Using Emerging Science and Technologies to Address Persistent and Future Environmental Challenges - Science For Environmental Protection: The Road Ahead - page 40

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Using Emerging Science and
Technologies to Address Persistent
and Future Environmental Challenges
Chapter 2 discussed some of the broad drivers and challenges that are in-
herent to the mission of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today
and in the future. Remarkable progress has been made in the last several decades
in the development of new scientific approaches, tools, and technologies rele-
vant to addressing those challenges. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight
new and changing science and technologies that are or will be increasingly im-
portant for science-informed policy and regulation in EPA.
New tools and technologies can substantially improve the scientific basis
of environmental policy and regulations, but it is important to remember that
many of the tools and technologies need to build on and enhance the current
foundation of environmental science and engineering in the United States. In
addition, addressing the complex “wicked problems” facing EPA today and in
the future requires not only new science and technology but a more deliberate
approach to systems thinking, for example, by using frameworks that strive to
integrate a broader array of interactions between humans and the environment.
From the perspective of scientific advances relevant to the future of EPA, it will
be increasingly important that all aspects of biologic sciences and environmental
sciences and engineering—including human health risk assessment, microbial
pathogenesis, ecosystem energy and matter transfers, and ecologic adaptation to
climate change—be considered in an integrated systems-biology approach. That
approach must also be integrated with considerations of environmental, social,
behavioral, and economic impacts.
A SIMPLE PARADIGM FOR DATA-DRIVEN, SCIENCE-INFORMED
DECISIONS IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
New scientific advances, including the development and application of
new tools and technologies, are critical for the science mission of EPA. Effec-
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