Community Risk Taxonomy International Institute for Indigenous Resource Management Larry Lapachin

Overview Goal of Taxonomy “No Net Risk Gain Model” Elements of the Taxonomy Case Examples Who can Use/Benefit from the Taxonomy Future Work

What is Quality of Life? Cities, industries, military use quality of life to describe aspects of life Umbrella term that includes Health, Economic, Environmental, etc impact assessments Catchall to describe community concerns, such as aesthetics, peace of mind, recreation concerns, cultural risk, etc.

Applying Quality of Life in risk assessment Identify cultural groups that may be impacted by a proposed development or remediation Attempt to identify and measure a potentially impacted cultural, societal, or community value Values may include: patterns of life, human and ecological health, access to sacred sites

Goals of the Taxonomy The taxonomy will serve as an evaluation tool designed to assist tribes, neighborhoods, developers, federal agencies and other stakeholders to identify and inventory risk burden(s), both positive and negative, within a community. The taxonomy is also a major component of the “No Net Risk Gain Model”.

“No Net Risk Gain Model” “No Net Risk Gain” ensures a proposed development or cleanup is environmentally just only if it imposes no additional risk to the community on which the development is to occur. “No Net Risk Gain” is achieved by 1. Decreasing or eliminating existing risks 2. Increasing or introducing benefits or goods to the community

Elements of the Taxonomy Risk Factor Characteristics (of the risk) Consequences/Rationale Data Measure

Unemployment (example 1) Risk Unemployment Characteristic Decrease in psychological well-being, mental health, and feelings of self-worth Consequences/Rationale Increase stress levels, depression, substance abuse Data Measure Decreased life span, lost income, rates of hypertension, rates of mental health disorders, rates of substance abuse

Unsafe Housing Condition (example 2) Risk Unsafe Housing Condition Characteristic Lead in all mediums Consequences/Rational High levels of lead in children cause a decrease in IQ points Data Measure Children with “high” lead-blood levels lose, on average, 5 IQ points

Who can Use/Benefit from the Taxonomy The taxonomy is designed to serve as a risk assessment evaluation tool by – Tribes – Federal agencies – Communities – Developers – Political figures – Other stakeholders

Future Work Identify how different cultures view the same risk differently – Make the taxonomy more complete and applicable Collapsing/Combining risk factors to include multiple subpopulations. Develop a metric for each risk factor – A system of metrics will “normalize” the risk assessment – A “normalized” metric prevents a “trade-off” from occurring