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CONTAMINATED SITES MULTI-YEAR PLAN
Citation:
Impact/Purpose:
The Office of Research and Development (ORD) has initiated a multi-year planning effort to plan the direction of our research program in selected topic areas over five or more years. This approach promotes ORD's focus on the highest priority issues and provides coordination for achieving our long-term research goals. The focus of this effort is the development of Multi-Year Plans (MYPs).
The purpose of the MYPs is to provide a framework that integrates research across ORD's laboratories and centers and Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) goals in support of the Agency's mission to protect human health and the environment. The MYPs identify long-term goals, and present annual performance goals (APGs) and associated annual performance measures (APMs) for a planning window of approximately 5-10 years. By helping to identify the impact of potential annual planning decisions, MYPs aid in the evaluation of research options. MYPs also foster the integration of strategic risk-based environmental protection and anticipation of future environmental issues by communicating our research approach and timing for responding to environmental issues. MYPs are intended to be living documents and are updated as needed to reflect the current state of the science, resource availability, and Agency priorities.
MYPs include two major components: (1) a narrative description of the plan, and (2) a matrix of goals and measures. The narrative provides an introduction and background to the topic of the plan, describes the long-term goals, provides the logic/thinking used to array performance goals to achieve long-term goals, and describes the integration between goals and organizations. The matrix is used to indicate annual goals and measures needed to meet the long-term goals identified in the plan. These goals and measures are arrayed across time (i.e., fiscal years) and laboratories/centers and are based on total annual resource levels for the MYP topic area that will not exceed the resource level proposed in the most recent President's Budget.
Description:
EPA will continue to improve and demonstrate its capability to assess environmental conditions and determine the relative risks that contaminated land poses to health and the environment. The Agency will ensure that the environmental data it collects is of known, documented, and acceptable quality by implementing necessary field and lab procedures, practices, and controls. We will continue integrating technological advances to enhance our site maintenance of existing remedies. In addition, EPA will continue to coordinate with other agencies to identify and communicate program research priorities. The Contaminated Sites MYP describes ORD problem-driven research supporting three Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) trust fund programs for which research is authorized: Superfund (SF), Leaking Underground Storage Tank Corrective Action (LUST CA) and the Oil Spills Program. Contaminated Sites research is aligned in four long-term goals, with three of the goals based on the affected medium--sediment, ground water, and soil/land--and one goal for cross-cutting issues: 1. By 2010 improve the range and scientific foundation for contaminated sediment remedy selection options by improving risk characterization, site characterization and increasing understanding of different remedial options, in order to optimize the protectiveness to the environment and human health and the cost-effectiveness of remedial decisions. Research to address this goal is presented in themes of site characterization and human and ecological risk assessment; human exposure pathways; and risk management. 2. By 2010, ORD will provide documented performance and cost information for at least 8 alternatives to pump and treat remedies and at least 6 tools for characterization and assessment that the Program Office can incorporate in guidance and that regions/states can apply in decision-making for sites in the clean-up programs. Ground water research is focused on DNAPLs, inorganics; fuels from leaking USTs; and complex hydrogeology/transport paths. 3. By 2010, 25 tools and methods will be provided that will allow the Agency to accurately and efficiently assess, remediate, and manage the soil and land in a healthy, productive, and sustainable state. Research themes include sampling and analysis for inorganic and organic contaminants; contaminant exposure; and containment/remediation/land management. 4. By 2010, provide 40 scientific tools, methods, and models, as well as technical support necessary to (1) characterize the nature and extent of multi-media site contamination; (2) assess, predict, and communicate risks to human health and the environment; (3) evaluate innovative characterization and remediation options; and (4) develop testing protocols, risk management strategies, and identify fate and effects of oil spills. Themes addressed in this goal are oil spills, technical support, SITE, exposure assessment, and toxicity assessment.