Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems Director, John Crittenden, has been appointed to serve on the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environment Panel of the Science Advisory Board (SAB). The SAB functions as a peer review and advisory panel to the EPA in order to ensure that the agency bases its policies on sound scientific data, analyses, and interpretations. The task in which Prof. Crittenden has been asked to participate is to review the upcoming 2012 edition of the EPA’s web-based Report on the Environment.
The most current Report on the Environment (ROE) was published in 2008 and presents 85 indicators of the conditions in the United States for trends in air, water, land, human health, and ecological systems. These indicators are based on 23 questions the EPA considers as core to its mission to protect our environment and human health. The full report (link) is available online, as well as a searchable index of all of the 85 environmental indicators. The 2012 version is a comprehensive revision of this critical document.
The Science Advisory Board was established by Congress in 1978 with a broad mandate to provide advice and expertise on technical matters relevant to the mission of the U. S. EPA. SAB standing members convene subcommittees or review panels around a topic of concern to the EPA. Recommendations and reports resulting from such panels are handed up to the full SAB for deliberation. The SAB then conveys the findings from this process to the EPA.
For more information about the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, please visit www.sustainable.gatech.edu.