A two-day public forum featuring the most thoughtful and well-known experts from the profession of risk analysis, including a lecture by Dr. John Graham, former director of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
The United States U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has recently proposed language in a risk assessment bulletin that will, if adopted, become or influence federal guidance for conducting risk assessments. OMB has requested public comments on the bulletin by 15 June 2006.
The Society for Risk Analysis is organizing a public forum to allow experts, practitioners, and all interested parties to share information and insights regarding the proposed risk assessment bulletin. The discussion will be useful to individuals in preparing comments they may anticipate submitting to OMB. The goals of the forum are to
The forum will be comprised of talks by invited speakers and panel sessions that will include both open and moderated discussion. The meeting is intended to allow for airing of diverse views and is not intended necessarily to build consensus among participants.
The Society for Risk Analysis believes it has a responsibility to provide an open forum for discussion of scientific and policy questions related to, and informed by, risk analysis. The positions taken by the participants in conferences and workshops hosted or co-sponsored by the Society are those of the participants themselves, and are not necessarily those of the Society.
Nancy Beck, Office of Management and Budget (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb)
Rick Becker, American Chemistry Council (http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_acc/index.asp)
Michael Belzer, Wayne State University and University of Michigan (http://www.culma.wayne.edu/faculty/profiles/belzer_michael.htm and http://www.is.wayne.edu/mbelzer/)
Richard B. Belzer, Regulatory Checkbook and Neutral Source (http://neutralsource.org/)
Tom Billy, former administrator, USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, and former chair, Codex Alimentarius
Robin Cantor, Managing Director, Navigant Consulting, and past president of SRA, (http://www.navigantconsulting.com/A559B1/navigantnew.nsf/fCNTDspRead?OpenForm&Cat1=LA2&Cat2=LB6&Cat3=LC5)
Tim Carpenter, University of California (http://www.epi.ucdavis.edu/F-carpentert.htm)
Louis Anthony Cox, Jr., (http://cafescicolorado.org/Cox.htm and http://www.cox-associates.com/tonybio.htm)
Caroline Smith DeWaal, Center for Science in the Public Interest (http://www.wkconline.org/index.php/seminars/speakerpage/?sid=923 and http://www.seafoodandhealth.org/documents/CarolineSmithDeWaal.PDF)
E. Donald Elliott, Willkie Farr and Gallagher, Yale University Law School, and formerly General Counsel to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.law.yale.edu/outside/html/faculty/ede2/profile.htm and http://www.epa.gov/history/admin/ogc/elliott.htm)
Susan Ferenc, Chemical Producers and Distributors Association, and formerly Safrisk (http://www.safrisk.com)
Scott Farrow, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and formerly Government Accountability Office (http://www.umbc.edu/economics/)
H. Christopher Frey, president, Society for Risk Analysis, and North Carolina State University (http://www4.ncsu.edu/~frey/)
John D. Graham, RAND Graduate School, former administrator of OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (http://www.prgs.edu/dean.html, http://www.hcra.harvard.edu/nomination/index.html, http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/bio.html and http://www.hcra.harvard.edu/nomination/bio.html)
Mark Greenwood, Ropes & Grey, and former director, EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (http://www.ropesgray.com/bios/bio_detail.aspx?SectionID=2&AttorneyID=000110710003)
Yacov Haimes, Founding Director, Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems, University of Virginia, and past president of SRA (http://www.virginia.edu/crmes)
Jefferson B. Hill, Jacobs & Associates, and former senior advisor to the administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (www.regulatoryreform.com)
John Keller, Professional Consulting Services
James H. Lambert, Associate Director, Center for Risk Management of Engineering Systems, University of Virginia (http://www.virginia.edu/crmes)
Stanley H. Levinson, AREVA NP Inc. (www.areva.com)
Steven C. Lewis, Integrative Policy and Science (http://www.integrativepolicyandscience.com/)
Igor Linkov, Cambridge Environmental (http://www.cambridgeenvironmental.com/people/linkov/igor.htm)
Charlie Menzie, Menzie-Cura Associates (http://www.menziecura.com)
Arthur Miller, Exponent (http://exponent.com/leaders/bios/arthur_miller.asp?employeeID=833)
Paul Noe, OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
Warner North, NorthWorks Consulting (http://www.northworks.net/w_main.htm)
Robert O'Connor, National Science Foundation
Jacqueline Patterson, TERA (http://www.tera.org)
Jennifer Sass, Natural Resources Defense Council http://www.nrdc.org/health/science/ijsscience.asp
Stuart Shapiro, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, Rutgers University (http://policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/shapiro.html)
Mitchell Small, Carnegie Mellon University (http://www.ce.cmu.edu/~ms35/)
Cathy St. Hillaire, Center for Health Risk Analysis, Life Sciences Research Office
James Valverde, Insurance Information Institute (http://www.iii.org/media/photos/jamesv/)
Vern Walker, Hofstra University School of Law (http://www.hofstra.edu/Academics/Law/law_media_walker.cfm)
Pamela Williams, Chemrisk, Inc. (http://www.chemrisk.com)
Charlie Yoe, College of Notre Dame of Maryland (http://www.ndm.edu/academics/departments/yoe.cfm)
8:30-8:45 Welcome by the Society for Risk Analysis
8:45-10 Session 1
Introduction to OMB's Risk Assessment Bulletin
(a) Information quality guidelines (IQG)
What are the IQG?
How does risk assessment fit into the IQG?
Why risk assessment is an IQ problem
(b) Proposed risk assessment bulletin
Scope, scale, coverage, exemptions
General provisions
Special Standards for Influential Risk Assessments
10:00-10:30 Break
10:30-12:15 Session 2
Introduction to Risk Assessment and Its Many Uses
(a) Risk assessment methods
Types (qualitative, quantitative, probabilistic, etc.)
Safety assessment v. risk assessment
Assumptions, data, and models
Comparative risk assessment
(b) Uses of risk assessment
Priority setting
Description, classification, and characterization
Regulatory analysis (including benefit-cost analysis
and decision analysis)
Risk management
12:15-1:45 Luncheon address by John D. Graham
2:00-3:30 Session 3
Impacts Beyong the Scope of the Bulletin
(a) Other areas of risk analysis
Risk communication
Decision analysis
Risk management
(b) Other domains
States, other national governments, and
international institutions
Stakeholders in risk analysis (e.g., regulated
entities, NGOs)
Tort
3:30-3:45 Break
3:45-5:00 Session 4
How the Bulletin Affects Risk Assessments Used for
Regulatory Purposes
Data collection (e.g., test guidelines, PRA [for
human data], exposure assessment, economic
impacts)
Regulatory impact analysis (e.g., baseline,
identification of alternatives, benefit-cost analysis of
alternatives)
Interagency review (i.e., competing agency
agendas, views, analyses)
Administrative law (e.g., public comment)
6:00-7:30 Reception
8:30-10:00 Session 5A
Current State of Practice and Impacts on Practice by Application Area
Agriculture (e.g., import/export)
Food (e.g., food additives, pathogens)
Chemicals (e.g., environmental, occupational;
carcinogens, non-carcinogens)
Communicable disease (e.g., , avian flu)
10:00-10:30 Break
10:30-12:15 Session 5B
Current State of Practice and Impacts on Practice by Application Area (continued)
Engineering safety (e.g., fixed facilities)
Transportation (e.g., highways, air/land/sea
vehicles)
Ecosystems (e.g., ESA)
Global climate change
Terrorism (e.g., fixed facilities, ports)
12:00-1:30 Lunch
1:30-3:00 Session 6A
How the Bulletin Affects Influential Risk Assessments
Basic science (e.g., research priorities, objectives,
and techniques)
Data collection (e.g., test guidelines, PRA [for
human data], exposure assessment)
Pre-dissemination review of information quality
(required by OMB IQ Guidelines)
Risk assessment, modeling (e.g., DR, F&T, etc.)
Risk characterization
3:00-3:30 Break
3:30-5:00 Session 6B
How the Bulletin Affects Influential Risk Assessments (continued)
Variability analysis
Uncertainty analysis
Peer review (cf. OMB Bulletin on Peer Review)
5:00 Adjourn
The registration fee is $400. You can register on site, but to assure yourself a space, register as soon as possible with
The event will be held 8:30am - 5pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, 23-24 May 2006, at
the
Cafritz Conference Center, which is located on
the third floor of the Marvin Center at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. The main entrance of the Marvin Center is located on 21st Street between H and I Streets.
The address is
Cafritz Conference Center
The George Washington University
800 21st Street, NW, Suite 204
Washington, DC 20052
Phone: 1-202-994-9222
Fax: 1-202-994-7442
Email: cafritz@gwu.edu
Directions to the conference center
The rate is $13 per day. A university parking garage is located on the bottom five levels of the Marvin Center and can be accessed on H Street, between 21st and 22nd Streets. This parking garage is open from 7am until midnight. The Cafritz Conference Center does not have reserved parking for people attending events in the building. In addition to the Marvin Center garage, the visitor's parking garage can be accessed on I Street between 23rd and 22nd Streets. This parking garage is open 24 hours. For more information on arranging parking, please contact the Parking Office at 1-202-994-7275.
Located in the heart of Washington, DC, in the
Foggy Bottom district, there are several hotels
within one block of the Cafritz Conference Center.
• The George Washington
University Inn: 824 New Hampshire Avenue, NW,
1-800-426-4455
(Ask for the SRA OMB Workshop group rate of $186.
This rate will be honored until May 1st, after which a higher
rate may prevail.
Only a limited number of hotel rooms are available so register early.)
• One Washington
Circle Hotel : 1 Washington Circle, NW, 1-800-424-9671
• Hotel Lombardy :
2019 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 1-800-424-5486
• State Plaza Hotel :
2117 E Street, NW, 1-800-424-2859
• Washington
Suites Hotel : 2500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, 1-877-736-2500
•
Doubletree Guest Suites Washington DC : 801 New Hampshire
Avenue, NW, 1-202-785-2000
Society for Risk Analysis
Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry in North America
Society of Toxicology
International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology
Rick Becker, Richard Belzer, Ann Bradley, Scott Ferson, Jack Fowle Chris Frey, John Keller, Steven Lewis, Igor Linkov, Kara Morgan, Resha Putzrath, Mark Powell, Cristina McLaughlin, Margaret MacDonell, Greg Paoli, Kim Thompson, Pamela Williams, and James Wilson.
Registration form http://www.sra.org/docs/OMB_Registration.pdf
OMB's proposed guidance http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/proposed_risk_assessment_bulletin_010906.pdf
OMB request for peer review of the proposed guidance http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/pubpress/2006/2006-01.pdf
List of OMB's government-wide initiatives on information quality http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/infopoltech.html#iq
Society for Risk Analysis http://www.sra.org
Other conferences and workshops sponsored or cosponsored by the Society for Risk Analysis http://www.sra.org/events.php
Society for Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry North America http://www.setac.org/
Society of Toxicology http://www.toxicology.org/
International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology http://www.isrtp.org/
More information can be obtained from Greg Paoli (1-613-260-1424, fax -1443) or Jim Wilson (1-314-569-2615).