Superfund Ecological Risk Assessment 8-Step Process
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In the Superfund program, Ecological Risk Assessments are done according the Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund (ERAGS). The following diagram and table below are links to each of the eight-steps that are part of this guidance (U.S. EPA, 1997, Ecological Risk Assessment Guidance for Superfund: Process for Designing and Conducting Ecological Risk Assessments, Interim Final, EPA 540-R-97-006. For more details on any of these steps beyond what is presented on this website, click above to download guidance document).
Steps 1 & 2 are considered to be part of
the Screening Level Ecological Risk Assessment
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1. Screening-level problem formulation and toxicity evaluation |
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Steps 3 to 7 are considered to be part of the
Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment
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* These steps are followed by a Scientific Management Decision Point (SMDP), during which it is decided upon appropriate future courses of action, if any. |
Figure 1. Schematic Diagram of the Superfund Eight-Step Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) Process
Note: the diagram is an image map. Click on different parts to go to separate pages on each step. (If the image map does not load, click the 'reload' button on your browser.)
Note: SMDP is the abbreviation for "Scientific Management Decision Point"; these are points in the Ecological Risk Assessment process when the site project manager and scientific advisors decide upon what additional steps, if any, are necessary to take.