Sustainability and the U.S. EPA

Sustainability and the U.S. EPA
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 162
Release: 2011-09-08
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 0309212553

Sustainability is based on a simple and long-recognized factual premise: Everything that humans require for their survival and well-being depends, directly or indirectly, on the natural environment. The environment provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Recognizing the importance of sustainability to its work, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working to create programs and applications in a variety of areas to better incorporate sustainability into decision-making at the agency. To further strengthen the scientific basis for sustainability as it applies to human health and environmental protection, the EPA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to provide a framework for incorporating sustainability into the EPA's principles and decision-making. This framework, Sustainability and the U.S. EPA, provides recommendations for a sustainability approach that both incorporates and goes beyond an approach based on assessing and managing the risks posed by pollutants that has largely shaped environmental policy since the 1980s. Although risk-based methods have led to many successes and remain important tools, the report concludes that they are not adequate to address many of the complex problems that put current and future generations at risk, such as depletion of natural resources, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. Moreover, sophisticated tools are increasingly available to address cross-cutting, complex, and challenging issues that go beyond risk management. The report recommends that EPA formally adopt as its sustainability paradigm the widely used "three pillars" approach, which means considering the environmental, social, and economic impacts of an action or decision. Health should be expressly included in the "social" pillar. EPA should also articulate its vision for sustainability and develop a set of sustainability principles that would underlie all agency policies and programs.

Lessons from the Clean Air Act

Lessons from the Clean Air Act
Author: Ann Carlson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 263
Release: 2019-05-09
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1108421520

Examines the successes and failures of the Clean Air Act in order to lay a foundation for future energy policy.

Controlled Human Inhalation-Exposure Studies at EPA

Controlled Human Inhalation-Exposure Studies at EPA
Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 159
Release: 2017-04-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 030945252X

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has a mission and regulatory responsibility to protect human health and the environment. EPA's pursuit of that goal includes a variety of research activities involving human subjects, such as epidemiologic studies and surveys. Those research activities also involve studies of individuals who volunteer to be exposed to air pollutants intentionally in controlled laboratory settings so that measurements can be made of transient and reversible biomarker or physiologic responses to those exposures that can indicate pathways of toxicity and mechanisms of air-pollution responses. The results of those controlled human inhalation exposure (CHIE) studies, also referred to as human clinical studies or human challenge studies, are used to inform policy decisions and help establish or revise standards to protect public health and improve air quality. Controlled Human Inhalation-Exposure Studies at EPA addresses scientific issues and provides guidance on the conduct of CHIE studies. This report assesses the utility of CHIE studies to inform and reduce uncertainties in setting air-pollution standards to protect public health and assess whether continuation of such studies is warranted. It also evaluates the potential health risks to test subjects who participated in recent studies of air pollutants at EPA's clinical research facility.

EPA Activity Book: What Does the U.S. EPA Do to Protect the Environment?

EPA Activity Book: What Does the U.S. EPA Do to Protect the Environment?
Author: Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.)
Publisher: Government Printing Office
Total Pages: 8
Release: 2017-12-13
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780160943997

The EPA Activity Book, directed primarily towards children, is a graphic depiction of how the EPA protects our entire environment, protects the land where we live, protects ecosystems,and provides crossword games and puzzles to engage children in educating themselves about good environmental practices. Concepts and lessons about air quality index, asthma environmental factors, ecosystem protection, waste reduction practices, environmental protection, and more. Early childhood and primary grade-school children may enjoy the fill-in coloring activities, world list searches, crossword puzzles, and fill-in-the blank activities as part of their learning process about these key science and environmental concepts. Find more products relating to this topic: NSI: Nature Science Investigator Mission Sunwise Activity Book Join the Lorax Sesame Street Fire Safety Program Family Guide Sesame Street Fire Safety Program (Multimedia CD- English and Spanish Languages)

Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entering Residency

Core Entrustable Professional Activities for Entering Residency
Author: Association of American Medical Colleges
Publisher:
Total Pages: 69
Release: 2014-05-28
Genre:
ISBN: 9781577541400

This landmark publication published by the AAMC identifies a list of integrated activities to be expected of all M.D. graduates making the transition from medical school to residency. This guide delineates 13 Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) that all entering residents should be expected to perform on day 1 of residency without direct supervision regardless of specialty choice.The Core EPAs for Entering Residency are designed to be a subset of all of the graduation requirements of a medical school. Individual schools may have additional mission-specific graduation requirements, and specialties may have specific EPAs that would be required after the student has made the specialty decision but before residency matriculation. The Core EPAs may also be foundational to an EPA for any practicing physician or for specialty-specific EPAs.Update: In August 2014, the AAMC selected ten institutions to join a five-year pilot to test the implementation of the Core Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) for Entering Residency. More than 70 institutions, representing over half of the medical schools accredited by the U.S. Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), applied to join the pilot, demonstrating the significant energy and enthusiasm towards closing the gap between expectations and performance for residents on day one. The cohort reflects the breadth and diversity of the applicant pool, and the institutions selected are intended to complement each other through the unique qualities and skills that each team and institution brings to the pilot.Faculty and Learners' Guide (69 pages) - Developing faculty: The EPA descriptions, the expected behaviors, and the vignettes are expected to serve as the foundation for faculty development. Faculty can use this guide as a reference for both feedback and assessment in pre-clinical and clinical settings.- Developing learners: Learners can also use this document to understand the core of what is expected of them by the time they graduate. The EPA descriptions themselves delineate the expectations, while the developmental progression laid out from pre-entrustable to entrustable behaviors can serve as the roadmap for achieving them.