Sustainability and Indicators at EPA

1. Sustainability and Indicatorsat EPA Ecoinformatics Meeting June, 2007 Copenhagen William Sonntag w/credit to Ethan McMahon Office of Environmental Information U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

2. What are USEPA Drivers For Sustainability • Nature of environmental problems • Future problems may be addressed best through stewardship and collaboration • Expansion of environmental governance approaches • Future likely will have multiple models (e.g., government encouraging stewardship) • Trends in EPA programs • Considerable experience in stewardship programs • Interest by external partners • Growing interest by companies, communities, states and others

3. Sustainability and Stewardship • EPA Vision for stewardship: All parts of society actively take responsibility to improve environmental quality and achieve sustainable results. • Four segments of society: individuals, companies, communities, and government organizations • Focus on sustainability of six natural resource systems • Air: Sustain clean and healthy air • Ecosystems: Protect and restore ecosystem functions, goods, and services • Energy: Generate clean energy and use it efficiently • Land: Support ecologically sensitive land management and development • Materials: Use materials carefully and shift to environmentally preferable materials • Water: Sustain water resources of quality and availability for desired uses

4. Implementation at EPA

5. EPA’s Report on the Environmentand Sustainability • The ROE uses indicators to describe trends in the nation’s environment and human health • 5 areas: air, water, land, human health, ecological condition • The Sustainable Outcomes and Indicators Workgroup is seeking ways to include a sustainability perspective in strategic planning • 6 natural resource systems: air, water, land, ecosystems, energy, materials • The two efforts are evaluating frameworks that include both ROE indicators and sustainability elements

6. Sustainability Research Strategy • Advancing a systems understanding of environmental issues • Developing decision-making tools and indicators for decision makers • Developing new processes, materials, chemicals, products and systems • Understanding environmental behavior and supporting collaborative problem-solving • Anticipating and preparing for future environmental challenges and opportunities • Inspiring the next generation

7. Encouraging Research and Action • Collaborative Science and Technology Network for Sustainability (CNS) • Extramural funding for preventative, forward-looking, integrated environmental protection • Topic Areas: Communities and the built environment, industrial ecology and organizational • P3 Award (People, Prosperity, and the Planet) • For university students to design, research, and develop a solution to a sustainability challenge • Topic Areas: Agriculture, materials and chemicals, energy, information technology, water, built environment

8. Opportunities for Collaboration • Share • Data • Metadata • Models • Research results • Collaborate • Identify common goals and problems • Develop frameworks and metrics • Address common problems with viable solutions

9. Concluding Thoughts • The Administrator states: The “[Everyday Choices] report outlines what I believe is the next step in an ongoing evolution of policy goals from pollution control to pollution prevention and sustainability.” • EPA is now implementing many sustainability activities. • Research, further definition of sustainable outcomes, and collaboration are necessary.

10. For More Information Websites • www.epa.gov/sustainability • www.epa.gov/innovation • www.epa.gov/indicators William Sonntag Sonntag.william@epa.gov 202-564-3871 Ethan McMahon Mcmahon.ethan@epa.gov 202-566-0359