Guidance for Assessing Chemical Contaminant Data for Use in Fish Advisories - Volume 4: Risk Communication

This manual is the fourth in a series of four document to be prepared by the EPA Office of Water as part of a Federal Assistance Plan to help States implement fish consumption advisory programs. The remaining three documents provide guidance on fish sampling and analysis (Volume 1), risk assessment (Volume 2), and risk management (Volume 3). Frequent references are made in this volume to the information in Volume 3, risk management. Risk communication is part of risk management. Developing and refining risk management strategies may depend on lessons learned as risk communication programs are implemented. Thus Volumes 3 and 4 are integrally linked. The purpose of this manual is to provide overall guidance to States on developing, implementing, and evaluating health advisory risk communication programs. This manual provide guidance only and does not constitute a regulatory requirement for the States or other jurisdictions. The purpose of this manual is not to require or recommend one specific risk communication approach for all local, state, or tribal health advisory programs, but rather to indicate which approaches can best meet specific objectives. Agencies can analyze their own objectives and develop a risk communication approach most suitable for their particular needs. This manual is intended to offer guidance about the entire health advisory risk communication process, and server as a resource and reference to those designing, evaluating, and modifying health advisory risk communication programs. The three-ring binder format was selected by EPA for the manuals in this series to enhance their use as working documents and to facilitate inclusion of additional refinements and updates, such as examples of newly implemented risk communication strategies.