Environmental and Occupational/ Public Health Standards Steering Group
Project Description and Significance
The Environmental and Occupational/Public Health Standards Steering Group was formed in January 1990 in response to DOE's concern about the effectiveness of the many regulations driving the cost of environmental restoration and waste management. Sandia's then-President Al Narath asked twelve other directors of DOE laboratories to join him in chartering the Steering Group. The Steering Group consists of one senior representative from each laboratory.
The charter of this group is the following:
The Environmental and Occupational/Public Health Standards Steering Group has been established to organize a broad long-term educational outreach and research program focused on better scientific and public understanding of the risks associated with hazardous agents (chemical, biological, radiological, and physical) in the environment and work place. To accomplish this goal, the Group will
Act as one resource for providing the technical basis for health and environmental standards;
Catalyze a national effort to improve public understanding of risk and the importance of cost-benefit analysis in evaluating mitigation of risk;
Catalyze improvement in understanding of health and environmental effects of hazardous agents; and
Analyze, with regulatory agencies, industry, and the public, the potential for evolution of risk-based consensus standards into federal and state environmental and public/occupational health regulations.
Successful realization of these objectives will result in achievement of the desired goal, a setting in which regulations can be made in an informed atmosphere (i.e., a setting in which technical information and public understanding are available for making sound decisions).
Several laboratories have introduced initiatives that respond to issues raised by the Steering Group's work. For example, Sandia enhanced its efforts to work with the Albuquerque and Livermore communities. In particular, Al Narath asked his staff to take steps to begin some near-term and long-term activities that will increase public understanding and support for Sandia's environmental-restoration and waste-management activities. Sandia plans to help build the credibility of the DOE and the laboratories by being more open about its environmental problems. Public outreach, education, and credibility are important to the future of DOE's success in environmental restoration and waste management. Sandia worked with DOE's Kirtland Area Office, the Inhalation Toxicology Research Institute, the New Mexico Environment Department, and EPA Region 6 to promote the formation of a site-specific advisory board. Sandia is also especially interested in enhancing science and math education in local and regional schools.
The Steering Group prides itself on actively listening to views on risk assessment and environmental restoration from outside the DOE community. Representatives of more than a dozen public interest groups have met with the Steering Group, helped plan symposia, or drafted joint papers. Representatives from the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence and from the Environmental Hazards Assessment Program at the Medical University of South Carolina attend Steering Group meetings regularly. These cooperative efforts enhance the credibility and build the technical competency of the DOE and its laboratories.
Sandia's Contribution
Sandia provides the chairman and the technical staff of the Steering Group. The Steering Group has prepared several position papers. The first, "Risk-Based Standards-Lessons Learned," was endorsed by twelve laboratory directors and sent to former DOE Secretary Watkins in 1992. This paper outlines some of the steps the DOE and its laboratories can take to initiate dialogue with other important agencies and with the public, to discuss with the public an appropriate balance between risk avoidance and federal spending, and to build our own credibility. The second position paper, "Public Access to Information," was a joint effort between the Steering Group and representatives of four public-interest groups that emphasize environmental issues. The paper recommends specific approaches that the laboratories could follow to enhance communication with the public. The group's activities and the endorsed position papers represent a unique sustained cooperative effort among so many DOE laboratories. Sandia drafted both papers at the direction of the Steering Group.
The Steering Group has held workshops and symposia on several topics of concern to the DOE. The Steering Group held a workshop on the status of risk-based standards in the United States in July 1991. Sandia drafted a journal article summarizing the results of the workshop, which was published in Risk Analysis (1994). The Steering Group held a forum on decision-making in the face of technical uncertainty in November 1991 and a symposium on land-use planning at DOE sites in March 1994. Sandia prepared videotape summaries of all three of these forums; several hundred copies have been distributed.
The Steering Group sponsored "CERCLA Reauthorization Issues: Options for Including Risk-Based Criteria," by Deborah Elcock of Argonne National Laboratory. The results of this paper were used in preparing a Steering Group position on CERCLA. Sandia worked with Argonne and Pacific Northwest Laboratory to draft the paper, which was submitted in October 1993 to Thomas Grumbly, DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management.
In addition, the Steering Group sponsored a survey of the states to determine what use they are making of risk-based methods in their environmental and public-health regulations. The group followed up on this survey by sponsoring a forum, "State and Tribal Forum on Risk-Based Decision Making," in November 1995. Sandia worked closely with Ames Laboratory to create a World-Wide-Web home page (http://ames_em.ameslab.gov/risk/index.html). The home page includes information on the risk-related activities at each lab, hypertext links to each national laboratory home page, and a list of other useful sources of information on risk assessment, environmental restoration, and waste management.
Future Work
The Steering Group plans to continue its interactions with public-interest groups on topics of mutual interest and is beginning to meet with representatives of minority communities and tribes. In addition, the group has scheduled a workshop on exposure assessment for September 1996 and plans to hold workshops on worker health and safety and ecological risk in 1997.
For further information, contact:
Dennis Berry
Sandia National Laboratories, MS 0744
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0744
Phone: (505) 844-0234
e-mail: dlberry@sandia.gov
or
Regina Hunter
Sandia National Laboratories, MS 0718
Albuquerque, NM 87185-0718
Phone: (505) 844-5837
e-mail: rlhunte@sandia.gov
Submitted October 1995 Layout design by Wanda Mar.
Submitted October 1995