Source: Environmental Protection Agency
Billed as a blueprint for a mission supporting public health and the environment across the country, EPA’s 2014–2018 Strategic Plan cites as chief goals: addressing climate change and improving air quality; protecting America’s waters; cleaning up communities and advancing sustainable development; ensuring the safety of chemicals; and, protecting human health and the environment by enforcing laws and assuring compliance.
“EPA will address the increasingly complex array of environmental challenges we face by advancing a rigorous research and development agenda that informs and supports our policy and decision making with timely and innovative technology and sustainable solutions,” says EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. “We are heeding President Obama’s call for action on climate change, the biggest challenge for our generation and those to come by building strong partnerships at home and around the world. We are working to mitigate this threat by reducing carbon pollution and other greenhouse-gas emissions and focusing on efficiency improvements in homes, buildings and appliances.”
The 2014–2018 plan envisions partnerships with state and local governments, tribes, federal agencies, businesses, and industry leaders to achieve environmental benefits in a pragmatic, collaborative way. The agency will continue efforts to improve water quality, given the nation’s significant water infrastructure needs, focusing on common sense, flexible approaches that rely on sustainable solutions, such as green infrastructure, and build resiliency to help adapt to the effects of a changing climate. More information on the four-year plan is posted here.