ENVIRON explores how the new focus on ecosystems will affect commercial and industrial activities in the UK and offers advice on how the guidance can be used to avoid unforeseen and excessive liabilities.
Ecological receptors are commonly more sensitive and exposed than humans are to environmental contamination, although human health risks tend to dominate rule-making, remedial actions and other regulatory decisions. However, many of the UK’s plants, animals and habitats are legally protected under a range of local, national and international legislation. The extent of wildlife protection is usually legally defined but the scope often varies between regulations. Nevertheless there are sufficient similarities between the definitions of what constitutes ‘harm’ that the assessment of the nature, extent and effects of contamination can be investigated using a common approach – the ecological risk assessment (ERA) framework.
ENVIRON anticipates that the new ERA guidance will become the new blueprint for conducting contamination investigations and risk assessments in the UK.
ERA Framework
The ERA Framework is a process for judging whether the protection of ecological systems is being or is likely to be adversely affected by chemical contamination now or in the future. The main features of the methodology are:A conceptual site model (CSM) for organising information about the site and confirming the plausibility of a pathway between a specific source of contamination and the ecological receptors.
A causal link used to determine whether the incident or historical activities under investigation are the cause of contamination and are attributable to detrimental effects and, therefore, liability.
The measure of damage or harm and the reference for restorative action is a comparison with the baseline condition and if an operator is to avoid under- or over-compensatory action then an accurate understanding of the baseline is vital.
To ensure assessments are practical and measureable, indicators can be used to make reliable and consistent decisions. Examples of indicators for damage include growth and survival of populations and these parameters are compared against a baseline condition ('non-contaminated') often employing statistical confidence for a measure of ‘significance’.
Applications of ERA
ERA can be used to investigate historical contamination where operators may be liable for remedial work under such regimes as Contaminated Land (Part 2A), Water Resources and Habitats Regulations or through land or property sales in compliance with the Planning regimes. The Environment Agency estimates that there may be 5000 potentially polluting activities sited on or within 500 metres of a Part 2A designated “ecological receptor” location (such as a Site of Special Scientific Interest). The ERA method originated in the USA and as the prototype for risk assessment methodologies has been used in product health and safety evaluations, contaminated site management and natural resource damage assessments by ENVIRON’s experts for more than 20 years. Although the principles can be used in chemicals assessment (such as REACH), the primary role of the Environment Agency’s new guidance is in investigating chemical contamination at or near commercial and industrial sites. In recent months there has been increasing awareness and interest on the part of corporate organisations on how to prepare for the enactment of the Environmental Liabilities Directive (ELD) in to UK law. The Directive’s transposition in to UK law is imminent and is based on the 'polluter pays' principle making operators responsible for immediately responding to environmental damage and to take preventative actions if an imminent threat of damage exists. The scope covers specific types of damage to:- European protected species or natural habitats
- Surface water or groundwater
- Human health risks from land contamination
