In accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) mission to minimize risks to human health and to safeguard ecological integrity, the EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) is committed to assessing and mitigating any risk posed by biotechnology-derived crops. Consequently, the Biotechnology Initiative Steering Committee prepared this plan to guide the implementation of an integrated Biotechnology Research Program. This plan was formulated with the goal of improving the science needed to inform Agency decisions about the risk and safety of the products of biotechnology.