On this page, you’ll find links to the major laboratories and other organizations that conduct research and carry out scientific and technical activities within the EPA programs listed below.

• Laboratories and Research Centers
• Geographically-Based Research Programs

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Laboratories and Research Centers

• Office of Air and Radiation

• Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

• Office of Environmental Information

• Office of Pesticide Programs

• Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation

• Office of Research and Development

• Office of the Science Advisor

• Office of Water

• Regional Laboratories

• Science Advisory Board

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Office of Air and Radiation

National Air and Radiation Environmental Laboratory (NAREL) (Montgomery, Alabama) - comprehensive environmental laboratory for measuring environmental radioactivity and evaluating its risk to the public.

National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - responsible for developing national regulatory programs to reduce mobile source related air pollution; evaluating emission control technology; testing vehicles, engines, and fuels; and determining compliance with Federal emissions and fuel economy standards.

Radiation and Indoor Environments National Laboratory (Las Vegas, NV) - provides technical support for numerous radiation protection and control activities, conducts site investigations, radon assessments and evaluations, health assessment modeling, and indoor air studies.

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Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

National Enforcement Investigations Center - Laboratory Branch (Denver, Colorado) - provides facilities, equipment, personnel, and expertise needed for measurement activities, data evaluations, and investigations conducted to support civil and criminal environmental enforcement efforts.

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Office of Environmental Information

National Environmental Scientific Computing Center (NESC²)
The NESC houses EPA's first supercomputer which provides High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) resources necessary to support environmental research of global proportions, improved science for the development of regulations, and educational programs for the environmental and computational sciences.

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Office of Pesticide Programs

Analytical Chemistry Laboratory - Environmental Science Center (Fort Meade, Maryland)

• technical support and chemical analyses of pesticides and related chemicals
• new multi-residue analytical methods development
• operation of the EPA National Pesticide Standard Repository

Environmental Chemistry Laboratory - (Bay St. Louis, Mississippi)

• test method evaluation for pesticides in soil and water
• quality assurance technical support to EPA regional, federal, and state laboratories
• analytical method development
• analytical support to national dioxin initiatives and monitoring studies

Microarray Research Laboratory - Environmental Science Center (Fort Meade, Maryland)

• DNA microarray research to identify toxicogenomic effects of various disinfectants on bacterial cells

Microbiology Laboratory - Environmental Science Center (Fort Meade, Maryland)

• performance (efficacy) measurement and testing of antimicrobial products with public health claims, e.g. hospital disinfectants
• research on methods to measure the efficacy of various types of antimicrobials including sporicides
• method validation on methods used to identify genetic events and proteins for plant incorporated protectants.

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Office of Policy, Economics, and Innovation

National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE)
NCEE analyzes relationships between the economy, environmental health, and environmental pollution control. NCEE also serves as a central point of contact for communicating and resolving cross-cutting technical economic issues.

National Center for Environmental Innovation (NCEI)
NCEI promotes new ways to achieve better environmental results. Working in partnership with other EPA programs, states, businesses, communities and other interested parties, NCEI focuses on creating a results-oriented regulatory system, promoting environmental stewardship across society, and building capacity for innovative problem-solving.

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Office of Research and Development

National Center for Computational Toxicology - located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina works closely with the STAR-funded Center for Environmental Bioinformatic Research to provide tools and training to broader scientific audiences and sponsors external research in the field of computational toxicology.

National Center for Environmental Assessment - serves as the national resource center for the overall process of human health and ecological risk assessments; the integration of hazard, dose-response , and exposure data and models to produce risk characterizations with divisions that include:

• Washington, DC Office - provides exposure/risk characterization, hazard identification, dose-response, and administrative and budgetary support.

• Cincinnati, Ohio Office - agent-specific risk assessment and technical assistance.

• Research Triangle Park, North Carolina Office - primarily develops and publishes air quality criteria documents for major air pollutants, provides health and ecological assessments of air toxics and assessments and scientific assistance on fuels/fuel additives.

National Center for Environmental Research (Washington, DC) - has primary responsibility to issue and manage research grant and fellowship programs, as well as issues of quality assurance, and peer review.

National Exposure Research Lab (NERL) - located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina provides scientific understanding, information and assessment tools to reduce and quantify the uncertainty in the Agency's exposure and risk assessments for all environmental stressors with divisions that include:

• Atmospheric Sciences Modeling Division (Research Triangle Park, North Carolina) - performs much of the air pollution meteorology research for the Agency, conducts in-house research, and manages numerous cooperative agreements and contracts.

• Ecological Exposure Research Division (Cincinnati, Ohio) - conducts laboratory and field studies aimed at providing research products that enable the Agency to conduct predictive and retrospective exposure assessments.

• Ecosystems Research Division (Athens, Georgia) - conducts research on organic and inorganic chemicals, greenhouse gas biogeochemical cycles, and land use perturbations that create direct and indirect, chemical and non-chemical stressor exposures and potential risks to humans and ecosystems.

• Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) (Las Vegas, Nevada) - conducts research, development, and transfer programs on environmental exposures to ecological and human receptors. ESD develops methods for characterizing chemical and physical stressors, with special emphasis on ecological exposure.

• Human Exposure & Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) (Research Triangle Park, NC) - conducts research to characterize pollutant exposures from the pollutant source to the exposed person or receptor. 

• Microbiological & Chemical Exposure Assessment Research Division (MCEARD) (Cincinnati, Ohio) - conducts research to measure, characterize and predict the exposure of humans to chemical and microbial hazards.

National Health & Environmental Effects Research Lab (NHEERL) - located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina the agency's focal point for scientific research on the effects of contaminants and environmental stressors on human health and ecosystem integrity. NHEERL divisions include:

• Environmental Carcinogenesis Division - conducts mechanistically-based research to explain the association between environmental pollution and cancer.

• Experimental Toxicology Division - responsible for pharmacokinetics research; examines pulmonary, immunological, hepatic, cardiovascular, and renal toxicity resulting from environmental contaminants.

• Human Studies Division - conducts clinical and epidemiological investigations to better understand human response to pollution.

• Neurotoxicology Division - studies the effects of chemical and/or physical agents on the nervous system.

• Reproductive Toxicology Division - evaluates the effects of environmental pollutants on human reproductive potential/competence and development.

• Atlantic Ecology Division (Narragansett, RI) - studies the effects of contaminants and other stressors on the coastal waters and watersheds of the Atlantic seaboard.

• Gulf Ecology Division (Gulf Breeze, FL) - assesses the condition of coastal ecosystems (wetlands, bays, estuaries, and coral reefs) in the Gulf of Mexico and analyzes causes of change to ecological status.

• Mid-Continent Ecology Division (Duluth, MN) - performs research to protect freshwater ecosystems and wildlife and to understand the basic processes and mechanisms involved in aquatic toxicity.

• Western Ecology Division (Corvallis, OR) - evaluates the effects of chemical contaminants, land use, and global climate change on terrestrial ecosystems and on watershed ecology along the Pacific coast.

National Homeland Security Research Center - located in Cincinnati, Ohio manages, coordinates, and supports a variety of research and technical assistance efforts used to prevent, prepare for, and recover from public health and environmental emergencies arising from terrorist threats and incidents.

National Risk Management Research Lab (NRMRL) - located in Cincinnati, Ohio advances the scientific understanding and the development and application of technological solutions to prevent, control, or remediate important environmental problems that threaten human health and the environment. NRMRL divisions include:

• Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division - located in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina this division is responsible for research, development, and evaluation of air pollution control technologies.

• Ground Water and Ecosystems Restoration Division- (formerly the Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory) in Ada, Oklahoma conducts research and engages in technical assistance and technology transfer on the chemical, physical and biological structure and processes of the subsurface environment, the biogeochemical interactions in that environment and fluxes to other environmental media.

• Land Remediation and Pollution Control Division - conducts research at the basic level as well as bench- and pilot-scale to explore innovative solutions to current and future land pollution problems.

• Sustainable Technology Division - mission of this division is to advance the scientific understanding, development and application of technologies and methods for prevention, removal and control of environmental risks to human health and ecology.

• Water Supply and Water Resources Division - conducts research to help prepare the primary and secondary regulations for drinking water and to develop technologies and strategies for controlling waterborne contaminants.

• Environmental Technology Assessment, Verification and Outcomes - serves as a focal point for EPA state-of-the-art technology assessment and verification; coordinates EPA and others in the private sector to develop, test, and implement technologies to protect the environment and human health.

Office of Science Policy - integrates and communicates scientific information generated by or for ORD's laboratories and centers, as well as ORD's expert advice on the use of scientific information.

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Office of Water

Office of Science and Technology (OST) (Washington, DC) - responsible for developing sound, scientifically defensible standards, criteria, advisories, guidelines, limitations and standards guidelines under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act for protecting the nation's water supplies.

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Science Advisory Board

EPA's Science Advisory Board (SAB) was established by Congress to provide independent scientific and engineering advice to the EPA Administrator on the technical basis for EPA regulations. Members of and Consultants to the Board constitute a distinguished body of scientists, engineers, and economists who are recognized, non-governmental experts in their respective fields.

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Office of the Science Advisor

The Office of Science Advisor provides leadership in establishing specific mechanisms for ensuring that scientific results and hypotheses, with technical evaluation and peer-review, play a prominent role in all regulatory decisions.

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Regional Laboratories

• Region 1's New England Regional Laboratory monitors and analyzes the health of the New England environment and its impacts on residents.

• Region 3's Environmental Science Center provides centralized analytical services and quality assurance support.

• Region 4's Analytical Support Branch (ASB) provides a full range of inorganic and organic analyses, customized techniques and method development, modern instrumentation in a state-of-the-art facility, and on-site and specialty procedures.

• Region 6's Environmental Services Branch - Houston Laboratory provides environmental analytical services for Regional Programs, and serves as the source of scientific expertise and prowess for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National and Regional regulatory and executive decisions.

• Region 8 Laboratory providing high quality physical, chemical, biological, and microbiological analyses in support of Clean Water Act (CWA), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), and Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) programs.

• Region 9 Laboratory is a full service, state-of-the-art facility specializing in chemical analysis, biological analysis and field sampling services.

• Region 10's Manchester Environmental Laboratory provides high quality physical, chemical, biological and microbiological analyses in support of the following EPA programs: air, surface water, drinking water, Superfund, pesticides and hazardous materials.

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Geographically-Based Research Programs

Chesapeake Bay Program Office (CBPO) - CBPO represents the federal government in the implementation of strategies to meet the restoration goals of the Chesapeake Bay Program, a unique regional partnership leading and directing restoration of the Chesapeake Bay.

Great Lakes National Program Office (GLNPO) - Learn about EPA's efforts to keep the lakes clean for the people, animals, and plants that depend on them, and about how EPA collaborates with Canada, other U.S. federal agencies, states, cities and tribes to restore and protect the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Gulf of Mexico Program Office (GMPO) - The Gulf Program works to restore impaired segments in priority coastal areas; assist the Gulf states in protecting public health; protect or restore important coastal and marine habitat; reduce nutrient inputs to coastal ecosystems; and foster regional stewardship and sense of community.

View more programs with a geographic focus.

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