Comparative Risk As a Piece of the Priority Setting Process. K. Jones, Northeast Center for Comparative Risk
With more than 40 comparative risk projects underway in the United States, it is no longer necessary to hypothesize how comparative risk can be used to assist environmental management. Comparative risk does involve a broad representation of the public in a dialogue about the relative magnitude of environmental problems. Comparative risk does base the dialogue on a necessary combination of technical information and public values. Comparative risk does become part of the political dialogue regarding future steps for environmental management. It should not be surprising that the impact of comparative risk projects on environmental decisions varies widely depending on the bureaucratic and political context within which the projects are carried out.