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Environmental Indicators

National Information

In this example the indicator is "Acres of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation" - the greater the number, the better the health of the ecosystem.

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What is an Indicator?

An indicator is a measure of something that we want to know the condition of or that we want to track (e.g., environmental condition). Indicators help us understand where we are, where we are going, and how far we are from the goal.

An indicator is information that represents a piece of the system in which we want to decide on an action or make a decision.

A good indicator has the following characteristics (from Indicators and Information Systems for Sustainable Development (PDF). (95pp, 418 KB, About PDF) ) Exit EPA Disclaimer by D. Meadows, 1998. Balaton Group, The Sustainability Institute.).

One way to use indicators is to track EPA’s programmatic activities. For this, EPA has organized data and measures into six levels that correspond to the type of activity measured.

Indicator Hierarchy

Administrative

Level 1 - resources used and activities taken by governmental agencies and environmental groups, such as permits written or grants issued; designed to result in an action by a second party that reduces or prevents pollution or exposure to pollution

Level 2 - steps taken by entities in response to Level 1 actions to reduce pollutants entering air, water, or land

Environmental

Level 3 - actual amounts of pollutants emitted by sources

Level 4 - levels of pollutants detected in local communities

Level 5 - chemical or biological changes which occur to some pollutants, for example, concentration of a toxin as it moves up the food chain

Level 6 - the true Indicator or condition we seek to attain

EPA has used the Indicator Hierarchy since 1982.  It corresponds fairly closely to the categories used in Logic Models to plan activities.

Additional Information

Contact

Bill Jenkins (jenkins.bill@epa.gov)
Associate Division Director
Office of Environmental Information & Analysis (3EA10)
Environmental Assessment & Innovation Division
US EPA Region 3
1650 Arch St.
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029
215-814-2911

Mid-Atlantic Region || Mid-Atlantic Env'l Assessment & Innovation || Mid-Atlantic Data


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