Draft FY 2014 - 2018 EPA Strategic Plan
November 19, 2013

For Public Comment November 19, 2013-January 3, 2014

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC  20460
                               Table of Contents

Message from the Administrator (reserved for final)
Introduction
Strategic Goals
Goal 1:  Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
Goal 2:  Protecting America's Waters
Goal 3:  Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development
Goal 4:  Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution
Goal 5:  Protecting Human Health and the Environment by Enforcing Laws and Assuring Compliance
Summary of Program Evaluation
Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategies
Working Toward a Sustainable Future
Working to Make a Visible Difference in Communities
 Launching a New Era of State, Tribal, Local, and International Partnerships
Embracing EPA as a High-Performing Organization
Strategic Measurement Framework
Goal 1:  Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
Goal 2:  Protecting America's Waters
Goal 3:  Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development
Goal 4:  Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution
Goal 5:  Protecting Human Health and the Environment by Enforcing Laws and Assuring Compliance

Appendix:  EPA's Proposed FY2014-2015 Agency Priority Goals
                           Administrator's Message
                              (reserved for final)

                                 Introduction
 The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) mission is to protect human health and the environment. The FY 2014-2018 EPA Strategic Plan (the Plan) advances this mission, supports implementation of the Administration's and the EPA's priorities and will be used routinely by the Agency's senior leadership as a management tool to guide our path forward.  Administrator McCarthy identified seven themes [add link] that will drive the Agency's efforts over the next four years, and this Plan encompasses these themes as part of the five strategic goals, four cross-cutting strategies, and overarching core values.

   EPA's Mission:  To protect human health and the environment.

                            EPA's Strategic Goals

   * Goal 1:  Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
   * Goal 2:  Protecting America's Waters
   * Goal 3:  Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development
   * Goal 4:  Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution
   * Goal 5:  Protecting Human Health and the Environment by Enforcing  Laws and Assuring Compliance

EPA's Cross-Cutting Fundamental Strategies

   * Working Toward a Sustainable Future
   * Working to Make a Visible Difference in Communities
   * Launching a New Era of State, Tribal, Local, and International Partnerships
   * Embracing EPA as a High-Performing Organization

           EPA's Core Values:  Science, Transparency, Rule of Law

In implementing this FY 2014-2018 Plan, EPA will focus on developing and using creative, flexible, cost-effective, and sustainable actions that deliver significant benefits on the ground in protecting and improving human health and the environment.  In support of the President's Climate Action Plan (June 2013), we will implement strategies to cut carbon pollution while promoting innovation to drive economic growth.  We will strengthen our partnerships by building new tools and strategies that enhance coordination and joint priority setting with our state and tribal partners and other federal agencies.  We also will focus our grant and incentive-based programs, and provide sound credible scientific advice and technical assistance, to help states, tribes, both rural and urban communities, and the private sector address environmental and human health challenges that matter to them in ways that make sense to them.  Additionally, EPA will continue to pursue advances in new tools and technologies and increase the transparency of our data to better serve our customers and deliver significant environmental progress.  And we will continue to improve the way we do business as a high-performing organization for the benefit of both our workforce and the public we serve.

Our five strategic goals represent the programmatic mission results we hope to achieve on behalf of the American people.  These strategic goals embody the measurable environmental and human health outcomes the public can expect over the next four years and describe how we intend to achieve those results.  The strategic goals identify targeted new opportunities and adjustments to ongoing work to protect people's health and the environment.  While we have made significant progress over the last few years, our five strategic goals highlight the increasingly complex environmental and human health concerns we are facing at a time of continuing fiscal constraints.  This poses both challenges and opportunities for us to further enhance our efficiency and focus and leverage efforts at all levels to achieve results.

The cross-cutting fundamental strategies in the FY 2014-2018 Plan focus on how we are working differently to achieve environmental results.  Notably, the Administrator's themes play a central role in these strategies.  We will incorporate sustainability principles into regulatory, enforcement, incentive-based, and partnership programs.  We will strive to enhance the livability and economic vitality of all communities, including those with environmental justice concerns. Millions of minority, low-income, tribal, and indigenous persons are at risk of having poor health outcomes because they live in communities that are overburdened by environmental hazards.  And, we will work in concert with the states, tribes, local governments, and sister federal agencies that constitute our country's environmental protection enterprise, to ensure the efficiency, efficacy, and coordination of our overlapping and complementary efforts.  We will streamline our processes, increase efficiency, and reduce costs by modernizing business practices to make EPA a high-performing organization.

We anticipate that these approaches will foster a renewed commitment to accountability, transparency, and inclusion, expanding the conversation and engaging with a broad range of stakeholders -- federal, state, and local agencies, tribes, agricultural and manufacturing sectors, small businesses, industry, and other stakeholders, including those with which we have not traditionally worked.  The continuing transformational changes to improve how we work together and take advantage of advances in technology, expanded access to environmental data, and enhanced outreach to communities and stakeholders through environmental education will usher in a new era of partnerships and broad-based participation in managing human health and environmental risks.

We will continue to affirm the core values of science, transparency and the rule of law in addressing our environmental challenges.  Our work will be guided by the best possible data and research and a commitment to transparency and the accountability that comes with it.  Science and research are the foundation of all our work at the EPA and the scientific underpinning of decisions and regulatory actions.  We have incorporated science and research efforts over the next four years throughout the Plan in both our strategic goals and cross-cutting fundamental strategies.  Our research will continue to be focused on the most critical issues facing the Agency, and finding more sustainable solutions for addressing human health and environmental problems.

With advances in both monitoring and information technology, we are developing new methods for focusing on the most serious violations and improving compliance.  E-Enterprise for the Environment is a joint EPA and state initiative to modernize our business practices to increase accessibility, efficiency, and responsiveness.  Additionally, through Next Generation Compliance, we are promoting the use of advanced monitoring and electronic reporting, designing rules that are easier to implement, expanding transparency and sharing of data, and using innovative enforcement approaches to increase compliance and reduce pollution.

While developing this revised Plan, we are also identifying new FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goals (APGs), which are a major cornerstone of this Administration's performance management agenda and championed by Agency senior leadership to advance our mission results.  Completion of our five FY 2012-2013 APGs informed the development of this new set of two-year APGs.

To achieve the strategic goals, objectives, and measures set out in this Plan, we will track progress through annual performance measures which are presented in EPA's Annual Performance Plans and Budgets.  We will report on our performance against these annual measures in our Annual Performance Reports and use this performance information as we establish priorities, develop future budget submissions, and manage programs.

Our measures for the FY 2014-2018 EPA Strategic Plan draw upon some of the indicators contained in EPA's Report on the Environment (ROE).[1]  The indicators help us to monitor trends in the condition of the nation's environment and environmental influences on human health and are intended to inform strategic planning, priority setting, and decision making across EPA and provide information for the public on the state of the environment.

As we work to implement the FY 2014-2018 EPA Strategic Plan over the next four years, we recognize that the Agency and numerous entities vital to our success -- federal, tribal, state, and local governments, and other cooperating partners and stakeholders -- are all operating under resource constraints that could impede our mutual progress.  We will collaborate in new ways to address the environmental and human health challenges that lie ahead of us, leverage resources to the greatest extent possible, and continually seek new opportunities to work more effectively and efficiently.

End Note:
[1] See http://www.epa.gov/roe/indicators.htm.
                                    Goal 1:
Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality

Objectives:

   Address Climate Change.  Minimize the threats posed by climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and taking actions that help to protect human health and help communities and ecosystems become more sustainable and resilient to the effects of climate change.

      Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and trucks.  Through September 30, 2015, EPA, in coordination with Department of Transportation's fuel economy standards program, will be implementing vehicle and truck greenhouse gas standards that are projected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 6 billion metric tons and reduce oil consumption by about 12 billion barrels over the lifetime of the affected vehicles and trucks.

   Improve Air Quality.  Achieve and maintain health- and welfare-based air pollution standards and reduce risk from toxic air pollutants and indoor air contaminants.

   Restore and Protect the Ozone Layer.  Restore and protect the earth's stratospheric ozone layer and protect the public from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

   Minimize Exposure to Radiation.  Minimize releases of radioactive material and be prepared to minimize exposure through response and recovery actions should unavoidable releases occur.

   Strategic measures associated with this Goal are on pages XX through XX.
Objectives:

   Address Climate Change.  Minimize the threats posed by climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and taking actions that help to protect human health and help communities and ecosystems become more sustainable and resilient to the effects of climate change.

      Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and trucks.  Through September 30, 2015, EPA, in coordination with Department of Transportation's fuel economy standards program, will be implementing vehicle and truck greenhouse gas standards that are projected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 6 billion metric tons and reduce oil consumption by about 12 billion barrels over the lifetime of the affected vehicles and trucks.

   Improve Air Quality.  Achieve and maintain health- and welfare-based air pollution standards and reduce risk from toxic air pollutants and indoor air contaminants.

   Restore and Protect the Ozone Layer.  Restore and protect the earth's stratospheric ozone layer and protect the public from the harmful effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

   Minimize Exposure to Radiation.  Minimize releases of radioactive material and be prepared to minimize exposure through response and recovery actions should unavoidable releases occur.

   Strategic measures associated with this Goal are on pages XX through XX.
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop adaptation strategies to address climate change, and protect and improve air quality.

Overview

Climate change poses risks to human health, the environment, cultural resources, the economy, and quality of life.[1]  These changes are expected to create further challenges to protecting human health and welfare.  Many effects of a changing climate are already evident and will persist into the future regardless of future levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  For example, average U.S. temperatures are rising, snow and rainfall patterns are shifting, and more extreme climate events - like heavy rainstorms and record high temperatures - are already affecting society, human health and the environment.  Potential climate change impacts may also make it more difficult to achieve clean air goals.  To better protect human health and the environment, EPA must recognize and consider the challenge a changing climate poses to the environment.

Notwithstanding this challenge, since passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments in 1990, nationwide air quality has improved significantly.[2] Levels of those pollutants linked to the greatest health impacts continue to decline.  From 2003 to 2011, population-weighted ambient concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone have decreased 26 percent and 16 percent, respectively.  Even with this progress, in 2010 approximately 40 percent of the U.S. population lived in counties with air that did not meet health-based standards for at least one pollutant.  Long-term exposure to elevated levels of certain air pollutants has been associated with increased risk of cancer, premature mortality, and damage to the immune, neurological, reproductive, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems.[3]  Because people spend much of their lives indoors, the quality of indoor air is also a major health concern.  Indoor allergens and irritants play a significant role in making asthma worse and triggering asthma attacks.  Over 25 million Americans currently have asthma,[4] which annually accounts for over 500,000 hospitalizations, more than 10 million missed school days, and over $50 billion in economic costs.[5]  Exposure to indoor radon is responsible for an estimated 21,000 premature lung cancer deaths each year.[6]  Twenty percent of the population spends the day indoors in elementary and secondary schools, where potential problems with leaky roofs and with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems can trigger a host of health problems, including asthma and allergies.

Address Climate Change

EPA's strategies to address climate change reflect the President's call to action in his Climate Action Plan (June 2013), which, among other initiatives, tasks EPA with setting carbon dioxide (CO2) standards for power plants and applying its authorities and other tools to address hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and methane.  These strategies support the President's goal to reduce GHG emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020[7].  EPA and its partners are developing and implementing approaches to reduce GHG emissions domestically and internationally through cost-effective, voluntary programs while pursuing additional regulatory actions as needed.  Our efforts address the following areas:

Mobile Sources
* Implementing three sets of GHG standards for vehicles and trucks, including:  two sets of GHG standards for light-duty cars and trucks (model years 2012-2016 and 2017-2025); and the first set of standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses (model years 2014-2018).  These emission standards, finalized jointly with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) fuel economy standards, will result in substantial reductions in new vehicle GHG emissions from model years 2012 through 2025.  (Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks is a proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal.)[8]
* Building on the progress achieved through the first phase of heavy-duty vehicle GHG standards, the Agency will develop proposal options for a second phase of GHG emission standards for these vehicles, including exploring a more complete vehicle standard-setting approach and encouraging a wider range of advanced technologies.
* Assessing GHG control options for non-road sources, including evaluating whether and when to commence work on standards setting for GHG emissions from a wide range of non-road equipment, locomotives, marine vessels and aircraft, and transportation fuels.

Stationary Sources
* Using authority under section 111(b) of the Clean Air Act, by September 20, 2013, EPA will issue a new proposal for GHG standards performance standards for new power plants and subsequently finalize that rule after consideration of public comment as appropriate.  Using authority under sections 111(b) and 111(d) of the Act, EPA will issue proposed GHG standards, regulations, or guidelines, as appropriate, for modified, reconstructed, and existing power plants by June 1, 2014, and finalize these standards, regulations, or guidelines by June 1, 2015.
* Collecting and publishing high-quality GHG emissions data from large direct emitters and suppliers of GHGs through the greenhouse gas reporting program to inform the public and support sound, data-driven, policy decisions on climate change.
* Implementing permitting requirements for facilities that emit large amounts of GHGs to encourage design and construction of more sustainable, efficient, and advanced processes that will contribute to a clean energy economy.
* Applying the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program to promote the use of low global warming potential (GWP) HFCs and similar chemicals.

International and Other Efforts
* Implementing proven voluntary programs that maximize GHG reductions through the greater use of technologies, products, and practices that promote energy efficiency, and renewables programs and policies that benefit the environment and human health.
* Identifying and assessing substitute chemical and ozone-depleting substances and processes for their global warming potential.
* Collaborating with countries and other international partners to reduce methane emissions and deliver clean energy to markets around the world through the Global Methane Initiative.
* Collaborating with international partners to reduce short-lived climate pollutants, including methane, black carbon, and hydrofluorocarbons, through the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.
* Educating the public about a changing change and actions people can take to reduce GHG emissions.
* Collaborating with state, local, and tribal governments on regulatory and policy initiatives, technical assistance, and voluntary programs related to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Adaptation

Many of the outcomes the EPA is working to attain are sensitive to weather and climate.  Consequently, various actions EPA takes, including promulgating regulations and implementing programs, should take these fluctuations into consideration.  For example, potential increases in ground-level ozone due to a changing climate could make attainment or maintenance of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) more challenging.

EPA must adapt and plan for future changes in climate to continue fulfilling its statutory, regulatory, and programmatic requirements.  The Agency will implement its Climate Change Adaptation Plan, and consider where it is appropriate, to integrate and mainstream considerations of a changing climate into its programs, to ensure they are effective under future climatic conditions.  EPA will work with state, tribal, and local partners to enhance their adaptive capacity, and continue to collaborate with the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.[9]

Adaptation initiatives undertaken by EPA will carry out key elements of the President's Climate Action Plan (June 2013) and aim to increase the resilience of communities and ecosystems to climate change by increasing their ability to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from the impacts of a changing climate.  EPA is encouraging and supporting smarter, more resilient investments by integrating considerations of climate change impacts and adaptive measures into major grant, loan, contract, and technical assistance programs, consistent with existing authorities.  For example, EPA is integrating climate adaptation criteria into the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Funds and grants for brownfields cleanup.  EPA is also partnering with states, tribes, and urban and rural communities to integrate climate change data, models, information, and other decision-support tools into their planning processes in ways that empower them to anticipate, prepare for, and adapt to a changing climate.  For example, EPA is developing a stormwater calculator that will enable users to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative strategies for limiting stormwater runoff that can overwhelm sewer systems and spill into rivers and streams, and identify strategies that ensure the systems are effective under future climatic conditions.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

Energy and transportation policies continue to evolve and influence the Agency's ability to improve air quality and address climate change issues. Impacts of a changing climate, such as changes in rainfall amount and intensity, shifting weather and seasonal patterns, and increases in flood plain elevations and sea levels, will also affect progress towards many of the goals.  Yet other developments may have positive environmental impacts.  The growth of alterna - tive energy sources and increased investments in energy efficiency can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve local air quality.

Improve Air Quality

Taking into account the most current health effects research findings [10], EPA recently completed new, more health-protective national ambient air quality standards for particulate matter (December 2012), lead (October 2008), sulfur dioxide (June 2010), nitrogen dioxide (January 2010), and carbon monoxide (August 2011), and is currently reviewing the standard for ozone.  Over the next four years, we will work with states and tribes to develop and implement plans to achieve and maintain these standards.  Our efforts provide the tools and information necessary for EPA, states, and tribes to implement air quality standards and controls.

EPA will work with states and tribes to decrease the emissions that contribute to interstate transport of air pollution.  These efforts will help many areas of the country attain the standards and achieve significant improvements in human health.  Working with states and tribes, EPA will continue implementing cost-effective multi-state regional programs designed to control the significant contributions of power plant and other stationary source emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) to air quality problems (i.e., nonattainment and interference with maintenance of ozone and PM2.5 NAAQS) in downwind areas.  Operating programs in 2014 will include the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) or a replacement program for control of transported ozone and PM2.5 pollution [11] in addition to the national acid rain SO2 and NOx emission reduction programs.

As we implement national air quality standards, we will seek ways to increase efficiency and maximize results.  These efforts include working with states to improve the state implementation plan approval process, including the use of full-cycle analysis (i.e., identifying specific actions along a time line needed to facilitate the timely issuance of implementation rules and guidelines), modernizing our training program for state, local, and tribal agencies through an e-learning system, and implementation of electronic emission reporting as part of the Agency's E-Enterprise initiative.

Additionally, EPA will work to ensure that our efforts to improve air quality considers low-income and minority communities that are often disproportionately-impacted by sources of pollution.  The Agency will continue to implement the goals of the EJ 2014 strategy that focus on protecting health in communities overburdened by pollution, empowering communities to take action to improve their health and environment, and establishing partnerships with local, state, tribal, and federal organizations to achieve healthy and sustainable communities.

EPA has finalized a number of air pollution control standards over the last decade that have substantially reduced, and will continue to reduce, PM, NOx, volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), air toxics, and GHG emissions.  These standards will cut emissions from new vehicles and engines by over 90 percent, with an estimated $290 billion in net health benefits by 2030.  In addition, EPA partnership programs such as the Diesel Emission Reduction and SmartWay Transport programs are achieving important reductions in emissions from the existing fleet of diesel engines that are not subject to the new standards.

Looking forward, EPA has conducted an analysis of the mobile source emission inventory that will help guide future program priorities.  Key observations from this analysis will be used to guide future mobile source control strategies:

   *    In the 2017-2030 timeframe, off-road engine emissions (including construction, agriculture, marine, locomotive, and aviation) will account for a larger percentage of the mobile source inventory for NOx, VOCs, and PM2.5, generally accounting for over 50 percent of the emissions.
   *    Legacy engines -- both on-road and non-road -- although still a large portion of the inventory in the near term, will account for a much smaller portion of the NOx and PM2.5 emissions inventory by 2030.
   *    Commercial marine sources will become the largest source of NOx by 2030, at about half the inventory by 2030.
   *    Gasoline sources will also account for a larger share of PM2.5, estimated at about half the inventory by 2030.

The Agency also recognizes the importance of fuels work and the critical need to understand the challenges and opportunities this work presents.  The EPA will continue to coordinate with the Department of Energy (DOE) and other interagency partners on these issues as appropriate.  The Agency plans to focus on streamlining the implementation processes of the renewable fuel standard (RFS) program, including the annual standard-setting process and new fuel pathway approvals.  EPA will also strengthen its oversight of industry compliance with RFS standards and core fuels and fuels additive registration mandates through a voluntary third-party quality assurance program to verify that renewable identification numbers (RINs) have been validly generated.  In addition, proposed modifications to the exporter provisions of the RFS program will help to ensure an appropriate number and type of RINs are retired whenever renewable fuel is exported.

Air toxics and other air pollutants can be widespread and/or community-specific; they are emitted by large industry, small businesses, motor vehicles, and many other common activities. While certain chemicals are ubiquitous throughout the country, in some areas of concentrated industrial and/or mobile-source activity, concentrations may be significantly greater.  To support effective air toxic reduction policies, EPA uses data from our national toxics monitoring network and from national and local assessments to provide key information to better characterize risks and assess priorities.  EPA also leverages air toxics, pollution prevention, and green expertise to reduce air toxic emissions and associated risk.

EPA recognizes that air toxics pose unique challenges both nationally and at the community level, and we focus on relatively high-risk sources, pollutants, and exposure situations.  EPA will continue to set and enforce control technology-based air toxics emissions standards and, where needed, amend those standards to address residual risk and technology advancements.  These regulations are aimed at reducing toxic air pollution from stationary sources and targeted priority source categories, reducing pollution in communities, utilizing a more cost-effective "sector-based" approach, and providing tools to help communities and other stakeholders participate in rulemaking.  Priority categories include petroleum refining, iron and steel manufacturing, chemical manufacturing, and Portland cement.  EPA takes advantage of the natural overlap of certain air toxics and criteria pollutant rules and coordinates the development and implementation of Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) standards and NSPSs where appropriate.  By coordinating MACT standard development for specific source categories with other rulemaking efforts, EPA can substantially reduce the resources needed to develop standards; provide more certainty and lower cost for industry; simplify implementation for state, local, and tribal agencies; and, enhance cost-effective regulatory approaches.  To address unacceptable risks that may remain after implementing national strategies, EPA works with states, tribes, and local agencies and organizations to understand the risks at the local level, target the problem areas, and tailor reduction strategies and approaches to the often unique situations in those areas.

To improve indoor air quality, EPA deploys programs that educate the public about indoor air quality concerns, including radon, and promotes public action to reduce potential risks in homes, schools, and workplaces.  The people most exposed to indoor air pollutants are often those most susceptible to the effects -- the young, the elderly, and the chronically ill.  In addition, EPA collaborates with state and tribal organizations, environmental and public health officials, housing, energy, and building organizations, school personnel who manage school environments, and health care providers, who treat children prone to or suffering disproportionately from asthma.  The focus of these efforts is to create, expand, and leverage systems already in place to support communities' efforts to address indoor air quality health risks.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

* External factors that will affect air quality program implementation include the outcome of the appeal of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) decision and continuing legal challenges to stationary source rules.[12]

* Impacts from a changing climate may worsen existing indoor environmental problems and introduce new ones as temperatures change and the frequency and/or severity of adverse outdoor events increase.  Examples include increased mold from water damage and more time spent indoors where air may be of poorer quality.

Restore and Protect the Ozone Layer

EPA will implement programs that reduce and control ozone-depleting substances (ODS), enforce rules on their production, import, and emission, and facilitate the transition to substitutes that reduce GHG emissions and save energy.  EPA's contributions to the Multilateral Fund for the Implementation of the Montreal Protocol will help continue support for cost-effective projects designed to build capacity and eliminate ODS production and consumption in over 60 developing countries.  EPA will also continue partnership programs that educate the public about the importance of protection from harmful ultraviolet radiation.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

Protection of the ozone layer is a global problem that cannot be solved by domestic action alone -- it depends on the mobilization and phase-out efforts of all countries of the world.  Much remains to be done in the U.S. and in the global community at large before the ozone layer will be considered safe for current and future generations.  Critical emerging issues include the need to help ensure that:

 Ozone depleting substances are replaced by alternatives that reduce overall risk to health and the environment;
 Final controlled uses of the agricultural fumigant methyl bromide are phased out in a manner that continues to protect our vital needs for this substance for international trade; and,
 Remaining ODS phase-out, including the 2013 and 2015 developing-country ODS reduction requirements, is funded and complied with in a manner that is both cost effective and climate friendly.

Minimize Exposure to Radiation

Recognizing the potential hazards of radiation, Congress charged EPA with the primary responsibility for protecting people and the environment from harmful and avoidable exposures.  In fulfilling this responsibility, the Agency will review and update its radiation protection regulations and guidance and operate RadNet, the Agency's national environmental radiation monitoring system.  EPA will also maintain personnel expertise, capabilities, and equipment readiness of the radiological emergency response program, including the Agency's Radiological Emergency Response Team.  In addition, EPA will provide regulatory oversight of the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), inspect DOE WIPP waste generator facilities, and evaluate WIPP's compliance with EPA's radioactive waste disposal standards and applicable environmental laws and regulations.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

* There are several emerging issues and external factors that will have an impact on how we carry out our radiation program, including new designs and technologies for nuclear power plant facilities as well as new uranium extraction and processing technologies.

Applied Research

Protecting human health and the environment from the impacts of a changing climate and air quality in a sustainable way are central 21st century challenges. These challenges are complicated by the interplay between air quality, the changing climate, and emerging energy options.  EPA's air, climate, and energy research will provide cutting-edge scientific information and tools to support air quality and climate change efforts.  In particular, EPA will:

* Conduct integrated science assessments of criteria air pollutants and provide new data and approaches for improving these assessments;
* Develop credible models and tools to inform sustainable policies, decisions, and responses to a changing climate;
* Conduct research to change the paradigm for air pollution monitoring, with a focus on lower cost measurements;
* Develop and evaluate models and decision support tools to integrate multi-media processes and systems;
* Develop approaches to assess multi-pollutant exposures and the resulting human and ecological effects of air pollutant mixtures; and,
* Conduct research to inform policies protecting human and ecosystem health in an evolving energy landscape, including impacts of unconventional oil and gas and low-carbon energy sources.

End Notes:

[1] Thomas R. Karl, Jerry M. Melillo, and Thomas C. Peterson (eds.).  2009.  Global Climate Change Impacts in the United States (New York, New York:  Cambridge University Press).  Available at http://downloads.globalchange.gov/usimpacts/pdfs/climate-impacts-report.pdf.

[2] U.S. EPA, 2012.  Our Nation's Air-Status and Trends through 2010.  EPA-454/R-12-001. Available at http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/2011/.

[3] U.S. EPA, 2007.  The Plain English Guide to the Clean Air Act.  EPA-456/K-07-001.  Available at http://www.epa.gov/air/peg/peg.pdf.

[4] Asthma Prevalence:  Akinbami, L.J., Mooreman, J.E., Bailey, C., Zahran, H., King, M., Johnson, C., & Liu, X. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. (2012). Trends in asthma prevalence, health care use, and mortality in the United States, 2001-2010. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db94.pdf .

[5] Costs: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2011, May). Asthma in the U.S. Vital Signs. Retrieved from http://cdc.gov/vitalsigns.

[6] U.S. EPA, 2003.  EPA's Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes.  EPA 402-R-03-003.  Available at http://www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/assessment/402-r-03-003.pdf.

[7] See http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_15/copenhagen_accord/application/pdf/unitedstatescphaccord_app.1.pdf

[8] Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles and trucks: Through September 30, 2015, EPA in coordination with Department of Transportation's fuel economy standards program will be implementing vehicle and truck greenhouse gas standards that are projected to reduce GHG emissions by 6 billion metric tons and reduce oil consumption by about 12 billion barrels over the lifetime of the affected vehicles and trucks.

[9] The U.S. Global Change Research Program coordinates and integrates federal research on changes in the global environment and their implications for society.  It was mandated by Congress in the Global Change Research Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-606).  In 2009, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration initiated the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force.  When the President signed Executive Order 13514, "Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance" in October 2009, he called on the Task Force to develop federal recommendations for adapting to climate change impacts both domestically and internationally.

[10] U.S. EPA, 2006.  Air Quality Criteria for Lead (2006) Final Report.  EPA/600/R-05/144aF-bF.  Available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=158823.
U.S. EPA, 2008.  Integrated Science Assessment (ISA) for Sulfur Oxides - Health Criteria (Final Report).  EPA/600/R-08/047F.  Available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=198843.
U.S. EPA, 2008.  Integrated Science Assessment for Oxides of Nitrogen - Health Criteria (Final Report).  EPA/600/R-08/071.  Available at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=194645.

[11] In 2008, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded CAIR to EPA but allowed the rule to remain in effect pending replacement by a valid rule.  In August 2012, the same court vacated EPA's replacement rule (CSAPR), a decision that the Department of Justice has petitioned the Supreme Court to review.  Depending on whether the Supreme Court agrees to hear the appeal and, if so, the outcome of that appeal, CAIR's ultimate replacement could be either CSAPR or the product of a new EPA rulemaking effort.

[12] In an August 21, 2012 opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit vacated the CSAPR and ordered EPA to continue implementing CAIR pending development of a valid replacement.  On March 29, 2013, the Department of Justice filed a petition seeking Supreme Court review of that decision. Please see http://www.epa.gov/crossstaterule/ for updates on CSAPR.

                                    Goal 2:
                         Protecting America's Waters

Objectives:

   Protect Human Health.  Achieve and maintain standards and guidelines protective of human health in drinking water supplies, fish, shellfish, and recreational waters, and protect and sustainably manage drinking water resources.

      Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Improve public health protection for persons served by small drinking water systems, which account for more than 97 percent of public water systems in the U.S., by strengthening the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of those systems.  By September 30, 2015, EPA will engage with an additional ten states (for a total of 30 states) and three tribes to improve small drinking water system capability to provide safe drinking water, an invaluable resource.

   Protect and Restore Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems.  Protect, restore, and sustain the quality of rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands on a watershed basis, and sustainably manage and protect coastal and ocean resources and ecosystems.

      Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Improve, restore, and maintain water quality by enhancing nonpoint source program leveraging, accountability, and on-the-ground effectiveness to address the nation's largest sources of pollution.  By September 30, 2015, 100 percent of the states will have updated nonpoint source management programs that comport with the new Section 319 grant guidelines that will result in better targeting of resources through prioritization and increased coordination with USDA.

   Strategic measures associated with this Goal are on pages XX through XX.
Objectives:

   Protect Human Health.  Achieve and maintain standards and guidelines protective of human health in drinking water supplies, fish, shellfish, and recreational waters, and protect and sustainably manage drinking water resources.

      Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Improve public health protection for persons served by small drinking water systems by strengthening the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of those systems.  By September 30, 2015, EPA will engage with an additional ten states (for a total of 30 states) and three tribes to improve small drinking water system capability to provide safe drinking water.

   Protect and Restore Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems.  Protect, restore, and sustain the quality of rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands on a watershed basis, and sustainably manage and protect coastal and ocean resources and ecosystems.

      Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Improve, restore, or maintain water quality by enhancing nonpoint source program accountability, incentives, and effectiveness.  By September 30, 2015, 100 percent of the states with outdated programs will revise their nonpoint source programs according to new Section 319 grant guidelines that EPA released in April 2013.

   Strategic measures associated with this Goal are on pages XX through XX.
Protect and restore waters to ensure that drinking water is safe and sustainably managed, and that aquatic ecosystems sustain fish, plants, wildlife, and other biota, as well as economic, recreational, and subsistence activities.
Overview

The nation's water resources are the lifeblood of our communities, supporting our economy and way of life.  Across most of the country, we enjoy and depend upon reliable sources of clean and safe water.  Several decades ago, however, many of our drinking water systems provided water to the tap with very limited treatment.  Drinking water was often the cause of illnesses linked to microbiological and other contaminants.  Many of our surface waters would not have met today's water quality standards.  Some of the nation's rivers were open sewers, posing health risks, and many water bodies were so polluted that safe swimming, fishing, and recreation were not possible.

We have made significant progress since enactment of the landmark Clean Water Act (CWA), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), and Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act approximately 40 years ago.  Today, although the enhanced quality of our surface waters and the greater safety of our drinking water are testaments to decades of environmental protection and investment, serious challenges remain.  Small drinking water systems are particularly challenged by the need to improve infrastructure and develop the capacity to meet new and existing standards.  Tens of thousands of homes, primarily in tribal and disadvantaged communities and the territories, still lack access to basic sanitation and drinking water.  The rate at which new waters are listed for water quality impairments exceeds the pace at which restored waters are removed from the list.

Pollution discharged from industrial, municipal, agricultural, and stormwater sources continue to be causes of water quality problems, but other significant contributors include loss of habitat and habitat fragmentation, hydrologic alteration, the spread of invasive species, and a changing climate.  For many years, nonpoint source pollution, principally nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediments, has been recognized as the largest remaining impediment to improving water quality.  Recent national surveys have found that our waters are stressed by nutrient pollution, excess sedimentation, and degradation of shoreline vegetation, which affect upwards of 50 percent of our lakes and streams.[1]  A changing climate will compound these problems, highlighting the need to work with our partners to evaluate options for protecting infrastructure, conserving water, reducing energy use, adopting "green" infrastructure and locally-driven watershed-based practices, and improving the resilience of infrastructural and natural systems, including utilities, watersheds, and estuaries.[2]

Over the next four years, EPA will reinvigorate efforts to improve waer quality, working with states, territories, and tribes to better safeguard human health and make America's water systems sustainable and secure.  We will assess the status of and changes in water quality through the National Aquatic Resource Surveys, strengthen the protection of our aquatic ecosystems, improve watershed-based approaches to reduce pollution, implement innovative technologies, implement comprehensive approaches to help maintain healthy watersheds, focus efforts in key geographic areas [3], and take measures to incorporate climate change considerations into clean water and drinking water program planning and implementation.  EPA is proposing two Agency Priority Goals for FY 2014-2015 that are continuations from FY 2012-2013:  to improve public health protection for persons served by small drinking water systems by strengthening the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of those systems[4]; and, to improve, restore, or maintain water quality by enhancing nonpoint source program accountability, incentives, and effectiveness[5].  In the first priority goal, EPA will continue to work with the states to improve their capacity development, operator certification, and treatment optimization programs.  The Agency is continuing to partner with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Rural Utilities Service to promote drinking water and wastewater system sustainability, foster water sector workforce opportunities in rural America, and coordinate infrastructure funding as appropriate.  EPA will continue to provide states with funds, through the drinking water state revolving fund (DWSRF) capitalization grants, for low-interest loans to assist utilities with financing drinking water infrastructure needs.  In the second priority goal, EPA is implementing a strengthened nonpoint source (CWA Section 319) grant program[6] to continue yielding on-the-ground water quality results in watersheds nationwide.  A significant component of this effort is working with state partners to update their nonpoint source programs, which guide overall priorities and investments for Section 319 funds.  Updated nonpoint source programs, combined with collaboration efforts with USDA, state departments of agriculture, and other partners, will result in better protection of water quality from nonpoint sources of pollution.

Working with our partners, the Agency's effort to protect our waters is aimed at two objectives -- protecting human health and protecting and restoring watersheds and aquatic ecosystems.

Protect Human Health

Sustaining the quality and supply of our water resources is essential to safeguarding human health.  More than 300 million people living in the United States rely on the safety of tap water provided by public water systems that are subject to national drinking water standards.  Over the next four years, EPA will help protect human health and make America's water systems sustainable and secure by:

      *    Providing financial assistance for  public water system infrastructure to protect and maintain drinking water quality;
      *    Strengthening compliance with drinking water standards;
      *    Continuing to protect sources of drinking water from contamination;
      *    Developing new and revising existing drinking water standards to address known and emerging contaminants that endanger human health; and,
      *    Supporting states, tribes, territories, and local water systems in implementing these standards.

While promoting sustainable management of drinking water infrastructure, we will provide needed oversight and technical assistance to states, territories, and tribes so that their water systems comply with or exceed existing standards and are able to comply with new standards.  We will also promote the construction of infrastructure that brings safe drinking water into the homes of small, rural, and disadvantaged communities and increase efforts to guard the nation's critical drinking water infrastructure.

In addition, EPA is actively working Agency-wide and with external partners and stakeholders to implement a multi-faceted drinking water strategy.  With this approach, EPA seeks to:  address chemicals and contaminants by group, as opposed to working on a chemical-by-chemical basis; foster the development of new drinking water treatment technologies; use the authority of multiple statutes in addressing drinking water contamination; and, encourage collaboration with states and tribes to share more complete data from monitoring at public water systems.  To this end, the Agency is replacing the federal and state components of EPA's Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) with a new system.  SDWIS NextGen is designed to improve the efficiency of sharing drinking water data between states and the Agency.  This will allow for better targeting of federal and state funding and technical assistance resources, and improving data quality while increasing public access to drinking water data.

Science-based water quality criteria are essential to protect our public water systems, groundwater and surface water bodies, and recreational waters.  These criteria are the foundation for state and tribal tools to safeguard human health such as advisories for beaches, fish consumption, and drinking water.  Over the next four years, we will expand that science to improve our understanding of emerging potential waterborne threats to human health, develop new criteria, and validate testing methods that provide quicker results and enable faster action on beach safety.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

Underground Sources of Drinking Water:  EPA's underground injection control (UIC) program provides a framework to ensure protection of underground sources of drinking water from endangerment related to the construction, operation, permitting, and closure of injection wells that place fluids underground for storage, disposal, enhanced recovery of oil and gas, or minerals recovery.  Natural gas plays a key role in our clean energy future.  Hydraulic fracturing (HF) is a key way to recover natural gas from sources.  EPA will ensure proper oversight of hydraulic fracturing operations where diesel fuel is used by implementing permitting guidance under SDWA's Class II UIC program for hydraulic fracturing.  EPA is working with state and tribal organizations, along with other federal agencies to develop and implement voluntary strategies for encouraging the use of alternatives to diesel in hydraulic fracturing and improving compliance with other Class II regulations, including risks from induced seismic events and radionuclides in disposal wells.  EPA is also continuing to work with state, tribal, and industry representatives to make state UIC Class II regulations and information more transparent and to implement best practices and promote coordination between UIC and oil and gas agencies.

Protect and Restore Watersheds and Aquatic Ecosystems

People and the ecological integrity of aquatic systems rely on healthy watersheds.  EPA employs a suite of programs to protect and improve water quality in the nation's watersheds -- rivers, lakes, wetlands, and streams -- as well as in our estuarine, coastal, and ocean waters.  In partnership with states, territories, local governments, and tribes, EPA's core water programs help:

   *    Protect, restore, maintain, and improve water quality by financing wastewater treatment infrastructure;
   *    Conduct monitoring and assessment;
   *    Establish pollution reduction targets;
   *    Update water quality standards;
   *    Issue and enforce discharge permits; and,
   *    Implement programs to prevent or reduce nonpoint source pollution.

To provide information on the ecological and recreational condition of the nation's waters and the key stressors impacting those waters, EPA will continue to work with states and tribes to implement the National Aquatic Resource Surveys, including the National Rivers and Streams Assessment, the National Coastal Condition Assessment, the National Wetland Condition Assessment, and the National Lakes Assessment.[7]  These probability-based surveys provide nationally consistent and scientifically-defensible assessments of our nation's waters.  These data will support EPA and our partners in identifying priority actions to protect and restore water quality, and, over time, in assessing whether our collective efforts are improving water quality.

Over the next four years, EPA will continue efforts to restore water bodies that do not meet water quality standards, preserve and protect high quality aquatic resources, and protect, restore, and improve wetland acreage and quality.  The Agency will improve the way existing tools are used, explore how innovative tools can be applied, and enhance efforts and cross-media collaboration to protect and prevent water quality impairment in healthy watersheds. The Agency will use the National Aquatic Resource Survey to track the effectiveness of these combined efforts at protecting and improving water quality over time.

Results from the National Aquatic Resource Survey reinforce EPA's commitment to address nitrogen and phosphorus pollution as among the most serious and pervasive water quality problems.  Programs for controlling nonpoint sources of pollution are key to reducing the number of impaired waters nationwide.  The programs provide a multi-faceted approach to the problem, combining innovative development strategies to help leverage traditional tools.  In addition to working with state, tribal, and local partners, EPA is collaborating with USDA to implement its National Water Quality Initiative and collaborating on other geographically-based initiatives.  Coordination of EPA's nonpoint source (Section 319) grant funds and USDA Farm Bill funds is intended to protect water quality more effectively from runoff from agricultural lands and demonstrate improved effectiveness.  USDA launched the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) in FY 2012, which targets 5 percent of USDA's Environmental Quality Incentives Program resources for water quality improvements in 165 specific watersheds across the nation.  EPA is collaborating closely with USDA as it implements this program, and is now requiring states to assess water quality results in NWQI watersheds through Section 319 grant funds or other funding sources.

Development and implementation of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) for CWA Section 303(d) listed impaired waterbodies is a critical tool for meeting water quality restoration goals.  The CWA 303(d) listing and TMDL program has engaged with states to implement a new 10-year vision for the program to more effectively achieve the water quality goals of each state.  The approach involves fostering effective integration across multiple programs, statutes, and agencies -- CWA point and nonpoint source programs, other statutory programs within EPA's jurisdiction (e.g., the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act [CERCLA], Resource Conservation and Recovery Act [RCRA], SDWA, and Clean Air Act [CAA]), and the water quality efforts of other federal agencies (e.g., the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, and Commerce).  As part of this effort, EPA will continue to encourage states to identify priority waters for assessment, development of TMDLs and other restoration plans for impaired segments, and pursuit of protection approaches for unimpaired waters.  EPA will work with states and other partners to develop and implement activities and watershed plans to restore and protect these waters.

In partnership with states, tribes, and local communities, EPA is implementing a clean water strategy that explores ways to improve the condition of the urban waterways that may have been overlooked or under-represented in local environmental problem solving.  The Agency will continue to play an active role as a member of the Urban Waters Federal Partnership to promote more efficient and effective use of federal resources and build new partnerships with states, local entities, and the private sector.  We will also work more aggressively to reduce and control pollutants that are discharged from industrial, municipal, agricultural, and stormwater sources, and vessels, as well as to implement programs to prevent and reduce pollution that washes off the land during rain events.  By promoting "green" infrastructure and sustainable landscape management, EPA will help restore natural hydrologic systems and reduce pollution from stormwater events.[8]

EPA will also lead efforts to restore and protect aquatic ecosystems and wetlands, particularly in key geographic areas[3], to address complex and cross-boundary challenges.  EPA is heading up a multi-agency effort to restore and protect the Great Lakes through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.[9]  In other parts of the nation, we will focus on nutrient pollution, which threatens the long-term health of important ecosystems such as the Chesapeake Bay.  Further, given the environmental catastrophe resulting from the Deepwater Horizon BP oil spill, EPA will continue to take necessary actions to support efforts of federal and state trustees in the natural resource damage assessment to restore the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.  EPA shares in the role of being a Natural Resource Trustee to conduct the natural resource damage assessment from the spill.  In addition, EPA is also a member of the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, established under the RESTORE Act[10], to restore the ecosystem and economy of the Gulf Coast region.  Monitoring in the Gulf of Mexico under the National Aquatic Resource Survey will be important to fully document the long-term impacts of the spill and track the recovery of wetland and near-shore estuarine resources.  This long-term effort by EPA and the states is an important complement to the project-specific and special-focus monitoring efforts underway as part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and BP Research funds.

To respond and adapt to the current and potential impacts of a changing climate on aquatic resources, including the current and potential impacts associated with warming temperatures, changes in rainfall amount and intensity, and sea level rise, EPA has developed a "National Water Program 2012 Strategy:  Response to Climate Change."  This strategy sets out long-term goals and specific actions contributing to national efforts to prepare for, and build resilience to, impacts of a changing climate on water resources.  EPA is working with state, tribal, and local governments, as well as other partners, to implement actions addressing climate change challenges to protecting water infrastructure, coastal and ocean waters, watersheds, and water quality.[11]

External Factors and Emerging Issues

* Water Quality:  Water quality programs face challenges such as increases in nutrient loadings and stormwater runoff, aging infrastructure, and population growth (which can increase water consumption and place additional stress on aging water infrastructures). The Agency is carefully examining the potential impacts of and solutions to these issues, including effects on water quality and quantity that could result in the long term from a changing climate. The Agency will continue implementing the National Aquatic Resource Surveys to support collection of nationally consistent data to support these efforts.

* Population Density:  In 2010, 52 percent of the U.S. population lived in coastal watershed counties which comprise less than 20 percent of the total land area of the U.S., excluding Alaska. The population density of coastal watershed counties is over five times greater than the corresponding inland counties. If current population trends continue, the already crowded U.S. coast will see population grow from 123 million people to nearly 134 million people by 2020, placing more of the population at increased risk from a changing climate and exposing these fragile coastal ecosystems to greater pressures.  Population growth in coastal watershed counties is impacting water quality and other coastal resources within National Estuary Programs (NEP) study areas.  NEPs work to address the impacts of growth by focusing their long-term management and annual work plans on priorities such as stormwater management, reduction of excess nutrient loadings, and promotion of low-impact development and green infrastructure.  Also, EPA's climate-ready estuaries program provides the capacity for NEPs and coastal stakeholders to develop vulnerability assessments.[12]

* Technology Market Opportunities:  EPA is working both internally and with external partners and stakeholders to discuss plans for advancing innovative technologies that will be important to the continued protection and restoration of waters.  Some key market opportunities for innovative technology identified in EPA's "Blueprint for Integrating Technology Innovation into the National Water Program" to help address current and emerging water resource issues include:

      o       Energy reduction and recovery at drinking water and wastewater facilities;
      o       Nutrient recovery from wastewater;
      o       Improving and "greening" of the nation's infrastructure;
      o       Water reuse;
      o       Improved and less expensive monitoring;
      o       Improving reliability of small drinking water systems;
      o       Technology evaluation and performance;
      o       Reducing water impacts from domestic energy production;
      o       Resiliency of water infrastructure; and,
      o       Improving water quality of oceans, estuaries, and watersheds.[13]

Applied Research

EPA's research will help ensure that natural and engineered water systems have the capacity and resiliency to meet current and future water needs for the range of water use and ecological requirements.  These efforts will help position the Agency to meet the future needs in water resources management by:
* Gathering, synthesizing, and mapping the necessary environmental, economic, and social information of watersheds, from local to national scales, to determine the condition, future prospects, and restoration potential of the nation's watersheds;
* Conducting and integrating EPA nitrogen and co-pollutant research efforts across multiple media and various temporal and spatial scales including support for developing numeric nutrient criteria, decision support tools, and cost-effective approaches to nutrient reduction;
* Promoting the economic recovery of water, energy, and nutrient resources through innovative municipal water services and whole-of-system assessment tools;
* Developing innovative tools, technologies, and strategies for managing water resources (including stormwater); and,
* Evaluating individual and groups of contaminants for the protection of human health and the environment.

End Notes:

[1] U.S. EPA, 2006.  Wadeable Streams Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Streams. EPA 841-B-06-002. Available at http://www.epa.gov/owow/streamsurvey.  See also EPA, 2010.  National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Lakes.  EPA 841-R-09-001. Available at http://www.epa.gov/lakessurvey/pdf/nla_chapter0.pdf.

[2] Resilience is the ability of a system to absorb change and disturbance and retain its fundamental function and/or structure.

[3] Key geographic areas in the national water program include the Chesapeake Bay, the Great Lakes, the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S.-Mexico Border region, the Pacific Islands, Long Island Sound, the South Florida Ecosystem, the Puget Sound Basin, the Columbia River Basin, and the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary.  For more information on these programs and their performance measures, see the annual National Water Program Guidance, available at http://www.epa.gov/water/waterplan/index.html.

[4] Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Improve public health protection for persons served by small drinking water systems, which account for more than 97 percent of public water systems in the U.S., by strengthening the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of those systems.  By September 30, 2015, EPA will engage with an additional ten states (for a total of 30 states) and three tribes to improve small drinking water system capability to provide safe drinking water, an invaluable resource.

[5] Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Improve, restore, and maintain water quality by enhancing nonpoint source program leveraging, accountability, and on-the-ground effectiveness to address the nation's largest sources of pollution.  By September 30, 2015, 100 percent of the states will have updated nonpoint source management programs that comport with the new Section 319 grant guidelines that will result in better targeting of resources through prioritization and increased coordination with USDA.

[6] [Add citation for revised nonpoint source grant program guidance.]

[7] For information on National Aquatic Resource Surveys, see http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/monitoring/aquaticsurvey_index.cfm.

[8] For information on managing wet weather with green infrastructure, see http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=298.

[9] Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, information available at http://greatlakesrestoration.us/.

[10] [RESTORE Act citation to be added]

[11]EPA National Water Program 2012 Strategy:  Response to Climate Change, information available at http://water.epa.gov/scitech/climatechange/2012-National-Water-Program-Strategy.cfm.  United States Global Change Research Program, information available at http://www.globalchange.gov/publications/reports/scientific-assessments/us-impacts.

[12] [Climate-ready estuary citation to be added]

[13] "Blueprint for Integrating Technology Innovation into the National Water Program," information is available at http://water.epa.gov/blueprint.cfm.

                                    Goal 3:
         Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development

Objectives:

   Promote Sustainable and Livable Communities.  Support sustainable, resilient, and livable communities by working with local, state, tribal, and federal partners to promote smart growth, emergency preparedness and recovery planning, redevelopment and reuse of contaminated and formerly contaminated sites, and the equitable distribution of environmental benefits.

   Preserve Land.  Conserve resources and prevent land contamination by reducing waste generation and toxicity, promoting proper management of waste and petroleum products, and increasing sustainable materials management.

   Restore Land.  Prepare for and respond to accidental or intentional releases of contaminants and clean up and restore polluted sites for reuse.

   Strengthen Human Health and Environmental Protection in Indian Country.  Directly implement federal environmental programs in Indian country and support federal program delegation to tribes.  Provide tribes with technical assistance and support capacity development for the establishment and implementation of sustainable environmental programs in Indian country.

      Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Clean up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of communities.  By 2015, an additional 18,970 sites will be made ready for anticipated use protecting Americans and the environment one community at a time.

   Strategic measures associated with this Goal are on pages XX  through XX.

Objectives:

   Promote Sustainable and Livable Communities.  Support sustainable, resilient, and livable communities by working with local, state, tribal, and federal partners to promote smart growth, emergency preparedness and recovery planning, redevelopment and reuse of contaminated and formerly contaminated sites, and the equitable distribution of environmental benefits.

   Preserve Land.  Conserve resources and prevent land contamination by reducing waste generation and toxicity, promoting proper management of waste and petroleum products, and increasing sustainable materials management.

   Restore Land.  Prepare for and respond to accidental or intentional releases of contaminants and clean up and restore polluted sites for reuse.

   Strengthen Human Health and Environmental Protection in Indian Country.  Directly implement federal environmental programs in Indian country and support federal program delegation to tribes.  Provide tribes with technical assistance and support capacity development for the establishment and implementation of sustainable environmental programs in Indian country.

      Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Clean up contaminated sites to increase their use and value for ecological, commercial, residential and other productive purposes.  By September 2015, an additional xx,xxx sites will be ready for anticipated use.

   Strategic measures associated with this Goal are on pages XX  through XX.

Clean up communities, advance sustainable development, and protect disproportionately impacted low-income and minority communities.  Prevent releases of harmful substances and clean up and restore contaminated areas.
Overview

Uncontrolled releases of waste and hazardous substances can contaminate our drinking water and land and threaten healthy ecosystems.  Local land use and infrastructure investments can also generate unanticipated environmental consequences, such as increased stormwater runoff, loss of open space, and increased greenhouse gas emissions.  EPA leads efforts to preserve, restore, and protect our land, air, and water so that these precious resources are available for both current and future generations.  We will continue our work to prevent and reduce exposure to contaminants, accelerate the pace of cleanups and reduce the environmental impacts associated with land use across the country.  EPA works collaboratively with international, state, and tribal partners to achieve these aims.  In addition, we will work with communities to address risks posed by intentional and accidental releases of hazardous substances into the environment and ensure that communities have an opportunity to participate in environmental decisions that affect them.  Our efforts are guided by scientific data, research, and tools that alert us to emerging issues and inform decisions on managing materials and addressing contaminated properties.

Promote Sustainable and Livable Communities

EPA supports the goals of urban, suburban, and rural communities to grow in ways that improve the environment, human health, and quality of life for their residents.[1]  With the support of partners working hand in hand across all levels of government, communities can grow in ways that also strengthen the economy, help them adapt to a changing climate, improve their resiliency to disasters, use public resources more efficiently, revitalize neighborhoods, and improve access to jobs and amenities.  By making sustainable infrastructure investments, communities can successfully build innovative and functional systems on neighborhood streets and sidewalks to deal with the runoff from stormwater and still provide easy access for pedestrians, bicyclists, on-street parking, and other beneficial uses.  By adopting local planning and zoning codes that account for the environmental impacts of development, the private sector can more easily construct market-ready "green" buildings serving a range of housing needs.  Communities also can benefit from tools, technology, and research that better engage citizens and inform local decision making to support smart and sustainable growth.

EPA recognizes environmental justice, children's health, and sustainable development are all at the intersection of people and place.  These goals are not mutually exclusive.  Throughout all our work to achieve more livable communities, EPA is committed to ensuring we focus on children's health and environmental justice.[2]  Recognizing that minority or low-income communities may face disproportionate environmental risks, we work to protect these communities from adverse health and environmental effects and to ensure they are given the opportunity to participate meaningfully in environmental decisions and efforts to plan for future growth and development that directly affect residents.[3]  EPA's ability to optimize the benefits of sustainability requires making environmental justice a normal part of how EPA does business rather than an ad hoc activity.

Sustainable and livable communities balance their economic and natural assets so that the diverse needs of residents can be met with limited environmental impacts.  EPA's community-based programs help to accomplish these goals by working with communities, other federal agencies, state, tribal, and regional governments, private and nonprofit sectors, and national experts to encourage equitable development strategies that have better outcomes for air quality, water quality, and land preservation and revitalization.  In particular, EPA's smart growth program delivers technical assistance to communities through contract- and grant-based programs to help them base their growth and development decisions on strategies that are smart, sustainable, and supportive of improved environmental, public health, and economic outcomes.

For example, EPA has been working with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) since 2009 to align federal resources and improve the environmental outcomes from development.  Through technical assistance, grants, and training, these three agencies have worked together to assist hundreds of communities to plan for and invest in growth that improves access to affordable housing, increases transportation options, and expands choices for all citizens.[4]  All three agencies use a common set of "livability principles" to better coordinate their efforts and investments in a manner that will better protect the environment, promote equitable development, and help address the challenges of a changing climate.

EPA's brownfields program emphasizes environmental and human health protection in a manner that stimulates economic development and job creation by awarding competitive grants to assess and clean up brownfield properties that are contaminated, or perceived to be contaminated, with hazardous substances and/or petroleum contamination and by providing job training opportunities, particularly in underserved communities.[5]  A 2012 EPA program evaluation concluded that cleaning up brownfield properties leads to residential property value increases of 5.1 to 12.8 percent.[6]  In addition, a 2011 study of five pilot projects revealed that cleaning up contaminated properties for neighborhood commercial use may contribute to a 32 to 57 percent reduction in vehicle miles traveled compared to alternative development scenarios.[7] This reduction results from increased accessibility of neighborhood-based services and goods, requiring less frequent trips by residents outside the immediate area.

The brownfields program also provides funding for state and tribal environmental response programs as well as outreach and technical assistance to communities.  Area-wide planning approaches for brownfields work help identify important local factors in a coordinated manner:  viable end uses of individual or groups of brownfield properties; beneficial air and water infrastructure investments in these areas; and, added environmental improvements in the surrounding area to revitalize the community.  Taken together, these efforts will enhance the livability and economic vitality of neighborhoods in and around brownfield sites.

In addition to the brownfields activities, EPA promotes livable communities though its efforts to prevent chemical accidents.  EPA's risk management program requires facilities with one or more covered chemicals in a process to analyze the potential for accidental releases and possible consequences, develop an accident prevention program, and coordinate with the community to ensure that all are prepared for responding to a release.  The facility must include this information in a Risk Management Plan (RMP) and submit this RMP electronically to EPA,  which will make the information available to federal, state, and local officials (e.g., fire fighters) who work on chemical accident preparedness, prevention, and response.  There are approximately 13,000 active RMPs currently on file.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

There are several external factors and emerging issues that may affect the overall success of the Agency's brownfields, chemical risk management and smart growth programs. These include:

* The continued challenges posed by foreclosures and vacant, blighted, and neglected properties.  Increased attention may be required for the siting of new domestic manufacturing in formerly abandoned or blighted areas and the potential impacts on local communities.

* The impacts of increased extremes of weather on a community's redevelopment and revitalization plans, including whether these projects are resilient enough to withstand the threat of flooding or loss of power from natural or man-made disasters.

* The lack of capacity in many local, regional, and state governments to adequately identify the environmental outcomes associated with land use and infrastructure decisions, particularly given the demands on already tight budgets.

* The importance of engaging in efforts that involve stakeholders beyond federal agencies, including supporting local responders, advancing additional chemical plant safety measures, and standardizing the best practices of industry leaders.

* The need to explore how EPA's legal authorities and policies can be used to further improve coordination among federal agencies and these stakeholders in our efforts to identify and address the potential hazards in chemical plant safety.

Preserve Land

To prevent future environmental contamination and to protect the health of the estimated 20 million people living within a mile of hazardous waste management facilities [8], EPA and its state partners continue their efforts to issue, update or maintain Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permits for approximately 20,000 hazardous waste units (such as incinerators and landfills) at these facilities.  EPA also will issue polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) cleanup, storage, and disposal approvals each year since this work cannot be delegated to the states.  With the January 2012 enactment of the Hazardous Waste Electronic Manifest Establishment Act, improving and modernizing hazardous waste transportation and tracking has become an important Agency focus.  EPA will be working with state agencies, other partners and stakeholders, and the public to implement the requirements of the new law.  These include the use of electronic tracking (e-Manifest), which will provide superior data availability, transparency, and cost savings when compared with the use of paper manifests, and the establishment of an advisory board to provide recommendations to the Agency on the implementation of this new e-Manifest approach.
EPA is currently promoting three national strategies, the Federal Green Challenge, the Electronics Challenge, and the Food Recovery Challenge, focused on using less environmentally intensive and toxic materials and employing downstream solutions, like reuse and recycling, to conserve our resources for future generations.[9]  EPA is working with other federal agencies, state and tribal governments, and non-governmental organizations to promote sustainability goals through these and other initiatives.  For example, EPA and USDA are partnering through the U.S. Food Waste Challenge to address sustainable food management from farm to final disposition.[10]  With respect  to RCRA's mandate to conserve resources and energy, EPA will continue to create innovative strategies that emphasize sustainable materials management by identifying and reducing or minimizing the impact of waste and capturing resultant greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits at all life-cycle stages, from extraction of raw materials through end of life.[11]
To reduce the risk posed by underground storage tanks (USTs) located at more than 200,000  facilities throughout the country, EPA and states are working to ensure that every UST system is inspected at least once every 3 years and all facility operators are trained.  As fuel types change, UST systems must be equipped to safely store the new fuels.  For example, EPA is working to ensure biofuels are stored in compatible UST systems.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

EPA must be prepared to address significant waste management issues anticipated for the future.

* The potential impacts of a changing climate, including extreme weather events, such as tornadoes and hurricanes.

* Continued changes in technology and the emergence of new waste streams that result from new methods of domestic energy development, among other contributing sources.

* General trend away from landfills and toward the recycling of materials using new technologies that will require further evaluation.

Restore Land

Challenging and complex environmental problems, such as contaminated soil, sediment, and groundwater that can cause human health concerns, persist at many contaminated properties. Together with our federal, state and tribal partners, EPA's Superfund program, RCRA corrective actions, leaking underground storage tank and brownfields cleanup programs, and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) cleanups of PCBs reduce risks to human health and the environment through site cleanup and the return of restored land to productive use.  EPA is proposing an Agency Priority Goal for FY 2014-2015, which is a continuation of the Priority Goal for  FY 2012-2013, to measure and report progress in reducing risks to human health and the environment by assessing and cleaning up sites to maintain or put them back into productive use.  EPA's Superfund, RCRA corrective action, leaking underground storage tank (LUST), and brownfields cleanup programs all contribute to the Priority Goal to make sites ready for anticipated use.[12]

There are multiple benefits associated with cleaning up contaminated sites:  reducing mortality and morbidity risk; preventing and reducing human exposure to contaminants; making land available for commercial, residential, industrial, or recreational reuse; and promoting community economic development.  A 2011 study suggests that Superfund cleanups reduce the incidence of congenital anomalies in infants by roughly 20-25 percent to mothers living within 2,000 meters of a site.[13]  In another case, EPA contracted with researchers at Duke University and the University of Pittsburgh to conduct a study to determine the effects of Superfund site status on housing values.  The study found that when sites are cleaned up and deleted from the National Priorities List (NPL), properties within three miles of the sites experience an 18.6 to 24.5 percent increase in value.[14]

Over the past three years, EPA has implemented the Integrated Cleanup Initiative (ICI) in an effort to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its land cleanup programs.  More than 150 different actions were conducted under ICI from FY 2010 through FY 2012 by the various land cleanup programs involved in the effort.  These actions to improve efficiency and effectiveness are now part of current business procedures and cleanup processes.  For example, EPA initiated a series of project management pilots to explore options for accelerating the pace of Superfund site cleanups from the remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) phase of cleanup through site completion. Three of these pilots improved the remedial design/remedial action (RD/RA) process and were completed in FY 2012.  EPA's Superfund program will consider applying the time- and cost-saving approaches examined in these pilots wherever appropriate.[15]

EPA's Superfund program is undertaking a comprehensive review of all aspects of the program.  The goal of this review is to determine the best way to maintain the program's effectiveness in protecting human health and the environment by more efficiently managing its site cleanup process and program resources.  In the same spirit, in early 2013, EPA worked with state partners and stakeholders to pilot an ambitious effort to apply "Lean" principles to the facility investigation phase of RCRA corrective action cleanup as a means to accelerate the process for a typical facility by several years.[16]  By applying Lean techniques, EPA expects to achieve performance improvements and to continue setting and achieving ambitious goals for environmental progress.  The Agency will continue to solicit new ideas and practices to improve EPA's cleanup programs.

Another challenge to protecting our land resources from contamination is pollution from leaking underground storage tanks (USTs).  While considerable progress has been made to clean up leaks from USTs, a backlog of over 80,000 sites remains.  To understand the makeup of remaining UST releases and why thenumber of cleanups per year is decreasing, EPA undertook a two-phase, data-driven analysis of UST cleanups as of 2006 and 2009.  The study compiled and analyzed available data from 14 state [L]UST programs and identified key findings and potential opportunities to help reduce the number of remaining UST cleanups.  To address new and existing LUST sites, EPA, in partnership with state and tribal programs, is developing and implementing strategies to address technical challenges, leverage best practices, and support management, oversight and enforcement activities.  In addition, as EPA has implemented improvements in the LUST prevention program by increasing inspection frequency and other prevention efforts, there has been a decrease in new confirmed releases. The efforts of the prevention program and the continued reduction in new confirmed releases, along with the earlier detection of releases, will remain critical factors in backlog reduction.[17]

In addition to cleanup and revitalization, EPA's hazardous waste programs also are working to reduce the energy use and environmental footprint during the investigation and remediation of hazardous waste sites.  As part of this effort, EPA's Superfund program evaluated its "green" remediation strategy to assess its experiences in implementing the strategy, to determine a baseline against which to measure future progress and to develop the best metrics for measuring the program's success. The evaluation's findings are being used to prepare the next phase of the strategy to reduce the energy, water and materials used during site cleanups while at the same time ensuring that protective remedies are implemented.[18]

Throughout this work, EPA is enhancing its engagement with local communities and stakeholders so that they may meaningfully participate in decisions on land cleanup, emergency response, and management of hazardous substances and waste.  Enhancing community engagement helps to ensure transparent and accessible decision-making processes, to deliver information that communities can use to participate effectively, to improve EPA responsiveness to community perspectives and to ensure timely cleanup decisions.

National preparedness is an essential component in EPA's work responding to large-scale emergencies that may involve chemicals, oil, biological agents, radiation, weapons of mass destruction, or natural catastrophes.   In recent years, the U.S. has faced considerable challenges in responding to nationally significant incidents, including Hurricane Katrina, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant emergency in Japan, and Super Storm Sandy.  Maintaining our preparedness level and ensuring that emergency responders are able to address chemical spills, other unplanned releases of hazardous materials, and other catastrophes is a vital responsibility.  Consistent with the government-wide National Response Framework and the National Disaster Recovery Framework, EPA prepares for the possibility of multiple, simultaneous, nationally significant incidents across several regions and provides guidance and technical assistance to state, tribal, and local planning and response organizations.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

Hazardous waste programs are intended to provide permanent solutions to contamination at sites or facilities to the extent practicable.  As appropriate, EPA must incorporate emerging science into decision making to maintain its commitment to provide permanent solutions.

* Complications can arise when new scientific information (e.g., new toxicity information or a new analytical method) calls into question previous determinations about the need for or scope and methods of cleanup at a site.  Such scientific and technological developments may complicate relations with affected communities, risk communication, site investigation, remedy selection and resource allocation within the program.

* Changes in precipitation, sea level rise, and storm surge, for example, may impact remedies and alter their effectiveness.  Some evidence of this was apparent during the Hurricane Sandy event along the coasts and waterways of New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.  EPA might appropriately consider the effects on planned, current, and completed cleanups that will occur from the impacts of a changing climate.

Strengthen Human Health and Environmental Protection in Indian Country

Under federal environmental statutes, EPA is responsible for protecting human health and the environment in Indian country.  EPA's commitment to tribal environmental and human health protection has been steadfast for nearly 30 years, as formally established in the Agency's 1984 Indian Policy.[19]  EPA works with over 560 federally-recognized tribes located across the United States to improve environmental and human health outcomes.  Indian country totals more than 70 million acres with reservations ranging from less than ten acres to more than 14 million acres. [20] Difficult environmental and health challenges remain in many of these areas, including lack of access to safe drinking water, sanitation, adequate waste facilities and other environmental safeguards taken for granted elsewhere.

In collaboration with our tribal government partners, EPA will engage in a two-part strategy for strengthening human health and environmental protection in Indian country.  First, EPA will ensure that its environmental protection programs are implemented in Indian country either by EPA or through implementation of environmental programs by tribes themselves.  Second, EPA will provide resources through grant funds and technical assistance for federally-recognized tribes to create and maintain effective environmental program capacity.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

Tribal environmental and human health needs are significant.  For example, the lack of access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation for tribes continues to threaten the public health of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities.  Approximately 12 percent of AI/AN homes do not have safe water and/or basic sanitation facilities.[21]  This is high compared with the 0.6 percent of non-native homes in the U.S. that lacks such infrastructure.  EPA, along with over 20 federal departments and agencies, collectively provide a range of federal programs to tribes, consistent with our legal authorities and the federal trust responsibility.

There is a broad spectrum among tribes with respect to population, culture, income, geography, economic development, environmental program management expertise, and priorities.  EPA also recognizes that many tribes may not have the capacity to implement programs in a manner similar to a state (TAS), where programmatically available.  Further, the decision to be treated in a manner similar to a state is voluntary, and may not be a priority to a tribe.  Currently, over 200 tribes are not legally able to apply for TAS, yet they are building programmatic capacity in other ways.  EPA continues to play a critical role in ensuring environmental protection in Indian country.

Applied Research

In the area of cleaning up communities, research will allow EPA to identify and apply approaches that better inform and guide environmentally sustainable behavior, protect and promote human health and ecosystems, and provide the products and services needed for mitigation, management, remediation and long-term stewardship of contaminated sites.  It will provide Agency, state, tribal, and local decision makers with the knowledge needed to make smart, systems-based decisions that will inform a balanced approach to their cleanup and development needs, resulting in:

* More options for eliminating waste, safer options for disposal of unavoidable waste, and access to more options for beneficial re-use and recovery of materials and energy from waste.

* Reduced risk from contaminated sites, less costly remediation and faster return of property to economic use and more compre - hensive protection of valuable ground water resources.

* Enhanced ability to adequately consider children's unique susceptibilities and vulnerabilities.

End Notes:

[1] For more information about the impact of the built environment on the natural environment and public health, see "Our Built and Natural Environments:  A Technical Review of the Interactions Between Land Use, Transportation, and Environmental Quality (Second Edition, 2013)" at http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/built.htm.

[2] For more information about EPA's focus on Environmental Justice.  Please see http://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/index.html

[3] For more information about the connections between smart growth and environmental justice, see "Creating Equitable, Healthy, and Sustainable Communities: Strategies for Advancing Smart Growth, Environmental Justice, and Equitable Development" (EPA 231-K-10-005, 2013) at http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/equitable_development_report.htm

[4] For more information about the HUD-DOT-EPA Partnership for Sustainable Communities, see http://www.sustainablecommunities.gov.

[5] For more information about EPA's brownfields program,  see http://www.epa.gov/brownfields.

[6] Haninger, Kevin; Ma, Lala; and Timmins, Christopher. 2012.  "Estimating the Impacts of Brownfields Remediation on Housing Property Values."  Duke Environmental Economics Working Paper Series. Working Paper EE12-08. The program evaluation is available at http://sites.nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/environmentaleconomics/files/2013/01/WP-EE-12-08.pdf

[7] U.S. EPA, Office of Brownfields and Land Revitalization, Air and Water Impacts of Brownfields Redevelopment: A Study of Five Communities, April 2011, EPA-560-F-10-232.

[8]  Estimate drawn from OSWER Near Site Population Database, an internal EPA database that merges facility size and location information from RCRAInfo with population data, at the block and block group levels, from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 Census.  The demographics were captured around the total number of facilities that have approved controls in place that result in the protection of this population (20 million people).

[9] For more information on the Federal Green Challenge, see http://www.epa.gov/federalgreenchallenge.  For more information on the Electronics Challenge, see http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/smm/electronics/.  For more information on the Food Recovery Challenge, see http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/smm/foodrecovery/.

[10] For more information on the U.S. Food to Waste Challenge, see [link to be provided].

[11] For more information on sustainable materials management, see Sustainable Materials Management:  The Road Ahead.  EPA 530R-09-009.  Available at http://www.epa.gov/smm/pdf/vision2.pdf

[12] Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Clean up contaminated sites to enhance the livability and economic vitality of communities.  By 2015, an additional 18,970 sites will be made ready for anticipated use, protecting Americans and the environment one community at a time.

[13] Currie, Janet; Michael Greenstone, and Enrico Moretti. 2011.  "Superfund Cleanups and Infant Health."  American Economic Review, 101(3): 435-41.

[14] S. Gamper-Rabindran, C. Timmins. 2013. "Does cleanup of hazardous waste sites raise housing values? Evidence of spatially localized beneﬁts," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management.

[15] A recent directive from EPA's Superfund program shares the lessons learned from these RD/RA pilot studies.  This directive can be found at http://www.epa.gov/oswer/docs/ici/broader_applications_rd_ra_pilot_project_lessons_learned.pdf

[16] Lean principles focus on identifying and enhancing valuable process steps while reducing wasteful steps and managing toward perfection.  See also http://www.epa.gov/lean.

[17] For more information, please see The National LUST Cleanup Backlog: A Study of Opportunities at http://www.epa.gov/swerust1/cat/backlog.html.

[18] More information about Superfund and green remediation at EPA is available at http://www.epa.gov/superfund/greenremediation.

[19] The "EPA Policy for the Administration of Environmental Programs on Indian Reservations" can be found at http://www.epa.gov/tp/pdf/indian-policy-84.pdf.

[20] US Census Bureau:  Population, Housing Units, Area, and Density:  2010 - United States -- American Indian Area/Alaska Native Area.

[21] [Citation to be added.]

                                   Goal 4:
           Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution

Objectives:

   Ensure Chemical Safety.  Reduce the risk and increase the safety of chemicals that enter our products, our environment, and our bodies.

      Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Assess and reduce risks posed by chemicals and promote the use of safer chemicals in commerce.  By September 30, 2015, EPA will have completed more than 250 assessments of pesticides and other commercially available chemicals to evaluate risks they may pose to human health and the environment, including the potential for some of these chemicals to disrupt endocrine systems.  These assessments are essential in determining whether products containing these chemicals can be used safely for commercial, agricultural and/or industrial uses.

   Promote Pollution Prevention.  Conserve and protect natural resources by promoting pollution prevention and the adoption of other sustainability practices by companies, communities, governmental organizations, and individuals.

   Strategic measures associated with this Goal are on pages XX through XX.
Reduce the risk and increase the safety of chemicals and prevent pollution at the source.
Overview

The Agency's chemical safety and pollution prevention programs are at the forefront of EPA's efforts to advance a sustainable future.  Chemicals are often released into the environment as a result of their manufacture, processing, use, and disposal.  The Agency uses a variety of approaches and tools to assess, prevent, and reduce chemical releases and exposures (e.g., conducting risk assessments, assessing chemical alternatives, and taking other risk management actions).  The Agency engages and empowers a variety of stakeholders and partners to drive innovation and address related social and economic issues, especially in communities with vulnerable populations or environmental justice concerns.  Vulnerable populations including low-income and minority and indigenous populations, may be disproportionately impacted by, and thus particularly at risk from, exposure to chemicals.  In addition, research shows that children receive greater relative exposures to chemicals because they inhale or ingest more air, food, or water on a body-weight basis than adults do.[1]  The Agency empowers stakeholders by working to ensure access to the latest data, information, analytical tools, and expertise.

Chemicals are involved in the production of everything from our homes and cars to the cell phones we carry and the food we eat.  Thousands of chemicals have become ubiquitous in our everyday lives and everyday products, as well as in our environment and our bodies.  The Agency continues to believe that the principles it announced in 2009 for modernizing the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) are critical to EPA's ability to assess the safety of industrial chemicals and adequately protect against unreasonable environmental or public health risks.[2]  TSCA is outdated and should be revised to provide stronger and clearer authority for EPA to collect and act upon critical data regarding chemical risks.  There remain large, troubling gaps in the available data and state of knowledge on many widely used chemicals in commerce, and EPA's authority to require development and submission of information and testing data is limited by legal hurdles and procedural requirements. Accordingly, the Administration in September 2009 issued a statement on Essential Principles for Reform of Chemicals Management Legislation to help inform efforts by the Congress to reauthorize and strengthen TSCA.  The enactment of legislation reflecting those principles would give EPA the mechanisms and authorities it needs to expeditiously assess and regulate new and existing chemicals.

Another statute that helps EPA in its work to address chemical risks is the 1990 Pollution Prevention Act (PPA).[3]  Under this law, which established as a national policy the prevention of pollution before it is generated, EPA fosters the development of source reduction innovations and practices, and promotes the adoption, use, and market penetration of those innovations and practices.  These strategies have proven highly effective in advancing sustainability, resulting in major reductions in hazardous materials, greenhouse gases, and water use while at the same time increasing the use of safer products and stimulating economic growth, and job creation.  EPA will continue these successful strategies, which include:  providing technical assistance and training to states, tribes, businesses, and others on pollution prevention (P2) solutions; developing resources and tools, such as calculators and guidelines, to facilitate P2 solutions; and, further enhancing the ability of the public and the business sector to make environmentally-friendly purchasing decisions and other important choices.

Ensure Chemical Safety

Chemical safety remains one of EPA's highest priorities.  EPA employs a variety of strategies under several statutes to ensure the safety of chemicals, adequately protect against unreasonable public health or environmental risks, and foster sustainability.  These include:

   *    Acting under TSCA to ensure that new industrial and commercial chemicals do not pose unreasonable risk before they are introduced into commerce;
   *    Assessing the thousands of existing chemicals already in use before TSCA took effect and acting to reduce identified risks and to identify and promote safer alternatives;
   *    Empowering the public and other decision makers by making chemical safety information more widely available and usable;
   *    Acting under the Federal Insecticide, Rodenticide, and Fungicide Act (FIFRA) and the Endangered Species Act to ensure that pesticides are used safely and effectively; and,
   *    Developing and applying protocols to assess chemicals' potential to interact with the endocrine system.

EPA uses predictive techniques to assess the safety of new chemicals in the face of information limitations imposed by TSCA.  More daunting has been the challenge of assessing and acting where needed on the more than 60,000 existing chemicals "grandfathered" in under TSCA.  On that front, the Agency has made  considerable progress in recent years, working in cooperation with stakeholders by using all available information to put these chemicals through a prioritization methodology.  This effort  led to the identification of a set of more than 80 chemicals (TSCA "work plan" chemicals) for risk assessment.  EPA believes that these chemicals are most in need of  risk assessment and that adequate data exists to support such assessment.  The first five of these risk assessments were made available by EPA for public and peer review less than a year later.  Assessments of 23 additional chemicals -- including 20 flame retardants -- were announced in 2013.  Looking forward, EPA plans to conduct risk assessments for all of the remaining work plan chemicals, to initiate risk management actions as appropriate, and to identify a second set of work plan chemicals for subsequent priority assessment.  EPA is proposing an FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal for this effort.[4]

Recognizing the crucial role that the public, state, tribal, and local partners, institutions, and industry play in ensuring chemical safety, EPA has expanded web access to the Agency's chemical information and assessment tools, with a focus on identifying safer chemicals.  At the same time, two newly developed electronic tools will greatly improve data quality and public accessibility.  These are the Chemical Information System (CIS), which will speed the Agency's transition to electronic reporting and processing for required chemical safety information; and the interactive ChemView Portal, which will enable both internal and external users to access TSCA chemical data stored in EPA systems quickly and easily.  Planned enhancements to CIS will extend electronic reporting to nearly all required TSCA submissions and integrate the system with scientific tools, dashboards, and models used in making chemical management decisions.  In addition, EPA is working to expand the Chem View Portal to further broaden public access to TSCA chemical information and has, plans to enable faster, automated posting of non-confidential TSCA data to EPA's public websites.

EPA will make major strides in guarding against exposure to chemicals that continue to pose potential risks to human health and the environment even after their hazards have been identified and certain uses have been phased out.  For example, to continue to reduce childhood blood lead levels, EPA is working in partnership with states and tribes to certify hundreds of thousands of renovators and contractors on lead hazard management (more than 461,000 individuals certified by EPA alone and nearly 130,000 firms certified by EPA and states through April 2013).  We are also working with these partners to expand public awareness of lead risks in accordance with requirements for the use of lead-safe practices in renovation, remodeling, and painting activities in millions of older homes.[5][6]

On a broader scale, EPA is looking comprehensively across statutes to determine the best tools to apply to specific problems.  For example, the Agency is exploring how to use FIFRA and TSCA to ensure that drinking water is protected from pesticides and industrial chemicals, and that chemicals found in drinking water are being screened for endocrine disrupting properties using the authorities of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), and FIFRA.

Over the next four years, EPA will manage a comprehensive pesticide risk reduction program through science-based registration and reevaluation processes, a worker safety program, certification and training activities, and support for integrated pest management.

* EPA's current pesticide review processes focus on ensuring that pesticide registrations comply with the Endangered Species Act and achieve broader Agency objectives for water quality protection.  The review processes will continue to place emphasis on the protection of potentially sensitive populations, such as children, by reducing exposures from pesticides used in and around homes, schools, and other public areas.

* EPA's new data requirement rule for antimicrobial pesticides will ensure that pesticide risk management decisions are based on the best available science and will contribute to a more efficient and transparent registration process through increased certainty about the data requirements.  EPA's review processes ensure that pesticides can be used safely and are available for use to maintain a safe and affordable food supply, to address public health outbreaks, and to minimize property damage that can occur from insects and pests.[7]

* EPA has reviewed its agricultural worker protection regulation and its pesticide applicator certification regulation and will publish for public comment proposed changes to both.  The proposed rulemakings are designed to ensure improved pesticide worker safety standards and pesticide applicator competency standards in the coming years.

* EPA is implementing a comprehensive testing program to screen for chemicals' potential to interact with the endocrine system.[8]  In response to a recently-concluded program evaluation, EPA has developed a comprehensive management plan for the endocrine disruptor screening program, providing a clear workplan, projected milestones, and vision for developing a more efficient and effective screening and testing program through the application of computational toxicological methods.

To ensure the continued effectiveness of the various chemical programs, EPA will conduct several evaluations over the next 4 years.  In FY 2014, EPA will initiate a review of critical factors that have an impact on the effectiveness of the Agency's risk assessment efforts for TSCA work plan chemicals.  In FY 2015, the Agency will evaluate the effectiveness of recently implemented efficiencies to the registration review process to identify further enhancements and efficiencies to the process.  EPA will also conduct biennial reviews in 2015 and 2017 to determine whether the level of fees charged to the submitters of New Chemical Pre-Manufacture Notices and to the applicants for certification to perform lead renovation, repair, and painting work and lead abatement work are appropriate.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

As we look to the future, it is important to continue working together with Congress and stakeholders to modernize and strengthen the tools available under TSCA to prevent harmful chemicals from entering the marketplace and to increase confidence that those chemicals that remain are safe and do not endanger the environment or human health, especially for consumers, workers, and sensitive subpopulations like children.  Potential legislative action to reauthorize the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) is both a key external factor and a key emerging issue.  Consistent with the Administration's essential principles, EPA's authority under TSCA should be modernized and strengthened to increase confidence that chemicals used in commerce are safe and do not endanger public health and welfare.  EPA is committed to working with the Congress, members of the public, the environmental community, and industry to reauthorize TSCA.

On April 30, 2013, the National Academy of Sciences' National Research Council (NRC) released their recommendations for assessing risks from pesticides to listed species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Marine Fisheries Service are working collaboratively and expeditiously to review the report and identify improvements in the current scientific procedures used in evaluating the potential impacts of pesticides to endangered and threatened species. The federal agencies expect to develop an implementation plan within the next 90 days to provide a time line and approach for responding to the panel's recommendations and implementing the appropriated revisions to these procedures and approaches. We currently anticipate that implementation of the recommendations could take 18-24 months, which could have an impact on our progress in developing preliminary risk assessments and completing decisions for pesticides as part of the registration review program.

Finally, a number of chemical safety programs are affected by changing levels of economic activity.  For example, EPA's work in certifying firms to perform lead renovation, repair and painting work depends partly on fluctuations in the level of demand for such services, which are related in turn to economic conditions in the housing market.

Promote Pollution Prevention

The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 established national policy for the use of pollution prevention (P2) as the first choice in addressing pollution at the source.  Time and experience have added to our understanding and appreciation of the value of preventing pollution before it occurs.  Pollution prevention is central to all of EPA's sustainability strategies, and EPA will continue to incorporate P2 principles into its policies, regulations, and actions.

EPA strives to prevent pollution by fostering the development of P2 innovations and practices and promoting increased use of those approaches.  The aim of these strategies is to achieve significant reductions in the use of hazardous materials, energy, and water and in the generation of greenhouse gases, while significantly increasing the use of safer chemicals and products, and enabling businesses and governments to reduce their costs.   These strategies are key elements of EPA's approach to achieving a sustainable future.  Specific activities conducted to implement these strategies include:

   *    Fostering the development of P2 innovations:
   o Promoting green chemistry and green engineering, and developing educational curricula;
   o Establishing technical criteria for chemical alternatives assessments;
   o Participating in the development of voluntary consensus standards and other safer chemicals products criteria, including participating in international cooperative efforts;
   o Establishing greener purchasing and management practices (i.e., environmentally preferable purchasing); and
   o Incorporating P2 solutions in regulatory options or requirements.

   *    Promoting increased use of P2 innovations:
   o Providing and promoting technical assistance, such as establishing Economy, Energy and Environment (E3) Partnerships (in conjunction with the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Energy, and Labor and the Small Business Administration) or providing technical assistance on manufacturing, green sports, or other business sectors;
   o Demonstrating the benefits of P2 solutions;
   o Labeling safer products by working with key stakeholders through the Design for the Environment (DfE) program; and,
   o Leveraging the power of federal purchasing.

External Factors and Emerging Issues

The Agency's multi-media pollution prevention efforts are affected by changes in economic conditions.  Much of EPA's pollution prevention work is voluntary, so success depends in part on participation levels by industry, government agencies, and members of the public.

Applied Research

EPA chemicals research will provide the scientific foundation required to support safe, sustainable use of chemicals to promote human and environmental health, as well as to protect vulnerable species and populations.  This work includes enhancing the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program to ensure the highest quality human health assessments are produced in a timely fashion.  Innovative research will provide the tools to:

   *    Assess safety of high priority chemicals and advance our understanding of the cumulative risks that may result from multiple chemical and non-chemical stressors.
   *    Enhance chemical screening and testing approaches for priority-setting and context-relevant chemical assessment and management.
   *    Inform Agency actions and help local decision makers manage and mitigate exposures to contaminants of greatest concern.
   *    Promote innovations in "green" chemistry and "green" engineering to help encourage use of safer chemicals in commerce.
   *    Evaluate human health and ecological risks associated with new chemical substitutes designed to promote safer alternatives.
   *    Provide the systems understanding needed to adequately protect the health of children and other vulnerable groups.

EPA homeland security research helps the Agency carry out its mission to prepare for and respond to man-made disasters (e.g., terrorism, industrial accidents) and natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes, floods), leading to more resilient communities.  Specifically, EPA conducts research on:

   *    Improving the resiliency of the nation's water infrastructure to disasters.
   *    Cleanup of indoor and outdoor contamination following a disaster.
   *    Analytical methods for EPA's Environmental Response Laboratory Network that tests samples from disaster sites.

End Notes:

[1] The following links are to selected government sources that provide useful information on environmental health risks to children:
   * A Framework for Assessing Health Risk of Environmental Exposures to Children (2006)
   * Child-Specific Exposure Factors Handbook (2008)
   * Guidance on Selecting Age Groups for Monitoring and Assessing Childhood Exposures to Environmental Contaminants (2005)
   * Guide to Considering Children's Health When Developing EPA Actions: Implementing Executive Order 13045 and EPA's Policy on Evaluating Health Risks to Children (PDF) (42 pp, 728KB) (2006)
   * Policy on Evaluating Risk to Children (1995)
   * Summary Report of the Technical Workshop on Issues Associated with Considering Developmental Changes in Behavior and Anatomy When Assessing Exposure to Children (2001)
   * Supplemental Guidance for Assessing Susceptibility from Early-Life Exposure to Carcinogens (2005)
[2] Essential Principles for Reform of Chemicals Management Legislation.  Available at http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/principles.html.

[3]  The text of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA) can be found at http://www.epa.gov/p2/pubs/p2policy/act1990.htm

[4] Proposed FY 2014-2015 Agency Priority Goal:  Assess and reduce risks posed by chemicals and promote the use of safer chemicals in commerce.  By September 30, 2015, EPA will have completed more than 250 assessments of pesticides and other commercially available chemicals to evaluate risks they may pose to human health and the environment, including the potential for some of these chemicals to disrupt endocrine systems.  These assessments are essential in determining whether products containing these chemicals can be used safely for commercial, agricultural, and/or industrial uses.

[5] Information about childhood lead poisoning is available at http://www.leadfreekids.org

[6] EPA Lead-Safe Certification Program.  Available at http://www.epa.gov/lead/pubs/toolkits.htm

[7] EPA pesticides program information is available at http://www.epa.gov/pesticides.

[8] Information about the EPA Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program is available at http://www.epa.gov/scipoly/oscpendo/index.htm.

                       Goal 5:  Protecting Human Health
         and the Environment by Enforcing Laws and Assuring Compliance

Protect human health and the environment through vigorous and targeted civil and criminal enforcement.  Use Next Generation Compliance strategies and tools to improve compliance with environmental laws.
Objective:

   Enforce Environmental Laws to Achieve Compliance.  Pursue vigorous civil and criminal enforcement that targets the most serious water, air, and chemical hazards in communities to achieve compliance.   Assure strong, consistent, and effective enforcement of federal environmental laws nationwide.  Use Next Generation Compliance strategies and tools to improve compliance and reduce pollution.

   Strategic measures associated with this Goal are on pages XX through XX.

   Strategic measures associated with this Goal are on pages XX through XX.

Overview

Vigorous enforcement supports EPA's ambitious mission to protect human health and the environment.  Achieving our goals for water that is safe to drink, lakes and streams that are fishable and swimmable, air that is clean to breathe, and communities and neighborhoods that are free from chemical contamination requires both new strategies and compliance with the rules we already have.  By addressing noncompliance swiftly and effectively, state, tribal, and EPA civil and criminal enforcement cases directly reduce pollution and risk, and deter others from violating the law.

EPA is also investing in a new paradigm called "Next Generation Compliance" to improve compliance and reduce pollution.  Robust enforcement is critically important for addressing violations and promoting deterrence.  But enforcement alone will not be enough to achieve compliance results that protect public health or to assure that businesses that comply with the law do not have to compete with companies that do not play by the rules.  Next Generation Compliance takes advantage of new information and monitoring technologies to enable EPA, states, and tribes to get better compliance results, and tackle today's compliance challenges.

Enforce Environmental Laws to Achieve Compliance

Vigorous civil and criminal enforcement plays a central role in achieving the goals EPA has set for protection of health and the environment.

   *    Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality: EPA will continue to take effective actions to reduce air pollution from the largest sources, including coal-fired power plants and the cement, acid, glass, and other sectors, to improve air quality.  Enforcement to cut toxic air pollution in communities improves the health of communities, particularly communities that are disproportionately affected by pollution.  EPA will work to assure compliance by the energy extraction sector, where violations can lead to air and water impacts that pose a potential risk to human health.  EPA will also work to ensure compliance with climate change standards, including the Greenhouse Gas Reporting rules.

   *    Protecting America's Waters:  EPA has been working with states and cities to make progress on the most important water pollution problems.  The Agency will continue to focus on getting raw sewage out of water and reducing pollution from stormwater runoff, using common sense and affordable approaches to tackle the most important problems first and incorporating green infrastructure for cost-effective reduction of pollution while enhancing communities.  EPA is committed to working with communities to incorporate green infrastructure, such as green roofs, rain gardens, and permeable pavement, into permitting and enforcement actions to reduce stormwater pollution and sewer overflows where applicable.  The enforcement program is also working to address pollution from animal waste, helping to clean up large aquatic ecosystems ("Great Waters") like the Chesapeake Bay, and assisting in revitalizing urban communities by protecting urban waters.  Enforcement will also support the goal of assuring safe drinking water for all communities, including in Indian country, and improve the quality of Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) data reported by states to ensure compliance.[1]

   *    Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development:  EPA protects communities by requiring responsible parties to conduct cleanups, saving federal dollars for sites where there are no other alternatives.  Aggressively pursuing these parties to clean up sites ultimately reduces direct human exposures to hazardous pollutants and contaminants, provides for long-term human health protection, and makes contaminated properties available for reuse.

   *    Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution:  Reforming chemical management and reducing exposure to pesticides and other toxics will help protect human health.  Enforcement reduces direct human exposures to toxic chemicals and pesticides and supports long-term human health protection.