U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Research and Development

Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan

Prepared by the ORD Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan Team

6/18/2013

DRAFT
ORD Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan June 18, 2013

Disclaimer

To the extent this document mentions or discusses statutory or regulatory authority, it does so

for informational purposes only. This document does not substitute for those statutes or

regulations, and readers should consult the statutes or regulations to learn what they

require. Neither this document, nor any part of it, is itself a rule or a regulation. Thus, it cannot

change or impose legally binding requirements on EPA, States, the public, or the regulated

community. Further, any expressed intention, suggestion or recommendation does not impose

any legally binding requirements on EPA, States, tribes, the public, or the regulated community.

Agency decision makers remain free to exercise their discretion in choosing to implement the

actions described in this Plan. Such implementation is contingent upon availability of resources

and is subject to change.
ORD Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan June 18, 2013

Preface

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is committed to identifying and responding to 

the challenges that a changing climate poses to human health and the environment.

Scientific evidence demonstrates that the climate is changing at an increasingly rapid rate, outside 

the range to which society has adapted in the past. These changes can pose significant challenges 

to the EPA’s ability to fulfill its mission. The EPA must adapt to climate change if it is to continue 

fulfilling its statutory, regulatory and programmatic requirements. The Agency is therefore 

anticipating and planning for future changes in climate to ensure it continues to fulfill its mission 

of protecting human health and the environment even as the climate changes. 

In February 2013, the EPA released its draft Climate Change Adaptation Plan to the public for 

review and comment. The plan relies on peer-reviewed scientific information and expert 

judgment to identify vulnerabilities to EPA’s mission and goals from climate change. The plan also 

presents 10 priority actions that EPA will take to ensure that its programs, policies, rules, and 

operations will remain effective under future climatic conditions. The priority placed on 

mainstreaming climate adaptation within EPA complements efforts to encourage and mainstream 

adaptation planning across the entire federal government.

Following completion of the draft Climate Change Adaptation Plan, each EPA National 

Environmental Program Office, all 10 Regional Offices, and several National Support Offices 

developed a Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan to provide more detail on how it will carry 

out the work called for in the agency-wide plan. Each Implementation Plan articulates how the 

office will integrate climate adaptation into its planning and work in a manner consistent and 

compatible with its goals and objectives.

Taken together, the Implementation Plans demonstrate how the EPA will attain the 10 agencywide priorities presented in the Climate Change Adaptation Plan. A central element of all of EPA’s 

plans is to build and strengthen its adaptive capacity and work with its partners to build capacity 

in states, tribes, and local communities. EPA will empower its staff and partners by increasing 

their awareness of ways that climate change may affect their ability to implement effective 

programs, and by providing them with the necessary data, information, and tools to integrate 

climate adaptation into their work.

Each Program and Regional Office’s Implementation Plan contains an initial assessment of the 

implications of climate change for the organization’s goals and objectives. These “program 

vulnerability assessments” are living documents that will be updated as needed to account for 

new knowledge, data, and scientific evidence about the impacts of climate change on EPA’s 

mission. The plan then identifies specific priority actions that the office will take to begin 

addressing its vulnerabilities and mainstreaming climate change adaptation into its activities. 

Criteria for the selection of priorities are discussed. An emphasis is placed on protecting the most 
ORD Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan June 18, 2013

vulnerable people and places, on supporting the development of adaptive capacity in the tribes, 

and on identifying clear steps for ongoing collaboration with tribal governments.

Because EPA’s Programs and Regions and partners will be learning by experience as they 

mainstream climate adaptation planning into their activities, it will be essential to evaluate their 

efforts in order to understand how well different approaches work and how they can be 

improved. Each Implementation Plan therefore includes a discussion of how the organization will 

regularly evaluate the effectiveness of its adaptation efforts and make adjustments where 

necessary.

The set of Implementation Plans are a sign of EPA’s leadership and commitment to help build the 

nation’s adaptive capacity that is so vital to the goal of protecting human health and the 

environment. Working with its partners, the Agency will help promote a healthy and prosperous 

nation that is resilient to a changing climate.

Bob Perciasepe

Deputy Administrator

September 2013
ORD Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan June 18, 2013

Contents

ORD Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan Team

Chapter 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................1

The EPA Climate Change Adaptation Plan................................................................................................ 1

ORD’s Mission and Adapting to Climate Change...................................................................................... 3

Relationship of climate adaptation to ORD’s Research Programs............................................................ 4

Components of the Implementation Plan ................................................................................................ 4

Chapter 2. Assessment of ORD Vulnerabilities and Challenges to Climate Change ..............................5

Operational Vulnerabilities....................................................................................................................... 5

Scientific Challenges.................................................................................................................................. 6

Understand partner needs and regional differences ............................................................................6

Incorporate climate science,strengthen climate adaptation science, and develop cross-Agency

research priorities .................................................................................................................................9

Improve flexibility to address emerging and unexpected problems.....................................................9

Communicate climate, adaptation, and mitigation science ..................................................................... 9

Chapter 3. ORD’s Priority Actions for Climate Adaptation....................................................................10

Identify vulnerable research resources and develop response plans .................................................... 10

Develop an approach to identify Agency-wide research priorities........................................................ 10

Work with EPA partners to develop effective venues to communicate advances in climate impact

and adaptation research......................................................................................................................... 10

Design extramural research efforts that appropriately incorporate climate change adaptation

questions and measures......................................................................................................................... 11

Chapter 4. Measuring and Evaluating Performance..............................................................................12

Agency science priorities ........................................................................................................................ 12

Incorporating climate adaptation into extramural research.................................................................. 12
ORD Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan June 18, 2013

ORD Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan Team

C. Andrew Miller (Lead; Air, Climate, and Energy Research Program)

Peter Beedlow (National Health and Environmental Effects Laboratory)

Tim Benner (Office of Science Policy)

John Dawson (National Center for Environmental Research)

Andrew Gillespie (National Exposure Research Laboratory)

James Goodrich (National Risk Management Research Laboratory)

Anne Grambsch (National Center for Environmental Assessment)

Alan Lindquist (National Homeland Security Research Center)

Jennifer Scola (Office of Administrative and Research Support)
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Chapter 1. Introduction

As the climate changes, it affects the ability of EPA to achieve its basic mission to protect human health

and the environment. Many of the outcomes EPA is working to attain (e.g., clean air, safe drinking

water) are sensitive to changes in weather and climate. Until recently, EPA has been able to assume that

climate is relatively stable and future climate will mirror past climate. However, with climate changing

more rapidly than society has experienced in the past, the past is no longer a good predictor of the

future. Climate change is posing new challenges to EPA’s ability to fulfill its mission.

To address these challenges, EPA developed its first Agency-wide plan for adapting to the changing

climate in 2012. EPA was one of over 60 federal agencies that were required to develop climate

adaptation plans under Executive Order 13514, signed by President Barack Obama in 2009.That order

required each federal agency to “evaluate agency climate-change risks and vulnerabilities to manage the

effects of climate change on the agency’s operations and mission in both the short and long term....”

1

On June 2, 2011, Administrator Lisa Jackson issued the “EPA Policy Statement on Climate-Change

Adaptation.” The Policy Statement recognizes that climate change can pose significant challenges to

EPA’s ability to fulfill its mission and calls for the Agency to anticipate and plan for future changes in

climate and incorporate considerations of climate change into its activities. The first action called out in

the Policy Statement is to “Develop and publish the EPA Climate-Change Adaptation Plan,” which was

completed and submitted to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) in late June 2012.

The EPA Climate Change Adaptation Plan

The EPA Climate Change Adaptation Plan is the first step in meeting the requirements of Executive

Order 13514 (Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance) to implement

climate change adaptation planning across the Agency. The Plan was developed by a cross-Agency

working group led by the Office of Policy and including each national program and regional office, and it

represents a true EPA-wide perspective on climate change adaptation, Agency vulnerabilities to climate

change, and priority actions needed to ensure that EPA and its partners at the tribal, state, and local

levels are able to fulfill EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment even as we face the

impacts of a changing climate.

The EPA Climate Change Adaptation Plan calls for each office to develop an office-specific plan for

implementing the priority actions as appropriate for that office. These implementation plans have been

developed in coordination across EPA to enable adequate flexibility to address the challenges and

situations faced by each office without losing the strength of collaboration to address common

vulnerabilities.

The Adaptation Plan outlines the known vulnerabilities of EPA carrying out its mission due to climate

change, identifies approaches to “mainstreaming” climate change adaptation in EPA through a series of

ten priority actions (see text box), and describes measures to evaluate performance.

1 Executive Order 13514, “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance,” October 5,

2009.
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Among the Agency priorities for

implementing measures to adapt to

climate change is partnering with

tribes. EPA works with federally

recognized tribes on a governmentto-government basis to protect the

land, air, and water in Indian

country.

Supporting the development of

adaptive capacity among tribes is a

priority for the EPA. Tribes are

particularly vulnerable to the

impacts of climate change due to

the integral nature of the

environment within their traditional

life ways and culture. There is a

strong need to develop adaptation

strategies that promote

sustainability and reduce the impact

Agency-wide Climate Change Adaptation Priorities

1. Fulfill Strategic Measures in FY 2011-2015 EPA

Strategic Plan

2. Protect Agency facilities and operations

3. Factor legal considerations into adaptation efforts

4. Strengthen adaptive capacity of EPA staff and

partners through training

5. Develop decision-support tools that enable EPA staff

and partners to integrate climate adaptation planning

into their work

6. Identify cross-EPA science needs related to climate

adaptation

7. Partner with tribes to increase adaptive capacity

8. Focus on most vulnerable people and places

9. Measure and evaluate performance

10. Develop program and regional office Implementation

Plans

of climate change on tribes and tribal lands.

EPA engaged tribes through a formal consultation process in the development of the Agency’s Climate

Change Adaptation Plan. Tribes identified some of the most pressing issues as erosion, temperature

change, drought and various changes in access to and quality of water. Tribes recommended a number

of tools and strategies to address these issues, including improving access to data and information;

supporting baseline research to better track the effects of climate change; developing community-level

education and awareness materials; and providing financial and technical support. At the same time,

tribes challenged EPA to coordinate climate change activities among federal agencies so that resources

are better leveraged and administrative burdens are reduced.

This Implementation Plan identifies specific steps that will be taken to partner with tribes on an ongoing

basis to understand, increase, and address their adaptive capacity and adaptation-related priorities.

These collaborative efforts will benefit from the expertise provided by our tribal partners and Traditional

Ecological Knowledge (TEK). TEK can be a valuable body of knowledge in assessing the current and

future impacts of climate change and has been used by tribes to adapt to changing surroundings.

Consistent with the principles in the 1984 Indian Policy, TEK is viewed as a complementary resource that

can inform planning and decision-making.

Networks and partnerships already in place will be used to assist tribes with climate change issues,

including the National Tribal Caucus of EPA’s National Tribal Operations Committee, Regional Tribal

Operations Committees, and EPA-tribal partnership groups. EPA can also use funding through the Indian

General Assistance Program (IGAP) to support climate change capacity-building efforts. Additionally,
ORD Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan June 18, 2013

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efforts will be made to coordinate with other regional and program offices in EPA, since climate change

has many impacts that transcend media and regional boundaries. Transparency and information sharing

will be a focus, in order to leverage activities already taking place within EPA offices and tribal

governments.

An additional priority for all regional and program offices is the need to focus on vulnerable populations

and locations. Certain parts of the population, such as children, the elderly, minorities, the poor, persons

with underlying medical conditions and disabilities, those with limited access to information, and tribal

and indigenous populations, can be especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Also, certain

geographic locations and communities are particularly vulnerable, such as those located in low-lying

coastal areas. One of the principles guiding EPA’s efforts to integrate climate adaptation into its

programs, policies and rules calls for its adaptation plans to prioritize helping people, places and

infrastructure that are most vulnerable to climate impacts and to be designed and implemented with

meaningful involvement from all parts of society.

This Implementation Plan identifies key programmatic vulnerabilities and the priority actions that will be

taken to address those vulnerabilities over time. As the work called for in this Plan is conducted, the

communities and demographic groups most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change will be

identified. The Agency will then work in partnership with these communities to increase their adaptive

capacity and resilience to climate change impacts. These efforts will be informed by experiences with

previous extreme weather events (e.g., Hurricane Katrina and Superstore Sandy) and the subsequent

recovery efforts.

The Adaptation Plan also includes a list of comment areas of focus for the office-specific implementation

plans, which will be addressed in the text below. The EPA Adaptation Plan sets the stage for the

implementation plans for each office, including ORD.

ORD’s Mission and Adapting to Climate Change

ORD’s mission is to provide the solid underpinning of science and technology for the Agency. ORD has

been involved in climate change research for over 20 years, with a strong focus on conducting research

to inform the Agency regarding the impacts of climate change on air quality, water quality, and human

and ecosystem health. These efforts, at their core, have been designed to inform EPA’s program and

regional offices as they set and implement policies that will remain effective in a changing climate.

The pace and scale at which climate impacts are occurring create a challenge for ORD by increasing the

rate at which new issues arise and new scientific and technical information is needed by the Agency.

The impacts of climate change are now illustrating the need to address impacts that the Agency is likely

to face in the future, while maintaining flexibility to respond to issues that may arise as climate change

impacts occur in unexpected ways.
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Relationship of climate adaptation to ORD’s Research Programs

ORD’s research must be conducted in the context of a changing climate. Such changes will occur across

all of ORD’s research programs as we learn more about environmental conditions and as we respond to

EPA programs and regions and their needs to address those changing conditions.

The recent restructuring of ORD’s research programs places ORD in a good position to effectively adapt

to climate change and maintain our ability to provide the scientific and technical information needed by

our program and regional office partners. The expanded and on-going interactions with our EPA

partners form a good foundation for understanding their concerns regarding climate adaptation and

enable us to communicate new research needs as they develop. The current program structure also

provides a strong means for developing research that cuts across the ORD research programs to bring to

bear the right mix of expertise needed to address issues identified by our partners.

Components of the Implementation Plan

This implementation plan has three main components: (1) an assessment of ORD’s vulnerabilities to

climate change impacts; (2) priority actions for ORD to take to adapt to climate change and reduce its

vulnerabilities; and (3) a discussion of performance measures to be developed to evaluate progress

toward meeting key goals.
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Chapter 2. Assessment of ORD Vulnerabilities and Challenges to Climate

Change

In the context of the EPA Climate Change Adaptation Plan, ORD seeks to understand the climate-related

vulnerabilities and challenges to providing needed scientific and technical support to EPA’s program and

regional offices, and how to adapt to those vulnerabilities and challenges. EPA’s program and regional

offices have developed initial vulnerability assessments of their programs to climate change, which will

inform ORD’s vulnerabilities. ORD’s vulnerabilitiesrefer to the degree to which ORD’s capacity to carry

out its mission is susceptible to the impacts of climate change, including climate variability and

extremes. These could include damage or limited access to facilities, worker safety or security, or lack of

fundamental resources such as water or energy. To effectively

Vulnerabilitiesrefer to the degree to

which ORD’s capacity to carry out its

mission is susceptible to the impacts

of climate change, including climate

variability and extremes.

Challenges do not pose physical,

climate-related constraints on our

ability to conduct and deliver

research, but could require changes

in our research portfolio to address

climate change impacts.

support the EPA programs and regions, climate change

presents ORD with numerous challenges that do not pose

physical, climate-related constraints on our ability to conduct

and deliver research, but could require changes in our

research portfolio to address climate change impacts,

compared to what we would have done in the absence of

those impacts. ORD’s challenge is to be flexible and

responsive to the changing science needs of our EPA partners

as they work to maintain and improve environmental

protection in the face of a changing climate.

Operational Vulnerabilities

OARM has primary responsibility for operation and maintenance of the research facilities used by ORD,

including addressing the vulnerability of these facilities to the impacts of climate change. The key

operational vulnerabilities are listed in Table 1 below (with OARM’s assessment of the level of

vulnerability). Given ORD’s knowledge of these facilities, ORD staff will work collaboratively with OARM

to identify potential problems and develop proactive adaptation measures for facilities and those who

use them. Even though OARM has primary responsibility for facility protection and response, ORD will

carry significant responsibility for unique research equipment, continuity of experiments, archived

samples, and historical data within those facilities which may be vulnerable to climate change impacts.

Coordination between on-site ORD staff and OARM will substantially improve the evaluation of

vulnerabilities, particularly climate-related environmental changes such as temperature and extreme

precipitation events, and the possible approaches to mitigate them.

ORD will also have responsibility for those systems that may be vulnerable to the impacts of climate

change, such as field sampling systems, that do not fall under the heading of “facility.” Such systems

may be vulnerable to temperature or precipitation extremes or other climate-associated impacts.
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Table 1. Key operational vulnerabilities posed by climate change

Area of Vulnerability OARM Estimated Level of Vulnerability

Energy Security High

Water Quality and Supply High

Severe Weather or Flooding Damage Medium (Will vary with location. Gulf Breeze,

Edison, and Narragansett are likely to face higher

levels of vulnerability to severe weather and

flooding than other ORD locations.)

Safety of Field Workers Medium

Security Operations, Emergency Communications Medium

Personal Property Low

Real Property Low

Shift in Emergency Response Personnel Low

Continuity of Operations Plan (includes training of

essential personnel)

Low

Scientific Challenges

Understand partner needs and regional differences

The scientific challenges, to a large degree, have been well communicated to ORD, partly as a

consequence of the increasing interactions with EPA program and regional offices during the

development of ORD’s program-focused research portfolios. A primary focus of the consolidation of

ORD’s research into six national research programs has been to expand the opportunities for program

and regional offices to identify their needs for scientific and technical information and support, which is

then incorporated into the development of ORD’s research agenda. Such interactions are not new in the

area of climate change and adaptation – discussions to identify partner office needs related to climate

adaptation have long been a core component of ORD’s Global Change Research Program (now part of

the Air, Climate, and Energy Research Program) and the Water Quality and Drinking Water research

programs (now incorporated into the Safe and Sustainable Water Research Program).

The climate adaptation research needs identified in past and current discussions are consistent with the

vulnerabilities to EPA’s mission identified by EPA’s program and regional offices in the development of

their Adaptation Implementation Plans. The on-going interactions between ORD and the program and

regional offices have provided ORD with a head start toward meeting the scientific challenges posed by

our partners’ programmatic vulnerabilities. Examples of research results that address vulnerabilities to

climate change include the assessment of air quality impacts associated with climate change2 and

development and release of scenarios for land use change under different possible future conditions,

including climate change.

3

2

Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Synthesis of Climate Change

Impacts on Ground-Level Ozone, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-07/094F,

2009. 3

ICLUS Tools and Datasets. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-09/143F, 2010.
ORD Climate Adaptation Implementation Plan June 18, 2013

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The key programmatic vulnerabilities identified by the program and regional offices are listed below in

Table 2, with the understanding that this list will very likely change as EPA’s adaptation planning efforts

progress and our understanding of the science of climate change and its impacts expands.

Given the dynamic nature of the scientific needs across the Agency, one of ORD’s challenges will be to

develop the flexibility to respond quickly to emerging adaptation issues that may not now be seen as

priorities.

Table 2. Key programmatic vulnerabilities identified by program and regional offices, with ORD

capacity to provide relevant information related to those vulnerabilities. The order of

the list does not necessarily reflect the program or regional office priority.

Programmatic adaptation vulnerabilities that may pose scientific

challenges

Primary

Officea

Current ORD

capacityb

Tropospheric ozone (OAR Tier I

c

)

OAR

High

Particulate matter (OAR Tier II) High

Indoor air quality (OAR Tier I) Medium

Biogeochemical Cycling (Tier III) Medium

(nutrients),

Low (carbon

and water)

Impact of more intense extreme weather events on OAR disaster

response planning (potential)

Medium

Environmental justice implications (potential) Medium

Stratospheric Ozone (Tier II) Low

Effect on energy efficiency programs of climate-driven changes in

energy demand and supply (potential)

Low

Changes in chemical use patterns (fracking, oil spill dispersants,

water purification and desalinization, wastewater treatment or

antimicrobial and disease prevention) OCSPP

High

Changing weather trends (including weather extremes) in pesticide

exposure models and tools

Low

Increased demand for climate adaptation information applicable to

developing countries that are at greatest risk for climate-related

disasters; technical support is likely to be needed for both rural

areas and urban centers

OITA

High

Programmatic adaptation vulnerabilities that may pose scientific

challenges

Primary

Officea

Current ORD

capacityb

Increased vulnerability to diseases (waste disposal, clean water,

changing disease geographies)

OITA

High

Invasive species and ocean acidification Medium

International risk assessment, including SLR, weather extremes,

cookstoves, glaciers and snow cover, clean water supply

Medium

Arctic Council participation Medium

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) Low
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Impacts to cultural resources, including traditional food resources

(fishing, hunting)

Low

Arctic impacts (loss of sea ice and potential village abandonment,

mobilization of POPs)

Low

Transport of hazardous substances due to flooding from more

intense and frequent storm events

OSWER

High

Changes in groundwater processes and impact to hydrogeological

remediation

High

Change in liner permeability due to saltwater intrusion and

increased groundwater salinity in coastal aquifers

High

Temperature-driven changes in contaminant volatility High

Impacts to phytoremediation and ecological revitalization due to

changes in plant growth

Medium

Inundation and vulnerability to storm surge Medium

Potential need for increased emergency preparedness due to

impacts from severe weather events

Medium

Drying of the landscape Low

Contamination risk due to melting of permafrost Low

Air and water temperature increases

OW

High

Storm intensity (impacts to stormwater infrastructure) High

Rainfall/snowfall levels and distribution Medium

Sea level rise Medium

Changes in energy generation Medium

Coastal/ocean characteristics Low

a. Regional offices are not listed separately. The issues identified by the program offices are repeated in regional

office vulnerability assessments as appropriate to regional needs.

b. ORD Capacity refers to the internal expertise and facilities available to ORD to conduct research in the specific

area.

c. OAR described vulnerabilitiesin terms of tiers according to their estimate of scientific understanding. Tier I:

impact is well established in the literature and has clear implicationsfor the Program’s success; Tier II: impacts

are being or have been explored by the research community, but significant uncertaintiesremain; Tier III: the

literature is evolving and program implications are uncertain

Although the purpose of this plan is to ensure that EPA is able to carry out its mission as the climate

changes, the broader and longer-term need is to ensure that the nation is able to adapt to the impacts

of climate change. While this broader scope is closely related to the vulnerabilities identified by EPA’s

program and regional offices, ORD must also remain cognizant of the adaptation needs of various

external partners in local, state, and tribal governments; other federal agencies; international

institutions; industries; the research community; and, the public at large. Many of the issues identified in

this section are applicable to this broader set of partners and will require their active participation. This

broader scope will also require incorporation of research results developed by other science partners in

the US Global Change Research Program, the academic community, industry, and research carried out at

the tribal, state, and local levels.
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Incorporate climate science, strengthen climate adaptation science, and develop cross-Agency

research priorities

The issues listed above highlight the need to continue to develop the scientific and technical information

to support adaptation. This will require an on-going effort to incorporate the latest understanding of

climate science into the development of ORD’s research planning to ensure that the adaptation research

efforts are focused on understanding how to adapt to conditions that are likely to be experienced in the

future. It will also require that ORD conduct research, incorporate the results of others, and work with

others to identify the issues that are likely to pose the most serious threats to human health and the

environment and to the Agency’s ability to continue to protect them. This will require that ORD work

with EPA program and regional offices to identify Agency-wide research priorities, as opposed to a set of

office-specific priorities. The existing ORD programmatic structure and the EPA Adaptation Working

Group provide the means through which such priorities can be developed. Even so, further discussions

will be needed to clearly define the approach needed to identify priorities that cut across partner and

ORD program boundaries.

Improve flexibility to address emerging and unexpected problems

There are likely to be issues related to climate impacts and adaptation that arise more rapidly than the

normal planning cycle, and which may require relatively rapid response from ORD. Where the

magnitude of such issues is significant enough, it may be necessary to divert resources (whether staff or

funds) to address the emerging or unexpected problem. More generally, however, ORD will need to

continue its close interactions with program and regional partners to ensure close communication is

maintained so that such issues are quickly identified in the context of the Agency’s needs. In addition,

ORD will need to continue to provide expert perspectives on emerging issues. This requires that ORD

continue development of the staff’s scientific and technical capabilities across a broad spectrum of

climate-related topics.

Communicate climate, adaptation, and mitigation science

One need that has been identified by program and regional office partners is to develop the ability to

communicate current, relevant scientific information about climate change across EPA. For example,

given the rapidly growing volume of research on climate change, its impacts, and responses, one of

ORD’s challenges related to climate adaptation will be to effectively identify and communicate key

scientific results that impact EPA’s ability to effectively adapt to climate change and support climate

change adaptation across the country. The critical need for such information has been identified as a

priority by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. This interagency group is in the process of

developing a Global Change Information System (GCIS), which is intended to provide a single source of

up-to-date information on science and technology related to climate change, climate impacts and

adaptation, and mitigation.

Even with the development and deployment of the GCIS, communications across all EPA offices on

climate science issues needs to be enhanced to ensure quick and effective sharing of key information,

identification of science needs, and understanding of stakeholder perspectives and needs. To the extent

that new databases or information systems are needed, ORD will need to remain closely involved in how

such approaches are developed and implemented.
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Chapter 3. ORD’s Priority Actions for Climate Adaptation

ORD’s priority actions are derived from the vulnerabilities and challenges discussed in the previous

section and, to a significant extent, from the Agency-level adaptation priorities presented above. ORD

has already made considerable progress toward meeting many of the key adaptation priorities identified

in EPA’s 2012 Climate Change Adaptation Plan. Although many of these priorities have been an integral

part of our research planning, conduct, and communication for the past several years, there are still

opportunities for developing a more explicit and robust response to the impacts of climate change, as

outlined in the priority actions below.

Identify vulnerable research resources and develop response plans

ORD makes use of various research resources to accomplish its mission, e.g. laboratories, pilot-scale

equipment, measurement instruments, and animal care facilities. The first priority action is to assess the

potential vulnerabilities of ORD research systems to the impacts of climate change and to develop

approaches, in collaboration with OARM, to minimize those and other facilities vulnerabilities. For

example, it will be critical to ORD’s delivery of high quality research and data--in the face of extreme

temperatures and precipitation events as a result of climate change--to maintain continuity of

measurements and experiments, and protect archived samples, data repositories, and monitoring

networks that may be located at sites remote from ORD facilities. A “self-assessment” of the

vulnerabilities of ORD research resources can result in adaptation approaches that are designed to

protect not only the facilities themselves, but also the research capabilities associated with the facility

and its integrated research systems.

Develop an approach to identify Agency-wide research priorities

Because of the broad implications of climate change, there is a need to “identify cross-EPA science

needs related to climate adaptation.” Therefore, an ORD priority action is to coordinate discussions

between ORD’s Deputy Associate Administrator for Science and National Research Program Directors

and cross-agency program and regional management to identify and incorporate input on climate

adaptation research priorities.

Work with EPA partners to develop effective venues to communicate advances

in climate impact and adaptation research

It will be important to effectively identify and communicate advances in the science of climate change

and adaptation. One of ORD’s priority actions is to play a key role in developing approaches to

consolidating and communicating climate change and adaptation research, particularly by engaging at

the interagency level, such as with the development of the Global Change Information System by the

U.S. Global Change Research Program.
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Design extramural research efforts that appropriately incorporate climate

change adaptation questions and measures

In October 2011, the Office of Policy and the Office of Grants and Debarment sent a memo4 to Senior

Resource Officials across the agency directing them to incorporate criteria for climate change

adaptation into the grant development process. ORD’s National Center for Environmental Research

(NCER) has already made this directive a standard component of their process for developing requests

for application (RFAs).

ORD will consider how to incorporate criteria for climate adaptation into other major financial

mechanisms.

4 “Incorporating Climate Change Adaptation Considerations into Applicable Assistance Agreement Competitive 

Funding Opportunity Announcements,” Memo from J.D. Scheraga and B.S. Binder to Grants Customer Relations 

Council and Agency Senior Resource Officials, October 18, 2011.
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Chapter 4. Measuring and Evaluating Performance

ORD’s performance in effectively adapting to climate change should consider two primary areas: (1)

identifying Agency-wide research priorities for climate adaptation and (2) incorporating climate change

into extramural research efforts.

Agency science priorities

Priority 3.3.6 of the EPA Climate Change Adaptation Plan is to “identify cross-EPA science needs related

to climate adaptation,” which is one of ORD’s Priority Actions for climate adaptation discussed above.

Performance will be evaluated and measured by degree of participation from each affected EPA office,

identification of cross-agency priorities in a timely manner, and dissemination of consensus priorities.

ORD will also continue its efforts to develop decision support tools useful to decision makers at federal,

state, and local levels.

Incorporating climate adaptation into extramural research

ORD is already incorporating climate adaptation as a required factor for consideration by extramural

research grant applicants if appropriate. One possible metric of evaluation could be to quantify the

number of requests for applications (RFAs) that include climate adaptation as a review criterion, or to

demonstrate consistent use of climate adaptation review criteria for appropriate solicitations.