Epa Seeks To Limit Risk Management Considerations In Assessments

摘要

EPA officials are resisting calls by a member of a National Academy of Sciences' (NAS) panel to more fully consider risk management solutions in the beginning stages of a risk assessment - a concept known as solution-focused risk assessment (SFRA) - saying it could allow political interference in the assessment process. The idea of considering risk management options in the beginning of a risk assessment is quickly becoming one of the more debated and controversial recommendations in the recent NAS report on improving EPA risk assessments, with EPA and other observers questioning the report's intent and how far its authors intended to push the idea. The debate spilled into the open at a hotly debated session at the Society for Risk Analysis annual meeting here Dec. 8, with Adam Finkel, a member of the NAS panel staunchly supporting SFRA, and Peter Preuss, director of EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA), and other experts arguing that Finkel's concept goes too far.