This Handbook was prepared by the Science Policy Council (SPC) for EPA staff and managers and others as a guide to Risk Characterization. It implements EPA’s March 1995 Risk Characterization Policy which improved on the foundation of the February 1992 Agency-wide policy for risk characterization. Both the 1992 and 1995 documents point out that “... scientific uncertainty is a fact of life (and) ... a balanced discussion of reliable conclusions and related uncertainties enhances, rather than detracts, from the overall credibility of each assessment …”. Both also note that while the role of science to inform but not make decisions is widely recognized in EPA, and in the larger risk assessment and regulatory community, these communities often use the risk assessment number as the stated reason for decisions, not always clearly highlighting the legal, economic, social and other non-scientific issues that also go into the decision.
