This document summarizes federal funding for environmental research and development by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 2014. It outlines the EPA's six major research areas and budgets for each. In 2014, the EPA's total budget for environmental research was $555 million. The largest shares went to research related to sustainable and healthy communities ($155 million), chemical safety and sustainability ($131 million), and safe and sustainable water resources ($111 million). The document provides details on the goals and programs within each research area.

1. FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 2014
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FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT BY THE
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 2014
Prepared by Peter Saundry, Ph.D. for the COUNCIL OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEANS AND DIRECTORS,
AND THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE AFFILIATE PROGRAM OCTOBER 2014
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

2. FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 2014
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3. FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 2014
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Contents
Foreword ............................................................................................. 4
Summary ............................................................................................. 5
1. Air, Climate, and Energy ($95 million) ............................................. 7
2. Chemical Safety for Sustainability ($131 million) ............................. 9
3. Homeland Security ($38 million) .................................................... 11
4. Safe & Sustainable Water Resources ($111 million) ...................... 12
5. Sustainable & Healthy Communities ($155 million) ........................ 14
6. Superfund ($19 million) .................................................................. 16

4. FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 2014
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T
Foreword
he National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE) is pleased to acknowledge and express its deep appreciation to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program has provided the budget analysis behind this report for the past fifteen years, first under Kei Koizumi and, in recent years, under Patrick Clemins and now Matthew Hourihan.
AAAS drew the data for this report from White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) R&D data, Budget of the United States Government and from agency and historical data. Yearly values are adjusted for inflation using OMB's GDP deflators. Nominal values are unadjusted. FY 2013 are estimates adjusted for the full-year continuing resolution and sequestration. The text of this report is largely drawn directly from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) budget justification to Congress,1 from EPA agency web sites, and to a lesser degree, from other EPA resources.
The definition of Environmental R&D used in this report includes environmental physical, life, and social sciences; environmental engineering; energy-related fields; environmental data and information; and studies that utilize any or all of the above to address pollution problems or activities that impair the sustained functioning and productivity of the earth’s environment.
We have made no effort to analyze activities by specific “fields of science” or “scientific disciplines.”
Because terms such as “environmental science” and even “research” and “development” have imprecise definitions, estimates of federal funding for environmental R&D must be considered approximations. That is not to say the data and descriptions of particular programs are not accurate, rather that definitions are important in deciding which programs and projects to include in the analysis. We have attempted to maintain consistency over the past fourteen years in order to identify trends.
The budget of the federal government and the activities of its agencies are subject to change — sometimes significant change at short notice. We again encourage readers to explore the websites and documents of the respective agencies and programs for the latest information.
1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency FY 2015 Budget - http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget/fy2015

5. FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 2014
FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 2014 5
T
Summary
he Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)2 administers over a dozen major environmental laws, including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Solid Waste Disposal Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Superfund, Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Implementation of these laws provides EPA with an overarching mission to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment.
The Office of Research and Development (ORD) is the principal scientific and research arm of the EPA. ORD’s Strategic Plan describes its approach to fulfilling a mission to conduct leading-edge research and foster the sound use of science and technology to fulfill EPA’s mission to protect human health and safeguard the natural environment. This mission commits ORD to conduct its research in a way that will have a direct and meaningful impact on EPA’s decisions and programs.
Figure 1. Environmental R&D at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (budget authority in millions of dollars)
The Office of Research and Development has six major research areas which are reflected in Table 1 and in the narrative budget. EPA also conducts R&D in support of the responsibilities for the Superfund program to clean up the nation’s uncontrolled hazardous waste sites. Finally, EPA has a modest oil spill research program. These programs map onto five agency goals:
2. Environmental Protection Agency website - http://www.epa.gov/

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1. Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality
2. Protecting America's Waters
3. Cleaning Up Communities and Advancing Sustainable Development
4. Ensuring the Safety of Chemicals and Preventing Pollution
5. Protecting Human Health and the Environment by Enforcing Laws and Assuring Compliance
Approximately three quarters of EPA’s R&D is implemented intramurally or through federally funded research and development centers. ORD’s laboratories, centers and offices are:
 National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT)
 National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA)
 National Center for Environmental Research (NCER)
 National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL)
 National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (NHEERL)
 National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC)
 National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL)
 Office of the Science Advisor (OSA)
 Office of Science Policy (OSP)
The remaining quarter of EPA’s R&D is conducted by extramural partners.
Table 1. Environmental R&D at the Environmental Protection Agency (budget authority in millions of dollars)
EPA R&D by Account:
FY 2012 Actual
FY 2013 Actual
FY 2014 Estimate
Change FY 12-13 Percent
Science and Technology1
572
510
534
4.8% Air, Climate, and Energy 104 87 95 9.0%
Chemical Safety and Sustainability
136
123
131
6.3% Homeland Security 39 39 38 -1.4%
Safe & Sustainable Water Resources
114
106
111
4.5% Sustainable & Healthy Communities 174 155 155 0.2%
Congressional Projects (All Goals)
5
0
4
- - Superfund 23 22 19 -11.4%
Oil Spill Response
1
1
1
16.7% ____ ____ ____
TOTAL
596
533
555
4.1%
1 Excludes transfers from Superfund (see Superfund line).

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1. Air, Climate, and Energy ($95 million)
Air, Climate, and Energy (ACE) research3 supports EPA’s programs mandated by the Clean Air Act (CAA). Research examines the interplay between air pollution, climate change, and the dynamic energy sector to develop innovative and sustainable solutions for improving air quality and taking action on climate change. Three research themes provide a framework for ACE:
1. Assess Impacts: Assess human and ecosystem exposures and effects associated with air pollutants and climate change at individual, community, regional, and global scales.
2. Prevent and Reduce Emissions: Provide data and tools to develop and evaluate approaches to prevent and reduce emissions of pollutants to the atmosphere, particularly environmentally sustainable, cost-effective, and innovative multi-pollutant and sector-based approaches.
3. Respond to Changes in Climate and Air Quality: Provide human exposure and environmental modeling, monitoring, metrics, and information needed by individuals, communities, and governmental agencies to adapt to the impacts of climate change and make public health decisions regarding air quality.
ACE research programs are:
1.1 Air Quality, which includes:
a. Indoor air quality, including mold problems and the balance between energy-saving measures and indoor air quality.
b. Impacts of current and emerging energy options on air quality, with particular emphasis on biomass.
c. Impact of climate change on ground-level air pollutants.
d. Solutions for existing or emerging halogenated solvents used in industry.
e. Health and Air Quality, for which role of common air pollutants in the development and exacerbation of asthma at different life stages is of particular interest.
f. Ecosystems and Air Quality, which includes research to address the ecological impacts of air pollutants and to support the secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).
1.2 Air Pollution Research, which includes:
a. Impacts of multiple pollutants together.
b. Toxins emitted from highway vehicles and non-road equipment.
c. Emissions from transportation sources.
d. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks.
e. Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program for emissions from individual facilities.
3. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air, Climate, and Energy Strategic Research Action Plan 2012-2016 - http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-06/documents/strap-ace2012.pdf

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1.3 Air Tools and Technology, which includes:
a. Models, databases, and tools for air quality.
b. Greenhouse gases and other air pollutants from freight transport, including the SmartWay Technology Program.
c. Atmospheric modeling and analysis research to assess changes in air quality and air pollutant exposures as affected by changes in ecosystem management and regulatory decisions.
1.4 Emerging technologies, such as satellites and sensor technologies, which could be used to enhance air quality monitoring and measurement.
1.5 Climate Change Research, which occurs in:
a. Climate change and air quality.
b. Health and climate change.
c. Climate change research methods, models, tools, and databases.
d. Climate adaptation and mitigation.
e. Ecosystems and climate change.
f. Energy and climate change.
g. Extreme events grants.
h. Global change grants.

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2. Chemical Safety for Sustainability ($131 million)
The Chemical Safety for Sustainability (CSS)4 research program advances EPA’s priority “Assuring the Safety of Chemicals” (EPA, 2010). The CSS research program uses novel research approaches to address the risks posed by chemicals in industrial and commercial use, as well as risks posed by these chemicals as they degrade or pass through the environment. There are three research goals:
1. Developing the scientific knowledge, tools, and models needed to conduct integrated, timely, and efficient chemical evaluation strategies.
2. Improving methods for assessment and informing management for chemical safety and sustainability.
3. Providing targeted high-priority research solutions for immediate and focused attention.
CSS includes research in:
2.1 Chemical Exposure and Cumulative Risk, which includes:
a. Computational Toxicology (CompTox), which conducts research that integrates molecular biology, chemistry, and computer science to identify important biological processes that may be disrupted by chemicals and trace those biological disruptions to related dose and human exposure to chemicals. EPA’s National Center for Computational Technology is the largest component of EPA’s Computational Toxicology Research Program.
b. Chemical exposure and health effects.
c. Chemical life cycle.
d. Chemical exposure and ecological effects.
e. Perfluorinated chemicals.
f. Pharmaceuticals.
g. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PBCs; also 2.4).
2.2 Nanomaterials/Nanotechnology, which focuses on the most prevalent nanomaterials that have implications for human and environmental health. This research is presently focused on developing a scientific foundation to better understand, predict, and manage the challenges of engineered nanomaterials.
a. Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs; also 5.3), which focuses on:
b. Human health, such as early-life exposure to EDCs and lifetime health; effects on reproductive system development; effects on neurological development; and non-monotonic dose response curves research.
c. Testing and prioritizing chemicals for endocrine disruption.
d. Ecosystems and environment research, which studies EDCs in wastewater, surface water, groundwater, drinking water, air, and soil. EPA is studying the ecological effects that could
4 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Chemical Safety for Sustainability Strategic Research Action Plan 2012-
2016 - http://epa.gov/research/docs/css-strap.pdf

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result from exposure to one or more of these substances and investigating ways to manage risks.
EPA has extramural funding and collaboration opportunities in this area.
2.3 Human Health, for which research focuses on the important biological processes involved with adverse outcomes and on improving methods that will better assess the impacts of chemical exposure to human health. Research focuses on populations of greatest protection, including children. This includes:
a. Human health risk assessment, by which estimates of the nature and probability of adverse health effects in humans who may be exposed to chemicals in contaminated environmental media are developed (also 5.4).
b. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in schools.
c. Stochastic Human Exposure and Dose Simulation (SHEDS) Model, which estimates the range of total chemical exposures in a population from different exposure pathways (e.g., inhalation, skin contact, dietary and non-dietary ingestion) over different time periods, given a set of demographic characteristics.
d. Virtual Embryo Research Project, which conducts studies to develop prediction techniques to improve understanding of how environmental influences may impact unborn children.
2.4 Pesticides, for which research supports EPA’s responsibility to register or license pesticides for use in the United States under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Research is conducted under the ToxCast Research Program,5 developed by the National Center for Computational Toxicology (NCCT), to develop cost-effective, innovative approaches to rapidly screen and prioritize many chemicals for further toxicological testing.
5. ToxCast Program - http://www.epa.gov/ncct/toxcast

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3. Homeland Security ($38 million)
Following the terrorist events of September 11, 2001 and the mailing of anthrax contaminated letters later that year, EPA's mission broadened to include protecting human health and the environment from the effects of biological, chemical, and radiological contamination (CBR) due to homeland security events. EPA produced the Strategic Plan for Homeland Security6 in order to identify the specific actions needed to handle its expanded mission to prevent, prepare for, and recover from terrorist threats and incidents.
Research is conducted in four areas:
1. Clean Air and Global Climate Change aims to minimize impacts to human health and the environment should unwanted releases of radiation occur.
2. Clean and Safe Water aims to protect human health by reducing exposure to contaminants in drinking water (including protecting source waters), in fish and shellfish, and in recreational waters. Research supports EPA’s strategy for ensuring safe drinking water and includes strengthening the security of water systems.
3. Land Preservation and Restoration aims to control risks to human health and the environment by mitigating the impact of accidental or intentional releases resulting in contaminated land and by cleaning up and restoring contaminated sites or properties to appropriate levels.
4. Healthy Communities and Ecosystems supports EPA efforts to identify, better understand, and prevent potential risks from accidental chemical releases. Research focuses on the best available scientific information, models, methods, and analyses to support Agency guidance and policy decisions related to the health of people, communities, and ecosystems.
Research highlighted includes:
 Threat and consequence assessment research.
 Water infrastructure protection research.
 Decontamination and consequence management.
6. EPA Strategic Plan for Homeland Security - http://www.epa.gov/ohsporta/ohsportal/strategicplan.htm

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4. Safe & Sustainable Water Resources ($111 million)
EPA’s Safe and Sustainable Water Resources research program7 provides the science and innovative technologies that the Agency and nation need to maintain drinking water resources and systems as well as protect the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation’s waters. It uses an integrated, systems approach to support the availability of the clean, adequate, and equitable water supplies necessary for human well-being and resilient aquatic ecosystems. Research is framed under two themes:
1. Sustainable Water Resources: Ensure safe and sustainable water quality and availability to protect human and ecosystem health by integrating social, economic, and environmental research for use in protecting and restoring water resources and their designated uses (e.g., drinking water, aquatic life, recreation, industrial processes, etc.) on a watershed scale.
2. Sustainable Water Infrastructure Systems: Ensure the sustainability of critical water resources using systems-integrated water resource management in which the natural, green, and built water infrastructure is capable of producing, storing and delivering safe and high- quality drinking water, as well as providing transport and use-specific treatment of wastewater and storm water.
Research is carried out in the seven following areas:
4.1 Water and Climate, which focuses on:
a. Modeling climate-related water resource stressors, such as nutrient pollution.
b. Analyzing biological indicators (e.g. microbial) and habitat indicators (e.g. hydrologic alteration) to determine the condition of watersheds.
c. Determining how climate change affects water quality, flow patterns, and flooding risk.
d. Understanding estuarine and coastal vulnerabilities to climate-related factors.
e. Designing predictive tools for improved land use management and water utility practices.
f. Developing adaptation strategies, including economic, social, and ecological approaches, to meet climate-related challenges.
4.2 Water and Energy, which focuses on safeguarding water resources from unintended impacts of energy and mineral exploration and energy efficient technologies that optimize resource recovery at drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities.
4.3 Protecting Watersheds, for which research is underway to:
a. Assess the condition of aquatic ecosystems.
b. Obtain a complete understanding of watershed processes.
c. Quantify the social, economic, and environmental costs of water quality degradation.
d. Establish new approaches to identify, assess, and prioritize contaminant risks.
e. Develop new approaches to minimize the impacts of these contaminants on water resources.
f. Consider the impacts of climate change, increased population, and changing human demographics on watersheds.
7. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, , Safe and Sustainable Water Resources Strategic Research Action Plan 2012- 2016 - http://www2.epa.gov/epa-research/safe-and-sustainable-water-resources-strategic-research-action-plan-2012-2016

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4.4 Sustainable Water Infrastructure, for which research focuses on:
a. Developing predictive modeling tools for new infrastructure technologies.
b. Creating decision support tools that include economic and public health considerations while comparing water infrastructure approaches.
c. Exploring innovative techniques to increase water treatment efficiency.
d. Ensuring public health protection from distribution and storage system contaminants.
e. Determining innovating approaches to monitor and mitigate aging infrastructure.
f. Improving design, reliability, and understanding of green infrastructure effectiveness under region-specific conditions.
4.5 Chemical and Microbial Risk, for which research focuses on individual and group water contaminants in order to promote safe recreational waters, maintain healthy water resources and ecosystems, and prepare for potential terrorist threats to the nation’s water sources.
4.6 Managing Nutrients, for which research focuses on:
a. Studying the sources of nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms.
b. Determining where nutrients go and how they move in the environment.
c. Evaluating the chemical changes that happen as nutrients move in the environment.
d. Studying the effects of nutrients on the environment and health.
e. Evaluating the benefits and costs associated with different nutrient management choices.
4.7 Health and Water, for which research focuses on:
a. Developing the methodologies and scientific information to support drinking water standards and other policies that protect people from waterborne illnesses.
b. Improving methods to measure human exposure to waterborne pathogens from source waters or drinking waters.
c. Prioritizing pathogen groups and information on the health risks of waterborne pathogens.

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5. Sustainable & Healthy Communities ($155 million)
The Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) Research Program8 seeks to inform and empower decision makers in communities, as well as in federal, state and tribal community-driven programs, to effectively and equitably weigh and integrate human health, socio-economic, environmental, and ecological factors in their decisions in a way that fosters community sustainability. SHC is structured into four interrelated themes:
1. Data and Tools to Support Community Decisions
2. Forecasting and Assessing Ecological and Community Health
3. Implementing Near-Term Approaches to Sustainable Solutions
4. Integrated Solutions for Sustainable Outcomes
SHS research includes:
5.1 Ecosystem Research, which addresses:
a. Ecosystems services.
b. Protecting watersheds (also 4.3).
c. Water and climate (also 4.1).
d. Ecosystems and air quality (also 1.1f).
e. Managing nutrients (also 5.2d).
f. Ecological risk assessment.
5.2 Land and Waste Management, for which research addresses:
a. Management of contaminated sites.
b. Groundwater modeling.
c. Materials and waste management.
d. Nutrients management (also 5.1e).
5.3 Health Research, which includes:
a. Health Impact Assessments of public health impacts of projects, policies, and plans in communities.
b. The Durham Sustainability Pilot, which implements and evaluates community sustainability tools and approaches.
c. Asthma research (also 1.1e).
d. Regional Sustainable Environmental Sciences (RESES), which focuses on developing ecosystem goods and service-related data and tools that will be used to enable effective,
8. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Sustainable and Healthy Communities Strategic Research Action Plan 2012 - 2016 - http://www2.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2014-06/documents/shc-strap.pdf

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efficient, and socially responsible solutions to commonly faced sustainability problems.
e. Environmental justice and health.
f. Children’s environmental health, including Children’s Centers.
g. Hormone disrupting chemicals (also 2.3).
h. Tribal environmental health research.
i. Environment, health, and society.
5.4 Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA; also 2.4a), which includes:
a. Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) health hazard and dose-response assessments.
b. Integrated Science Assessments (ISAs) of criteria air pollutants.
c. Community Risk and Technical Support (CRTS) for exposure and health assessments.
d. Modernizing Risk Assessment Methods.

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6. Superfund ($19 million)
Superfund is the name given to the environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites. It is also the name of the fund established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA), as amended. This law was enacted in the wake of the discovery of toxic waste dumps such as Love Canal and Times Beach in the 1970s. It allows the EPA to clean up such sites and to compel responsible parties to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-lead cleanups. The Superfund cleanup process is complex. It involves the steps taken to assess sites, place them on the National Priorities List, and establish and implement appropriate cleanup plans. The EPA budget for Superfund is approximately $1 billion, part of which is transferred for research.
The most significant research program on Superfund is undertaken through the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) within the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which funds university-based multidisciplinary research on human health and environmental issues related to hazardous substances. The central goal is to understand and break the link between chemical exposure and disease.
EPA, which receives a modest Superfund research budget, works with NIEHS. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) also provides critical health-based information to assist EPA in making effective cleanup decisions. The EPA works with these agencies on collaborative projects, information exchange, and identification of research issues and has a MOU with each agency.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

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