What is an ERA?
TCEQ defines an ecological risk assessment (ERA) as a process
that evaluates the likelihood that adverse ecological effects are
occurring or may occur as a result of exposure to one or more
chemicals of concern (COCs) from a remediation site. According to
the TRRP rule, some
form of an ERA is required to be conducted at all remediation sites in Texas. If
you need to develop an ERA, use these resources:
-
Guidance
for Conducting Ecological Risk Assessments at Remediation Sites in
Texas (currently under revision). This is the agency's
main ERA guidance document.
- Common
Issues Encountered During the Review of ERAs. This position
paper presents staff opinions on the most commonly seen problems
with ERAs.
- List of Helpful Web
Sites. These Web pages provide additional guidance, data, and
other useful information for developing ERAs.
Questions? Contact Us
For answers to your questions about these documents or the ERA
Program itself, call any one of these staff members:
- Larry Champagne (512/239-2158)
- Vickie Reat (512/239-6873)
- John Wilder (512/239-2579)
- Michael Smith (512/239-5338)
Or contact us via e-mail at
techsup@tceq.state.tx.us.
History of the ERA Program
TCEQ's ERA Program was established in 1995 to evaluate
ecological reports submitted under various agency remediation
programs (e.g., Superfund). In 1996, an Ecological Workgroup
comprised of technical experts from industry, government,
consulting firms, and academia was formed to assist in developing
guidance that would interface with the ecological aspects of
current agency rules, as well as the ERA requirements of the Texas
Risk Reduction Program (TRRP) rule that was under development. The
TRRP rule became effective in September 1999 and the agency
released Guidance for Conducting Ecological Risk Assessments at
Remediation Sites in Texas in 2001. This guidance provides a
detailed description of how to conduct ERAs using TCEQ's
three-tiered approach. It also identifies the participation and
coordination processes with the Natural Resource Trustee
Programs and outlines methods for establishing
ecologically-protective concentration levels for chemicals of
concern. Case studies, appendices, and attachments are also
included for illustrative purposes.
Additional ERA Resources
Use the update to the ecological screening benchmarks portions
of the main ERA guidance titled January
2006 Update to Guidance for Conducting Ecological Risk Assessments
at Remediation Sites in Texas RG-263 (revised) when developing
an ERA for TCEQ review. As these revisions are only for specific
sections of the ERA guidance document, the remainder of the
original guidance is still valid.
Since the issuance of the main ERA guidance in 2001, there
continues to be many common problems observed during the review and
comment process on ERAs submitted to the agency. With this in mind,
the ERA Program staff has developed Position
Paper on Common Issues Encountered During the Review of Ecological
Risk Assessments to share staff positions on the most commonly
seen problematic issues when reviewing ERAs. When used in concert
with the agency's ERA guidance (and updates), this issue paper will
provide more specific insight on common pitfalls to avoid during
the development of an ERA.
The ERA staff has also compiled a List of Helpful Web
Sites for anyone developing an ERA. This list contains links to
many sources of useful ERA information, including
threatened/endangered species information.
