Environmental Protection Agency January 12, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the availability of the final White Paper on Integrated Modeling for Integrated Environmental Decision Making (EPA 100/R-08/010, November 2008. In pursuing its mission to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency often relies on environmental models. The EPA defines a model as a ``simplification of reality that is constructed to gain insights into select attributes of a particular physical, biological, economic, or social system.'' While traditionally environmental modeling has focused on considering a single pollutant in a single environmental medium, this approach is no longer viewed as sufficient for effective environmental management decision support. It is increasingly recognized that a holistic approach to modeling the environment and the mechanisms governing the fate and transport of pollutants through the different environmental media as well as the multiple exposure pathways and the consequent responses of humans and ecosystems, is required to adequately assess and address environmental problems. Integrated modeling is thus of importance to helping EPA consider the environment as a ``single, interrelated system''. Integrated modeling encompasses a broad range of approaches and configurations of models, data and assessment methods to describe and analyze complex environmental problems, often in a multimedia and multidisciplinary manner. This staff white paper recommends a commitment to a new direction in environmental modeling and decision making, one that adopts a systems thinking approach. This approach EPA will be able to significantly improve its ability to conduct scientific analyses in support of integrated decision making. The result will be implementing more efficient, effective and equitable policies and programs to advance environmental protection as well as economic prosperity. This white paper: (1) Outlines the need for and value of integrated modeling for EPA science and decision-making; (2) analyzes the state of the art and practice of integrated modeling and include examples of how this approach has been successfully applied and the lessons learned; (3) identifies the challenges to more fully implementing this approach in the future; and (4) presents a plan to create an enabling environment to facilitate a concerted, systematic, and stable approach to the development and application of integrated modeling for integrated decision making.