Does a site visit need to be conducted for a screening level ecological risk assessment?
It is strongly recommended that a site visit be conducted during the problem formulation phase of the screening level assessment (Step 1) by the primary ecological risk assessor. The use of The Checklist for Ecological Assessment / Sampling (Appendix A of ERAGS Appendix B) or similar checklists (such as the RBP checklists) is strongly encouraged to ensure that adequate information is collected and reported to properly develop the problem formulation. If the site visit and ecological characterization is not conducted by the primary ecological risk assessor, it is strongly recommended that the checklists be completed by appropriately trained personnel (i.e., biologists, ecologists, etc.) and be reviewed by the primary ecological risk assessor. This should be completed as early as possible in the risk assessment process to ensure the ecological characterization of the site has been properly completed and can be used during the subsequent problem formulation to accurately identify site con
