Research Plan : Novel Technologies Project

DRAFT This document is a preliminary draft. It has not been formally released by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and should not be construed to be Agency policy. It is being circulated for comments on its technical merit and policy implications. Do not release. Do not quote or cite. are thanked for their capable assistance in the final assembly and formatting of this research plan. Following outside peer review of their respective plans in 2002, the first four projects were initiated in 2003. The research proposed herein thus builds upon scientific progress made during FY 03-FY 07. The fifth project represents a new effort to examine the potential ecological effects of nanotechnology products. All five sub-projects are linked by having a common regulatory client i.e. the Office of Prevention Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS). The research will support OPPTS by developing laboratory, greenhouse or field methods and models to measure or predict the ecological effects of chemical, biological or physical stressors such as herbicides, genes from GM crops or manufactured nanomaterials. Each of the sub-projects shares potential similarities and thereby synergies in methodology to measure and predict ecological effects of diverse types of stressors. The proposed research addresses Agency needs described the Multi-Year Plan (MYP) Long Term Goal (LTG) 2 and the Safe Pesticides/Safe Communities (SP2) Plan LTG 3. The primary statutory authorities for the proposed research are the Federal Insecticide Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Toxic Substances and Control Act (TSCA). The following sub-project chapters each have their own more detailed executive summary. The individual chapters will provide in greater detail the rationale, background, and specific scientific questions that are being addressed. They will also describe the proposed technical approaches and anticipated outputs for each sub-project. Highlights from the respective executive summaries for each of the five sub-projects are presented below. The proposed integrated experimental, modeling and molecular studies will address information gaps identified as crucial to carrying out risk assessments of the ecological effects of drift levels of herbicides on non-target plants, especially native plants. The experimental studies will be geared to providing data for a simplified model of plant community structural and functional responses to environmental stress. Based on availability of resources, the methodologies will be used to determine the effects of other pesticide classes (e.g., fungicides) on terrestrial and possibly aquatic plant community iv structure and function. The major focus will be on empirically …