The Decisionscape of Cumulative Impacts

Cumulative impacts are the result of generations of programs, policies, and decisions that have concentrated people and pollution into the same places. Many methds are avaialble to characterize impacts, such as data mining, modeling, GIS mapping, sensor measurements, and indexes/scoring but their application to decision-making processes is still undetermined. This presentation provides an overview of some existing methodologies, their benefits and limitations, and a potential framework for implementation. 

Impact/Purpose

This presentation included a summary of cumulative impact approaches and applications and their relevance to EPA decision-making. It included examples of data mining, citizen science, modeling, and other approaches from case study applications. The long term importance includes being able to operationalize cumulative impacts within the Agency's framework and purview. EPA and other government decisions makers could be interested, but ultimately the concepts relate also to private industry and public communities.

Citation

Barzyk, T. The Decisionscape of Cumulative Impacts. Meeting, RTP, NC, December 01, 2022.