Some of the milestones in the clean air section, for instance, simply reiterate targets mandated by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Milestones elsewhere in the draft restate requirements from other statutes or already established regulations. The agency does break some new ground in the draft. The chapter on healthy terrestrial ecosystems is a case in point. It was a very courageous effort.
More new ground is covered in the chapter on safe homes, schools, and workplaces.
Reilly was fond of saying that although he knew the agency was doing its job and making improvements, he couldn't prove it. With the focus on specific required actions to be taken by regulated entities, the connection between those actions and actual environmental results was at best unclear. The draft proposal is intended to clarify that connection and to shift the focus of accountability from whether the agency is carrying out its bureaucratic functions to whether it is actually achieving environmental improvements. In between setting the goals and determining success in meeting them comes planning, strategizing, and budgeting. According to the EPA, those activities will be driven by the environmental goals contained in a future final draft.