Weight of Evidence for Environmental Assessment

1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-03998-3
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 322 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm

Laws and regulations in the United States and some other nations require weight of evidence, as do any assessments that use multiple pieces of evidence. However, environmental assessors are frequently unaware of the need for defensible practices. This book provides the first clear framework for weight of evidence for environmental protection based on USEPA guidelines, as well as comparisons with alternative methods. Real-world case studies illustrate the implementation and application of weight of evidence for making diverse inferences and decisions that influence our environment and our lives.

Key Features

- Is written by experts who developed guidance on environmental assessment and weight of evidence for the United States government.

- Explains how weight of evidence is applied to different types of environmental and health decisions.

- Includes alternative frameworks and practices from other organizations that may be appropriate in particular cases.

- Uses an engaging style and draws on the authors’ decades of practical experiences.

- Expands on the USEPA guidelines that have been a basis for weight-of-evidence guidance in Europe, Australia, and elsewhere.

This book is for senior and graduate students in environmental sciences and management and for assessment practitioners who want to understand the use of weight of evidence to achieve the purposes of environmental assessments.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate, Professional Practice & Development, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Suter II, Glenn W.

Cormier, Susan M.

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Biowissenschaften Biowissenschaften Ökologie
• Technische Wissenschaften Umwelttechnik | Umwelttechnologie Umwelttechnik
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I. Background of Weight of Evidence. 1. History, Scope, and Definition of Weight of Evidence. 2. Weight of Evidence Methods. 3. Alternatives to Weight of Evidence. 4. The Context of Weight of Evidence. Part II. Process for Weight of Evidence. 5. Frameworks for Weight of Evidence. 6. Assembling Evidence. 7. Weight the Evidence. 8. Weigh the Body of Evidence. 9. Reassessment. 10. Communication. 11. Verification and Justification for Weight of Evidence. 12. Inference for Deriving Quantities. Part III. Using Weight of Evidence. 13. Setting Goals and Endpoints. 14. Condition, Causation, and Environmental Epidemiology. 15. Benchmark Values. 16. Evaluating the Hazards of Chemicals and Other Substances. 17. Contaminated Sites. 18. Proposed Actions. 19. Deriving and Selecting Models. 20. Analogies. 21. Resource Management. 22. Evidence-to-Decision Frameworks. 23. Future Weight of Evidence. Part IV. Supporting Material. 24. Weight of Evidence Epilogue. Appendix A. Qualitative Questions for which Evidence is Weighed in Different Types of Assessments. Appendix B. Characteristics of Inferred Qualities. Appendix C. Strategic Tips. Glossary. Index

Über Autor(innen)

Glenn W. Suter II is a retired environmental assessor. During his 20 years at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, he served as the Science Advisor to the Director of the National Center for Environmental Assessment in Cincinnati and as Chairman of the Risk Assessment Forum’s Ecological Oversight Committee. Before that, he worked for 23 years in the Environmental Sciences Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has authored more than 300 publications, including five authored books and four edited books. Among his recognitions, he received the SETAC Founder’s Award, the USEPA’s Level One Scientific Achievement Award (with Susan Cormier and Sue Norton), and the Gold Medal for Exceptional Service. He is a fellow of the AAAS and SETAC. He has worked on the development of toxicity test protocols; environmental impact assessment for nuclear, geothermal, and coal energy technologies; the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program; recovery of an endangered species; and ecological risk assessments of contaminated sites and of the mining of copper and coal. He participated in the development of guidance for ecological risk assessment, causal assessment, weight of evidence, field-based water quality criteria, assessment endpoints, ecosystem services, integrated environmental assessment, species sensitivity distributions, read-across, and other topics.

Susan M. Cormier, now retired, has been a university professor and a senior scientist and science advisor in the Office of Research and Development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Although trained as a cell biologist, she was drawn to championing environmental causes, even in high school, working to address nutrient enrichment in a neighborhood lake. As a university professor, she investigated and exposed epidemic levels of hepatocellular carcinoma in Atlantic tomcod in the Hudson River. She was recruited to join the EPA, and, in a moment of patriotism, she resigned her faculty position and committed herself for the next 33 years to developing effective ways to assess and protect aquatic resources. She developed USEPA methods, guidance, and applications for condition, causal, and criterion research and assessments, all of which depend on weight of evidence. Much of her work was co-authored with her long-time colleague and coauthor, Glenn Suter II, with whom she is excited to share this book.