Many state and local regulatory agencies responsible for the cleanup of chemicals released to the environment have adopted regulations, guidance and policies that define default approaches, scenarios, and parameters as a starting point for risk assessment and the development of risk-based screening values. Regulatory project managers and decision makers, however, may not have specific guidance when alternative approaches, scenarios, and parameters are proposed for site-specific risk assessments, and are faced with difficult technical issues when evaluating these site-specific risk assessments. This ITRC web-based document is a resource for project managers and decision makers to help evaluate alternatives to risk assessment default approaches, scenarios and parameters.

ITRC's Decision Making at Contaminated Sites: Issues and Options in Human Health Risk Assessment (RISK-3, 2015) guidance document is different from existing ITRC Risk Assessment guidance and other state and federal resources because it identifies commonly encountered issues and discusses options in risk assessment when applying site-specific alternatives to defaults. In addition, the document includes links to resources and tools that provide even more detailed information on the specific issues and potential options. The ITRC Risk Assessment Team believes that state regulatory agencies and other organizations can use the RISK-3 document as a resource or reference to supplement their existing guidance. Community members and other stakeholders also may find this document helpful in understanding and using risk assessment information.

After participating in this ITRC training course, the learner will be able to apply ITRC's Decision Making at Contaminated Sites: Issues and Options in Human Health Risk (RISK-3, 2015) document when developing or reviewing site-specific risk assessments by:

• Identifying common issues encountered when alternatives to default parameters and scenarios are proposed during the planning, data evaluation, toxicity, exposure assessment, and risk characterization and providing possible options for addressing these issues
  
• Recognizing the value of proper planning and the role of stakeholders in the development and review of risk assessments
  
• Providing information (that includes links to additional resources and tools) to support decision making when alternatives to default approaches, scenarios and parameters are proposed