Strategy for integrated CERCLA/NEPA risk assessments

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:6363095

MacDonell, M M; Haroun, L A; Peterson, J M; Blunt, D A; Fingleton, D J; Picel, M H

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has established a policy whereby, for remedial actions, the procedural and documentational requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) are integrated with those of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended. However, the objectives of risk assessment under NEPA and CERCLA differ somewhat. Until its recent application at contaminated sites, NEPA analysis has typically been applied to impacts from taking actions at clean sites (e.g., for construction activities), and a somewhat loosely structured process has historically been used to estimate relative risks for NEPA analyses. Decisions such as cleanup levels were not made on the basis of the risk estimates, and they therefore tended to be conservative and were not discussed in detail. In contrast, risks estimated for Superfund (CERCLA) sites are used to focus the decision-making process for those sites and support national prioritization for cleanup, and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has developed a detailed framework for preparing baseline health risk assessments for these sites. The purpose of this paper is to discuss issues related to intergrating the CERCLA and NEPA approaches into the risk assessments that have been prepared for a DOE remedial action project at the Weldon Spring site near St. Charles, Missouri. These issues are grouped into three basic categories: general assumptions for the impact evaluation, data management, and presentation of the methodology and results. This paper is not intended to represent DOE policy and guidance, nor does it represent the only approach that can be used for integrated risk assessments. It merely discusses the process that was used for the Weldon Spring project, articulating the issues that were encountered and how they were addressed.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6363095
• Report Number(s): ANL/CP-72945; CONF-910981--46; ON: DE92003379
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290300* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Environment
Health
& Safety
293000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Policy
Legislation
& Regulation
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990100 -- Management
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES
DATA ANALYSIS
DECISION MAKING
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FEDERAL REGION VII
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
LAWS
MANAGEMENT
MISSOURI
NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NORTH AMERICA
PLANNING
POLLUTION LAWS
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
REGULATIONS
REMEDIAL ACTION
RISK ASSESSMENT
US DOE
US EPA
US ORGANIZATIONS
US SUPERFUND
USA