Environmental Analysis Tools - Environmental Impact Analysis: Process and Methods - page 269

of ecological exposure pathways were overwhelming and threatened timely
site remediation. The concept of ecological endpoints greatly simplified the
process of including these receptors and pathways in remediation decisions.
There are two types of ecological endpoints: assessment endpoints and
measurement endpoints (Maughan 1993 and Suter 1990). The assessment
endpoints represent ecological attributes warranting protection. They are
the equivalent of a resource identified during environmental analysis scop-
ing that must be evaluated as part of the impact analysis (see Section 4.3.1).
However they differ from the simple definition of an issue because they
include both a subject (e.g., salmon population or a pair of bald eagles) and
an action (e.g., successful breeding or growth to maturity).
Of course “warranting protection” is a subjective term at best and some
might consider it ambiguous. There are some attributes that all would agree
warrant protection: a pod of right whales; the salmon run on the Columbia
River; or a nesting pair of bald eagles. There are others that most would con-
sider to warrant not the least degree of protection: a stand of the invasive
vine kudzu that has engulfed a farmer's barn; a growing mice population
in a corn storage silo; or the lamprey infestation in the Great Lakes. A key
to the success and usefulness of the ecological risk assessment is determin-
ing where between these two extremes an attribute lies and thus should be
included as assessment endpoints in the risk assessment.
The assessment endpoint concept works for ecological risk assessment
because the primary and influential stakeholders are trained ecologists who
have expert experience in determining importance of ecological attributes.
The hazardous waste site cleanups are mandated by state and federal regu-
lations and the agencies overseeing the investigations bring their biologists
and ecologists to the table during the initial planning of an ecological risk
assessment. In fact, many ecological attributes warranting protection have
regulations or legislation that mandates protection (and thus simplify deter-
mining attributes warranting protection), for example:
r Endangered Species Act and comparable state programs
r Migratory Bird Treaty
r Federal Clean Water Act and comparable state/local programs pro-
tecting wetlands
r Marine Mammal Protection Act
r Federal Clean Water Act mandate for states to promulgate water-
quality standards to protect aquatic life.
Other ecological resources warrant protection for popular reasons. Many
resources have recreational or aesthetic value, such as deer, bear, and many
fish species; thus, if they are potentially associated with a site, their contin-
ued survival is a preordained assessment endpoint. Others are highly visible
and represent a healthy ecosystem even to the nonprofessional, such as a
beaver lodge, a pair of river otters, or a majestic stand of old growth forest.