Guidelines for Cumulative Risk Assessment: Planning and Problem Formulation (Public Comment Draft)
EPA announced the availability of the public comment draft of the Guidelines for Cumulative Risk Assessment Planning and Problem Formulation, in the Federal Register on June 16, 2023. There is for a 60-day public comment period ending on August 15, 2023. However, EPA extended the public comment period an additional 15 days, until August 30, 2023,.as announced in a subsequent Federal Register Notice released on August 14, 2023.
Citation:
U.S. EPA. Guidelines for Cumulative Risk Assessment: Planning and Problem Formulation (Public Comment Draft). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Risk Assessment Forum, Washington, DC, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
The draft CRA Guidelines for Planning and Problem Formulation describe steps for the planning and problem formulation of CRAs and offer guidelines for when cumulative risk assessments could be appropriate. The draft CRA Guidelines for Planning and Problem Formulation are not final, and do not represent, and should not be construed to represent, Agency policy or views.
Description:
EPA’s draft document describes the planning and problem formulation steps of cumulative risk assessments (CRAs) and offers guidelines for when such assessments might be appropriate. The document provides recommendations to aid in developing a CRA analysis plan, but they do not provide guidelines on which analytical methods to use for conducting CRA, which would follow completion of the analysis plan. The guidelines are intended for use in conjunction with other EPA guidelines such as the Guidelines and Supplementary Guidance for Assessment of Chemical Mixtures and the Framework for Human Health Risk Assessment to Inform Decision Making.
This draft document was prepared by a technical panel composed of EPA senior risk assessors and risk managers, coordinated through EPA’s Risk Assessment Forum. The Risk Assessment Forum promotes Agency-wide consensus on risk assessment issues and coordinates development of Agency risk assessment guidelines. Consistent with EPA’s Peer Review Handbook, the document underwent an independent external contractor-led panel peer review in 2021 and is now being released for public comment prior to finalizing the document.
If you are interested in commenting, please access the document in the Downloads section below. Information on submitting public comments is provided in the Federal Register Notice in the Related Links section. Public comments can be submitted electronically to the Public Comment Docket in the Related Links section.
URLs/Downloads:
Draft Guidelines for Cumulative Risk Assessment: Planning and Problem Formulation (PDF, 73 pp, 2137 KB, about PDF)Learn about the Cumulative Risk Assessment Guidelines
EPA-HQ-ORD-2013-0292
FR Notice: Aug 14, 2023
FR Notice: Jun 16, 2023