The agency would work to complement current efforts rather than replace them. The proposal for the NIE was developed by the CNIE, a national, nonprofit organization of over 8,000 scientists, educators, and other citizens, as well as organizations and professional societies representing academia, government, business, environmentalists, and the general public. Concept The CNIE first met in 1989 to expound upon the idea for the creation of a new agency. With the population growing so rapidly and environmental problems becoming more critical every year, policymakers have placed more emphasis on environmental issues. According to David E. Blockstein, executive director and senior scientist at the CNIE, the environment is an extremely important issue, and yet there is not even a federal budget category for environmental research and development.
Nobody is in charge of finding out answers.
Supporters of the NIE propose that the agency would coordinate existing research, thus giving the United States a more complete scientific foundation on which to base decisions about environmental policy. To avoid excessive costs and bureaucracy, the NIE would not have its own laboratories, but would award grants for research by universities, nongovernmental organizations, private companies, and federal laboratories. Research priorities and goals would be set by a governing board, composed of leaders from science, business, environmental communities, and state and local governments. Diversity on the board is important to keep the goals of the NIE intact. In order to include agencies that already deal with environmental issues, the board would work closely with an interagency advisory panel.