PNNL

Abstract

The relative hazard (RH) and risk measure (RM) methodology and computer code is a health risk-based tool designed to allow managers and environmental decision makers the opportunity to readily consider human health risks (i.e., public and worker risks) in their screening-level analysis of alternative cleanup strategies. Environmental management decisions involve consideration of costs, schedules, regulatory requirements, health hazards, and risks. The RH-RM tool is a risk-based environmental management decision tool that allows managers the ability to predict and track health hazards and risks over time as they change in relation to mitigation and cleanup actions. Analysis of the hazards and risks associated with planned mitigation and cleanup actions provides a baseline against which alternative strategies can be compared. This new tool allows managers to explore “what if scenarios,” to better understand the impact of alternative mitigation and cleanup actions (i.e., alternatives to the planned actions) on health hazards and risks. This new tool allows managers to screen alternatives on the basis of human health risk and compare the results with cost and other factors pertinent to the decision. Once an alternative or a narrow set of alternatives are selected, it will then be more cost-effective to perform the detailed risk analysis necessary for programmatic and regulatory acceptance of the selected alternative. The RH-RM code has been integrated into the PNNL developed Framework for Risk Analysis In Multimedia Environmental Systems (FRAMES) to allow the input and output data of the RH-RM code to be readily shared with the more comprehensive risk analysis models, such as the PNNL developed Multimedia Environmental Pollutant Assessment System (MEPAS) model.