Fiscal Year 2024 Accomplishments: Program Management, Communications, and Analysis Office

On this page:

• Supporting the Office with Economics and Risk Analysis Work
• Supporting the Office through Public Outreach

Supporting the Office's Mission with Economics and Risk Analysis Work

ORCR completed six economic analyses: three for proposed rules, two for final rules, and one for a guidance document. The analyses incorporated quantitative estimates of benefits from reducing a range of health effects. The economic analysis for the updated Residential Soil Lead Guidance was one of the first such analyses to estimate the number of avoided cases of cardiovascular disease from reducing lead exposure as well as presenting the monetary benefits of reducing the occurrence of this health effect in the United States. The economic analysis also considered the demographics of areas affected by proposed or final actions, including race, income, educational level, and age of housing stock. 

We also provided support on several topics including risks associated with beneficial use of electric arc furnace slag, considerations in the placement of solar panels on closed landfills, and risks associated with coal combustion residuals. We conducted an analysis of the potential for legacy placements of CCR to pose risk to nearby people. The assessment included a characterization of the risks associated with management practices across the United States beyond currently regulated landfills and surface impoundments. To accomplish this task, the team used mathematical models to estimate the rate at which constituents are released from CCR, the fate and transport of these constituents through the environment, and the potential risk of adverse effects to people.

Supporting the Office through Public Outreach

We highlighted the importance of our work through products like social media, webpages, newsletters, press releases, interviews, and written media responses, bringing the latest information on ORCR to government, industry, and the public.

We made technical materials accessible by improving plain language and adding engaging graphics and photos. We cultivated 28 web areas with over 1,750 webpages explaining our work and provided access to important opportunities such as grants and trainings. 

This fiscal year, our webpages were viewed almost seven million times. The top three most-visited web topics were Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Hazardous Waste, and Hazardous Waste Generators.

 In FY24 we issued 10 press releases, drafted many communications plans, desk statements, video scripts, articles, social media posts, Presidential Proclamations, talking points, slide decks, and briefed senior leaders.

Through our newsletter, “In the Loop with EPA: Circular Economy Updates,” we reached more than 21,000 subscribers and more than 8,200 subscribers with “EPA Waste Management Updates.”

We responded to more than 180 inquiries from reporters in FY24 – with follow-ups, cross-Agency coordination, and media training – providing the press with accurate, fact-based information. We also presented six office-wide trainings. Each year, we showcase ORCR’s work, using clear and timely communication to make it easy to understand how ORCR's work protects human health and the environment.