Current Projects
Assessment of Institutional Options for Developing and Reporting National Environmental Indicators

Client/Funder:

Department of Interior ¹

Purpose and Scope:

Leaders in government, business, academia, and the nonprofit sector recognize the need for a national system of environmental indicators that is reliable, trusted, and relevant.  While federal and state agencies and other entities currently collect a vast array of data on the Nation’s environment and natural resources, these data are inconsistent, incomplete, and typically serve narrow purposes.  Existing mechanisms are inadequate to coordinate data collection, analysis, and reporting in ways that span the needs of scientific investigation, policy development, program management, performance assessment, and public discourse.  The General Accounting Office recommended that the Council on Environmental Quality provide better coordination of the federal agencies involved (GAO-05-52). The CEQ, along with governmental and non-governmental partners, has worked through the Collaboration on Indicators on the Nation’s Environment (CINE) to prepare a work plan for designing improved institutional arrangements. The Academy is assessing the feasibility of institutional options and providing advice to federal agency decision-makers for developing and operating a reliable system of environmental and natural resource indicators. 

Project Director:

Don Ryan

Panel:

The Academy has appointed the following individuals to a Panel to oversee and direct the study. The public may send comments on the composition of the panel for a period of seven (7) days after the posted date to mditmeyer@napawash.org.

Hermann Habermann, Chair* — Former Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer, U.S. Census Bureau.  Former Director, Statistics Division, United Nations. Former positions with U.S. Office of Management and Budget: Deputy Associate Director for Veterans Affairs and Personnel Management; Deputy Assistant Director for Management. Former Director of Computer Sciences and Telecommunications, U.S. Forest Service.

A. James Barnes* — Professor and former Dean, School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Adjunct Professor of Law, Indiana University. Former positions with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency: Deputy Administrator; General Counsel; Special Assistant to Administrator/Chief of Staff. Former General Counsel, U.S. Department of Agriculture; Partner, Beveridge & Diamond; Campaign Manager, Governor William G. Milliken (Michigan); Assistant to Deputy Attorney General and Special Assistant/Trial Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice.

Sandra Batie — Elton R. Smith Professor in Food and Agricultural Policy, Department of Agricultural Economics, Michigan State University.  Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Winrock International; Past President, American Agricultural Economics Association and Southern Agricultural Economics Association; Member, Food and Agricultural Committee, National Planning Association.   

DeWitt John* — Director, Environmental Studies Program and Lecturer in Government, Bowdoin College.  Former Director, Center for the Economy and the Environment, National Academy of Public Administration; Director, State Policy Program, Aspen Institute; Policy Studies Director for Economics, Trade and Agriculture, National Governors Association; Director, Governor’s Office of Policy, and Acting Director, Colorado Division of Mines, State of Colorado.

Randall Johnson* — Chair and Member, Hennepin County (Minnesota) Commissioners.  Former Assistant General Counsel, Federal Election Commission; Associate, Faegre and Benson; Legal Assistant, National Coal Board, (London); Legislative Assistant, Minnesota Commissioner of Human Rights.

Shelley Metzenbaum* — Director, Environmental Compliance Consortium and Visiting Professor and Senior Fellow, School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland. Former Executive Director, Performance Measurement Project, JFK School of Government, Harvard University; Associate Administrator for Regional Operations and State/Local Relations, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Under Secretary, Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, and Director, Office of Capital Planning and Budgeting, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 

Ronald C. Moe* — Former Specialist in American Government, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress; Senior Policy Advisor, Cost of Living Council; Senior Policy Advisor, Office of Economic Opportunity, Executive Office of the President; Assistant Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University. 

*Academy Fellow

Project Staff:

J. William Gadsby, Vice President for Academy Studies
Scott Belcher, Executive Vice President (sbelcher@napawash.org)
Don Ryan, Project Director (dryan@napawash.org)
Mark Hertko, Senior Advisor (mhertko@napawash.org)
Torrey Androski, Research Associate (tandroski@napawash.org)

Meetings:

Meeting 1: February 16, 2007 (posted 1/30/07)
Meeting 2: March 16, 2007 (posted 3/1/2007)
Meeting 3: May 3 - 4, 2007 (posted 3/1/2007)
Meeting 4: June 11, 2007, Meeting closed (posted 4/24/2007)
Meeting 5: September 24, 2007 (open 9:00 - 12:00 - closed 12:00 - 3:00) (posted 9/11/07)

For further information, contact Mary Ditmeyer at (202) 347-3190, or at Mditmeyer@napawash.org.