Guidelines for Environmental Risk Assessment and Management
[This document refers, in a number of instances, to the then Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The text of this document has not been updated since the transfer of environmental protection functions to Defra.]
Foreword from the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions
When the Department of the Environment published A Guide to Risk Assessment and Risk Management for Environmental Protection in 1995, it represented one of the first attempts to explore some of the underlying principles of assessing environmental risk.
Five years later, publication of this revised guidance emphasises the establishment of risk assessment and risk management - along with risk communication - as essential elements of structured decision-making processes across Government.
The predecessor Departments of the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions have long been at the forefront of developments across the whole area of risk assessment. DETR's central role in environmental safety and chemicals management was strengthened with the transfer of the Health and Safety Executive to the Department in 1997 and the addition of responsibility for road, aviation and marine safety after the Departments of the Environment and Transport merged in 1997. So we have been happy to collaborate with the Environment Agency and the Institute for Environment and Health in preparing this revised and improved guidance.
The revisions have been made for several reasons, but principally to incorporate new thinking on the communication of risk and public involvement in decision-making processes. Through media coverage and advances in communication technology, in particular the World Wide Web, we are all being made increasingly aware of information about potential environmental hazards in our everyday lives - often as soon as new information emerges and before scientific research can fully illuminate problems. With this increased awareness comes growing public sensitivity to the emergence of new risks, growing public interest in the way in which science policy is formulated and a growing desire to become involved in that process. The guidance underlines our commitment to effective risk communication and stakeholder participation in the risk management process.
This document provides a framework for the development of functional risk assessment guidance by the regulators, which will inevitably be geared towards specific issues such as contaminated land, waste management, major accident hazards, etc. Importantly, however, this guidance will serve as the 'first port of call' for many Agency officers before they tackle the detail. We hope it will serve a similar role for everyone interested in risk-based decision-making in Government.
Henry Derwent
Director, Environment: Risks and Atmosphere Directorate
Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions
Foreword from the Environment Agency
Risk assessment has established itself as an essential tool for the management of environmental risk and has been widely adopted by business, regulators and the financial sector.
The assessment of environmental risk is central to the Environment Agency's environmental vision and operational activity. At a strategic level, the consideration of environmental risks within the context of societal values assists in the prioritisation of our corporate activity. Across our regulatory remit, we increasingly require risk assessments to be conducted in support of authorisations to abstract from, or discharge to, the environment. Such assessments now employ a wide range of tools and techniques at various levels of sophistication and the need for consistency of approach is well-recognised. In response, and to provide the Environment Agency's corporate lead in the field of risk assessment and integrated decision-making, we established the National Centre for Risk Analysis and Options Appraisal in 1997.
This update of the Department's 1995 Guide to Risk Assessment and Risk Management for Environmental Protection provides a key opportunity to establish a set of common high level principles to which public-domain environmental risk assessments can refer. Developments in the field of risk assessment, especially with respect to the need for greater transparency, the consideration of the wider social context within which such assessments are discussed, and the recognition of a broader range of tools for screening and prioritisation are all reflected in this revision.
Whilst the specific requirements of individual legislation will take precedence over this guidance, I trust you will find it a valuable document and useful starting point for your work in this field.
Dr Jan Pentreath
Chief Scientist and Director of Environmental Strategy
Environment Agency
Page published 2 August
2000;
Page last modified
19 September, 2002