Research Plan to Advance the State-of-Practice in the Field of Environmental Comparative Risk Management. J. A. Fava, G. Biddinger, J. Clark, C. Pittinger, J. Jaworska, J. Heckman, and W. Thomas; Five Winds International, Exxon-Mobil, and Procter & Gamble
The purpose of this paper is to describe a research plan to advance the state-of-the-practice of Comparative Environmental Risk Assessment and Management (CERAM) so that the appropriate environmental, social and economic aspects are considered, understood, and evaluated in decision-making. This plan was developed under the direction of the Chemical Manufacturers Association Long Range Research Initiative (CMA/LRRI). In today’s society, developing new products and technologies, or siting new facilities and communities demands an appreciation of competing risks and the trade-offs in those risks that will result from any action taken. This broadened expectation that the decision-making process will address such a breadth of environmental risk issues has lead the CMA/LRRI to explore avenues to advance our capabilities in making such complex decisions. As part of the decision making process, firms are being asked to balance programmatic and business objectives with diverse risks such as risks to the environment, human health, natural resource consumption, concern about transfer of one media to another or from one life cycle stage to another. Through an interactive process with a group of international experts, questions were raised as to the adequacy of the technical capacity (i.e. skilled personnel, tools such as life cycle assessment, risk assessment, and data within public, private, and academic sectors to more fully incorporate comparative risk management within the decision making processes. Using the results of both one-on-one interviews and a knowledge-based facilitated workshop, specific research ideas were developed. The resulting research plan will be communicated to interested parties who can advance the development of comparative environmental risk management.
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