Consensus Study Report

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This activity was supported by Contract No. 68HERC19D0011 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-68976-2
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-68976-7
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/26602

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Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2023. Transforming EPA Science to Meet Today’s and Tomorrow’s Challenges. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/26602.

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COMMITTEE ON ANTICIPATORY RESEARCH FOR EPA’S RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ENTERPRISE TO INFORM FUTURE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: THE ROAD AHEAD

Members

Daniel S. Greenbaum (Chair), Health Effects Institute, Boston, MA

Shahzeen Z. Attari, Indiana University, Bloomington

Thomas A. Burke, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

G. Allen Burton, Jr., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Herek L. Clack, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Otakuye Conroy-Ben, Arizona State University, Tempe

Victor G. Corces, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

George P. Daston, Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH

Frank W. Davis, University of California, Santa Barbara

Edan T. Dionne, IBM, Armonk, NY

Todd Kuiken, North Carolina State University, Raleigh (until October 2021)

Rachel Morello-Frosch, University of California, Berkeley

Ana Navas-Acien, Columbia University, New York, NY

Paula J. Olsiewski, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Baltimore, MD

ManishKumar B. Shrivastava, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA

Terry F. Yosie, Sustainability Advisor, Washington, DC

Hao Zhu, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ

Staff

Raymond Wassel, Scholar and Responsible Staff Officer

Clifford S. Duke, Director, Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology

David Butler, National Academy of Engineering Hollomon Scholar

Stephanie Johnson, Senior Program Officer (until February 2022)

Natalie Armstrong, Associate Program Officer (from June 2022)

Kaley Beins, Associate Program Officer (from September 2020 to July 2022)

Vanessa Constant, Associate Program Officer (from October 2021 to October 2022)

Thomasina Lyles, Senior Program Assistant (from July 2021)

Cesar Raymund Segovia, Program Assistant (from November 2020 to April 2021)

Sponsor

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

BOARD ON ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND TOXICOLOGY

Members

Frank W. Davis (Chair), University of California, Santa Barbara

Dana Boyd Barr, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

Ann M. Bartuska, U.S. Department of Agriculture (retired), Washington, DC

Germaine M. Buck Louis, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Francesca Dominici, Harvard University, Boston, MA

R. Jeffrey Lewis, ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc., Annandale, NJ

Marie Lynn Miranda, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

Reza J. Rasoulpour, Corteva Agriscience, Indianapolis, IN

Joshua Tewksbury, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panamá

Sacoby M. Wilson, University of Maryland, College Park

Tracey Jean Woodruff, University of California, San Francisco

Staff

Clifford S. Duke, Director

Raymond Wassel, Scholar

Kathryn Guyton, Senior Program Officer

Natalie Armstrong, Associate Program Officer

Anthony DePinto, Associate Program Officer

Laura Llanos, Finance Business Partner

Leslie Beauchamp, Senior Program Assistant

Thomasina Lyles, Senior Program Assistant

Katherine Kane, Program Assistant

Reviewers

This Consensus Study Report was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in making each published report as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this report:

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations of this report nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Charles N. Haas, Drexel University, and David C. Dorman, North Carolina State University. They were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with the standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authoring committee and the National Academies.

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Contents

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

SUMMARY

1 INTRODUCTION

Committee’s Statement of Task

Organization of the Report

Reference

2 ORD’S APPROACH TO PROVIDING FORWARD-LOOKING SCIENCE

Overview of ORD and Its Functions

ORD’s Strategic Planning

ORD Budgetary Trends

Evolution of ORD’s Role Within a Regulatory Agency

ORD Capacity and Constraints for Incorporating New and Emerging Advances

Messages of Previous Advisory Reports

Chapter Summary

References

3 A ONE ENVIRONMENT–ONE HEALTH APPROACH FOR ORD

Addressing Major Challenges

Framework for Pursuing Anticipatory Science: Applying Systems Thinking to One Environment–One Health

Advancing Systems Thinking—The Importance of Integrating Social and Behavioral Sciences

An Essential First Step Toward Applying Systems Thinking: Reimagining ORD Strategic Planning

Findings and Recommendations

References

4 STRENGTHENING THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL CAPABILITIES OF THE EPA SCIENTIFIC ENTERPRISE

Creating a Culture of Innovation Within ORD

Collaborations

Communications and Outreach

Enhanced Integration of Scientific and Technological Advances into ORD

Findings and Recommendations

References

5 ACQUIRING AND APPLYING EMERGING TOOLS AND METHODS

Measurements to Inform Exposure and Risk Assessments

Biotechnology

Participatory Research Approaches

Data Science and Machine Learning

Summary of the Chapter

References

6 A PATH FORWARD FOR SCIENCE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

APPENDIXES

A COMMITTEE BIOSKETCHES

B OPEN SESSION AGENDAS

C MONITORING FOR EXPOSURE

D BIOTECHNOLOGY

E PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH APPROACHES

F DATA SCIENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING

BOXES, FIGURES, AND TABLES

BOXES

S-1 Examples of Key Challenges Associated with Environmental Protection

S-2 Areas of ORD Collaboration from Committee Recommendations

1-1 Statement of Task

2-1 ORD National Research Programs and Centers

2-2 Computational Toxicology at EPA

2-3 Barriers to Incorporating New Scientific Advances

3-1 Harmful Algal Blooms in the Indian River Lagoon Estuary

5-1 Examples of Big Datasets

5-2 Exposure to Low Concentrations of Airborne Particulate Matter

C-1 Environmental DNA

FIGURES

S-1 Applying a systems-thinking One Environment–One Health approach

2-1 Annual trend in overall approved budget for ORD from 2003 to 2022 in current-year dollars (unadjusted for inflation) and dollar values adjusted for inflation (2003 USD)

2-2 Annual trend from 2003 to 2022 in ORD-enacted budget allocated for ORD’s Science to Achieve Results (STAR) research grants program in current-year dollars (unadjusted for inflation) and dollar values adjusted for inflation (2003 USD)

2-3 Annual trend in the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) employees at ORD

3-1 Triple jeopardy of environmental and social “riskscapes”

3-2 One Environment–One Health

3-3 Source to exposure to effects continuum

3-4 Nested systems from the molecular level to the ecosystem

3-5 Applying a systems-thinking One Environment–One Health approach

E-1 Continuum of community engagement in research

F-1 Schematic of a grand vision for developing an umbrella of machine learning approaches for integrating across multi-dimensional, multi-observational, and multi-process modeling frameworks

TABLES

2-1 Selected ORD Research Functions

4-1 Several EPA Innovation Programs Involving ORD

D-1 Issues Identified Through a Bioengineering Horizon Scan in 2020

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Acronyms and Abbreviations

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