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Strategic Plan

California Environmental Protection Agency. Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 106


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Risk assessment has become a dominant public policy tool for making choices, based on limited resources, to protect public health and the environment. It has been instrumental to the mission of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as other federal agencies in evaluating public health concerns, informing regulatory and technological decisions, prioritizing research needs and funding, and in developing approaches for cost-benefit analysis. However, risk assessment is at a crossroads. Despite advances in the field, risk assessment faces a number of significant challenges including lengthy delays in making complex decisions; lack of data leading to significant uncertainty in risk assessments; and many chemicals in the marketplace that have not been evaluated and emerging agents requiring assessment. Science and Decisions makes practical scientific and technical recommendations to address these challenges. This book is a complement to the widely used 1983 National Academies book, Risk Assessment in the Federal Government (also known as the Red Book). The earlier book established a framework for the concepts and conduct of risk assessment that has been adopted by numerous expert committees, regulatory agencies, and public health institutions. The new book embeds these concepts within a broader framework for risk-based decision-making. Together, these are essential references for those working in the regulatory and public health fields.
Sustainability is based on a simple and long-recognized factual premise: Everything that humans require for their survival and well-being depends, directly or indirectly, on the natural environment. The environment provides the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Recognizing the importance of sustainability to its work, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been working to create programs and applications in a variety of areas to better incorporate sustainability into decision-making at the agency. To further strengthen the scientific basis for sustainability as it applies to human health and environmental protection, the EPA asked the National Research Council (NRC) to provide a framework for incorporating sustainability into the EPA's principles and decision-making. This framework, Sustainability and the U.S. EPA, provides recommendations for a sustainability approach that both incorporates and goes beyond an approach based on assessing and managing the risks posed by pollutants that has largely shaped environmental policy since the 1980s. Although risk-based methods have led to many successes and remain important tools, the report concludes that they are not adequate to address many of the complex problems that put current and future generations at risk, such as depletion of natural resources, climate change, and loss of biodiversity. Moreover, sophisticated tools are increasingly available to address cross-cutting, complex, and challenging issues that go beyond risk management. The report recommends that EPA formally adopt as its sustainability paradigm the widely used "three pillars" approach, which means considering the environmental, social, and economic impacts of an action or decision. Health should be expressly included in the "social" pillar. EPA should also articulate its vision for sustainability and develop a set of sustainability principles that would underlie all agency policies and programs.
A comprehensive reference on state-of-the-art risk assessment methodologies for drinking water Risk Assessment for Chemicals in Drinking Water discusses the major steps and goals in risk assessments and suggests ways to improve the methodologies and accuracy, while consolidating up-to-date information on the current principles and practices in one authoritative reference. After an enlightening overview of risk assessment practices and regulatory guidelines, it: Includes descriptions of the use of variability analysis, exposure analysis, physiologically based pharmacokinetics, and modeling for both cancer and non-cancer endpoints Describes the practices of major organizations, including the U.S. EPA, Health Canada, World Health Organization, and California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment Includes complete chapters on risk assessment for essential nutrients, arsenic, chloroform, and perchlorate Explains how to address susceptible sub-populations, including the elderly and infants and children, in risk assessments Covers the potential of using genomic and proteomic screens Addresses recent advances, emerging issues, and future challenges With contributions and perspectives from leading scientists, this is the definitive resource for health and environmental scientists, toxicologists, risk assessors and managers, regulators, consultants, and other professionals responsible for the safety of drinking water.