The Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program: The Environmental Protection Agency’s Research Approach to Assisting Community Decision-Making
A sustainable world is one in which human needs are met equitably and without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs on environmental, economic, and social fronts. The United States (U.S.) Environmental Protection Agency’s Sustainable and Healthy Communities Research Program aims to assist communities (large and small) to make decisions for their long term sustainability with respect to the three pillars of human well-being—environmental, economic and social—and are tempered in a way that ensures social equity, environmental justice and intergenerational equity. The primary tool being developed by the Sustainable and Healthy Communities (SHC) research program to enhance sustainable decision making is called TRIO (Total Resources Impacts and Outcomes). The conceptual development of this tool and the SHC program attributes are discussed.
References
[1]
Bade, W.F. The Life and Letters of John Muir; Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston, MA, USA, 1924.
[2]
Clark, T.N. Comparative Study of Community Decision-Making; Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research: Ann Arbor, MI, USA, 1999.
[3]
McDonald, N.C. School siting: Contested visions of a community school. J. Am. Plann. Assoc. 2010, 76, 184–198, doi:10.1080/01944361003595991.
[4]
The Worldwatch Institute. State of the World 2013: Is Sustainability Still Possible; Island Press: Washington, DC, USA, 2013.
[5]
World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 1987.
[6]
World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 1987.
[7]
National Research Council. Sustainability and the U.S. EPA; The National Academies Press: Washington, DC, USA, 2011.
[8]
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. True North: Sustainability Research at EPA. Available online: http://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/april2011/truenorth.htm (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[9]
Gibson, R.B.; Hassan, S.; Holtz, S.; Tansey, J.; Whitelaw, G. Sustainability Assessment: Criteria and Processes; Earthscan: London, UK, 2005.
[10]
Kemp, R.; Parto, S.; Gibson, R.B. Governance for sustainable development: Moving from theory to practice. Int. J. Sustain. Dev. 2005, 8, 12–30, doi:10.1504/IJSD.2005.007372.
[11]
Gibson, R.B. Beyond the pillars: Sustainability assessment as a framework for effective integration of social, economic and ecological considerations in significant decision-making. J. Environ. Assess. Policy Manag. 2006, 8, 259–280, doi:10.1142/S1464333206002517.
Stiglitz, J.E.; Sen, A.; Fitoussi, J.-P. Report by Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress. Available online: http://www.stiglitz-sen-fitoussi.fr/documents/rapport_anglais.pdf (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[14]
Gordon, R. Climate change and the poorest nations: Further reflections on global inequality. Univ. Colo. Law Rev. 2008, 78, 1559–1624.
[15]
Toxic Wastes and Race in the United States: A National Report on the Racial and Socio-Economic Characteristics with Hazardous Waste Sites. Available online: http://www.ucc.org/about-us/archives/pdfs/toxwrace87.pdf (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[16]
Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty 1987–2007. Available online: http://www.ucc.org/justice/pdfs/toxic20.pdf (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[17]
ICMA 2010 Sustainability Survey Results. Available online: http://icma.org/en/icma/knowledge_network/documents/kn/Document/301646/ICMA_2010_Sustainbility_Survey_Results (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[18]
EnviroAtlas. Available online: http://www.epa.gov/research/enviroatlas/ (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[19]
Developing the “EnviroAtlas” to Support Community Decisions. Available online: http://www.epa.gov/research/annualreport/2012/enviroatlas.htm (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[20]
Summers, J.K.; Smith, L.M.; Case, J.L.; Linthurst, R.A. A review of the elements of human well-being with an emphasis on the contribution of ecosystem services. Ambio 2012, 41, 327–340, doi:10.1007/s13280-012-0256-7.
[21]
Smith, L.M.; Case, J.L.; Smith, H.M.; Harwell, L.C.; Summers, J.K. Relating ecosystem services to domains of human well-being: Foundation for a U.S. index. Ecol. Indic. 2013, 26, 79–90.
[22]
Smith, L.M.; Case, J.L.; Harwell, L.C.; Smith, H.M.; Summers, J.K. Methods for developing relative importance values: Assessing relationships between ecosystem services and elements of human well-being. Hum. Ecol. 2013, doi:10.1007/s10745-013-9597-5.
[23]
HIA Case Studies. Available online: http://www.epa.gov/research/healthscience/hia-case-studies.htm (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[24]
EPA/NIEHS Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Centers (CEHCs). Available online: http://epa.gov/ncer/childrenscenters/ (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[25]
RCRA—Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. Non-hazardous Waste Regulations. Available online: http://www.epa.gov/osw/laws-regs/regs-non-haz.htm (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[26]
Superfund: Superfund is the common name for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980. Superfund Regulations & Enforcement. Available online: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/remedy/sfremedy/regenfor.htm (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[27]
Southerland, E.; Kravitz, M.; Wall, T. EPA’s Contaminated Sediment Management Strategy; Lewis Publishers: Boca Raton, FL, USA, 1992.
[28]
McCauley, D.J.; DeGraeve, G.M.; Linton, T.K. Sediment quality guidelines and assessment: Overview and research needs. Environ. Sci. Policy 2000, 3, 133–144, doi:10.1016/S1462-9011(00)00040-X.
[29]
Tolaymat, T.; U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Monitoring Approaches for Landfill Bioreactors; National Risk Managment Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency: Cincinnati, OH, USA, 2004.
[30]
Nelson, W.G.; Bergen, B.J. The New Bedford Harbor Superfund site long-term monitoring program (1993–2009). Environ. Monit. Assess. 2012, 184, 7531–7550, doi:10.1007/s10661-012-2517-0.
Overcash, M.; Sims, R.C.; Sims, J.L.; Nieman, J.K. Beneficial reuse and sustainability: The fate of organic compounds in land-applied waste. J. Environ. Qual. 2005, 34, 29–41, doi:10.2134/jeq2005.0029.
[33]
Innovative Waste Consulting Services. Data Gap Analysis and Damage Case Studies: Risk Analyses from Construction and Demolition Debris Landfills and Recycling Facilities. Report to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Report Number 0212041.003.030; U.S. EPA: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, 2012.
[34]
Chesapeake Bay Foundation. 2012 State of the Bay Report; Chesapeake Bay Foundation: Washington, DC, USA, 2012; p. 20. Available online: http://www.cbf.org/about-the-bay/state-of-the-bay/2012-report (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[35]
Diaz, R.J.; Rosenburg, R. Spreading dead zones and consequences for marine ecosystems. Science 2008, 321, 926–929, doi:10.1126/science.1156401.
[36]
Turner, R.E.; Rabalais, N.N.; Justic, D. Gulf of Mexico hypoxia: Alternate states and a legacy. Environ. Sci. Technol. 2008, 42, 2323–2327, doi:10.1021/es071617k.
[37]
Greene, R.M.; Lehrter, J.C.; Hagy, J.D. Multiple regression models for hindcasting and forecasting midsummer hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico. Ecol. Appl. 2009, 19, 1161–1175, doi:10.1890/08-0035.1.
[38]
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Reactive Nitrogen in the United States: An Analysis of Inputs, Flows, Consequences, and Management Options. A Report of the EPA Science Advisory Board; U.S. EPA, 2011.
[39]
Compton, J.E.; Harrison, J.A.; Dennis, R.L.; Greaver, T.L.; Hill, B.H.; Jordan, S.J.; Walker, H.; Campbell, H.V. Ecosystem services altered by human changes in the nitrogen cycle: A new perspective for US decision making. Ecol. Lett. 2011, 14, 804–815, doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01631.x.
[40]
Ceres, Mobilizing Business Leadership for a Sustainable World. Available online: http://www.ceres.org/ (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[41]
State of Green Business Report 2013. Available online: http://www.greenbiz.com/research/report/2013/02/state-green-business-report-2013 (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[42]
SustainableBusiness.com. Available online: http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/ (accessed on 2 December 2013).
[43]
U.S. Green Building Council. Available online: http://usgbc.com/ (accessed on 2 December 2013).
