Enhanced Scientific Leadership and Capacity in the US Environmental Protection Agency - Science For Environmental Protection: The Road Ahead - page 152

with the tools and support described above. Even with the full support of the
administrator and senior staff, the effort will fail if the need to improve the use
of science in EPA is not accepted by staff at all levels.
REALIGNMENT OF THE OFFICE OF
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
ORD often sets the stage for research and scientific assessment efforts
throughout EPA. In 2011, the deputy administrator for ORD, Paul Anastas, an-
nounced a restructuring of the office in response to growing scientific challenges
and recommendations from the agency's scientific advisers. The SAB called for
integrated transdisciplinary research at ORD, stating that “it will be essential for
EPA as a whole, and not just ORD alone, to adopt a systems approach to re-
search planning. It will also be essential to plan and conduct research in new,
integrated, and cross-discipline ways to support this systems approach” (EPA
SAB 2010). The ORD restructuring aims to
 Align ORD's research with the agency's strategic goals.
 Reorient ORD's research to be guided by the concept of sustainability.
 Promote systems thinking and innovation.
 Couple excellence in problem assessment with excellence in solving
problems.
 Encourage integrated, transdisciplinary research among ORD labs and
through external funding.
The realignment consolidates 13 previous research sectors into four cross-
cutting sectors of research and two overarching sectors, as shown in Table 5-1.
In October 2011, SAB and ORD's Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC)
published a review of ORD's structure (EPA SAB/BOSC 2011). SAB and
BOSC noted the “impressive increase in transdisciplinary collaboration as well
as coordination across ORD programs with the restructuring.” They also made
note of ORD efforts to think about innovation operationally as a fundamental
aspect of ORD research. SAB and BOSC gave ORD particular credit for having
involved regional and program offices in designing the realignment and for giv-
ing serious consideration to ways of encouraging creativity among ORD scien-
tists and engineers (EPA SAB/BOSC 2011).
Several key conclusions emerged from the SAB and BOSC review, in-
cluding suggestions that
 EPA ensure that financial and staff resources are adequate to imple-
ment the restructuring and are secured to sustain the communication, stake-
holder involvement, and integrated transdisciplinary collaboration that will be
essential for its success.