US EPA

The goal of this study is to formalize an approach to inventory and analyze management decisions in order to produce useful information targeted toward effective adaptation to climate change. The approach uses as its starting point ongoing planning processes and decisions geared toward achieving environmental management goals, and then collects information on decisions and prioritizes them according to specific attributes. The pilot study described in this report applies this approach to the Chesapeake Bay Program and examines its usefulness to decision makers. This report has undergone internal review and peer consultation and is now posted for public comment.

Climate change is a global phenomenon that is affecting natural and human systems in all parts of the world. Some of the decisions and actions taken to manage these systems are likely to be affected by climate change and may likewise affect the vulnerability of the managed resource or ecosystem to climate change. Maintaining or improving the health of resources, as articulated in many management goals, means maximizing the effectiveness of existing management practices. Maximizing effectiveness of practices will not only include understanding the magnitude of potential impacts, but also understanding the effects of climate change on specific practices and their performance.

The goal of this study is to formalize an approach to inventory and analyze management decisions in order to produce useful information targeted toward effective adaptation to climate change. We began by: (1) selecting a study area and compiling a list of key decisions (2) developing criteria for evaluating the climate-relevance of decisions; (3) applying the criteria to select decisions that are potentially sensitive to climate change; (4) soliciting expert judgment regarding those selections (and refine the selections accordingly); and (5) testing alternative weighting schemes for prioritizing decisions most in need of decision support or additional research based on the selected attributes.

We selected the Chesapeake Bay as the subject area for the pilot study because decision making occurs at several levels (e.g., state, multi-state, EPA, other federal agencies), management is concerned with both water quality and aquatic ecosystem decisions, and decisions that affect actions implemented on the ground are readily identifiable. The test of our theoretical approach revealed that in practice, it provides useful information on adaptation measures for local decision makers and direction for fruitful research endeavors that will further improve our provision of information.

The goal of this study is to formalize an approach to inventory and analyze management decisions in order to produce useful information targeted toward effective adaptation to climate change.

Concluding this public comment period, there will be an external panel review, which will be announced in the Federal Register. After the external panel review, the final report will be published on the Global Change- Adaptation web site, along with responses to comments from the external peer review panel and the public.

U.S. EPA. A Method to Assess Climate-Relevant Decisions: Application in the Chesapeake Bay (2010 External Review Draft). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-10/096A, 2010.

Comments on this report may be submitted and reviewed using the e-Government Regulations.gov Web site. From the site, select Environmental Protection Agency and the keyword EPA-HQ-ORD-2010-0709 (for the docket ID) to comment on this report.