www.epa.gov/ord
science in ACTION
BUILDING A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION FOR SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS
ECOLOGICAL
RESEARCH PROGRAM
ReVA TOOLS FOR ASSESSING IMPACTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS
Issue:
Ecosystems provide direct and
indirect services to society, many
of which are essential to human
health and well-being. Since
human activities affect ecosystem
services such as clean air and
water, fertile soil, and water
drainage, environmental managers
and local and state planners need
tools to evaluate options and
assess the impact of man-made
changes to environmental
resources. The Regional
Vulnerability Assessment Program
(ReVA) is designed by the U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency's Office of Research and
Development to help planners
make informed decisions about the
use of their ecosystems, among
other applications.
Scientific Objective:
The purpose of ReVA is to
1) identify the types and sources
of data useful for making
informed planning decisions;
2) determine how best to process
the resulting enormous amount of
data; and 3) provide this
information in a format that is
accessible to those who need it,
and flexible enough to
accommodate differing purposes.
Application and Impact:
The ReVA program has developed
a suite of web-based tools and tool
kits that allow users to process
vast quantities of information.
The program has assisted planners
in identifying where they need
more information to make
environmental decisions and aided
researchers in setting priorities for
conducting additional ecosystem
research to improve assessment
tools. ReVA has been used to:
Identify vulnerabilities: ReVA is
used to assess vulnerability of
environments that provide such
services as clean water, clean air,
and erosion control, but may be
threatened by land use change or
other man-made stressors.
Forecast consequences: ReVA is
used to evaluate the potential
consequences that arise from
different possible actions such as
building new highways or
planning development to
accommodate mass transit. ReVA
allows development of forecasts
that show the impacts of growth or
change on the environment and
the services provided by a
particular ecosystem.
Evaluate options: Regional
planners use the information
garnered from ReVA to evaluate
economic and quality of life
tradeoffs associated with different
environmental policies and to
develop techniques to prioritize
areas for ecological restoration.
ReVA was crucial to the success
of the following projects:
200 7 Multi-Pollutant Analysis
toolkit: ReVA developed the first
stage of an approach to study the
vulnerability of human and
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
continued on back
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www.epa.gov/ord
science in ACTION
BUILDING A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION FOR SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION
ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROGRAM
continued from front
ecological populations in the
Southeast to toxic air pollutants
from multiple sources.
2006 Environmental Decision
Support Toolkit for SEQL:
ReVA partnered with state and
local governments around
Charlotte, N.C. and Rock Hill,
S.C. on a method to assess future
development for the region's
Sustainable Environment for
Quality of Life project.
http://24.106.198.158/sealtoolkit/Welco
me.jsp
2004 Environmental Decision
Support Toolkit for the Mid-
Atlantic: ReVA developed a
means for decision makers in the
Mid-Atlantic to evaluate potential
changes to ecosystems in response
to broad-scale changes that are
already underway. It is being used
by states and local EPA offices to
develop integrated management
decisions.
http ://amethy st. epa. gov/revatoolkit
/Welcome.! sp
References:
Smith, E.R.; O'Neill, R.V.; Wickham, J.D.;
Jones, K.B.; Jackson, I.E.; Kilaru, J.V.; and
Reuter, R.J. The US EPA's Regional
Vulnerability Assessment Program: A
Research Strategy for 2001-2006. U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, EPA/600/R-
01/008,2001.
Smith, E.R.; O'Neill, R.V.; Wickham, J.D. and
Jones, K.B. EPA's Regional Vulnerability
Assessment Program: Using Monitoring Data
and Model Results to Target Actions. In:
Wiersma, Bruce (ed.) Environmental
Monitoring: a Reference Text. 2004, pp. 480-
498.
For more information, visit:
www.epa.gov/reva
Contact:
Betsy Smith, Ph.D., ReVA director, EPA's
Office of Research and Development, 919-541-
0620, or smith.betsv@epa.gov
June 2007
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development
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