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This report studies the peer review and other quality assurance processes that federal agencies use in conducting scientific research and development. Specifically, it (1) defines what is meant by peer review, (2) describes the federal government's peer review policy, (3) describes the peer review practices of 12 federal agencies that conduct scientific research, (4) describes other agency quality assurance reviews, and (5) identifies which research is not subject to review. The report includes 12 federal agencies in its review, which account for more than 90% of the federal R&D budget in fiscal year 1999, excluding the Dept. of Defense.
The report favorably reviews the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's competitive research grants program, finding that it has yielded significant new findings and knowledge critical for EPA's decision-making process. Established in 1995, the grants program was designed to enable the nation's best scientists and engineers to explore new ways to safeguard the environment and protect public health. The program awards about $100 million a year in grants and fellowships to independent investigators, multidisciplinary teams, and graduate students at universities and nonprofit institutions.
New National Ambient Air Quality Standards for airborne particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers, called PM2.5, were issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amidst scientific uncertainty and controversy. In response to a request from Congress, Research Priorities for Airborne Particulate Matter, the first of four books in a series, offers a conceptual framework for an integrated national program of particulate-matter research, identifies the 10 most critical research needs linked to key policy-related scientific uncertainties, and describes the recommended timing and estimated costs of such research. The committee concludes that EPA should devote more resources to investigating the relationships between fixed-site outdoor monitoring data and actual human breathing-zone exposures to ambient particulate matter and to identifying the most biologically important constituents and characteristics of particulate matter through toxicological studies. The recommended research activities are critical to determining actual exposures of human subpopulations most susceptible to harm from the most hazardous constituents of particulate matter. Future research will be an investment in public health and a means to ensure that resources spent on control technology and regulatory compliance will have a reasonable probability of success.
The report favorably reviews the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's competitive research grants program, finding that it has yielded significant new findings and knowledge critical for EPA's decision-making process. Established in 1995, the grants program was designed to enable the nation's best scientists and engineers to explore new ways to safeguard the environment and protect public health. The program awards about $100 million a year in grants and fellowships to independent investigators, multidisciplinary teams, and graduate students at universities and nonprofit institutions.