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2002 EMAP Research Strategy
EMAP Research Documents
Research Strategy
Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) is a long-term research effort to enable status and trend assessments of aquatic ecosystems across the U.S. with a known statistical confidence. Initiated in the late 1980's within the Office of Research and Development (ORD), EMAP addresses monitoring the conditions of estuaries, streams and lakes in selected geographic regions, as well as having examined the surrounding landscapes in which these resources occur. EMAP is now progressing towards national demonstrations of monitoring science in these and other aquatic resources. This strategy forms the basis for the research needed to establish the condition of the nation's resources, as a necessary first step in the Agency's overall strategy for environmental protection and restoration.