Guidance for Conducting Risk Assessments and Related Risk ...

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this document is to establish guidelines to ensure that all risk assessments and related
risk activities for the U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations (DOE-ORO), Environmental
Management (EM) Program are consistent with both program and regulatory guidance and are technically
defensible. This is especially important under the Management and Integration (M&I) contracting
process because subcontractors will perform most risk assessment tasks. The use of this document will
streamline the completion of human health risk assessments by providing program and project managers
with a framework that integrates risk assessment activities into the life cycle of projects.
The methods outlined in this document are consistent with the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA) human health evaluation process described in parts A through D of Risk Assessment
Guidance for Superfund Volume I: Human Health Evaluation Manual (RAGS) (EPA 1989, 1991a,
1991b, 1998). Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
(CERCLA), RAGS serves as the primary regulatory guidance document for all risk assessments and their
application to risk management. In addition to RAGS, comments provided by state and federal regulators
on previously submitted risk assessment reports and the most up-to-date scientific findings related to the
evaluation of human health risk have been incorporated into this document.
This document supercedes Risk Assessment Strategy at DOE-ORO (ES/ER/TM-180, LMER 1996c).
The material contained herein will be periodically updated as the strategy and risk assessment
methodology are revised. The document may be found on-line at the Risk Assessment Information
System (RAIS) at http://risk.lsd.ornl.gov/homepage/rap_docs.htm.
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