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page title goes here Risk Assessment

BDCC External Peer Review Record

BDCCs for
Radionuclides

External peer review provides the main mechanism for independent evaluation and review of environmental models used by the Agency. For more general information on how EPA develops and evaluates models, see the EPA document Guidance on the Development, Evaluation, and Application of Environmental Models. The copy linked to includes some yellow highlighting of text used in this website for describing peer and verification reviews.

The purpose of peer review is two-fold:
  1. To evaluate whether the assumptions, methods, and conclusions derived from environmental models are based on sound scientific principles.
  2. To check the scientific appropriateness of a model for informing a specific regulatory decision. (The latter objective is particularly important for secondary applications of existing models.)

Peer review charge questions and corresponding records for peer reviewers those questions should be incorporated into the quality assurance project plan.

Mechanisms of external peer review include (but are not limited to):
  • Using an ad hoc panel of scientists.
  • Using an established external peer review mechanism such as the SAB.
  • Holding a technical workshop.

When conducting an "independent external" scientific peer review of the BDCC calculator model, EPA has used a peer review contractor to conduct the peer review process (e.g., select the peer reviewers, provide charge questions, summarize the peer review comments in a chart). EPA staff may provide comments on potential peer reviewers and charge questions. Later, EPA, with ORNL support, has developed responses to the peer review comments. See below material for the independent external scientific peer review of the BDCC calculator.

EPA has also had more focused external "non-independent" external peer reviews on early drafts of the BDCC calculator. EPA requested and received review by the Army Corps of Engineers Center for Excellence under an interagency agreement. See below material from these non-independent peer reviews

April 17, 2008

Non-Independent Peer review of EPA BDCC Calculator, which includes:
  • Email transmitting comments from:
    • Julie Clements (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)

February 20, 2008

Non-Independent Peer review of EPA BDCC Calculator, which includes:
  • Email transmitting comments from:
    • Julie Clements (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers)