The EPA has released a new report that establishes a performance baseline for tracking future environmental progress in a number of key industrial and service sectors.

The 2004 Sector Strategies Performance Report provides a snapshot of environmental trend data for each of 12 sectors that participate in the Agency's multi-media Sector Strategies. Sectors include construction, iron and steel manufacturing, and metal finishing.

Drawing from publicly available data sources, the report presents a demographic profile of each sector, plus performance information in such fields as energy conservation, water and air quality, and waste management. This report marks the first time that EPA has assembled available data in this format.

The EPA believes this new report will help the public better understand the environmental progress that is being made in a given sector. The report will also serve as a starting point for identifying the knowledge gaps that need to be filled to improve performance measurement in the future.

The 12 groups highlighted in the report all participate in EPA's multi-media Sector Strategies Program, established in 2003, which seeks to: (1) measure performance; (2) seek collaborative ways to promote the use of environmental management systems; and (3) addresses regulatory barriers that can hinder performance improvements.