During the past decade, a new emphasis on innovation has changed the way U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) thinks and operates, leading to real environmental improvements and real reductions in costs. Regulatory programs are still the essential core of our environmental system, but innovation has provided new tools to meet future demands. EPA has embraced innovation out of necessity. We have a strong legacy of environmental improvement, but important changes are taking place around us. Issues like global warming and loss of biological diversity present challenges potentially more difficult than any we've faced before. Our economy is shifting from an industrial base to one of service and knowledge, opening the door to a world of e-commerce, global trade, and new biotechnologies. States, local governments, and Native American tribes are expanding their capabilities. Some businesses are preventing pollution and doing more than the law requires, because they see advantages in cleaner facilities and products that are more environmentally sound. And the American people are demanding a stronger role in environmental decisions. By the early 1990s, it was clear that we had to adapt, improve, and expand the diversity of our environmental strategies. Bolstered by the Clinton-Gore Administration's commitment to reinvent government, EPA set out to find more flexible, cost-effective, and common sense ways to protect public health and the environment. Through innovation, EPA has made significant improvements that will benefit America today and in the years to come.

"EPA/100-R-00-020." "April 2000." "Available online: www.epa.gov/opei."