as more vehicles and impervious surfaces) lies outside of

EPA’s regulatory purview.

Ecosystems or Ecological Condition. Although EPA has an important regulatory foothold in toxic substance regulation and over wetlands conversion,

the Agency lacks any control over forestry conversion or land cover gener11
stewardship motivates this report.

Working towards sustainability through environmental stewardship and collaboration is everyone’s business. The short title of our report, Everyone’s Business, is

explicitly meant to invoke the seminal work of prior EPA reports and similarly

advance the Agency’s efforts along the path to sustainability. EPA’s groundbreaking 1987 report, Unfinished Business8, and the EPA Science Advisory Board’s

follow-up 1990 report, Reducing Risk9, highlighted the risks of environmental problems and how we should be addressing those problems through risk-based management, which can be achieved only though strategic, comprehensive efforts

by all of us working together—governments, universities, businesses, and concerned citizens (see “Learning From the Past: EPA’s Experience in Adapting New

Management Ideas” on page 19 of this report for further discussion). EPA’s 2005

stewardship report, Everyday Choices10, recognized that every day, we each

make choices that impact our own and others’ quality of life, health, and environment. Environmental stewardship follows risk-based management as an

important next step in the ongoing evolution of environmental protection. 

12
as with cleaning cotton shirts during their life cycle. These opportunities include purchasing t-shirts made with organic cotton, which is

grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, or

defoliants; developing manufacturing processes that require less

water; using cold water to wash t-shirts, which decreases the energy

demand; purchasing shirts that need as little care as possible (can be

washed in cold water and do not require tumble drying); and purchasing Energy Star washers.

Office Building—The opportunities for environmental stewardship relate

principally to building location, design and construction, and operation and maintenance. Buildings can be sited and designed to conserve energy, to maximize the uses of passive and active solar energy,

and to assure maximum natural water infiltration and flows. Smart

Growth principles can be applied to site selection (e.g., locating near

public transit). During construction, durable materials can be obtained

locally and from deconstructed buildings, and products that may

impact indoor air quality can be avoided. In operating and maintaining a building, the opportunities include seeking green-sourced power,

installing solar panels, using natural pest control techniques, supplying

collection systems for recycling, maintaining the HVAC system at peak

operating capacity, installing motion and photo-sensor lighting switches, and using energy efficient lighting.

River—The principal environmental stewardship opportunities focus on

reducing water usage and protecting water quality. Homeowners can

install low-flow showerheads and toilets, fix leaks and drips, and maximize onsite infiltration and use of technologies such as rain collection

barrels and rain gardens. Farmers can prevent livestock from entering

the river; grow climate-appropriate, disease-resistant crops that eliminate or minimize the need for irrigation and pesticides/herbicides; and

minimize the use of fertilizers and pesticides and avoid overspray into

aquatic areas. Farmers, landscapers, and forestry managers can

install and maintain riparian buffers of native species and use swales to

control wet weather flows. Additional stewardship opportunities

include restoring streams enclosed in culverts or pipes to daylight

(helps eliminate bacteria in watersheds) and preserving/restoring natural stream meanders and pools. With respect to river recreational use,

the opportunities include maintaining boat motors in good repair, exercising care in filling gasoline storage containers, keeping gasoline storage in a catchment basin, and navigating at lower speeds near erodible or otherwise sensitive shorelines.

13
14
15

g, g gy q

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“stewardship means taking responsibility for our choices.”12 NACEPT endorses this

definition. 

But what does taking responsibility mean? Because responsibility is so central

to the idea of environmental stewardship, it is worth stepping back to consider

this question. Philosophers since the time of Aristotle have grappled to define

taking responsibility. Shifting through this long and extensive literature, three

themes emerge. First, taking responsibility requires that people see themselves as

agents whose choices and actions make a difference in the world. They are

“response-able,” that is, able to respond and bring about a response.13 EPA

touches upon this idea in its 2006-2011 Strategic Plan when it writes of stewardship

as a sense of ownership. Taking responsibility means owning the consequences

of one’s actions. 

Second, those who take responsibility acknowledge that they may be

blamed or praised for their actions; that they may fairly be held responsible. Part

of taking responsibility is accepting that it is appropriate for others to expect certain behaviors. Those who take responsibility understand that their actions are

the “fair target” of the reactions of others.14

The third condition for taking responsibility is that the first two conditions be

based on evidence.15 People must see that their actions have an impact in the

world. People must experience blame or praise for their actions. Taking responsibility must be based on actual experience, not some theoretical concept. 

These three conditions for taking responsibility help clarify the meaning of

environmental stewardship. Environmental stewardship implies that people take

ownership of the environmental consequences of their actions. They acknowledge that others have the right to review and evaluate the impact of their

actions upon environmental quality. In addition, they experience direct evidence of the consequences of their actions, both in terms of the environmental

harms and benefits they cause as well as the judgments of others. Stewardship

thus points to the central role of information in informing choices, assessing consequences, and changing behavior. 

Stewardship and sustainability are related concepts, but quite different in

meaning. Stewardship is an ethic and practice of shared responsibility for environmental protection. EPA is on a journey from pollution control, to pollution prevention, to stewardship, to sustainability. Stewardship can be seen as the foundation of a bridge that takes us into the realm of sustainability. The process of
16
Recommendation 1 EPA should reframe its mission with stewardship as the

unifying theme and ethic.

Finding 1.1 EPA has achieved many successes, but it cannot guarantee and sustain a clean and healthy environment on

its own. Environmental stewardship encourages all parts

of society to take active responsibility for improving environmental quality and achieving sustainable results.

Increased emphasis on the concept of stewardship is a

further step in EPA’s ongoing evolution.

Finding 1.2 NEPA Section 101 clearly articulates a statutory basis for

encouraging stewardship. The laws and executive

orders under which EPA operates support and are consistent with encouraging stewardship. 

Finding 1.3 Strong regulatory programs are key tools for fostering

responsibility, especially when they are integrated with

the full policy toolbox that also includes grants, voluntary partnerships, and information programs. 

Finding 1.4 Fully embracing environmental stewardship will not be

easy but it is one of the best ways to ensure future prosperity.

Finding 1.5 Stewardship and sustainability are related concepts, but

quite different in meaning. Environmental stewardship is

an ethic and practice of shared responsibility for environmental quality. It is the best means of achieving the

environmental component of sustainability, a characteristic of natural and human systems that embodies “the

possibility of flourishing forever.”17

2. EPA should strive to become the worlds premier stewardship model and cat

alyst by integrating regulatory programs, grants, voluntary partnerships, information, in-house operations, and other tools into a common framework.

3. EPA should foster stewardship by providing leadership in collaborative governance and participating in partnerships organized by others.

4. EPA should systematically invest in the skills and competencies necessary for

the Agency’s domestic and global leadership in environmental stewardship.

5. EPA should drive the ethic and practice of stewardship deep into the culture

of the Agency.

17
Our recommendations flow from our understanding of the meaning of stewardship. As noted above, stewardship and sustainability are related concepts,

but quite different in meaning. Environmental stewardship is an ethic and practice of shared responsibility for environmental quality. EPA has achieved many

successes, but it cannot guarantee and sustain a clean and healthy environment

on its own. Environmental stewardship encourages all parts of society to take

active responsibility for improving environmental quality and achieving sustainable results. Strong regulatory programs are key tools in fostering responsibility,

especially when they are integrated with the full policy toolbox that also includes

grants, voluntary partnerships, and information programs. 

Fully embracing environmental stewardship will not be easy but it is one of

the best ways to ensure future prosperity. Implementing the full scope of our recommendations will require EPA to make a long-term, sustained investment and

provide continuing management attention. Paradigm shifts take time and

patience as well as strategic implementation. EPA’s successful implementation of

pollution prevention illustrates how this can be accomplished. By incorporating

environmental stewardship into all of its activities, EPA will move closer to helping

the United States achieve sustainable outcomes across a wider range of activity.

Effective stewardship is as challenging for EPA as it is for all elements of society,

but unless stewardship practices become more widespread, the goal of protecting American environmental quality and achieving a high quality of life will lie

beyond society’s reach. EPA has successfully articulated new management

ideas in the past (see “Learning From the Past: EPA’s Experience in Adapting

New Management Ideas” on page 19). Increased emphasis on the concept of

stewardship is a further step in EPA’s ongoing evolution. 

18

Immediate Step 1.2 Using multiple channels, including speeches, memos,

and informal communications, the Administrator should

announce the new mission statement to EPA staff members and request their engagement. The message

should underscore that: EPA’s challenge lies in using

effectively its entire set of tools to get the best environmental results. Fully embracing environmental stewardship will not be easy but it is one of the best ways to

ensure future prosperity for all citizens.

Immediate Step 1.3 The Administrator should share and promote the environmental stewardship message with other cabinetlevel agencies; Congress; tribal, state, and local governments; as well as private-sector firms, nongovernmental

organizations (NGOs), and the American public.
19

conclude that EPA’s enabling statutes and cross-agency laws provide a strong

framework for using collaborative approaches with partners, stakeholders, and

the public to protect human health and the environment.”19

LEARNING FROM THE PAST: EPA’S EXPERIENCE IN

ADAPTING NEW MANAGEMENT IDEAS

EPA has a rich history on incorporating cutting-edge ideas into its overall

management approach. Risk-based management, pollution prevention, and the watershed approach are a few examples of past successes. With each of these efforts EPA fundamentally changed the

Agency’s approach to environmental protection and its decision-making processes. These frameworks gave managers a different way to set

priorities, direct management energies, involve multiple stakeholders,

and achieve environmental successes. 

Each of these approaches had several common elements that led to

their success. Top-level political leadership reinforced the importance of

these efforts through multiple channels. Externally, the Agency’s political appointees consistently built these concepts into their speeches, discussions with elected officials, and consultations with state and tribal

partners. Internally, these concepts were included in EPA’s strategic

plan, reflected in the allocation of resources, and included in the

Agency’s performance management and awards systems. An expectation was created that the Senior Executive Service (SES) Corps, and

other Agency managers, would find innovative ways to promote these

concepts both inside and outside the Agency. Management encouraged staff to be leaders and to explore ideas. EPA made substantial

investments of funds and time to train managers and staff in these new

principles. Performance reviews by the Deputy Administrator and testimony to Congress included these management concepts. Where possible, EPA also encouraged the use of these tools internationally. In short,

EPA used all possible tools to inculcate these approaches into the management fabric of the Agency, its state and tribal partners, the regulated community, and other stakeholders.

Increased emphasis on the concept of stewardship is a further step in

EPA’s ongoing evolution. The techniques that were successful in the

past could once again be used to infuse this ethic into a national and

international approach to environmental protection.
20

Recommendation 2 EPA should strive to become the world’s premier stewardship model and catalyst by integrating regulatory

programs, grants, voluntary partnerships, information, inhouse operations, and other tools into a common framework.

Finding 2.1 By being an outstanding model in its policies, programs,

and in-house operations, EPA can learn first hand what it

takes to be a good environmental steward and also can

use its visibility to help inspire others to become good

environmental stewards.

Finding 2.2 There is a widespread misperception that EPA’s primary

stewardship tool consists of voluntary partnership programs. The reality is that the Agency has many additional assets to promote stewardship, such as regulatory

programs, grants, information, public speeches, and inhouse operations. EPA achieves its most effective results

when these tools are used in concert.

Finding 2.3 As EPA and others apply various tools of environmental

stewardship, everyone must recognize that some efforts

will be very successful and others will be less successful.

As is often the case with innovation, continuous improvement, experimentation, and tenacity are key.

Immediate Step 2.1 In order to make EPA the world’s premier stewardship

model and catalyst, the Deputy Administrator should

ensure that stewardship is more fully integrated throughout the EPA Strategic Plan and Budget. EPA should set

specific benchmarks for implementation of environmental stewardship throughout the Agency and should

include stewardship more fully than it is now in all five

goals, rather than covering it mainly in Goal 5. When

EPA meets the benchmarks, it should celebrate; when it

does not, the Agency should redirect its efforts and

keep moving forward.

Immediate Step 2.2 Consistent with Immediate Step 1.3, the Administrator

should regularly use the platform his office provides to

speak to the American public and institutions about their

importance as partners in applying environmental stewardship concepts and behavior to enhance the nation’s

sustainability. The Administrator should offer audiences

specific examples of how to be stewards and showcase

success stories.
Stewardship requires EPA to use every tool in its toolbox. The toolbox includes

environmental regulations, standards, and permits. It includes grants, technical

assistance, and educational programs, as well as mandatory approaches and

voluntary partnership approaches. All of these tools are necessary, but none on

its own is sufficient. It is the combination of tools thoughtfully aligned to support

the development of environmental stewardship across businesses, federal and

other levels of government, individuals, and globally that creates major environmental quality improvements. It would be the rare instance in which one tool on

its own could accomplish any significant environmental quality improvement

objective.

There is a widespread misperception that EPA’s primary stewardship tool consists of voluntary partnership programs. The reality is, however, that the Agency

has many additional assets to promote stewardship, such as regulatory programs,

grants, information, public speeches, and in-house operations. EPA achieves its

most effective results when it uses these tools in concert. Environmental regulation is the Agency’s most powerful stewardship tool. EPA’s ability to foster stewardship comes primarily from the major environmental statutes and the system of

environmental regulation, standards, and permits that it has promulgated to

achieve the goals laid down in law. EPA’s environmental permitting requirements

call upon facilities to take responsibility for the environmental consequences of a

defined set of behaviors. Such requirements mandate facilities, for example, to

take responsibility for their wastewater effluent by installing best available technology, or to take responsibility for the air pollution from their products by meeting fuel efficiency standards. Environmental rules require facilities to collect and

share information about the environmental consequences of their behavior and

hold them to account through inspections and the possibility of fines. Environmental regulation, and associated standards and permits, define facilities’

responsibilities directly and explicitly: facility managers must take responsibility for

certain aspects of their behavior under penalty of law.

EPA’s voluntary partnership programs extend the Agency’s reach and complement its regulatory tools. Although programs such as SunWise Schools,

Performance Track, Climate Leaders, and Energy Star, to name just a few, do not

carry the authority of mandatory regulation, they address a broader array of

consequences. Such programs should not be viewed as alternatives to regulatory programs, but rather as complementary tools to be applied in tandem and

integrated with other environmental tools. 

21
Region I’s integration of compliance, incentive, and innovation tools, described

in “EPA Region I’s Experience Integrating Policy Tools” on page 23, provides a further example of how EPA can use all of its tools to promote stewardship.

We can analyze available environmental policy tools based on whether EPA’s

involvement is direct or indirect. Some tools, such as the Agency’s permit system,

involve EPA in direct one-on-one interaction with a single facility. Other tools,

such as the Executive Order on Cooperative Conservation, involve the Agency in

discussions with groups of organizations simultaneously in which its involvement is

more diffuse. We also can analyze tools based on the source of EPA’s influence.

Some tools rely on EPA’s statutory authority or financial resources, while others

draw on its expertise and credibility. Such distinctions may be more meaningful

than the labels mandatory and voluntary, which focus on a single aspect of a

tool—whether or not it has a regulatory basis—but neglect other important characteristics. 

The Administrator should communicate EPA’s interest in exchanging ideas

and information on the best environmental stewardship practices to leaders of

foreign environmental agencies. The upcoming meetings of the Organisation for

Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and the G8 environmental

discussions present near-term opportunities to initiate such exchanges. EPA should

benchmark against other countries, corporations, states, tribes, and other federal

agencies, and aim to put the United States and EPA in a leadership position.

In order to make EPA the world’s premier stewardship model and catalyst,

the Deputy Administrator should ensure that stewardship is more fully included

throughout the EPA Strategic Plan and Budget and should set specific benchmarks for EPA’s implementation of environmental stewardship throughout the

Agency. Stewardship should be more integrated than it is now into all five goals,

rather than covered mainly in Goal 5. It will be important for EPA to celebrate

success when it achieves benchmarks. It is equally important to recognize that

the Agency is on a path of innovation and learning from experimentation. EPA

should strive for continuous improvement and to learn from what works and what

does not, but should not turn back from its path of supporting stewardship. 

The Administrator should regularly use the platform provided by his office to

speak to the American public and institutions about their importance as partners

in applying environmental stewardship concepts and behavior to enhance the

nation’s sustainability. The Administrator should offer audiences specific examples of how to be stewards and showcase success stories.

22
resolved any problems.

23

EPA REGION I’S EXPERIENCE 

INTEGRATING POLICY TOOLS

For the past 5 years, EPA Region I (New England) has integrated traditional enforcement tools with beyond-compliance approaches in

its efforts to protect the environment. Region I’s efforts illustrate

what we mean by using “all the tools in the toolbox.” In its work to

address environmental impacts from colleges and universities, for

example, Region I has combined enforcement with a broad range

of compliance assistance efforts that have motivated universities to

initiate new practices and management systems that address their

environmental impacts comprehensively. The goal of these efforts,

according to Region I, “is to have facilities be responsible for their

own environmental performance.”20

One key element in Region I’s approach has been to encourage

colleges and universities to develop environmental management

systems (EMS). The region has prepared an EMS guide to help these

educational institutions identify and address all of their environmental impacts, whether or not they are subject to regulation. It also

has created a Best Management Practices catalogue of practices

for universities that it considers sustainable. Following Region I’s

enforcement action, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

developed the Virtual Environmental Campus, a Web-based tool for

improving environmental performance in cafeterias, dormitories,

and other parts of the university usually exempt from much scrutiny

from regulators. It is the mix of approaches, including enforcement,

assistance incentives, and innovation, that we find most appropriate

and beneficial for promoting stewardship.
On August 26, 2004, President George W. Bush issued Executive Order 13352,

calling upon federal agencies to implement environmental protection laws in a

manner that “facilitates cooperative conservation.” The order defined cooperative conservation as “actions that relate to use, enhancement, and enjoyment of

natural resources, protection of the environment, or both, and that involve collaborative activity among federal, state, local, and tribal governments, private

for-profit and nonprofit institutions, other nongovernmental entities and individuals.”

24

ardship efforts greater impact. EPA can leverage its

limited resources by engaging in stewardship efforts

organized by others.

Finding 3.4 EPA has proven ability to convene, catalyze, and otherwise support collaborative efforts of others.

Finding 3.5 EPA should be strategic in using collaboration, set clear

goals and measures, and evaluate results.

Immediate Step 3.1 The Administrator should ask each Regional Administrator

and Assistant Administrator to identify his or her three

best examples of collaborative governance in pursuit of

stewardship, analyze these examples for lessons

learned, and compile these into a report for broad distribution. The Administrator should establish a program

to collect data systematically and analyze the successes of priority EPA collaborative efforts.

Immediate Step 3.2 Each program office should set goals with measures of

progress and success for each major collaborative

effort—in cooperation with collaborators—taking into

account cultural, social, and economic benefits along

with environmental benefits. 

Immediate Step 3.3 Program and regional offices should, when they have

the opportunity and resources, join in collaborative

efforts in pursuit of stewardship organized by others,

particularly when invited.

Immediate Step 3.4 EPA’s Office of Human Resources (OHR) should lead

implementation of the Collaboration Training Strategy

for the Senior Executive Service (SES) Corps, supervisors

and managers, and staff. The training will enhance collaboration and partnering competencies throughout

the Agency.

Immediate Step 3.5 As recommended in Immediate Steps 1.3 and 2.2, the

Administrator should share and promote the environmental stewardship and collaboration message with

other public and private organizations.
managers to take responsibility for certain unintended consequences of their

activities. It offers technical assistance and financial resources to those who

need help. It gathers and disseminates information to inform others’ choices. In

addition to these responsibilities, EPA can and does serve as a convener and catalyst for collaboration.

The private sector’s role in stewardship is equally critical. In addition to complying fully with environmental regulatory requirements, private-sector managers

make choices every day about the goods and services they will bring to market.

Each of these choices may generate environmental consequences or benefits.

Private-sector managers possess special knowledge about how their processes

work and where opportunities for environmental improvement lie. For stewardship to take root and grow, EPA must tap the influence and insights of privatesector managers. The Agency can learn much from the policies and programs

that these organizations have enacted. 

NGOs have important perspectives and capabilities to offer as well. As protectors of the public good, these organizations possess unrivaled legitimacy.

They frequently offer thoughtful and creative ideas, and they have access to

large networks of organizations and individuals that collectively can influence

policy agendas. It is hard to imagine recycling campaigns, energy conservation

initiatives, or watershed protection programs working at all without the ideas and

resources of grassroots organizations.

Tribes and tribal organizations have special insights to bring to the movement

toward stewardship. As explained in Appendix 5, the ethic and practice of stewardship is deeply rooted in tribal cultures and everyday routines. We have much

to learn from tribal traditions, and collaborating with tribes in stewardship programs should be an Agency priority.

State and local governments often are innovators of collaborative governance. Frequently, this is because they are closer to the people of their communities, they are in tune with citizens’ values, and they are able to devise creative

mechanisms to engage citizens in cooperative endeavors. EPA has the opportunity to leverage its resources by working with state and local governments to

involve individual citizens, businesses, schools, organizations, and others in actions

that extend the practice of stewardship. EPA also should seek to learn from state

and local experiences.

The role of individuals has not received systematic attention in EPA planning.

Most often we think of the role of individuals in their private capacities as home25
ject to little if any regulatory oversight. 

Working separately, sectors may compete with each other or duplicate

efforts. They may blame each other when activities are not as effective as they

had anticipated. Working collaboratively, these actors can offer innovative solutions that build on each others’ competencies. They can access greater technical know-how, financial resources, knowledge, and channels of engagement.

Their actions become legitimate and influential. Collaborative approaches to

stewardship increase the possibility that policies will be effective, innovative, and

integrated. Collaboration is not appropriate, however, for every situation. EPA

should be strategic in using collaboration, set clear goals and measures, and

evaluate results.

In this context, there are great opportunities for collaboration between government agencies at the federal, tribal, state, and local levels. EPA does collaborate with many of these agencies, but there are many more opportunities waiting. The capabilities of these agencies are far greater than they would be otherwise when they combine their expertise and authorities. 

As immediate steps, the Administrator should ask each Regional Administrator

and Assistant Administrator to identify his or her three best examples of collaborative governance in pursuit of stewardship, analyze these examples for lessons

learned, and compile these into a report for broad distribution. The Administrator

should establish a program to collect data systematically and analyze the successes of priority EPA collaborative efforts. Each program office should set goals

with measures of progress and success for each major collaborative effort—in

cooperation with collaborators—taking into account cultural, social, and economic benefits along with environmental benefits. Regional offices should, when

they have the opportunity and resources, join in collaborative efforts in pursuit of

stewardship organized by others, particularly when invited. EPA’s Office of

Human Resources (OHR) should implement the Collaboration Training Strategy for

the Senior Executive Service (SES) Corps, supervisors and managers, and staff. The

training will enhance collaboration and partnering competencies throughout the

Agency.

26
27

collaborative governance. 

Finding 4.4 EPA’s substantial information capabilities can be used

to help define and encourage others to use responsible

environmental practices.

Immediate Step 4.1 The Innovation Action Council (IAC) should work with

OHR to appoint a subcommittee to focus on recruiting

and training strategies. The subcommittee should review

existing strategies and reaffirm or modify them as necessary to build a new generation of EPA employees with

collaborative governance and stewardship skills that

they are able to use both on the job and in their own

personal lives. The new subcommittee should be

assigned to:

• review EPA’s Human Capital and Cooperative

Conservation Competencies plans and the work of

the SES “Stronger EPA” team;

• consider the necessary stewardship skills and competencies, including traditional knowledge, and

identify gaps that need to be filled to instill stewardship ethic and practices;

• reaffirm or recommend EPA recruiting strategy;

• recommend a strategy that builds on current efforts

for training on stewardship and collaborative governance principles, practices, and expectations with

the aim of reaching every employee;

• recommend a strategy to recognize and reward

stewardship champions as present and future leaders of the Agency; and

• lead and support implementation of these strategies.

Immediate Step 4.2 The Deputy Administrator and Assistant Administrators

should work with the Assistant Administrator for

Administration and Resources Management to determine how best to utilize retired EPA employees effectively to promote the stewardship ethic within the

Agency and externally. 

Immediate Step 4.3 The Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) and

the Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation (OPEI)

should enhance EPA’s evaluation and measurement of

the full range of stewardship activities, publicize the

results of such analyses inside and outside of the

Agency, and highlight success stories. 
28

Interest in environmental protection throughout the country and the world is

surging. There is growing recognition that we live in a global community and that

everyone’s actions impact the planet. This upswing in interest is reflected in

many actions—by organizations and individuals making socially responsible

investments, businesses promoting corporate social responsibility, communities

adopting green building policies, and individuals making environmentally

informed purchases. There now is an opportunity, some would say an imperative,

for EPA to recast its role and continue to provide the leadership needed to reach

the next level of environmental performance. 

Every EPA employee has the potential to become a stewardship ambassador. As EPA employees go about their jobs, they can build stewardship into their

conduct inside and outside the office. In the workplace, EPA employees can

work cooperatively with others with the understanding that each tool in the toolbox has a contribution to make to environmental protection. EPA employees

can value stewardship projects initiated by others and lend their expertise and

resources. Outside the workplace, they can make decisions about where to live,

what to consume, whether to use public transportation or drive to work, whether

to drive to work alone or in a carpool, how warm or cool to keep their homes,

and how to maintain their yards with stewardship in mind. 

EPA’s scientific expertise is outstanding in many ways, but the Agency has not

yet begun systematic research to identify the most effective tools for stewardship.

The Agency knows relatively little about what motivates individuals’ stewardship

behavior, for example. EPA has relied on strict science and incorporates traditional knowledge only rarely, despite the significant insights that could be gained

from traditional sources. 

Throughout its history, EPA has benefited by the extraordinary human capital

it has been able to attract and retain, but many experienced employees are

reaching retirement age after full careers of service at the Agency. Although

these seasoned employees will take with them much experience, incoming

newly hired employees offer EPA an opportunity to develop a new workforce for

the new types of environmental challenges. Many of these new employees will

come to EPA with credentials that will enable them to be champions of stewardship, and they may naturally embrace collaboration and learning as the drivers

of stewardship. A formal training program, however, should be established to

instill a common language and set of skills to support the stewardship efforts. We

note that during its history, whenever there is a major paradigm shift at EPA, an

accompanying Agency-wide rollout of supporting training regimes takes place.

For example, pollution prevention, risk management, and risk communication all
agement, natural resource consumption, or other areas not addressed by federal

environmental regulation. Government does not require facilities to report how

much energy or water or other inputs they consume, despite the degradation

caused by the depletion of these resources. Many facilities are not subject to

environmental reporting requirements at all because of their sector or size, yet

the impacts of their practices and products on environmental quality may be significant.23

As immediate steps, we recommend that EPA’s Innovation Action Council

work with the Office of Human Resources to appoint a subcommittee to focus on

recruiting and training strategies. The subcommittee should review existing strategies and reaffirm or modify them as necessary to build a new generation of EPA

employees with collaborative governance and stewardship skills that they are

able to use both on the job and in their own personal lives. The new subcommittee should be assigned to:

review EPA’s Human Capital and Cooperative Conservation Competencies

plans and the work of the SES “Stronger EPA” team;

consider the necessary stewardship skills and competencies, including traditional knowledge, and identify gaps that need to be filled to instill stewardship ethic and practices;

reaffirm or recommend EPA recruiting strategy;

recommend a strategy that builds on current efforts for training on stewardship and collaborative governance principles, practices, and expectations

with the aim of reaching every employee; and

recommend a strategy to recognize and reward stewardship champions as

present and future leaders of the Agency; and

lead and support implementation of these strategies.

In addition, the Deputy Administrator and Assistant Administrators should work

with the Assistant Administrator for Administration and Resources Management to

determine how best to utilize retired EPA employees to promote the stewardship

ethic within the Agency and externally. The Office of the Chief Financial Officer

(OCFO) and Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation (OPEI) should enhance

EPA’s evaluation and measurement of the full range of stewardship activities,

publicize the results of such analyses inside and outside of the Agency, and 

29
Stewardship is linguistically difficult. It does not convey one explicit meaning,

but evokes different things in different contexts. In common conversation, the

term stewardship often does not resonate. It is two things: an ethic, and a set of

practices or behaviors. As yet, there is no set of widely recognized stewardship

principles as there is for pollution prevention, for example. Stewardship would

benefit from an express set of principles. To address these challenges, EPA needs

to engage the Agency and others in a conversation about what stewardship

means. Clearly, it is more than the Agency’s voluntary partnership programs, yet

discussions about stewardship often focus on non-regulatory initiatives exclusively. 

EPA’s management systems and organizational structures must support stewardship. Environmental stewardship cannot be an idea housed within one or

30

Finding 5.2 Stewardship would benefit from an express set of principles, such as exists with pollution prevention.

Finding 5.3 The way that EPA currently is evaluating its stewardship

approaches focuses almost exclusively on its voluntary

partnership programs.

Finding 5.4 EPA’s program and regional offices are at the front lines

of stewardship and practical innovation.

Immediate Step 5.1 The EPA Administrator and the senior leadership team

should clearly and consistently communicate the ethic

and practice of stewardship to all employees and

establish a learning process to engage all employees in

understanding the stewardship ethic and applying stewardship practices. The Administrator also should consider asking the committee suggested in Immediate Step

1.1 to develop a brief set of stewardship principles for

EPA.

Immediate Step 5.2 The Administrator should regularly encourage Assistant

and Regional Administrators to use stewardship

approaches to address program and regional priorities.

Immediate Step 5.3 Consistent with Immediate Step 2.1, the Deputy

Administrator should align EPA strategic planning, budgeting, and accountability processes to explicitly address

stewardship goals.

Immediate Step 5.4 OHR should establish a new generic performance standard that EPA staff members can use in their individual

performance agreements that will recognize and

reward superior performance in the service of stewardship.
office level, performance measures need to be developed that incorporate

environmental stewardship concepts. 

Environmental stewardship measures should be developed so they are applicable and important to managers in the program and regional offices. Strategies

for accomplishing that include having environmental stewardship measures

relate to specific programs and incorporating environmental stewardship requirements into job descriptions. If environmental stewardship is going to be integrated into the Agency’s planning and management systems, it will need to be promoted at the career level in the program and regional offices. Career personnel

in the program and regional offices are sensitive to recognition programs.

Assistant and Regional Administrators should be encouraged to include promotion of environmental stewardship as a category for internal recognition programs. Such action will make supporters of environmental stewardship opinion

leaders in the program and regional offices.

EPA’s employees do not have to be tasked with implementing environmental

stewardship inasmuch as they are all highly motivated with regards to implementing the Agency’s mission. EPA does, however, need to train its staff members to

think beyond their traditional roles and find new ways to promote environmental

stewardship. Environmental stewardship concepts should be added into regional

and program trainings as well as those offered by training centers. EPA staff

should be encouraged to offer advice and referrals to other EPA programs for

stewardship opportunities. The Agency should consider adding environmental

stewardship skills and knowledge as a criterion in the hiring process.

As immediate steps, the EPA Administrator and senior leadership team should

clearly and consistently communicate the ethic and practice of stewardship to

all Agency employees and establish a learning process to engage all employees

in understanding the stewardship ethic and applying stewardship practices. The

Administrator also should consider asking the committee convened to redraft

EPA’s current mission statement (Immediate Step 1.1) to develop a brief set of

stewardship principles for EPA. The Administrator should regularly encourage

Assistant and Regional Administrators to use stewardship approaches to address

program and regional priorities. The Deputy Administrator should align EPA strategic planning, budgeting, and accountability processes to explicitly address stewardship goals, and OHR should establish a new generic performance standard

that EPA staff members can use in their individual performance agreements that

will recognize and reward superior performance in the service of stewardship.

31
32
e ae cuedsao, SepeJoso, oag e poessoa

and personal courage to seek out constructive advice and criticism in order to

help shape the Agency in ways to be more effective for the problems it faces in

today’s increasingly complex and fast-changing world. 

It is a world in which humankind’s imprint can be discerned with greater and

disturbing clarity. From our rivers to the skies, from our largest cities to the most

remote corner of the globe, we now can see the impact of human activity on

our planet. At the same time, we see the incredible creativity and compassion

of humanity in many areas, including increased agricultural production, innovative and increasingly efficient energy generation, and a world of amazing new

technologies. Because the problems that obstruct the road to sustainability are

largely of human origin, we believe humans hold the key to their solution. We

hold great hope that EPA, by consciously reframing its mission around the stewardship theme, can be a major catalyst for a change in the way in which people

regard both their environment and their responsibility for its health. Each day,

individuals and institutions make a myriad of choices that affect the environment

for better or worse. With EPA at the forefront, environmental stewardship carried

out in a vigorously collaborative manner should be everyone’s business. The

aggregate of more informed actions by millions of individuals and institutions can

truly put us on the path to sustainability. This is the Council’s vision and its hope

for the future.

33
34
35

Yale University

Ms. Cindy Angelelli (2006)

Managing Director

Environment, Health & Safety 

Global Issue Strategy

Duke Energy Corp.

Mr. Arthur (Butch) L. Blazer (2006)

State Forester

New Mexico Forestry Division

Mr. Joel Bolstein (2006 and 2007)

Partner

Environmental Law Practice Group 

Fox Rothschild LLP

Mr. Robert Gruenig (2007)

Senior Policy Analyst

National Tribal Environmental Council 

Mr. Stan Laskowski (2007)

Retired EPA

Lecturer/Advisor

Masters of Environmental Studies

Program

University of Pennsylvania

Mr. Erik Meyers (Co-Chair 2006 and

2007)

Vice President

Sustainable Programs

The Conservation Fund

Ms. Jennifer Nash (Co-Chair 2006 and

2007)

Director, Regulatory Policy Program

Executive Director, Corporate Social 

Responsibility Initiative

Center for Business and Government

John F. Kennedy School of

Government

Harvard University

EPA Advisory Committees 

Mr. John Wise (2007)

Retired EPA

Environmental Financial Advisory Board

Ms. Melanie Worley (2006-2007)

Local Government Advisory

Committee

Douglas County (Colorado) 

Commissioner

Board of County Commissioners

NACEPT Chair

John L. Howard, Jr.

Partner

Vinson & Elkins, LLP

Designated Federal Officer

Ms. Sonia Altieri

Office of Cooperative Environmental

Management (OCEM)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
who offered valuable insights to the Workgroup on several occasions: Jay

Benforado and Stan Meiburg. Thanks also are due to other EPA officials for their

assistance: Chris Bliley, Katherine Dawes, Dona DeLeon, Luke Hall-Jordan,

Matthew Hoagland, Noel Jamison, Christina Kakoyannis, Bill Long, Juliana Madrid,

Nat Miullo, Jeff Morin, Stephen Perkins, and Wendy Reed. Finally, the Workgroup

thanks Olivia Barton Ferriter (U.S. Department of the Interior) and Juliana Birkhoff

(RESOLVE) for their assistance. The following graduate students from the University

of Pennsylvania developed background papers for this report: Donna Moffett,

Marguerite Murray, Andrea Mules, Lauren Kurtz, and Ikechukwu Onukogu. 

We are indebted to Rafael DeLeon, the Director of the Office of Cooperative

Environmental Management (OCEM) and his staff at EPA. This report would have

not been possible without the support of OCEM. Thanks.

36
37

Cooperative Conservationand make recommendations on how EPA can pur

sue these priorities most fruitfully. 

1. Environmental Stewardship

On November 9, 2005, the EPA Innovation Action Council (IAC), a group of

the most senior career officials from each headquarters and regional office, submitted a report to Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, Everyday Choices:

Opportunities for Environmental Stewardship. Several state officials also participated. 

In the Administrator’s charge to the IAC on May 9, 2005, he noted that “in

addition to operating effective regulatory and enforcement programs, EPA is

gaining substantial experience with stewardship approaches – including voluntary programs, market incentives, recognition and leadership programs, pollution

prevention, environmental education, information and collaborative problem

solving. Although these stewardship efforts are designed to produce environmental results, EPA can improve their effectiveness with a more unified strategy

and with clear goals and priorities.” With this in mind, he asked the Innovation

Action Council to “(1) Explore and better define EPA’s vision of environmental

stewardship and the role of stewardship in the future of environmental protection;

(2) Assess EPA’s current environmental stewardship activities to determine effectiveness and opportunities for improvement; and (3) Recommend options and

priorities for how EPA, in partnership with states and tribes, can encourage stewardship that addresses environmental priorities and achieves results. 

The IAC established a committee with broad membership from around the

Agency and representatives from the Environmental Council of the States to

undertake the project. In addition to its own research, the committee drew on

the wisdom of a number of experts and stakeholders. The IAC’s report: 

Proposes a vision for environmental stewardship at EPA. “As our population and economy continue to expand, the U.S. can accelerate environmental progress while simultaneously strengthening our global competitiveness. In short, we have exciting opportunities to create a more sustainable future in this country and with our partners around the world.

However, this bold goal cannot be accomplished by government alone;

rather it requires the active engagement of all people. To this end, we

have a vision of environmental stewardship—where all parts of society

actively take responsibility to improve environmental quality and achieve

sustainable results.” 
38

4. Lead by example

5. Mainstream stewardship in EPA decision processes

The Administrator accepted the report and wrote a Preface in which he

states: 

“This report outlines what I believe is the next step in an ongoing evolution

of policy goals from pollution control to pollution prevention and sustainability. It also reflects an important reality – that while the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA) and our state partners share responsibility for

bringing about our nation’s environmental progress to date, we have not

done so alone....Over the coming months, we will discuss the report’s recommendations and expand our efforts to make stewardship an inherent

part of how we achieve our mission. Environmental stewardship will help

us build upon our nation’s existing environmental efforts and ensure we,

as a nation, are able to provide our children a safer, healthier environment, and a more economically vibrant future.” 

The IAC is initiating a series of activities that respond to the report. As it

engages in this task it is clear that the agency can benefit from outside advice

on the challenges and opportunities that it faces. 

2. Cooperative Conservation

In August, 2004, President Bush signed Executive Order #13352 entitled

“Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation.” The Order directs the Departments of

Defense, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce and the Environmental Protection

Agency to work with the Council on Environmental Quality and each other to

implement laws relating to the environment and natural resources in a manner

that promotes cooperative conservation, with an emphasis on local involvement.

The Order defines Cooperative Conservation as “actions that relate to use,

enhancement, and enjoyment of natural resources, protection of the environment, or both, and that involve collaborative activity among federal, state, local

and tribal governments, private for-profit and nonprofit institutions, other nongovernmental entities and individuals.”

To advance the spirit and objectives of the order, the White House Council on

Environmental Quality (CEQ) convened a Conference on Cooperative

Conservation in August, 2005. Over 1300 leaders from across the nation con-
39

Since January 2006, CEQ has coordinated an interagency Task Force among

the above five agencies to implement recommendations from the White House

Conference. The following four areas constitute the framework for action that

each agency is addressing:

1. Develop the capacity needed to hire and train federal employees in a

manner that promotes greater collaboration. Recognize and reward outstanding partnership and collaboration achievements. 

2. Further cooperative conservation through administrative, regulatory and

legislative improvements.

3. Utilize communication, outreach and public education as a mechanism

for increased stakeholder participation in cooperative conservation.

4. Develop tools and mechanisms for agencies and their partners to assist

collaborative efforts in achieving desired outcomes.

EPA activities and commitments to implement the Draft Action Plan to date

include:

Collaboration and Partnering Competencies: An essential building

block in the effort to expand the use of Cooperative Conservation

among each of the five agencies is an Action Plan—EPA’s was submitted

to OPM and CEQ on March 31, 2006—to build knowledge and capacity

in collaboration and partnering, and to foster collaborative leadership at

all levels by elevating collaboration skills in hiring, training, and recognition of personnel. Pursuant to the Administrator’s charge in the Plan, the

Human Resources Council, the National Partnership Council, and the

Innovation Action Council reviewed the plan. In concert with the other

Cooperative Conservation agencies, EPA consulted about the appropriate scope and definition of competencies with outside experts on collaborative problem-solving, some of whom facilitated the White House

Conference. 

EPA also established an internal system for recognizing excellence in collaboration in 2006 and presented its first awards in 2007.

EPA Leadership of and Participation in Cooperative Conservation

Activities: EPA is leading and participating on several Cooperative

Conservation working groups, focusing on:

• Potential FACA barriers to collaboration and possible legislative

solutions. 
40

data and information to support cooperative conservation, and measurement and monitoring. 

II. Some Questions EPA is Confronting on Environmental Stewardship

and Cooperative Conservation

1. For what types of environmental problems and conditions can environmental stewardship and Cooperative Conservation approaches be most

useful? 

2. How should EPA approach the task of enabling the Agency to focus more

effectively and regularly on sustainable outcomes? How might we sharpen the way we approach the six sustainable outcomes cited in the

Everyday Choices report? 

3. How can EPA best approach the major external parties which it needs to

reach – individuals, business, communities and government organizations? In particular, how can EPA best reach individuals and states? As the

White House Conference challenged us, what are the most promising,

productive opportunities to change EPA’s culture to emphasize the

achievement of our mission through collaboration and partnerships with

other stakeholders?

4. How can EPA measure progress and success better for sustainability and

environmental stewardship and Cooperative Conservation and what new

information do we need to develop? In this connection, how can EPA

better involve partners and stakeholders to develop clear goals, objectives, and criteria for measuring progress and success? 

5. To build more trusting relationships with partners and stakeholders on environmental stewardship and Cooperative Conservation, how can we best

ensure that outreach and information sharing are effective, communications are clear and consistent, and decision-making processes are inclusive and transparent? 

6. How can EPA move to a comprehensive agency-wide strategy on environmental stewardship and Cooperative Conservation? What else can

EPA do to improve the internal clarity of its role in these areas? In particular, how can EPA do this given the nature of its organization, culture,

statutes, appropriations and so forth? 

7. Concerning issues of human resources and capacity building, how can

EPA best build the collaborative competencies of its staff? What are the

key competencies and how should they be defined?

8. Where are the best opportunities for EPA to work with other federal agencies on environmental stewardship and Cooperative Conservation?
41

Is the vision of environmental stewardship appropriate and is what it

implies for the focus and role of EPA realistic? 

Is the evaluation of EPA’s current environmental stewardship activities

on target? 

Do the five sets of options for EPA that are described appear to include

the most important opportunities, both overall and individually? 

Does the Implementation Plan direct EPA’s attention to the most

important opportunities? 

The review should also address at least the first four questions in Part II

above, plus any of the other questions in Part II that NACEPT decides to

address. 

2. Evaluate EPA’s activities in support of the interagency Cooperative

Conservation Action Plan. Consider in particular EPA’s efforts in the following areas, as well as any questions in PART II above that NACEPT is able to

address:

Human resource systems

EPA leadership of Cooperative Conservation efforts 

Innovative ways to engage the public in federal decision making

Strategic approaches to empower states/local communities to initiate

more collaborative problem solving (i.e. incentives, community environmental management systems) 

3. Write a report to the Administrator describing NACEPT’s findings and recommendations relating to items 1 and 2 above. The report should address

what EPA needs to do to meet the challenges of sustainability and stewardship of our natural resources by all parts of society, and of increasing

collaborative decision-making by EPA. 

In this report NACEPT may also choose to reflect on related general issues

and how they may affect the Agency’s mission, roles, and future directions, including: 

The changing nature of environmental challenges, our evolving

understanding of their origins and consequences, and the expanded

goals that many members of society are adopting, especially concerning sustainability, and the greater realization of participatory

democracy through stakeholder and public inclusion in governmental

decision-making. 

The results of NACEPT’s other recent assignments (energy and environment, water infrastructure, new technologies, and innovative partnerships and approaches). 
42
43

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20460

Re: Initial Thoughts on Environmental Stewardship

Dear Administrator Johnson:

In May 2006, you asked the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology

to review and offer advice on EPA’s efforts to advance environmental stewardship and cooperative

conservation. This letter reflects the Council’s initial thoughts about EPA’s environmental stewardship initiatives. While we have yet to turn to cooperative conservation in any detail, we did

want to convey our initial impressions and pose some questions about the Agency’s embrace of

environmental stewardship. 

The National Environmental Policy Act, passed more than 35 years ago and before the

Environmental Protection Agency was established, proclaimed the following bold vision of environmental stewardship for the Federal Government and America:

[T]he Federal Government, in cooperation with the State and local governments and

other concerned public and private organizations, [should] use all practicable means

and measures ... to foster and promote the general welfare, to create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony, and fulfill the

social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of

Americans.

The vision of environmental stewardship proposed by EPA’s Innovation Action Council in its

report, Everyday Choices: Opportunities for Environmental Stewardship, incorporates this NEPA

stewardship vision and explains how it can apply in addressing early 21st century issues: 

As our population and economy continue to expand, the U.S. can accelerate environmental progress while simultaneously strengthening our global competitiveness. In

short, we have exciting opportunities to create a more sustainable future in this country

and with our partners around the world. However, this bold goal cannot be accomplished by government alone; rather it requires the active engagement of all people. To

this end, we have a vision of environmental stewardship – where all parts of society

actively take responsibility to improve environmental quality and achieve sustainable

results.

NACEPT applauds and supports this vision. Over the past several months, NACEPT has met

with EPA management and career professionals to discuss the IAC report and your charge to the

Council. NACEPT has established a Workgroup of Council members (chaired by Erik Meyers

and Jennifer Nash) to take the lead in shaping recommendations. The membership of the

Workgroup is diverse, representing local and state government, business, law and architectural

professions, academia, and conservation organizations. We have held a number of working sessions, in person and via teleconference, of the Workgroup and the full Council. From these discussions have emerged several points of consensus and a few questions. 
44

To help EPA career professionals appreciate the need for change and to help the public and various stakeholders embrace stewardship behavior, EPA will need to be more specific on the estimated time frame. Although some may believe that successfully making the major shift to environmental stewardship is likely to take at least a generation to realize, the Council believes much can

(and should) be accomplished now. Motivating an agency of 18,000, let alone a nation of many

interests, will require a clear signal that all elements of society need to share in the effort to

achieve environmental quality, economic improvement, and social equity at home and abroad. 

We believe that creating an enhanced EPA role in environmental stewardship will entail much

more than simply rebranding its current voluntary programs. NACEPT discussions to date agree

that important roles for EPA in stewardship will include supporting other actors and removing

obstacles to stewardship and sustainable action. EPA can also provide leadership by modeling

behavior, actions, and attitudes to provide illustrative case studies from which others can learn and

emulate. 

However, another important message of Everyday Choices, with which we strongly agree, is that

EPA cannot achieve the goal of environmental stewardship working on its own. At this point in

our review, NACEPT is unclear what specific activities EPA envisions for building support for

stewardship among all sectors of society—public and private organizations, communities, and

individuals. We are also unclear on which EPA programs and activities the Agency believes fit

under the stewardship heading and which do not. We expect to examine these implementation

questions during the coming months in order to make additional observations and recommendations to you in 2007.

Second, as EPA moves to embrace environmental stewardship more fully, it should consider how

it will assess the effectiveness of these efforts. As a preliminary matter, EPA’s evaluation of its

stewardship efforts is likely to require new measures of system effectiveness. We suggest that

these may be more outcome-related than output measures, such as, for example, viewing stewardship efforts as they simultaneously affect the community, economy, and environment—a systems

approach. 

Positive improvements in environmental quality in a region or the nation as a whole, as reflected

in EPA’s Report on the Environment, may be among the best metrics, although establishing the

causal link between such improvements and EPA’s stewardship activities would be difficult.

Internally, we believe that EPA will need to begin by examining current employee job descriptions, performance plans, office performance, and interdependence of staff and program requirements to assess the degree to which stewardship is incorporated, including whether stewardship is

encouraged or inhibited. 

Third, it is essential that the Agency be perceived as encouraging others to become stewards and

assume responsibility within their spheres of influence and control, while continuing to maintain

its robust regulatory role. We observe that EPA’s traditional environmental regulatory role has

contributed and continues to contribute to sustainability and a higher quality of life. We would

expect the proposed greater emphasis on environmental stewardship will help the Agency be even

more effective in the years ahead. The IAC report contains hints that the Agency can integrate

stewardship into its regulatory actions, and we concur that this integration would be valuable. 
45

Respectfully submitted,

/Signed/

John L. Howard, Jr.

Chair

cc: Erik Meyers, Workgroup Co-Chair

Jennifer Nash, Workgroup Co-Chair

Marcus Peacock, Deputy Administrator 

Charles Ingebretson, Chief of Staff

Ray Spears, Deputy Chief of Staff

Jay Benforado, Director, National Center for Environmental Innovation

Derry Allen, Counselor, Office of Environmental Policy Innovation

Rafael DeLeon, Director, Office of Cooperative Environmental Management

Sonia Altieri, NACEPT Designated Federal Officer
46

pppp 

ing process, in maintaining a product that we use everyday, and in thinking

about how it is produced.

Background. Cotton is grown on more than 90 million acres in more than 80

countries worldwide. The United States is the second largest cotton producer

after China. In 1997, the 18 cotton growing states in the United States grew

enough cotton to make 9 billion t-shirts.24 Because U.S. cotton makes up 40 percent of world exports, there is a good chance that even t-shirts bearing a “made

in China” label are made from cotton grown in the United States. The U.S.

Government provides cotton farmers more than $1 billion/year in subsidies.

25

Opportunities for Stewardship in Growing and Manufacturing Cotton

Products. Conventional cotton growing uses approximately 25 percent of the

world’s insecticides and more than 10 percent of the pesticides.26 To illustrate, it

takes one-third of a pound of toxic chemicals to produce one conventional cotton t-shirt. Seven of the top 15 pesticides used on cotton are “possible or known

carcinogens.”27 One key stewardship opportunity is to purchase a t-shirt made

with organic cotton. Organic cotton is grown without synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, or defoliants.28 This is not a utopian option; major

apparel manufacturers such as Patagonia, Nike, Timberland, and Cutter and

Buck have been incorporating organic cotton into their product lines. 

Manufacturing a cotton shirt, whether of conventional or organic cotton,

requires large volumes of water throughout the manufacturing process, which

includes spinning, weaving, scouring, and sizing. All of these processes require

flushing the threads or fabric with water at one point or another. As water supplies come under increasing demand, another stewardship opportunity lies with

manufacturers to devise an improved process using less water. Assuming that the

decrease in water would lessen both economic and environmental costs, the

manufacturing innovator could realize advantages in the marketplace. 

Opportunities for Stewardship in Cotton T-Shirt Life Cycle. Beyond manufacturing lie even greater opportunities to apply stewardship concepts. Cleaning

cotton garments uses more energy than cleaning polyester because cotton must

be washed frequently at high temperatures and generally requires tumble drying

and ironing. Sixty percent of the carbon emissions generated by a cotton t-shirt

comes from the 25 washes and tumble dryings it will require during its useful life,

according to a Cambridge study.29 One study performed for the American Fiber

Manufacturers Association found that consumer use and maintenance of the

product had a greater environmental/energy impact than product manufacture.

Life span (number of times a garment could be worn) and laundering practices
47

Because wear is a critical component of the environmental footprint of a cotton shirt, consumers can purchase shirts that need as little care as possible (e.g.,

easy care). In addition, consumers can purchase shirts that can be washed in

cold water without the need for tumble drying—and make the decision to follow

recommended directions to use cold water in washing these items. These are all

stewardship choices with little connection to a regulatory role. Pricing of power

(electric or gas) provides one avenue of influencing consumer choice. 

To the extent laundering is required, consumers can choose to purchase

Energy Star appliances. An Energy Star washer uses 18-25 gallons of water per

load compared to 40 gallons for a standard washer. If a cotton shirt will be

washed 25 times before it is discarded, the water savings could be as high as 550

gallons if an Energy Star Washer is used to wash that cotton shirt.30 Manufacturers

of washing machines can be encouraged to provide labels on the machines

describing how much energy can be saved by washing garments in cold versus

hot water. About 90 percent of the energy consumed to wash a cotton shirt is for

heating the water.31 A person using a standard clothes washer, doing five loads

of laundry a week, would save 155 kWh and 517 pounds of CO2 per year if they

switched from hot water to cold water.32 Moreover, hot water is needed only to

clean a cotton shirt if it is greasy or heavily soiled. This information can be provided at the point of sale and/or on the machine to allow better choices. Again,

information provided by EPA creates both added market opportunities for manufacturers and the basis for consumers to make improved stewardship choices on

several levels.

The New Building Example

This case study illustrates the opportunities for environmental stewardship considerations to be interwoven into siting, design construction, operation and maintenance, and end of use. The list is not meant to be exhaustive but illustrative.

Environmentally beneficial results that could be achieved by applying these

stewardship approaches include: energy consumption reduction, improved

indoor air quality and lighting, and minimization of off-site stormwater impacts.

Location. The architect, builder, potential owners, and local governmental

officials have a number of aspects related to a proposed location for a building

that will have major consequences for its environmental footprint, both immediate and longer term. The building’s placement on a site should involve considering orientation to sun during full year and daily cycle. Lot orientation can maximize passive and active solar considerations and will drive the building’s energy

footprint.
48

Design and Construction. Not just the site, but design choices and materials

offer an exceptional set of opportunities to exercise stewardship and lighten the

environmental footprint of a building. Climatic considerations, in addition to solar

exposure, need to be addressed in a building’s orientation and design. Energy

efficiency can be addressed by design features that maximize use of natural

convection and lighting that cool, ventilate, and illuminate interior spaces to the

extent possible. On the exterior, minimize surface parking and other paved surfaces; maximize onsite water infiltration in landscaping, using native species, and

building design such as onsite cisterns, rain barrels, or green greens. Further considerations address human health issues. Many conventional finishes, products,

and furnishings may have indoor air quality impacts from off-gassing and odors. 

For construction purposes, the use of durable materials that can be obtained

locally will reduce the environmental impact. There also may be opportunities to

reuse materials from deconstructed buildings. During construction, local governments typically regulate impacts such as dust, sediment, water, and noise but

going beyond the minimum can create a positive opportunity for the project

developer. 

Operation and Maintenance. Yet another set of opportunities are present

with the building’s operation and maintenance. One such opportunity is to seek

green-sourced power and/or to sell power to the grid in peak sunny times if solar

panels have been installed. Natural pest control techniques can minimize use of

pesticides and toxins inside the new structure. 

Building management can encourage recycling of any and all recyclable

materials by supplying appropriate collection systems and markets.

Management should maintain the HVAC system at peak operating capacity to

assure supply of healthful air and combat ventilation system-borne illnesses. To

cut down on unnecessary power consumption, the building should install and

keep in working repair motion and photo-sensor lighting switches. Instead of using

convention incandescent lighting, opt for compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL)

and even light emitting diode (LED) lighting options, as the latter become commercially viable technology. Finally, the building can provide facilities for bicycle

commuters and encourage commuting via public transit or by walking. 

These actions point to research, testing, model applications, information sharing, and partnership approaches for EPA to support stewardship choices. More

directly, the Agency might provide incentive funding, and participate in product
49

human purposes, directly and indirectly, and the actor(s) using it for each such

purpose. Desirable outcomes include: maintenance of natural flow régime,

maintenance or restoration of water quality, maintenance of habitat functions

for naturally occurring species, and avoidance of human-induced flooding.

Consumptive Uses and Impacts. Home and apartment owners use water for

consumptive needs and personal hygiene. Stewardship behaviors include installation of low-flow showerheads and toilets and promptly fixing leaks and drips.

Showers and baths should be monitored and excessive water use should be eliminated. Externally, owners can maximize onsite infiltration and use of available

technology such as rain collection barrels, rain gardens, and disconnected

downspouts. 

For farmers and landscape specialists today, water is an increasingly critical

element. Best management practices (BMPs) and the strategic conservation

approach of green infrastructure assessment and planning underlie many specific stewardship choices; green infrastructure assessment can inform the watershed

community and users of essential needs for maintaining a healthy watershed and

BMPs offer guidance, if not standards, for specific actions involving water use. For

instance, specific stewardship actions for farmers might include fencing to prevent livestock from getting into the stream or river, growing climate-appropriate

crops to eliminate the need for irrigation, and not mining (using) groundwater for

crop production. To preserve the health of the river’s waters, farmers must assure

that, if used, fertilizers and pesticides are applied only at appropriate times and in

minimum amounts and that overspray into aquatic areas is avoided, especially

during spawning season. The better stewardship choice would be to seek disease resistant varieties or change crops to eliminate the need for pesticides/ herbicides. 

Farmers, landscapers, and forestry managers should consider installing and

maintaining riparian buffers of native (tree or grass) species. Using locally native

species of trees and grasses for highway, street, and yard landscaping can help

minimize the need for added water. Swales and other low impact design can

hold and control wet weather flows to avoid the sharp peaks and drops of urban

streams. 

Another key stewardship practice is to restore streams enclosed in culverts

and pipes to daylight. This practice helps eliminate a significant source of bacteria in watersheds and provides other benefits as well. Natural stream meanders

and pools need to be preserved. Restoring riparian twists and bends will provide

for more natural river flows and support habitat for vital aquatic species. 
50

dling boats. Millions of people use the nation’s rivers and streams for boating

recreation. Simple lessons of stewardship applied during these outings will help

pass on such experiences unimpaired to future generations. Among stewardship

practices is to keep boating motors in good repair and to exercise care in filling

gasoline storage containers. Spilled into the water or on shore near waters, gasoline and oil create environmental hazards and threaten wildlife. Simple measures

such as keeping gasoline storage in a catchment basin away from shoreline and

navigating at lower speeds near erodible or otherwise sensitive shorelines help

provide a margin of protection for these sensitive environments. 

Landowners can help maintain healthy riparian marshes, mangroves, and

other natural buffers that not only help environmentally but add to the beauty of

river recreation. What happens on land always affects the quality and quantity of

surface and ground water. Stewardship opportunities are present across the

watershed to assure that nonpoint discharges such as solid or liquid waste, road

salts, and sediment are not washed into storm sewers or dumped directly into the

river or stream. Although Clean Water Act protections prohibit most direct discharges, nonpoint or diffuse discharges away from the stream are in the aggregate of equal or greater importance to stream health. Landowner or local government actions that keep water onsite, such as using swales instead of pipes,

disconnecting downspouts, and constructing rain gardens, will help reduce the

nonpoint pollutant load on rivers and streams. Planting native (xeric where

appropriate) plants and minimizing or avoiding use of fertilizers and pesticides

altogether will help keep the river healthy. For landowners, local and state agencies, and corporations, the opportunity to maximize forest and woodland cover

provides the best opportunity to improve stream quality, flow, and overall health

because forest land cover is optimum for water quality.

This example illustrates again that, although traditional EPA and state regulations are vital to the health of a river, there are many other aspects of watershed

health that are either not regulated or involve a myriad of sources, potential

users, and choices. The downstream benefits accruing from greater EPA leadership on stewardship can hardly be overstated.
51

pp p

the practice and the practice enriches the ethic.

Rather than superimpose a new mental framework on society, we can gain

considerable insight by looking at traditional and historical usage—how

antecedent societies viewed their responsibility to Nature. By examining and

understanding the cultures and lifestyles of the past, EPA can gain the confidence to become the leader of environmental stewardship.

Stewardship values and norms can be found in the context of traditional

indigenous cultures (the Native American). Stewardship values and norms also

are found in the evolving American view of people’s relationship to the land.

Traditional Cultures33

Indigenous peoples manifest many cultural values and norms that give

expression to the notion of stewardship. This is profoundly so, despite the ubiquitous stereotypes depicting Native Americans as living in harmony with Nature in a

peaceful, serene, and apparently static existence. A simplified recitation of such

values and norms follow:

Traditional values are encompassed within the notion of traditional ecological knowledge; an understanding of Nature that has resulted from

generations of interacting with the environment and using its bounty.

Indigenous peoples exhibit a reverence for place; a geographic/spatial

reference that orients people with their land and gives them a sense of

history, rootedness, and belonging.

Traditional cultures maintain a guiding ethic of interdependence and reciprocity; a holistic view of people’s relationship with their natural environment.

Native Americans have traditionally used custom to regulate the use of

their environment for present and future generations.

Indigenous peoples see their environment as a renewable resource and

life–support system to be conserved for posterity, such that avoidance of

waste and responsible use of resources became guiding principles.

Indigenous peoples often bond together as a community with the ethic

of responsibility and respect, to each other and to future generations.
52

The following examples illustrate the profound shift over time of American

thinking:

An American vision of land use emerged with John Muir’s ethic of responsibility, which focused on environmental conservation.34 Muir’s views

included an ecological land ethic in which Muir believed that land is a

temple, and that land has an aesthetic and spiritual value to be protected.

Aldo Leopold, in his essay “The Land Ethic,” held that man was an intrinsic

part of nature; that man had a duty of respect for the natural community. Leopold rejected the economically expedient use of land, and

instead asserted that we must consider what is ethically and aesthetically

right. [“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability,

and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.”]35

Theodore Roosevelt embraced conservation of the land (albeit for game

management, forest yield, and recreational opportunities) by setting

aside and protecting millions of acres of land under federal jurisdiction.

This conservation movement has been sustained to this day.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his New Deal, continued to support conservation efforts focused on soil erosion, wildlife management, water quality,

agriculture, and forestry. Federal systems were developed to regulate

the use of the nation’s natural resources. The conservation ethic was

merged with federal regulatory authority to create the legal underpinnings of the modern environmental era.

In the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond, federal and state laws were enacted to

control and abate pollution, and to attain national standards of environmental quality. Nongovernmental organizations proliferated to advocate

(and litigate) for a variety of environmental ends: wilderness, open space,

land conservancies, wildlife and endangered species, forest and range

management, pollution controls, environmental justice, and community

right-to-know. All of these efforts have coalesced into the modern environmental era.

From these limited examples of the evolution of American thought, the ethic

of responsibility emerges and the modern notion of stewardship takes shape.
53

man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural

resources important to the nation...”36

Today, some 37 years later, NEPA remains highly relevant and increasingly

important as society strives to rediscover and inculcate the values and norms of

indigenous peoples; and to integrate the evolution of American thinking about

conservation, regulation, and people’s responsibility to the integrity of ecosystems

into an overarching framework of stewardship.

As we strive to understand and accept the traditional and historical roots of

stewardship and to embrace a community-wide consensus of stewardship as our

moral and ethical compass for our path forward, we can be inspired by the

Iroquois’ decision-making criterion: 

“Will this be to the benefit of the seventh generation?”
54

Encourage EPA staff to reach

out locally to promote stewardship practices. (Section

3.2.1)

EPA should set bold public

goals and lead by example.

(Section 3.3.1)

EPA should encourage stewardship behavior in EPA

employees. (Section 3.3.3)

Top EPA team must “walk the

talk” and reinforce consistent

environmental stewardship

messages. (Section 3.4.1)

EPA should train all staff on

environmental stewardship

principles, responsibilities and

opportunities. (Section 3.4.2)

EPA should incorporate environmental stewardship as a

priority in staff accountability

systems. (Section 3.4.3)

EPA should encourage stewardship in communities.

(Section 3.6)

EPA should partner with other

countries to share experiences about product stewardship. (Section 3.7.6)

Every EPA employee has the potential to be

a stewardship ambassador.

(Recommendation 4, Finding 4.1)

EPA should strive to become the world’s premier stewardship model and catalyst...

(Recommendation 2)

The pending generational turnover of EPA’s

workforce presents a compelling opportunity

to recruit and equip new employees with

skills needed for stewardship and collaborative governance. (Recommendation 4,

Finding 4.3)

EPA should drive the ethic and practice of

stewardship deep into the culture of the

Agency by clearly and consistently communicating the ethic and practice of stewardship to all employees... (Recommendation

5, Immediate Step 5.1)

The Innovation Action Council should work

with the Office of Human Resources to

appoint a subcommittee to focus on recruiting and training strategies...

(Recommendation 4, Immediate Step 4.1)

OHR should establish a new generic performance standard ... that will recognize

and reward superior performance in the

service of stewardship. (Recommendation 5,

Immediate Step 5.4)

The Administrator should regularly encourage Assistant and Regional Administrators to

use stewardship approaches to address program and regional priorities.

(Recommendation 5, Immediate Step 5.2)

The Administrator should communicate EPA’s

interest in exchanging ideas and information

on the best environmental stewardship practices to leaders of foreign environmental

agencies. (Recommendation 2, Immediate

Step 2.3)
55

Regional Plans can present

an opportunity for articulating the use of environmental

stewardship approaches to

achieve ongoing programmatic outcomes. (Section

4.4.3.2)

EPA should submit budget

proposals to advance environmental stewardship.

(Section 4.4.5)

EPA should strengthen environmental stewardship

through environmental education. (Section 4.6.3)

privatesector firms, nongovernmental

organizations, and the American public.

(Recommendation 1, Immediate Step 1.3)

The Administrator should regularly encourage Assistant and Regional Administrators to

use stewardship approaches to address program and regional priorities.

(Recommendation 5, Immediate Step 5.2)

The Deputy Administrator should align EPA

strategic planning, budgeting, and accountability processes to explicitly address stewardship goals. (Recommendation 5,

Immediate Step 5.3)

The Office of Environmental Information and

Office of Public Affairs should work with the

program and regional offices to review and

enhance information dissemination, disclosure, and educational activities to strengthen the stewardship practices of others

(Recommendation 4, Immediate Step 4.5)
56

G8 Group of Eight Nations (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan,

Russia, United Kingdom, and United States)

IAC Innovation Action Council 

LED Light Emitting Diode

NACEPT National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology 

NEPA National Environmental Policy Act

NGO Nongovernmental Organization

OARM Office of Administration and Resources Management

OCEM Office of Cooperative Environmental Management

OCFO Office of the Chief Financial Officer

OECD Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development

OEI Office of Environmental Information

OHR Office of Human Resources

OPA Office of Public Affairs

OPEI Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation

ORD Office of Research and Development

P3 People, Prosperity, and the Planet

RCRA Resources Conservation and Recovery Act

SES Senior Executive Service
57

6 The NACEPT Workgroup reviewing the Report on the Environment Highlights Document was

still deliberating when the Council approved this report.

7 The first three NACEPT advice letters on biofuels raise the issue of impact of biofuel production on water supplies and water quality.

8 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Unfinished Business: A Comparative Assessment of

Environmental Problems, 1987.

9 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board. Reducing Risk: Setting

Priorities and Strategies for Environmental Protection, 1990.

10 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Everyday Choices: Opportunities for Environmental

Stewardship. Washington, DC: Environmental Protection Agency, 2006, 19 pp. (Available

on the Web at http://www.epa.gov/epainnov/pdf/rpt2admin.pdf)

11 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2006-2011 EPA Strategic Plan, Charting Our Course.

Washington, DC: Environmental Protection Agency, 2006, 129 pp.

12 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Everyday Choices: Opportunities for Environmental

Stewardship. Washington, DC: Environmental Protection Agency, 2006, 19 pp. (Available

on the Web at http://www.epa.gov/epainnov/pdf/rpt2admin.pdf)

13 The idea that taking responsibility embodies the three components described here is taken

from Fischer JM, Ravizza M. Taking responsibility (Chapter 8). In: Responsibility and

Control: A Theory of Moral Responsibility. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998, pp.

207-239.

14 Ibid, p. 211.

15 Ibid, p. 213.

16 Ehrenfeld, op. cit.

17 Ehrenfeld, ibid.

18 See 33 USC §1251 [Federal Water Pollution Control Act].

19 See “”EPA’s Legal Framework Supports Collaboration, at http://www.cooperativeconservation.gov/library/EPALegalauthorities082407.pdf.

20 Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Environmental Stewardship 2003 Annual

Report. EPA-R-04-001, February 2004. (Available on the Web at http://www.epa.gov/ne/

enforcementandassistance/ reports/pdfs/oesannual2003.pdf)

21 Donahue JD, Zeckhauser R. Public-private collaboration. In: Moran M, Rein M, Goodin RE,

eds. Oxford Handbook of Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

22 Traditional knowledge is described in Appendix 5 of this report.

23 For a fuller discussion of EPA’s information capabilities and needs, see National Research

Council. 2005. Decision Making for the Environment. Panel on Social and Behavioral

Science Research Priorities for Environmental Decision Making. G.D. Brewer and P.C. Stern,

eds. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

24 This information was supplied by the Organic Consumers Association. See

http://www.organicconsumers.org/clothes/background.cfm.

25 “The World in a T-Shirt,” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4620285.
58

gg

34 Fox S. John Muir and His Legacy: The American Conservation Movement. Boston, MA:

Little Brown and Co., 436 pp., 1981.

35 Leopold A. The land ethic. In: Leopold L, ed. A Sand County Almanac, 1949. (Available

on the Web at http://home2.btconnect.com/tipiglen/landethic.html)

36 The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (Pub. L. 91-190, 42 U.S.C. §

4321).
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