Review of Ecological Assessment Case Studies from a Risk Assessment Perspective Volume II

Since 1990, EPA's Risk Assessment Forum has sponsored activities to improve the quality and consistency of EPA's ecological risk assessments. Projects have included development of Agencywide guidance on basic ecological risk assessment principles (Framework for Ecological Risk Assessment) and evaluation of 12 ecological assessment case studies from a risk perspective (Review of Ecological Assessment Case Studies from A Risk Assessment Perspective). To complement the original set of case studies, several new case studies were recently evaluated to provide further insight into the ecological risk assessment process. As with the original cast studies, each of the five case studies was evaluated by scientific experts at EPA-sponsored workshops. Two workshops were held in September 1992 (57 Federal Register 38504; August 25, 1992); these workshops included reviewers from universities, private organizations, and industry. The new case studies expand the range of the first case study act by including different kinds of stressors (radionuclides, genetically engineered organisms, and physical alteration of wetlands) and programmatic approaches (premanufacture notice assessments under the Toxic Substances Control Act and the EPA's Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program). In addition, the authors and reviewers of the new case studies were able to use EPA's Framework Report as background information. Both sets of case studies provide useful perspectives concerning application of ecological risk assessment principles to "real world" problems.
Note: these case studies were used in developing EPA's 1998 Ecological Risk Assessment Guidelines.

U.S. EPA. Review of Ecological Assessment Case Studies from a Risk Assessment Perspective Volume II. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Risk Assessment Forum, Washington, DC, EPA/630/R-94/003, 1994.