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Frequently Asked Questions about EPA’s Strategic Plan
What is EPA’s Strategic Plan?
EPA’s Strategic Plan puts forward our goals for the next five years and describes how we intend to achieve a cleaner, healthier environment for all Americans. The Plan is a public statement of our commitment to the American people and is a map of how we expect to achieve environmental results.
What are EPA’s strategic goals?
EPA has established five long-term, results-based goals. Each goal was developed with the advice and participation of our governmental partners and stakeholders. By focusing our efforts on a small number of outcome-oriented goals, we hope to achieve better environmental results, stronger and better partnerships with federal, state, tribal, and local government entities, and wiser use of tax dollars. Our goals describe the results we seek. They shape the way that we plan, budget, and account for our work over the next five years. Our five goals are:
Goal 1 Clean Air and Global Climate Change
Goal 2 Clean and Safe Water
Goal 3 Land Preservation and Restoration
Goal 4 Healthy Communities and Ecosystems
Goal 5 Compliance and Environmental Stewardship
How does the Strategic Plan help us achieve these goals?
The Strategic Plan sets forth the objectives, sub-objectives, and their associated strategic measures—together sometimes referred to as the “strategic architecture” or “strategic performance measurement framework”—that support our goals and describe the means and strategies that EPA and its partners will employ to achieve them.
How does the Strategic Plan link to the Agency’s budget?
In setting out the Agency’s goals for the coming five years and describing how it intends to achieve them, the Strategic Plan provides the foundation for all of EPA’s planning, budgeting, performance measurement, and accountability processes. The framework of goals and objectives in the Strategic Plan provides the structure for the Agency’s budget and financial systems. In addition, each five-year strategic measure in the Strategic Plan has an annual performance measure associated with it. These annual performance measures are presented in the President’s budget request to the Congress and are aimed at achieving the long-term strategic goals set out in the Plan. The Agency then reports on its performance against these annual measures in its annual Performance and Accountability Report and uses this performance information as it establishes priorities and develops future budget submissions. This process comes full circle as the Agency evaluates these performance data to develop future Strategic Plans.
How can I get a hard copy of the latest Strategic Plan?
Printed copies of EPA's 2006 - 2011 Strategic Plan are available from EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications at 1-800-490-9198 or by e-mail via nscep@bps-lmit.com. Please ask for publication number EPA-190-R-06-001.