A new report from the National Research Council presents a framework for incorporating sustainability into the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s principles and decision making. The framework, which was requested by EPA, is intended to help the agency better assess the social, environmental, and economic impacts of various options as it makes decisions. The report is available for free as a pdf from the National Academies Press.
Contact Information: Science and Technology for Sustainabillity Program The National Academies 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001 Tel: (202) 334-2047 Email: Sustainability@nas.edu
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) has been working to create programs and examining applications in a variety of areas in order to better incorporate sustainability. To further strengthen the analytic and scientific basis for sustainability as it applies to human health and environmental protection, an ad hoc committee under the Science and Technology for Sustainability Program (STS) will conduct a study and prepare a report that will answer the following questions.
·What should be the operational framework for sustainability for EPA?
·How can the EPA decision-making process rooted in the risk assessment/risk management (RA/RM) paradigm be integrated into this new Sustainability Framework?
·What scientific and analytical tools are needed to support the framework?
·What expertise is needed to support the framework?
Marian Koshland Science Museum Corner of 6th and E Street NW, Washington, DC November 30, 2010
Remarks: Ralph J. Cicerone, President, National Academy of Sciences Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Bernard D. Goldstein, University of Pittsburgh, Chair, Ad hoc Committee, Incorporating Sustainability in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
