EPA’s STAR Grants Program Presentation for CFARE/NAAEA Preconference Montreal, CA July 26,2003 Will Wheeler U.S. EPA, ORD/NCER

Overview Basics at EPA Research Strategy & associated RFAs Grants process Tips for success

STAR Grants Science to Achieve Results: grants and fellowships –Open competitions and peer review National Center for Environmental Research (NCER) –Part of Office of Research & Development – –Announcements:

EPA Offices Involved Other offices assist with planning, solicitations, and reviewing grants National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) –Part of Office of Policy, Economics, & Innovation –Coordinate research activities –Home page: –Announcements list:

Other EPA Offices Rest of ORD –Four other labs and centers –Coordinate research programs Most other offices have some involvement –Clients –Media Offices (Water, Air, Solid Waste, Pesticides & Toxics) –Chief Financial Officer, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Environmental Information –Regional Offices

Economics Solicitations Request for Applications (RFAs) Several subject areas per year –Valuation for Environmental Policy –Market Mechanisms and Incentives –Corporate Environmental Behavior –Other occasional solicitations Each subject area runs a few years/takes a break

Decision Sciences Component of (former) Decision- Making and Valuation RFA –Joint with National Science Foundation –Topic areas split Under review at National Academy of Sciences (due April 2004) Will not resume before review

Economics Research Strategy Will define areas of focus for economics research at EPA Interviews with 21 offices Currently at Science Advisory Board for peer review Available at

Strategy—Next Steps State of the Science Reports to identify key research gaps Plan internal and external research NCER will produce multi-year plan for future RFAs –Specific topics within each broad area –Long-term questions –Practical and “pure” research

Strategy Priorites Ecological and Health Valuation Environmental (Compliance) Behavior and Decision-making Market Mechanisms and Incentives Benefits of Environmental Information Disclosure

Valuation Valuation for Environmental Policy RFA (January) Merger of two previous solicitations –Decision-Making and Valuation –Valuation of Children’s Health Ecological and Human Health both came out high

Valuation Directions Human Health Valuation –Morbidity, children’s health, mortality Ecological Valuation Two focus areas –Widely applicable or transferable values Use of indicators –Improving accuracy of benefit transfer

Market Mechanisms and Incentives Market Mechanisms and Incentives RFA (planned March, opened July, closes October 22) Trading in practice and trading in new contexts Apply lessons learned from existing markets to new or redesigned markets

Environmental Behavior Corporate Environmental Behavior RFA (planned July, probably October) Surprise” of strategy How entities make process, disposal, and location decisions Perceptions of costs Reactions to interventions (voluntary and information programs)

Benefits of Information Disclosure Proposed new RFA Examine benefits of information disclosure rules such as Toxics Release Inventory, Consumer Confidence Reports

Grants Process Write solicitation Announced on NCEE & NCER web pages and lists, RESECON Three levels of review –(External) Peer Review –(Internal) Programmatic Review –(Internal) NCER Director

Peer Review Interdisciplinary panel of external reviewers Evaluate –Originality and creativity of proposal –Qualifications of PI(s) –Availability/adequacy of equipment –Responsiveness of proposal –Appropriateness/adequacy of budget Five-point scale: “very good” or “excellent” proposals move to relevancy review

Relevancy Review Interdisciplinary panel of EPA economists and other scientists NCEE, ORD (not NCER), media programs and other offices,Regions participate Evaluate relevance to program priorities

NCER Director Final decision Inputs: –Reviews –Portfolio—research gaps –Priorities (plan, Administrator) –Available budget (how much?)

Tips for Success--General Average success rate of 12%-15% –Depends on solicitation and funding Fund about half of proposals that pass peer review DON’T CRAM –Solicitations are open for 3+ months –Research plan will be on website –Look at previous solicitations and abstracts of successful proposals

Tips for Success—Process Follow instructions (NCER’s Guidance page) and read FAQs – Six characteristics of successful proposals –Responsiveness, scale, simplicity, clarity, knowledge of the subject matter, appropriate expertise

Six Characteristics (1) Responsive Scale –Budget within maximum –Appropriate scale and complexity Simplicity –Focus on approximately one to three research objectives

Six Characteristics (2) Clarity –Explicitly state hypotheses, data, and analytic (econometric) tools –Focused, not vague Knowledge of the subject matter –Be up-to-date Appropriate expertise