UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

 WASHINGTON D.C. 20460 

 

OFFICE OF THE ADMINISTRATOR 

SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD 

March 26, 2010 

EPA-SAB-10-005 

The Honorable Lisa P. Jackson 

Administrator 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20460 

 Subject: Science Advisory Board Comments on the President's Requested FY 2011 

Research Budget 

Dear Administrator Jackson: 

 In recent years, the Science Advisory Board (SAB) has conducted two parallel sets of 

discussions on research with the Office of Research and Development (ORD): 1) ongoing 

discussion of strategic research directions and 2) reviews of the President's research budget 

requests for upcoming fiscal years. The SAB has now reviewed the President's FY 2011 

research budget request within the context of these ongoing interactions with ORD on strategic 

research directions and assessed how well the requested budget will permit EPA to advance the 

goals set in its strategic research planning. Progress toward these goals will provide the science 

underpinnings for meeting your environmental protection priorities. The SAB plans to continue 

its discussions of strategic issues with ORD at an advisory meeting planned for April 2010, and 

we will provide you with an advisory letter on strategic research directions after that meeting. 

 The SAB notes that the President's budget request shows a modest increase in nominal 

dollars and a slight increase in constant dollars for ORD for FY 2011, as compared with ORD's 

FY 2010 enacted budget. Considering the importance of ORD's research agenda to national and 

global imperatives for responding to climate change and sustainability of water, air, and land 

resources in the face of growing population and energy demands, we believe that the budget 

request overall, with just a few exceptions, reflects appropriate choices about investments as well 

as difficult decisions about disinvestments in research. Given budget constraints across the 

federal government, we commend EPA for a thoughtful and prudent budget request that supports 

science as the foundation for EPA decision-making and that invests in research as a resource to 

address future environmental needs and issues. 

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 Among the research investment choices, the SAB highlights as appropriate the planned 

increase for STAR grants and fellowships (+$25.8 M). The STAR fellowships invest in the next 

generation of environmental scientists and STAR grants facilitate EPA's interaction with the 

wider scientific community and leverage expertise on key emerging issues. The SAB also 

highlights increases in air quality research as a “down payment” to develop and maintain a next 

generation monitoring network for ambient air pollutants (+$3.4 M), an important and 

appropriate early step in research towards a multi-pollutant approach to air quality management. 

The SAB notes, however, that substantial funding will be required to fully develop this new 

approach. 

 The increased investment in hydraulic fracturing research (+$2.5 M) is urgently needed 

to study the impact of these technologies on ground water quality protection and implications for 

drinking water safety. It is encouraging that while the actual increase is small, it represents a 

doubling of the budget for this important work. The SAB recommends that EPA pursue 

additional resources in the next budget cycle to ensure that this program becomes as robust as it 

needs to be. The investment in green water infrastructure research (+$6.4 M) is needed to 

address green infrastructure practices relating to storm water management, drinking water and 

ambient water quality, and water quantity issues at multiple scales, including large watersheds. 

Finally, we view the planned investments in endocrine disruptors (+$6.0 M) and computational 

toxicology (+$1.8 M) as important for strengthening human health and ecological risk 

assessment. Along with these highlighted investments, the budget request generally reflects 

appropriate choices about sustaining programs and disinvesting in others (such as the mercury 

research program and some homeland security efforts), where research projects have reached a 

natural decision or ending point. 

 The SAB had four areas of concern in reviewing the FY 2011 research budget request in 

light of the Agency's strategic research needs. We draw your attention in the following 

paragraphs to the specific issues that deserve special notice and that merit reconsideration in the 

FY 2012 budget currently being planned. Research investment to protect endangered public 

health, sensitive ecosystem services, and vulnerable populations becomes even more important 

in difficult economic times when these resources may be most at risk. Investment in social, 

behavioral, and decision sciences across the ORD research portfolio is critically needed to help 

EPA develop and implement workable solutions to the major environmental challenges that you 

recognize as priorities for EPA. 

 The SAB believes that the relatively modest increase for ORD proposed for the clean air 

(+$3.4 M) and global change (+$1.2 M) research programs is not sufficient even though the 

President's budget request provides Science and Technology (S&T) Funds for EPA's Office of 

Air and Radiation to address climate change science and research. While the U.S. Global 

Change Research Program has historically complemented and leveraged EPA's past limited 

research investments in climate change, EPA will have a substantial need for new knowledge to 

support regulatory strategies, as a result of the Agency's Endangerment Finding on greenhouse 

gases. The types and number of scientific activities will need to increase to support EPA's 

central, critical role. 
 The requested budget for the Ecological Services Research Program shows a significant 

reduction in FTE (-13.9 FTE) as well as a reduction in funding (-$1.5 M) for this program, which 

studies the direct and indirect contributions that ecosystems make to the well-being of human 

populations. The SAB has recently commended the Agency “for developing a research program 

that has the potential to be transformative for environmental decision making,” but noted that 

"the considerable potential of the program is unlikely to be achieved with its current level of 

funding and staff" (see SAB Report, Consultation on EPA’s Implementation of the Ecosystem 

Services Research Program, EPA-SAB-09-019). These proposed reductions are not in 

alignment with this advice. The success of the Ecological Services Research Program depends 

on sustaining the work of EPA's highly trained scientists. The planned FY 2011 FTE cuts for a 

research area modestly funded at the outset are so significant as to threaten the future of the 

entire program. The Ecological Services Research Program is critical for understanding the ways 

in which policy and management choices affect the type, quality, and magnitude of the goods 

and services ecosystems provide to sustain human well-being. Furthermore, these cuts 

jeopardize EPA's sustainability research program efforts. 

 Although environmental justice is identified as your priority, the SAB notes that ORD's 

requested budget does not provide a broad capability for developing the science to support 

environmental justice programs and policies. Moreover, the requested budget indicates a 

planned reduction in funding for cumulative risk research (-$1.1 M) and research on susceptible 

populations (-$2.1 M), essential research for understanding environmental justice issues. A 

reduction in research characterizing drinking water risk (-5.4 FTEs) will also make it difficult for 

EPA to understand and address cumulative risk issues. Although the budget shows a planned 

increase in funding for the child health stressor study and ORD staff can point to planned 

activities involving cumulative risk, the budget does not demonstrate a sustained investment in 

this important area consistent with your emphasis on environmental justice and the call for 

increased attention to multi-chemical analysis by the National Research Council (Science and 

Decisions, 2009). When funding for major priorities depends on unstable, episodic funding, 

research suffers. 

 As mentioned above, the SAB believes that investment in social, behavioral, and decision 

sciences across the ORD research portfolio is critically needed. The SAB has repeatedly noted 

the serious lack of Agency research activity and staff expertise in the area of social, behavioral, 

and decision sciences. The President's FY 2011 budget does not include investment in these 

areas again this year. The SAB believes that EPA must invest in research in these areas to help 

fashion solutions to environmental problems. Effective design and implementation of policies 

and programs and effective communication of them require an understanding of human 

perceptions, values, and behavior. ORD requires a sufficient intramural cadre of behavioral, 

social, and decision scientists to provide this understanding, to conduct relevant social science 

research, and to guide the Agency in forming appropriate partnerships and collaborations in this 

area. The SAB welcomes additional dialogue with the Agency on this issue. 

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 The SAB is pleased to have again reviewed the EPA research budget and looks forward 

to working with you to strengthen the Agency's vital research base and addressing your 

priorities. We look forward to your response to this review and to continuing our interactions 

with EPA to develop future advice on the Agency’s science program.

 

 Sincerely, 

 

 /Signed/ 

Dr. Deborah L. Swackhamer 

Chair 

Science Advisory Board 

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NOTICE 

This report has been written as part of the activities of the EPA Science Advisory Board, a public 

advisory committee providing extramural scientific information and advice to the Administrator 

and other officials of the Environmental Protection Agency. The Board is structured to provide 

balanced, expert assessment of scientific matters related to problems facing the Agency. 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 Environmental Protection Agency, 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 the EPA 

Science Advisory Board are posted on the EPA Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab.

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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 

Science Advisory Board 

CHAIR 

Dr. Deborah L. Swackhamer, Professor and Charles M. Denny, Jr., Chair in Science, 

Technology and Public Policy and Co-Director of the Water Resources Center, Hubert 

H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 

SAB MEMBERS 

Dr. David T. Allen, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of 

Texas, Austin, TX 

Dr. Claudia Benitez-Nelson, Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Ocean 

Sciences and Marine Science Program, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 

Dr. Timothy Buckley, Associate Professor and Chair, Division of Environmental Health 

Sciences, College of Public Health, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 

Dr. Thomas Burke, Professor, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns 

Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 

Dr. Deborah Cory-Slechta, Professor, Department of Environmental Medicine, School 

of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 

Dr. Terry Daniel, Professor of Psychology and Natural Resources, Department of 

Psychology, School of Natural Resources, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 

Dr. George Daston, Victor Mills Society Research Fellow, Product Safety and 

Regulatory Affairs, Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati, OH 

Dr. Costel Denson, Managing Member, Costech Technologies, LLC, Newark, DE 

Dr. Otto C. Doering III, Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue 

University, W. Lafayette, IN 

Dr. David A. Dzombak, Walter J. Blenko Sr. Professor of Environmental Engineering , 

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Carnegie 

Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 

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Dr. T. Taylor Eighmy∗

, Vice President for Research, Office of the Vice President for 

Research, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 

Dr. Elaine Faustman, Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health 

Sciences, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, 

Seattle, WA 

Dr. John P. Giesy*, Professor and Canada Research Chair, Veterinary Biomedical 

Sciences and Toxicology Centre, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, 

Canada 

Dr. Jeffrey Griffiths, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health and Community 

Medicine, School of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA 

Dr. James K. Hammitt, Professor, Center for Risk Analysis, Harvard University, 

Boston, MA 

 

Dr. Rogene Henderson, Senior Scientist Emeritus, Lovelace Respiratory Research 

Institute, Albuquerque, NM 

Dr. Bernd Kahn, Professor Emeritus and Associate Director, Environmental Radiation 

Center, School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 

Dr. Agnes Kane*, Professor and Chair, Department of Pathology and Laboratory 

Medicine, Brown University, Providence, RI 

Dr. Nancy K. Kim, Senior Executive, New York State Department of Health, Troy, NY 

Dr. Catherine Kling, Professor, Department of Economics, Iowa State University, 

Ames, IA 

Dr. Kai Lee, Program Officer, Conservation and Science Program, David & Lucile 

Packard Foundation, Los Altos, CA 

Dr. Cecil Lue-Hing, President, Cecil Lue-Hing & Assoc. Inc., Burr Ridge, IL 

Dr. Floyd Malveaux, Executive Director, Merck Childhood Asthma Network, Inc., 

Washington, DC 

Dr. Lee D. McMullen, Water Resources Practice Leader, Snyder & Associates, Inc., 

Ankeny, IA 

Dr. Judith L. Meyer, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus, Odum School of 

Ecology, University of Georgia, Lopez Island, WA 

 

∗

 Did not participate in the review. 

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Dr. Jana Milford, Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of 

Colorado, Boulder, CO 

Dr. Christine Moe, Eugene J. Gangarosa Professor, Hubert Department of Global 

Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 

Dr. Eileen Murphy, Manager, Division of Water Supply, New Jersey Department of 

Environmental Protection, Trenton, NJ 

Dr. Duncan Patten, Research Professor, Hydroecology Research Program , Department 

of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Montana State University, Bozeman, 

MT 

Dr. Stephen Polasky, Fesler-Lampert Professor of Ecological/Environmental 

Economics, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 

Dr. Stephen M. Roberts, Professor, Department of Physiological Sciences, Director, 

Center for Environmental and Human Toxicology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 

Dr. Amanda Rodewald, Associate Professor, School of Environment and Natural 

Resources, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 

Dr. Joan B. Rose∗

, Professor and Homer Nowlin Chair for Water Research, Department 

of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 

Dr. Jonathan M. Samet*, Professor and Flora L. Thornton Chair, Department of 

Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 

 

Dr. James Sanders, Director and Professor, Skidaway Institute of Oceanography, 

Savannah, GA 

Dr. Jerald Schnoor, Allen S. Henry Chair Professor, Department of Civil and 

Environmental Engineering, Co-Director, Center for Global and Regional Environmental 

Research, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 

Dr. Kathleen Segerson, Professor, Department of Economics, University of 

Connecticut, Storrs, CT 

Dr. V. Kerry Smith*, W.P. Carey Professor of Economics , Department of Economics , 

W.P Carey School of Business , Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 

Dr. Herman Taylor*, Director, Principal Investigator, Jackson Heart Study, Jackson, 

MS 

∗

 Did not participate in the review. 
Dr. Barton H. (Buzz) Thompson*, Jr., Robert E. Paradise Professor of Natural 

Resources Law at the Stanford Law School and Perry L. McCarty Director, Woods 

Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 

Dr. Paige Tolbert, Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health, Rollins 

School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 

Dr. Thomas S. Wallsten∗, Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology, University 

of Maryland, College Park, MD

 

Dr. Robert Watts, Professor of Mechanical Engineering Emeritus, Tulane University, 

Annapolis, MD 

SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD STAFF 

Dr. Angela Nugent, Designated Federal Officer, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 

1400F, Washington, DC, Phone: 202-343-9981, Fax: 202-233-0643, 

(nugent.angela@epa.gov) 

∗

 Did not participate in the review. 

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