The Department of Defense (DoD) lacks the methodology to address risks to natural resources resulting from multiple activities, multiple effects, and cumulative effects of military activities. The objective of this project was to develop a structured, scientifically valid, integrated Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) framework to provide, at both the installation and command levels, a common context for characterizing different kinds of risks for comparison and prioritization for risk-based sustainable management of DoD training and testing assets. This document provides a risk assessment framework consistent with, but extending beyond, the EPA's ecological risk assessment framework, and specifically addresses DoD-activities and management needs. It is titled Military Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (MERAF) to convey this military focus. The modifications made to the EPA ecological risk assessment framework in developing MERAF enable MERAF to: (1) explicitly address risks from the imposition of multiple and diverse stressors on a site, (2) explicitly address risks resulting from causal chains (e.g., effects on habitat that indirectly impact wildlife), and (3) incorporate the fact that risks to natural resources imply other consequent risks.

The objective of this research is to provide the DoD with a framework based on a systematic, risk-based approach to assess impacts for management of natural resources in an ecosystem context. This risk assessment framework is consistent with, but extends beyond, the EPA's ecological risk assessment framework, and specifically addresses DoD activities and management needs. MERAF is intended to be consistent with existing procedures for environmental assessment and planning with DoD testing and training. The intention is to supplement these procedures rather than creating new procedural requirements. MERAF is suitable for use for training and testing area assessment and management. It does not include human health risks nor does it address specific permitting or compliance requirements, although it may be useful in some of these cases. Use of MERAF fits into the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process by providing a consistent and rigorous way of organizing and conducting the technical analysis for Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) (Sigal 1993; Carpenter 1995; Canter and Sadler 1997). It neither conflicts with, nor replaces, procedural requirements within the NEPA process or document management processes already in place within DoD.

This is a companion report to the risk assessment framework proposed by Suter et al. (1998): ''A Framework for Assessment of Risks of Military Training and Testing to Natural Resources, '' hereafter referred to as the ''generic framework.'' The generic framework is an ecological risk assessment methodology for use in environmental assessments on Department of Defense (DoD) installations. In the generic framework, the ecological risk assessment framework of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 1998) is modified for use in the context of (1) multiple and diverse stressors and activities at a military installation and (2) risks resulting from causal chains, e.g., effects on habitat that indirectly impact wildlife. Both modifications are important if the EPA framework is to be used on military installations. In order for the generic risk assessment framework to be useful to DoD environmental staff and contractors, the framework must be applied to specific training and testing activities. Three activity-specific ecological risk assessment frameworks have been written (1) to aid environmental staff in conducting risk assessments that involve these activities and (2) to guide staff in the development of analogous frameworks for other DoD activities. The three activities are: (1) low-altitude overflights by fixed-wing and rotary-wing aircraft (this volume), (2) firing at targets on land, and (3) ocean explosions. The activities were selected as priority training and testing activities by the advisory committee for this project.

"Eighteen chapters address the complex yet critical aspects of the role of geosciences in military undertakings. The chapters cover a wide range of expertise drawn from the broad area of geology, geomorphology, geography, geophysics, engineering geology, hydrogeology, cartography, environmental science, remote sensing, soil science, geoinformatics, and related disciplines that reflect the multidisciplinary nature of military geology"--

Water resources, both in terms of water quality and water quantity, are of critical importance in planning for sustainable development in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as in other parts of the world. This NATO Advanced Research Workshop (ARW), entitled "Risk Assessment as a Tool for Water Resources Decision-Making in Central Asia", was conducted on September 23-25, 2002 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The ARW addressed methods and approaches by which risk assessment methodology that has been developed in the United States, Europe and elsewhere can be applied to environmental and water resource problems in Central Asia. The stated goals of the ARWwere: • to assess the existing state of knowledge in the context of potential applications of risk assessment tools to water resources and other environmental issues in Central Asia; • to identify research gaps and directions for future research in the area of water resources which may be addressed through the application of risk assessment tools; • to promote closer working relationships between the scientists and technical experts from Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as the scientists and technical experts from the United States and Europe. Based on historical experiences of Central Asian scientists and their colleagues in other parts of the world, there is a demonstrated need in the region to provide education, training and technical assistance on environmental decision-making tools, including risk assessment.

Ecosystem services and human welfare / W.G. Kepner.

This ecological risk assessment for a testing program at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, is a demonstration of the Military Ecological Risk Assessment Framework (MERAF; Suter et al. 2001). The demonstration is intended to illustrate how risk assessment guidance concerning-generic military training and testing activities and guidance concerning a specific type of activity (e.g., low-altitude aircraft overflights) may be implemented at a military installation. MERAF was developed with funding from the Strategic Research and Development Program (SERDP) of the Department of Defense. Novel aspects of MERAF include: (1) the assessment of risks from physical stressors using an ecological risk assessment framework, (2) the consideration of contingent or indirect effects of stressors (e.g., population-level effects that are derived from habitat or hydrological changes), (3) the integration of risks associated with different component activities or stressors, (4) the emphasis on quantitative risk estimates and estimates of uncertainty, and (5) the modularity of design, permitting components of the framework to be used in various military risk assessments that include similar activities. The particular subject of this report is the assessment of ecological risks associated with a testing program at Cibola Range of Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. The program involves an Apache Longbow helicopter firing Hellfire missiles at moving targets, i.e., M60-A1 tanks. Thus, the three component activities of the Apache-Hellfire test were: (1) helicopter overflight, (2) missile firing, and (3) tracked vehicle movement. The demonstration was limited, to two ecological endpoint entities (i.e., potentially susceptible and valued populations or communities): woody desert wash communities and mule deer populations. The core assessment area is composed of about 126 km2 between the Chocolate and Middle Mountains. The core time of the program is a three-week period, including fourteen days of activity in August of 2000.