CommunityBased Science

1
Community-Based Science

• David Lynch and Hank Topper
• EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
• National Community Involvement Conference
• Philadelphia
• July, 2003

2
New Paradigm for Risk Science

• Understanding Risk, Informing Decisions in a
  Democratic Society, National Research Council
• (insert flow chart)

3
Risk Science The Community-Based Approach

• Interagency working group for participatory
  research
• Community-based participatory research (CBPR)
  is scientific inquiry conducted in communities in
  which community members, persons affected by the
  condition or issue under study and other key
  stakeholders in the community's health have the
  opportunity to be full participants in each phase
  of the work (from conception - design - conduct -
  analysis - interpretation - conclusions -
  communication of results).

4
Risk Science The Traditional View

• Agency manager as decision maker
• Science and management separated to insure
  objectivity of science
• Risk assessment done by agency or contractor
  scientists and results are presented to the
  community
• Community involvement in form of public meetings

5
Characteristics of Community-Based Approach

• Community or community partnership often decision
  maker
• Management goals drive risk science
• Community participation in all aspects of the
  application of risk science
• Public meetings only one of multiple
  opportunities for community involvement

6
Community Input to Deliberative Risk Process

• Community values to set goals
• acceptable Risk
• social, economic, cultural, ethical values
• Local knowledge on sources and exposures
• Oversight of analysis to insure consistency with
  community goals and values
• Effective communication of results
• Ideas and resources for solutions

7
Advantages of Community Participation

• Better understanding of community needs to focus
  science
• Better collection of data for all aspects of
  assessment
• Better acceptance of results of analysis
• Improved long term community capacity
• More options and resources for risk management

8
Community-Based Science and Cumulative Risk?

• Looking at risk from the community perspective
  all stresses, vulnerability, non-traditional
  factors such as access to health care
• Need for active community role increased
• New Agency Framework for Cumulative Risk
  highlights community role

9
Common Concerns with Community Participation

• Loss of science objectivity
• Need to educate community to participate requires
  more resources and time
• Community residents ability to understand risk
  science not adequate for real participation
• Factional divisions and low level of social
  capital make participation unrealistic

10
Community-Based Science New Role for EPA

• Build capacity of communities for risk science
  education and deliberative process
• Participate in team effort, not as
  decision-maker/risk manager
• Provide technical assistance, information
• Essential national role tools, communication,
  lessons learned, standards, training

11
Community Goals and Risk Science

• Start from goals to understand role of risk
  science
• The Goals
• Community in agreement on sources of risk and all
  sectors of community are mobilized to take
  actions that effectively improve the health and
  environment of the community
• Community has the long-term capacity to
  understand and address environmental concerns and
  continue to improve local environment

12
Community-Based Science and Community Goals

• Science and deliberative process help build
  consensus on risks
• Education and outreach improve community
  awareness of risks
• Participation improves long-term community
  capacity to understand and address risks
• Local creativity and local resources essential
  complement to national approach

13
How Can EPA Prepare for Community-Based Science?

• Provide training for Agency staff team approach
  needs risk science, education, communication, and
  community expertise
• Establish organizational structures that can
  address community concerns multimedia
  geographical teams
• Develop national infrastructure for coordination,
  evaluation, communication, training
• Develop information, tools, solutions for use in
  community setting

14
Community Air Screening How To Manual

• A tool developed for Community-Based Science

15
History of Manual Development

• Basic methodology developed by community
  partnership in Baltimore
• Step-by-step guide developed to make methodology
  accessible
• Methodology expanded to include all sources
• Internal and external reviews completed
• June publication target

16
Problems Addressed by Manual

• Available data not easy to use to understand
  effects of aggregate concentrations from multiple
  sources
• Need to identify priorities for effective action
  at neighborhood level
• Sharply differing views on sources of risk among
  stakeholders means no action

17
Overall Manual Goals

• Improved understanding of local air quality
• Improved long-term community capacity to
  understand and address local air quality concerns
• Consensus on priorities for reducing risk
• All sectors of community mobilized and taking
  action to reduce risks

18
Manual Strategy to Meet Goals

• Build a partnership of all stakeholders to
  address local air quality issues
• Create a process that allows partners to share
  knowledge, build trust, and use sound science to
  answer questions and build consensus
• Involve broader community in process to build
  basis for community mobilization

19
Role for Risk Based Screening

• Designed to identify risk based priorities with
  minimum of resources
• Used when available risk information is not
  sufficient to build consensus
• Used to build community capacity to understand
  and address local air quality concerns

20
Who Would Do the Work?

• Partnership core with representatives of all
  stakeholders
• All community sectors, schools and organizations
  contribute to assessment, education, and risk
  management
• EPAs role can differ from facilitator of
  partnership, to providing technical assistance,
  to review

21
Who Has An Incentive to Join?

• Community organizations Build capacity, get
  answers and risk reductions
• Industry and business Improve understanding of
  risk and improve relationships and business
• Schools Ideal teaching opportunity
• Universities Teaching and research
  opportunities
• Local government Get resources needed to answer
  questions
• State governments Address urban risk issues

22
Resources Needed

• Will vary depending on existing community
  capacity
• Mostly in-kind contribution of partnership
  members
• Funding recommended for community involvement
  staff, facilitator, and for outreach and
  education

23
Organization of Manual

• Manual divided into two parts Overview and
  Technical Guidance (table of contents ?)
• Overview provides basic information needed to
  equip all partnership members to participate
  fully in the direction of the process
• Designed to be used chapter-by-chapter as the
  process proceeds
• Manual points to areas where additional resources
  are needed to supplement text

24
Chapter One Getting Started

• Manual covers steps needed to get started
• build a partnership
• clarify goals
• decide on a workplan
• Develop a communication plan
• Presents alternatives to help community find
  appropriate approach (figure 1-1 ?)

25
Six Step Screening Process

• Partnership, Goals, Work and Communication Plans
  (figure 2-1?)
• Inventory
• Initial Screen
• Secondary Screen
• Final Screen
• Communicate Results, Develop recommendations

26
Building the Inventory

• Inventory team collects available data and
  organizes community to collect and verify
  detailed location and release information
• Information collected to handle all small
  businesses handled as point sources
• Building inventory excellent opportunity for
  community education and capacity building (table
  3-1?)

27
Initial Screen

• Lookup table based on Screen3 model used to
  provide conservative estimate of aggregate
  concentrations (table 4-1?)
• Partnership team calculates Screening Level
  Concentrations (SLC) based on risk level set by
  community
• Concentrations compared to SLCs to identify
  chemicals for further analysis

28
Secondary Screen

• ISCST3 air dispersion model used to estimate
  concentrations from all sources (figure 10-1?)
• All small and large businesses handled as point
  sources
• Pseudo point method used to estimate area and
  mobile sources
• Estimated concentrations compared to SLCs again

29
Final Screen

• Detailed release information collected from point
  sources for target chemicals
• Facilities visited if not already in partnership
• ISCST3 run using more accurate release
  information
• Concentrations gtSLCs identified as community
  priorities
• Sources and source contribution to total
  identified for follow-up

30
Baltimore Example

• Inventory 175 chemicals, 125 facilities
• Initial Screen 29 chemicals, 36 facilities
• Secondary 7 chemicals, 23 facilities
• Final 4 chemicals, one stationary source
• Benzene tank farm and mobile
• 1,3-Butadiene mobile
• Carbon Tetrachloride background
• Methyl Chloride background

31
Results and Recommendations

• Clear risk communication key to success
• Partnership prepares for final report by
  communicating at each step of process (figure
  2-1?)
• Teams formed to develop recommendations for
  priority sources
• All opportunities explored P2, DfE, social
  marketing, benchmarking, diesel fleet retrofits,
  traffic patterns

32
Manual Use and Development

• Updated as experience and methods develop
• Possible addition of guidance for acute exposures
• Chapters used individually, e.g., Getting
  started, Inventory
• Exposure modeling added to develop risk
  information

33
Shelf-life for Manual?

• More accessible exposure and modeling tools may
  make risk assessment easier for community
  partnerships
• RAIMY, OAQPS risk assessment guidance and tools
  coming in future
• Dont lose value of community participation for
  local inventory and for developing local
  capacity, consensus, and initiative

34
Contact Information

• Community Assistance Technical Team
• Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
• Dave Lynch
• lynch.david_at_epa.gov
• 202-564-8532
• Hank Topper
• topper.henry_at_epa.gov
• 202-564-8534