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Where the rubber meets the road: What is needed to sustainably manage reactive nitrogen in the United States?
Citation:
Compton, J., O. Doering, J. Galloway, Steve Jordan, W. Moomaw, A. Rea, D. Sobota, AND T. Theis. Where the rubber meets the road: What is needed to sustainably manage reactive nitrogen in the United States? Presented at A Conference on Ecosystem Services, December 10 - 14, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
In 2011, the EPA Science Advisory Board’s (SAB) Integrated Nitrogen Committee released the report “Reactive Nitrogen in the United States: An Analysis of Inputs, Flows, Consequences, and Management Options.” The SAB made several research and management recommendations based on their analysis, indicating that the adoption of their recommendations could decrease the amount of reactive N inputs to atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic systems in the United States by 25% as an initial step to address the issues of excess N. In this presentation, EPA staff and leading environmental science, economic and policy researchers work together to outline the needed steps toward implementing these recommendations. We link flows of reactive N through the N cascade to the relevant local, state, and federal agencies with programs in place to manage reactive N. We discuss the possible policy levers and responsibilities for addressing and implementing the SAB recommendations.
Description:
Reactive nitrogen (N) is essential for food, fuel and fiber production of a growing human population. Intensification of reactive N (defined as any N compound other than N2) release to the environment, however, has resulted in important and mounting impacts on human health and essential ecosystem services such as the provision of clean air and water, recreation, fisheries, climate and UV regulation, aesthetics and biodiversity. In 2011, the EPA Science Advisory Board’s (SAB) Integrated Nitrogen Committee released the report “Reactive Nitrogen in the United States: An Analysis of Inputs, Flows, Consequences, and Management Options.” The SAB made several research and management recommendations based on their analysis, indicating that the adoption of their recommendations could decrease the amount of reactive N inputs to atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic systems in the United States by 25% as an initial step to address the issues of excess N. In this presentation, we link flows of reactive N through the N cascade to the relevant local, state, and federal agencies with programs in place to manage reactive N. Generation of air quality standards and water quality criteria for reactive N is under EPA’s purview, but the responsibilities for management of many sources and fluxes of N are less clear. Agricultural N inputs, the largest source of N to the national landscape, are managed largely though volunteer USDA and local outreach programs that focus on reducing reactive N losses from the crop-soil system. Responsibility for monitoring and managing N losses to the environment falls to a collection of government agencies (e.g., USDA, USGS, NOAA, EPA, states, tribes and municipalities) and non-governmental organizations (e.g., watershed councils and non-profit foundations). However, communication among these entities can be uneven and the spatial and temporal scales of reporting among groups are usually not consistent. Additionally, we no