Using statistics to determine data adequacy for environmental policy decisions (shootout at the OU-3 corral)

Technical Report · Thu Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1998

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/334245· OSTI ID:334245

Kelly, E; Campbell, K ^[1]; Michael, D; Black, P ^[2]

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1. Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
2. Neptune and Co., Los Alamos, NM (United States)

The discipline of statistics often plays an important role in environmental policy decision-making, when decisions are, if not completely based on, at least informed by environmental data. Statistics provides guidance for the type, quantity, and quality of data required to support the policy decisions, as well as the techniques for assessing the data once it is collected. Environmental policy decisions occur at many levels, national, regional, state, and local. This paper describes the use of statistics to support policy decisions at the local level. Even at the local level, decisions can involve millions and, in some cases, billions of dollars. Additionally, local policy decisions can have ramifications for policy decisions at the state, regional and national levels. The two major regulations that drive environmental restoration are the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) (also known as Superfund), and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). In many areas state water quality standards and other requirements are also important drivers. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has placed the statistician right in the center of the environmental restoration work. It has done this by issuing guidance that recommends that planning for environmental data collection follows the Data Quality Objectives (DQO) Process (USEPA 1994), and evaluation of the data follows the Data Quality Assessment (DQA) Process (USEPA 1996). These processes are based on formal statistical techniques such as hypothesis testing and estimation, and explicitly link data collection to risk management decisions through specification of acceptable levels for statistical decision errors.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Administration, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 334245
• Report Number(s): LA-UR--98-3420; CONF-980853--; ON: DE99002287
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
DECISION MAKING
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
NUMERICAL DATA
QUALITY CONTROL
REMEDIAL ACTION
RISK ASSESSMENT
STATISTICS