New York State Comparative Risk Project
What Is Comparative Risk?
Comparative Risk Projects can help identify those environmental problem areas where current regulatory and pollution prevention efforts have either not yet been implemented, can benefit from enhancement, or have so far failed to adequately reduce risk to human health, ecosystems, and quality of life for New Yorkers. The problem areas selected by the New York State Comparative Risk Project were limited to those that could be addressed through pollution prevention. A risk-based pollution prevention program was developed by characterizing the risks associated with environmental releases and then determining pollution prevention strategies to reduce those risks. The results of the project will be used to develop a statewide strategy aimed at integrating pollution prevention into everyday activities of the NYSDEC.
The Project decisions are, to the greatest extent practicable, based on the available scientific information and current technology and attempt to reflect public opinions and values.
Who's Involved?
The Comparative Risk Project Steering Committee (Steering Committee) manages the Project and will make the final recommendations to the NYSDEC. Work groups were created to provide technical support and to make recommendations to the Steering Committee. The Comparative Risk Project proceeded in two phases. Phase 1, the risk characterization phase, included putting together work groups to identify those substances that posed a risk to human health, the environment and the New Yorker's quality of life. Under Phase 2 of the Comparative Risk Project, a Risk Reduction Strategies Work Group was created to develop a variety of specific pollution prevention strategies aimed at those potentially harmful substances identified in Phase 1 reports.
Members of the work groups and Steering Committee come from diverse backgrounds - industry, environmental advocacy, research laboratories, government and the public. They worked hard to build agreement around documents and a set of recommendations that has now been unanimously endorsed by the work group members. The roles of the work groups are more fully outlined in the Charge to Work Groups.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency has provided DEC with a grant to carry out the Project.
Environmental Problems That Will Be Evaluated
Phase 1 of the project identified dozens of potentially harmful substances ranging from metals and pesticides in soil and water, to particulates and ozone in the air. The risks associated with the substances ranged from as serious as cancer and chronic asthma to more aesthetic concerns such as cloudy water in the state's lakes and rivers. Fourteen groups of these substances, called stressors, have been developed. The stressor groupings are based on similarities in their physical or chemical characteristics. Some of these stressor groups contain large numbers of individual chemicals.
| Acidic and alkaline substances | Particulates |
| Atmospheric gases | Pesticides |
| Halogens | Petroleum products |
| Metals and cyanide | Polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) |
| Non-volatile halogenated organic compounds | Radionuclides |
| Non-volatile & semi-volatile organic comp'ds | Suspended and settleable solids |
| Nutrients | Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) |
Where Are We Now? (Winter 2003)
Phase 2, the risk reduction strategies phase, developed management strategies for the stressors that incorporate pollution prevention methods and prioritized them for implementation.
The results of the stressor groups characterizations are presented in the final Phase 1 work group reports and in the Phase 1 Final Report of the Steering Committee. These reports were released in the summer of 2001 for public comment and have been finalized. The publication of the Phase 1 Final Report by the Steering Committee set the stage for Phase 2 of the Comparative Risk Project by establishing and assigning responsibilities to the Risk Reduction Strategies Work Group for evaluating potential pollution prevention measures and making recommendations for a risk-based pollution prevention strategy. The Final Report of the Comparative Risk Project has been completed.
To ask questions about this project contact:
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Pollution Prevention Unit
625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233-1750
(518) 402-9469 (phone), (518) 402-9168 (fax)
