U.S. EPA's 2008 Report on the Environment (Final Report)

Federal Register Notices

Contact

Denice M. Shaw: by phone at: 703-347-8628; by email at: roe@epa.gov

Notice

EPA is announcing the final report, EPA's 2008 Report on the Environment (EPA 2008 ROE), a science-based report that answers questions about recent trends in human health and the environment.

The Environmental Protection Agency's 2008 Report on the Environment, also referred to as the EPA 2008 ROE, provides the American people with an important resource from which they can better understand trends in the condition of the air, water, land, and human health of the United States.

This report uses scientifically sound measures, called indicators, to address fundamental questions relevant to the EPA’s mission to protect the environment and human health. To accomplish its mission to protect human health and the environment, EPA must pay close attention to trends in the condition of the Nation’s environment. This kind of information, which is captured in EPA’s 2008 ROE, can help EPA to prioritize its work and to focus on human health and ecological activities that can lead to improvements in the conditions of the Nation’s environment.

For a more interactive experience, visit the ROE Dynamic Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ncea/roe.

Background

Cover of the EPA's 2008 Report on the Environment

The EPA 2008 ROE is an update of the draft ROE that was released in 2003 and it builds on the foundation of that draft report. EPA’s first experience with the 2003 ROE resulted in a better understanding of which indicators are robust enough to include in the EPA 2008 ROE. EPA was committed to identifying the best available set of scientifically sound indicators for the EPA 2008 ROE in an open and transparent manner. Because of this commitment, the Agency took the extraordinary step of having all of the proposed indicators independently externally peer reviewed in a public forum to determine if each proposed indicator was supported by data that were technically sound, met the established indicator definition and criteria, and helped answer the questions posed in the EPA 2008 ROE. After that step, an external review draft of the full EPA ROE was subjected to an independent external peer review, as well as public review and comment. This level of thorough and rigorous for external review serves to reinforce EPA’s commitment to obtaining independent expert input on this document and to an open and participatory public process for the development of this report.

The EPA 2008 ROE offers a unique opportunity to EPA to frame a discussion about the Agency’s strategic planning from the perspective of ultimate environmental outcomes, using the best available, most scientifically sound measurement approaches. The EPA 2008 ROE could also lead to new indicators, new monitoring strategies and new programs and policies in areas EPA determines to be highly important based on measured environmental trends.

EPA is also producing a Highlights of Conditions and Trends document, which summarizes the findings of the EPA 2008 ROE in an easier to understand format. The Highlights Document is expected to be publicly available later in the year.

EPA is committed to releasing periodic updates of the ROE so that information on environmental conditions and trends can be provided to interested members of the American public.

History/Chronology

Jun 2003	EPA published the Draft Report on the Environment (ROE) -Technical Document in 2003.
Jun 2005	EPA held an external peer review meeting on the proposed indicators for EPA’s 2007 ROE TD.
Jul 2005	EPA held a public peer review workshop on the proposed indicators.
Oct 2005	EPA announced a second public peer review and public comment period for additional and updated proposed indicators for EPA’s 2007 ROE - TD.
Feb 2006	EPA hosts an Agency review of the draft document, EPA’s 2007 ROE - TD.
Mar 2006	EPA releases the updates to the Indicators and the External Peer Review Comments with EPA's Response to Comments.
Oct 2006	EPA hosts an Interagency review of the draft document, EPA's 2007 ROE - TD.
April 2006	EPA renames the report from Technical Document to Science Report.
May 2007	EPA released the draft EPA's 2007 ROE: Science Report for a public review and comment.
Jul 2007	EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) hosts a public teleconference and public meeting of the SAB Panel for the Review of EPA's 2007 Report on the Environment. The teleconference and meeting are being held to conduct a peer review of the EPA's draft Report on the Environment 2007: Science Report.
Oct 2007	EPA hosts a public teleconference of the SAB Panel for the Review of EPA's 2007 Report on the Environment.
May 2008	EPA releases the final report, EPA's 2008 Report on the Environment (EPA 2008 ROE).

Next Steps

This is the final report.

Downloads/Related Links

EPA's 2008 Report on the Environment (Final Report) (PDF) (366 pp, 33 MB, about PDF)
Cover & Front Matter (PDF) (10 pp, 4 MB, about PDF)
Chapter 1: Introduction (PDF) (12 pp, 545 KB, about PDF)
Chapter 2: Air (PDF) (80 pp, 7 MB, about PDF)
Chapter 3: Water (PDF) (66 pp, 5 MB, about PDF)
Chapter 4: Land (PDF) (50 pp, 4 MB, about PDF)
Chapter 5: Human Health (PDF) (72 pp, 4 MB, about PDF)
Chapter 6: Ecological Condition (PDF) (46 pp, 7 MB, about PDF)
Chapter 7: Afterword (PDF) (3 pp, 1 MB, about PDF)
Appendix A: Acronyms and Glossary (PDF) (9 pp, 198 KB, about PDF)
Appendix B: Development of EPA ’s 2008 ROE (PDF) (3 pp, 288 KB, about PDF)
Appendix C: Comparison of Indicators Used in EPA 's 2008 ROE and the 2003 Draft ROE (PDF) (15 pp, 265 KB, about PDF)

U.S. EPA's 2008 Report on the Environment (Final Report)

Federal Register Notices

Contact

Background

Downloads/Related Links

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