DEVELOPING THE TAXONOMY OF COMMUNITY RISK VARIABLESUNDER THE “NO NET RISK GAIN MODEL” TO SATISFY QUALITY OF LIFEOBJECTIVES DURING FEDERAL FACILITY ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUPEFFORTS

摘要

An environmentally just risk assessment tool must be developed and employed to adequatelyrnidentify, assess, and measure the complex array of risks at federal facility cleanup sites.rnConventional risk assessment, as practiced in the United States, is currently the most widely usedrnand accepted risk management tool to address federal facility cleanup activities, development,rnand redevelopment issues. However, inherent limitations exist within these conventional,rnstandard-driven risk assessment policies that do not reflect the values of the impacted community.rnWhen applied to a diverse and/or indigenous population, a flawed risk assessment may resultrnbecause pollution standards based largely on assumptions may not satisfy the cleanup goals of therncommunity. For example, the risk assessment may not account for bioaccumulation effects inrnflora and fauna that may impact a community’s quality of life, including cultural traditions andrnnutrition and aesthetics.rnTo overcome these limitations and strive for a more environmentally just risk assessment, thernInternational Institute for Indigenous Resource Management (IIIRM) is developing thern“Taxonomy of Community Risk Variables.” This Quality of Life evaluation tool is designed tornserve as a risk assessment framework to assist tribes, communities both urban and rural, and otherrnstakeholders to identify, characterize, and measure both positive and negative risk factors withinrntheir community. The underlying philosophy of this risk assessment process is to ensure arnproposed development or cleanup is environmentally just by, at a minimum, imposing nornadditional risk to the community or, ideally, improving the overall well-being of its citizens byrndecreasing the overall risk burden.