# NA **CEPT Char ge**  **on Sus ta**  **inability**

Mar ch 26, 2012

# 1 st 

# Advice Let te r – Charge Ques tion #1
**One of the k** **ey re**  **commenda tions**  **in the Na tional Academies r**  **eport on Incorpor** **at ing Sustainability**  **in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is**  **the adoption or adaption of a compr** **ehensiv e Sustainability**  **Fr amework. The**  **Fr amework requires "...specific**  **pr ocesses f** **or incorpor at**  **ing Sustainability into decision pr** **ocesses."** A. Should EP

A adopt the National Academies r ecommendation to incorpor ate sustainability into its decision making pr ocesses? B. If yes; i . How should the Agency include sus tainability in its vision and mission ? ii . Wha t are the k ey points that should be included in a sus tainability vision ? iii . Wha t are the critical s teps necessary t o implement sus tainability principles and pr ocesses into its pr ogr ams and pr actices?

# Charge Ques tion #2 **(a.) Wha**  **t s tr**  **engths can EP A lever** **ag e to successfully**  **deploy the NAS r ecommended sus** **tainability st**  **ra te**  **gy acr**  **oss the Ag ency and with k** **ey stak** **eholder s?**  i . What ar e the keyimper at ives for a successful ro ll
- out acr oss the Agency? ii. What ar e the keyimper at ives for a successful ro ll
- out with r egulat ed and impact ed entities and s ta ke holder s, r ecognizing that s tr ategies will va ry with diffe re nt entities?

# Charge Ques tion #2 c on tinued **(b.) Ar**  **e ther**  **e internal or e xt**  **ernal barrier s or g**  **aps tha t EP**  **A will need to addr**  **ess , manage, or overcome to successfully**  **deploy the sustainability**  **str ate**  **gy NAS has r ecommended?**  If yes; i . Identify significant internal barrier s or g aps and recommend st rate gies to addr ess and manage them (for e xa mple, is EP A able to fully incorpor ate all thr ee pillar s of sus tainability : en vir onment , economic and social, and if , not, how should it be pr epar ed to addr ess a g ap?). ii. Identify significant e xternal barrier s and the s tak eholder s in vo lv ed and r ecommend st rate gies fo r addr essing and ov er coming those barrier s , and eng aging with s tak eholder s t o contribute to a success ful ro ll
- out of the sus tainability st rate gy for EP A.

# Charge Ques tion #3 **Using EP A's sus** **ta inability**  **vision (or NA CEPT**  **’s sugg**  **es te**  **d vision) as a**  **sta rting point, and**  **back casting**  **fr om that vision,**  **what br**  **eakthr ough**  **objectiv es**  **wo uld NACEPT**  **re commend f** **or the coming 3**  **- 5 year**  **s? Br eakthr**  **ough objectiv es should be bold and**  **ambitious in or der t**  **o demons tr** **ate the Agency's commitment**  **to new wa**  **ys of oper ating.** 
a. What measurement syste m(s) wo uld NACEPT recommend fo r assessing pr ogress t oward these 3
- 5 year objectives and t o the Ag ency's sustainability vision? b. What t ools ar e a va ilable to help the Ag ency c onsider the qualit ative and quan tit ative (i.e., en vir onmen ta l, social, and ec onomic) benefits?
c. What appr oaches should EP A use t o shar e pr ogress with the public?

# Charge Ques tion #4 **How can sustainability ev olv**  **e fr**  **om a fr amework**  **to a cultur**  **e in the EP**  **A org aniz**  **ation?**
a. Leader ship i . How should EP

A leader s integr ate sustainability pr ogr ams acr oss the Agency? ii. How should EP

A leader s integr ate the Agency ’s sus ta inability pr ogr ams with other gov ernment pr ogr ams? What should EP A’ s r ole be in implementing sustainability acr oss the Feder al Gov ernment? b. Eng ag emen t of w orkfor ce and the public i . What tools (e. g. guidance, educational curricula, incentiv es - oriented re gulations, demonstr ation pr ojects, priv ate sect or participation) should EP A employ to pr omote continuous, positiv e int er action among Agency staf

f, and with the public.

# Charge Ques tion #4 c on tinued

c. Lessons fr om the R ed Book i . The NAS r ec ommended that Congress est ablish a Board on Risk Assessmen t Methods t o, among other functions, assess the scien tific basis of risk assessmen t, s tudy Ag ency ex periences with risk assessmen t, and iden tify r esear ch needs in risk assessmen t. How c an EP A r eplic ate or e xpand these functions in the c on tex t of sust ainability assessmen t? 

### d. Measur es of success i . How should EP

A iden tify , ev aluate and celebr ate successful sustainability pr ogr ams within and outside the Ag ency?