K. Bruce Jones EPA Office of Research and Development U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board Regional Vulnerability Assessment Advisory Panel Meeting October, 2004 K. Bruce Jones EPA Office of Research and Development U.S. EPA Science Advisory Board Regional Vulnerability Assessment Advisory Panel Meeting October, 2004 ReVA Program within the EPA Office of Research and Development

Ecological Research in ORD One Primary Framework … Risk Assessment Three Strategic Plans  Ecological Research Multi-year Plan  EPA Strategic Plan  2001 EPA/ORD Research Plan Two Major Programs - EMAP - ReVA

EPA Uses Risk Assessment to Evaluate and Protect Human Health and the Environment ReVA is an important framework for conducting comprehensive risk assessments

ReVA, Risk Assessment, and Other Programs Monitoring to establish status and trends Association analyses to suggest probable cause where degradation is observed Prioritization of the role of individual stressors as they affect cumulative impacts and risk of future degradation Analysis of trade-offs associated with future policy decisions and development plans Development of strategies to restore areas and reduce risk Important stressors identified Monitoring data used to develop exposure models Suggest new indicators Suggest improvements to monitoring design and indicators Opportunities for regional risk reduction associated with local restoration. Evaluate success in improving decision-making EMAP ReVA Restoration/ Risk Mgmt. Condition, biophysical, and stressor data from other programs Models From Other Programs Integrated Assessment Methods Data for model development Optimization Strategies

ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH MULTI-YEAR PLAN Diagnosis Condition of Streams, Estuaries and Landscapes Restoration Forecasting Assessment DESIRED ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITION Assessment

Examples of Key Elements from the EPA 2003 Strategic Plan that ReVA will Enhance Improving accountability: Assessing the state of the environment Strengthening partnerships Enhancing risk assessment approaches Enhancing science and research to:  Determine implications and consequences of global change

 Improve TMDL and impaired water body assessments and targeting  Sustain, clean-up, and restore communities and the ecological systems that support them  Protect, sustain, and restore the health of natural habitats and ecosystems  Identify and help promote sustainable practices at multiple scales Enhance environmental results through the improved use of quality environmental information by Decision Makers and the Public … environmental data, indicators, and tools

From the 2001 ORD Research Strategy Important issues and needs identified by clients and stakeholders :  “The complexity of emerging environmental issues will place a premium on integrated, multimedia, multidisciplinary research”  “Expand our understanding of environmental research so that the findings of economics, sociology, psychology and other social sciences can be incorporated into decision-making”  “New arrangements among EPA and individual citizens, states, tribes, industry, and other organizations must be developed”