Review of Ecological Benefits Assessment Strategic Plan by SAB

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The Science Advisory Board, Committee on Valuing the Protection of Ecological Systems and Services (SAB) will begin its review of a draft EPA Report Ecological Benefits Assessment Strategic Plan at their October meetings in Washington, DC.

The overall goal of the Plan is to improve the Agency’s ability to identify, quantify, and value the ecological impacts of its actions in order to improve decision-making and better communicate the results. The specific objectives of the Plan in meeting this goal are:

to clearly describe the major technical and scientific gaps that prevent the Agency from conducting rigorous and comprehensive ecological impact assessments, so that researchers within and outside EPA know what research is needed and how to tailor their work to meet the Agency’s needs;

to suggest areas for focus of Agency-wide investments in data collection, development of analytical tools, and applied research to ensure that a critical mass of Agency resources is targeted to the areas of greatest need regarding ecological benefits assessment;

to specify activities to foster increased collaboration and coordination between the Agency’s ecologists, economists, and other analysts in conducting ecological benefits assessments; and

to propose institutional mechanisms that will allow adaptive implementation of the Plan, including periodic adjustments of the Plan to reflect events and progress in the state of knowledge.

The following draft material was submitted to the SAB, Committee on Valuing the Protection of Ecological Systems and Services in order to seek feedback to aid in the development of the Plan. The Committee will first discuss these materials at their meetings scheduled for October 27-29 here in Washington, DC.

(1) Memorandum from Al McGartland, USEPA, NCEE to the SAB Committee on Valuing the Protection of Ecological Systems and Services, "Background and charge questions for SAB consultation on EPA's Ecological Benefits Assessment Strategic Plan," October 3, 2003

(2) Ecological Benefits Assessment Strategic Plan, Chapters 1-3 and Chapter 6, SAB Review Draft, US EPA, September 30, 2003.

(3) Ecological Benefits Assessment Strategic Plan, Appendix B, Literature and Information Resources for Ecological
Benefits Assessment,SAB Review Draft, USEPA, Draft September 30, 2003.

For additional information on the Committee members and agendas for their meetings, please refer to the following website: http://www.epa.gov/sab/panels/vpesspanel.html, or contact Dr. Angela Nugent at nugent.angela@epa.gov

Review of Ecological Benefits Assessment Strategic Plan by SAB

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