Findings and Recommendations - Science For Environmental Protection: The Road Ahead - page 174

 Strike a balance between inhouse and extramural research investment.
The latter can often bring new ideas and methods to the agency, stimulate a flow
of new people into it, and support the continued health of environmental re-
search in the nation.
In the present climate of tight federal budgets, EPA faces the challenge of how
to set priorities and achieve as many of these research objectives as it can within
a limited budget that, in some cases, is shrinking in real terms.
The committee has examined the agency's capacity to obtain and apply
the best new scientific and technologic tools to meet current and future chal-
lenges. For 4 decades, EPA has been a national and world leader in addressing
the scientific and engineering challenges of protecting the environment and hu-
man health. The agency's multidisciplinary science workforce of 6,000 is bol-
stered by strong ties to academic research institutions and science advisers rep-
resenting many sectors of the scientific community. A highly competitive
fellowship program also provides a pipeline for future environmental science
and engineering leaders and enables the agency to attract graduates who have
state-of-the-art training.
Thus, the foundation of EPA science is strong. However, the agency needs
to successfully address numerous present and future challenges if it is to main-
tain science leadership and meet its expanding mandates. There is a pressing
need to groom tomorrow's leaders and prepare for the retirement of large num-
bers of senior scientists (some of whom have been with the agency since it was
created in 1970). As this report has underscored, there is an increased recogni-
tion of the need for cross-disciplinary training and the expansion of the science
base to strengthen capacity in social and information sciences. In addition, EPA
will continue to need leadership in the traditional core subjects, including, but
not limited to, statistics, chemistry, economics, environmental engineering,
ecology, toxicology, epidemiology, exposure science, and risk assessment.
EPA's future success will depend on its capacity to address long-standing envi-
ronmental problems, to recognize and respond to emerging challenges, to de-
velop solutions, and to meet the scientific needs of policy-makers.
Figure 6-1 presents the committee's approach for addressing science for
EPA's future. The following sections elaborate on the issues described above
and bring together the principal findings and recommendations detailed
throughout the report. In assessing the scientific opportunities and needs that the
agency faces, the committee did not consider it appropriate to prioritize where
EPA should invest its limited resources. Such an exercise will require detailed
internal EPA deliberations and administrative guidance. Instead, the committee
has focused on the statement of task, which asked for an assessment of EPA's
capabilities to develop, obtain, and use new science and technologic information
to meet persistent, emerging, and future challenges.
Most of the committee's recommendations, which are discussed in Chap-
ters 4 and 5 and summarized in the sections below, are broad and are intended to
help EPA enhance its ability to address environmental problems and their solu-