Extramural Research - Environment, Health and Society (EHS)
Environmental Decision Making
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Cumulative Risk Assessment 2012 Webinar Series:
August 29, 2012 - View Webinar
September 26, 2012 - View Webinar
October 17, 2012 - View Webinar
November 28, 2012 - View Webinar
Environmental Justice: What's Science Got to Do With It?
MP3 Recordings of National Teleconference Calls (EPA STAR grantees & community partners discuss research impacts)
Environmental decision making is a social process that involves a wide variety of stakeholders, goals, and norms with the aim of protecting both humans and the environment, while also fostering economic growth. Decision making is part of larger efforts, such as environmental governance and management, that attempt to balance a competing set of priorities by using the best available science to weigh the risks, benefits, and costs of such actions. EPA joins academic and other public conversations about how to improve environmental decision making processes to engage all those using and/or affected by environment-related events and/or activities.
Providing different stakeholders and users with the tool, data and skills to improve their ability to participate in decision making can prevent future environmental problems. The social processes that constitute environmental decisions ever more require detailed information and feedback to create productive models. A specific example of these models is those related to public participation. These models can help shape current decisions which have enormous impact on people's health and their quality of life not limited to their relationships to their nearby environments.
WHAT IS EPA DOING?
The U.S. EPA plays a variety of roles throughout the social process of environmental decision making in the United States.
EPA funds research to develop environmental public health indicators, environmental data and other information that are key for environmental risk or impacts assessments and policy evaluation.
EPA has established a new research program on integrating sustainability in environmental decision-making. More information on the Sustainable and Health Communities Research Program
More broadly, EPA has developed various initiatives and programs to educate decision makers (e.g., policy makers, scientists, the public, non-governmental organizations) about the need and the importance of public participation in environmental decision-making. Some well-known examples in this effort to support public engagement include environmental justice, climate change issues, Superfund, and Community Action for Renewed Environment (CARE) programs.
Multi-Media
View the agenda and presentations from the meeting, Promoting Healthy Communities: Developing and Exploring Linkages between Public Health Indicators, Exposure and Hazard Data. In September 2011, EPA hosted a national meeting exploring new and improved environmental public health indicators to for examining linkages between environmental hazards, human exposures and health outcomes. Indicators are useful tools for tracking progress in improving health and the environment and evaluating environmental decisions
Learn about NCER-supported research in areas related to ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION-MAKING
- Sustainable Chesapeake: A Collaborative Approach to Urban Stormwater Management
- Environmental Public Health Indicators
Connect to related ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION-MAKING links, such as organizations, toolkits, online modules, and presentations.
- EPAs Public Involvement Program and Policy
- EPA Superfund Community Involvement Program
- EPA Community Action for Renewed Environment (CARE)
- EPA Environmental Justice Showcase Communities
- EPA National Center for Environmental Economics
- Health Impact Project
- Data Center for Research and Justice
- Human Impact Partners
- Policy Link
Recommended Reading (journal, articles and reports) that address ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION-MAKING