The Electronic Report on the Environment (eROE) is a Web site for the Report on the Environment (ROE) project. The ROE presents the best available indicators of national conditions and trends in air, water, land, human health, and ecological systems to address 23 questions that EPA considers critical to its mission.
The eROE is composed of two reports – the 2008 Report on the Environment, a technical document intended for environmental professionals, and the 2008 Report on the Environment: Highlights of National Trends (referred to as the ROE Highlights Document or ROEHD), which summarizes the key findings of the ROE for the interested public. The eROE provides access to the information in both reports, including the underlying methodology, references, and sources of additional information, in one location and in a searchable format.
The navigational graphic below integrates the technical and highlights documents. It provides several options for accessing content. Clicking on a tab at the top for one of the five ROE chapters reveals the ROE questions addressed in that chapter, along with corresponding information from both documents. Also available below are dynamic Web sites and PDF versions of both documents).
Report on the Environment
Access the EPA 2008 ROE to view EPA's answers to today's environmental questions:
Highlights of National Trends
Access the ROE: Highlights of National Trends Report to learn more about the key points:
Overview
To accomplish its mission, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must pay close attention to trends in the condition of the nation’s air, water, and land, and to associated trends in human exposure and health and the condition of ecological systems.
Data on environmental trends serve two key purposes:
- They provide valuable input to EPA in developing its strategic outlook and priorities, and
- they allow EPA and the public to assess whether the Agency is succeeding in its overall mission to protect human health and the environment.
EPA prepared this Report on the Environment (ROE) to accomplish these purposes.
Learn more under Basic Information.
Report Breakout
The ROE is comprised of two products:
- The ROE presents indicators that help to answer questions of importance to EPA’s mission. It also discuss important limitations of these indicators and gaps where adequate indicators are not available.
-
The ROE Highlights of National Trends document (ROE-HD) is a short publication that describes national environmental trends for the general public. It summarizes key points from the ROE.
Report Format
Both reports (the ROE and the ROE-HD) are presented with five chapters specifically addressing: Air, Water, Land, Human Health, and Ecological Condition.
Learn more under Frequent Questions.
Outdoor Air
Q. What are the trends in outdoor air quality and their effects on human health and the environment?
A. This question examines a broad spectrum of outdoor air quality issues, including polluted air that people breathe at ground level, deposition of air pollutants to land and water, and depletion of the Earth's ozone layer. For each issue, information is provided both on the main stressors (emissions sources) and potential health and environmental effects.
Highlights of status and trends
Wetlands
Q. What are the trends in the extent and condition of wetlands and their effects on human health and the environment?
A. This question addresses wetlands -including swamps, bogs, marshes, and similar areas- as areas inundated or saturated by surface or ground water often and long enough to support a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.
Highlights of status and trends
Consumable Fish
and Shellfish
Human Disease and Conditions
Patterns in Ecological Systems
Attributes of Ecological Systems