Environmental Risk Management: The Road Less Traveled. G. R. Biddinger, R. P. Brown, J. Durda, W. R. Gala, M. C. Harrass, C. A. Pittinger, and R. G. Stahl, American Industrial Health Council, Ecological Risk Assessment Committee, Suite 760, 2001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20006
The US Congress in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments mandated a Presidential/Congressional Commission on Risk Assessment and Risk Management (i.e., the President’s Commission). The final report of the President’s Commission (1997) provided a clear statement of "Principles for Risk Management Decision-Making." These principles provide broad guidance to risk managers, relevant to both human health and ecological risk. The American Industrial Health Council (AIHC) Ecological Risk Assessment Committee, building upon the work of the Multi-Stakeholder Ecological Risk Management Dialogue Group (MERMD) and the results of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) technical workshop on ecological risk management (Williamsburg, VA, June 1997), applied the President’s Commission principles to specific ecological applications. A series of practical criteria were identified for gauging whether and how the President’s Commission principles were followed for particular ecological risk scenarios. These criteria will be presented in the context of organizational management activities (e.g., planning, design, implementation, etc.) and specific types of applications. Barriers to the effective integration of these principles by the regulated community will be highlighted and recommendations for improvement are provided. Lastly, factors that affect the relative importance of attributes to success and the criteria upon which that success is evaluated will be discussed.
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