![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Response from Associate Administrator Heinzerling regarding EPA's America's Children and the Environment Report
September 30, 2009
Melanie A. Marty, Ph.D., Chair
Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee
California Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment
1515 Clay Street, 16th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Dear Dr. Marty:
Thank you for your September 9, 2009 letter regarding the current revision of EPA’s report on America’s Children and the Environment (ACE). We greatly appreciate the thoughtful and timely input of the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) regarding EPA’s work to update and expand our collection of children’s environmental health indicators presented in ACE.
I share your belief that this is an important and unique document that provides EPA the opportunity to lead the nation by quantifying indicators of the environment’s effects on children’s health. Furthermore, this document allows EPA to address the particular vulnerabilities of children, as well as the environmental health disparities that persist between different groups of children in our country. Staff in EPA’s National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE) and Office of Children’s Health Protection (OCHP) will continue to develop the new edition of the ACE report, while tapping into the expertise of their colleagues in other EPA offices, as well as those experts in other agencies. The revision of the ACE report will build upon the previous two editions of the report, while incorporating new topics and indicators, to provide a more complete picture of the current state of and trends in children’s environmental health.
EPA appreciates the efforts of the CHPAC in providing this advice, and particularly the opportunity for frequent interactions with members of the CHPAC ACE Task Group who have shared their expertise in offering more detailed suggestion to the EPA’s ACE team. We share your commitment to improving children’s environmental health and look forward to working with the CHPAC as development of the ACE report continues.
Sincerely,
Lisa Heinzerling
Associate Administrator