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Basic Information
What is the Land Research Program?
The Land Research Program (LRP) in EPA’s Office of Research and Development provides the science and technology to preserve the nation’s land, restore contaminated properties, and protect public health from exposure to environmental contaminants.
The multidisciplinary program develops and applies methods, models, and technology needed by risk assessors to evaluate the potential risks at Superfund sites and other contaminated sites from hazardous waste and to remediate and manage sites that pose a threat to the public and environment. Scientists and engineers are studying new treatment processes and developing innovative containment technologies. They are providing site-specific technical support to risk assessors and risk managers to ensure the best available science is available to make informed decisions on remediation of contaminated sites.
Research is focused on:
- Contaminated sediments
- Groundwater contaminant transport and remediation
- Characterization of contaminate sites
- Materials management
- Land revitalization support
- Landfill energy recovery
- Fate and transport of engineered nanomaterials in the environment
- Fate and effects of oil spills
- Mine waste technology
- Technical support
What are the research goals of the Land Research Program?
The research program has two long-term research goals:
Restoration: To provide improved scientific knowledge and develop and apply more cost-effective tools, models, and methods to inform decisions on land restoration.
Preservation: To provide improved scientific knowledge and develop and apply more cost-effective tools, models, and methods to manage material streams and inform land revitalization decisions.
Why does EPA have a Land Research Program?
Legislation under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) in 1986, authorized research programs to support scientific needs to cleanup. The Land Research Program provides problem-driven research for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) that implements programs under RCRA and other waste disposal and management programs.
Research is also conducted to prepare and respond to oil spills as a result of legislative guidance in the National Contingency Plan carried out by OSWER. Corrective action for leaking underground storage tank sites is largely delegated to the states and implemented by regulations with related guidance.
How is the research planned and implemented?
The Land Research Program collaborates with other EPA offices, Congress, external advisory bodies and other stakeholders to plan and coordinate its research so that it is relevant and useful. The research program focuses on EPA’s highest priority needs for science and technology to provide solutions to environmental problems in waste management and remediation.
Input from stakeholders is used to develop a multi-year research plan which describes the research to be conducted over a period of five to 10 years. The plans are living documents and amended to meet the changing needs for research.
Research is conducted by EPA's laboratories and centers in the Office of Research and Development (ORD) and with the support of extramural grants, cooperative agreements, and interagency agreements.
How are research products used?
The science and technology developed by the Land Research Program are used by EPA, states, local communities and property owners to assess, minimize and manage the risks of hazardous waste contamination. Remediation of sites often requires new scientific approaches and technology to address complex cleanup challenges.
Research has improved the ability of Superfund program managers to identify contamination issues during site evaluation; assess the best approaches to remediation, and monitor effectiveness of remediation over time.
The research supports EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER) which provides policy, guidance, and direction for the Agency's solid waste and emergency response programs. The research also is used by EPA’s regional offices across the country and states that are responsible for implementing regulations to dispose of hazardous waste and remediate contaminated sites.
How is Land Research evaluated?
To ensure EPA’s Office of Research and Development remains a high–performing organization with demonstrated results that contribute to EPA's mission, ORD measures and manages performance at the organizational level as well as for each research program, including the Land Research Program. Research accountability efforts are implemented in accordance with the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (GPRA), the President's Management Agenda--including the Research and Development Investment Criteria, and the Office of Management and Budget's Program Assessment Rating Tool.
EPA established a Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC), an independent body comprised of expert scientists, to conduct regular peer reviews of ORD research. The BOSC evaluates the outcomes and impacts of ORD science and engineering research, programs and plans, laboratories, and research-management practices, and recommends actions to improve the quality of research and its relevance to EPA's mission. This includes evaluations of and advice concerning strategic planning, program implementation, utilization of peer review within ORD, human resources development, and other organizational challenges.
The products developed through ORD's research programs are peer reviewed in accordance with the highest standards, and a variety of metrics are used to demonstrate the quality, relevance and performance of each program. Progress toward achieving strategic, long-term goals is measured, in part, by the timely completion of key research milestones. Bibliometric analyses are used to assess the extent to which research products are cited and published in the most prestigious scientific journals, as well as the extent to which products are cited and used in regulatory and policy decisions. Together, these accountability efforts help to ensure that EPA research has a critical impact on decisions and actions that improve human health and the environment.
What is the legislative history of waste management?
The Solid Waste Disposal Act of 1965 was the first law to require safeguards and encourage environmentally sound disposal methods for household, municipal, commercial, and industrial refuse. Congress amended this law in 1970 to establish the Resource Recovery Act, and again in 1976, to establish the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This statute represents Congress's intent for the design and implementation of the programs regulating hazardous and solid waste. Congress revised RCRA in 1980 and 1984. The 1984 amendments, the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments, significantly expanded the scope of RCRA.
The amendment: 1) established a program to manage hazardous waste from generation to disposal, including the cleanup of sites contaminated by hazardous waste and other releases and 2) established a program to manage primarily nonhazardous waste such as household waste.
Through the Land Research Program, EPA conducts research to support the Superfund Program which was established in 1980 with the passage of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
The research was formalized in 1986 with the passage of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA). SARA established an alternative or innovative treatment technology research and demonstration program at EPA and authorized EPA to conduct and support hazardous substance research with respect to the detection, assessment, and evaluation of the effects on and risks to human health of hazardous substances and detection of hazardous substances in the environment.