North Carolina

of the contaminant, and uncertainty of the criteria must be considered as part of

deciding upon a remediation action for the site.

Document:

"Fish and wildlife impact analysis for inactive hazardous waste

sites" (New York State Department of Environmental

Conservation 1994). Albany, NY.

North Carolina

Guidance in Development

Oregon

Document:

"Guidance for ecological risk assessment: Level I - Scoping"

(Oregon DEQ 1997a).

Contact:

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's ecological risk

assessment process consists of four levels (or tiers):

1. Level I Scoping.

2. Level II Screening.

3. Level III Baseline.

4. Level IV - Field Baseline.

The guidance document for the Level I assessment was completed in April

1997, and a draft of guidance for Level II is currently available. Guidance for

Levels III and IV have not been written at this time.

The purpose of a Level I ecological risk assessment is to make a qualitative

determination of whether a release or suspected release of a hazardous substance

poses a potential risk to ecological receptors. The first task that must be completed

in a Level I scoping assessment is to assess/gather existing data about the site.

Then, the assessor or an ecologist or biologist with risk assessment experience

must make an initial site visit. After these two tasks are completed, the next step is

to identify contaminants of interest (COIs) at the site. This is generally done using

site-specific historical information at this level. Using the information gathered in

the previous steps, the assessor can then evaluate receptor-pathway interactions by

considering whether complete pathways for exposure of important species or

habitats to the COIs are present. Complete exposure pathways are defined as those

that have:

"a source and mechanism for hazardous substance release to the

environment, an environmental transport medium for the substance, a

point of receptor contact (exposure point) with the contaminated media,

and an exposure route to the receptor at the exposure point."

A24

Appendix A Summary of Federal, State, and Regional Guidance