[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 155 (Tuesday, August 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 47105]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19065]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[EPA-HQ-ORD-2014-0581; FRL-9915-07-ORD]
Notice of Availability of the Risk Assessment Forum White Paper:
Probabilistic Risk Assessment Methods and Case Studies and
Probabilistic Risk Assessment To Inform Decision Making: Frequently
Asked Questions
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
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SUMMARY: This notice announces the availability of ``Risk Assessment
Forum White Paper: Probabilistic Risk Assessment Methods and Case
Studies'' and its companion document ``Probabilistic Risk Assessment to
Inform Decision Making: Frequently Asked Questions.'' The drafts were
released for public comment, and externally peer reviewed by experts
from academia, industry, environmental groups, and other government
agencies.
DATES: The document will be available for use by EPA risk assessors and
other interested parties on August 12, 2014.
ADDRESSES: The Risk Assessment Forum White Paper: Probabilistic Risk
Assessment Methods and Case Studies and Probabilistic Risk Assessment
to Inform Decision Making: Frequently Asked Questions are available
electronically through the EPA Web site at http://epa.gov/raf/prawhitepaper/index.htm.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Rita S. Schoeny, Office of the Science
Advisor, Mail Code 8105R, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1200
Pennsylvania Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number (202)
566-1127; fax number (202) 565-2911; or email: [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: PRA began playing an increasingly important
role in Agency risk assessments following the 1997 release of EPA's
Policy for Use of Probabilistic Analysis in Risk Assessment at the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and publication of the Guiding
Principles for Monte-Carlo Analysis. PRA was a major focus in an
associated review of EPA risk assessment practices by the Science
Advisory Board (SAB) (Letter from M. G. Morgan and R. T. Parkin,
Science Advisory Board, to S. Johnson, U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency. February 28, 2007. EPA/SAB-07/003). http://yosemite.epa.gov/
sab/sabproduct.nsf/55E1B2C78C6085EB8525729C00573A3E/$File/sab-07-
003.pdf). Both this white paper and the companion FAQ document address
recommendations on risk assessment processes described in the U.S.
National Research Council's (NRC) report Science and Decisions:
Advancing Risk Assessment. The white paper and FAQ documents were
released for public comment in September 2009 and underwent external
peer review in May 2010.
PRA is a group of techniques that incorporate variability and
uncertainty into the risk assessment process. PRA provides estimates of
the range and likelihood of a hazard, exposure, or risk, rather than a
single point estimate. It can provide a more complete characterization
of risks, including uncertainties and variability, to protect more
sensitive or vulnerable populations and lifestages. The information
obtained from a PRA can be used by decision makers to weigh risks from
decision alternatives, or to invest in research with the greatest
impact on risk estimate uncertainty.
These documents describe how PRA can be applied to enhance the
scientific foundation for decision making across the Agency. They were
created in response to recommendation of numerous advisory bodies,
including the SAB and NRC; these groups recommended that EPA
incorporate probabilistic analyses into Agency decision-making
processes. This white paper and accompanying FAQ explain how EPA can
use probabilistic methods to address data, model, and scenario
uncertainty and variability by capitalizing on the wide array of tools
and methods that comprise PRA.
Both documents address issues such as variability and uncertainty,
their relevance to decision making, and the PRA goal of providing
quantitative characterization of the uncertainty and variability in
estimates of hazard, exposure, or risk. The difference between the
white paper and the FAQs document is the level of detail provided about
PRA concepts and practices and the intended audience (e.g., risk
assessors for the white paper vs. decision makers) for the FAQ
document.
Dated: July 31, 2014.
Robert Kavlock,
Interim EPA Science Advisor.
[FR Doc. 2014-19065 Filed 8-11-14; 8:45 am]
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