Office of Research and Development

National Exposure Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC 2/1/2011

Application of Science and Technology 

to Community Exposure 

and Risk Assessment: 

C-FERST: Community-Focused Exposure 

and Risk Screening Tool

Andrew M Geller

ORD, NERL

National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology 

January 20, 2011

Washington, DC
Today’s presentation

• Brief introduction

• Brief live demonstration

• Step through the application of C-FERST to a case 

study

• Summary

1
Introduction

• Decision tools to assist decision 

makers who implement environmental 

policies to make choices that result in 

sustainable communities. 

– For application at whatever scale is 

necessary, e.g., national, regional, local 

community. 
What is C-FERST? 

(Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool)

ORD/NERL’s GIS & resource access Web tool for conducting 

cumulative human exposure and risk screening assessments, 

to build sustainable and healthy communities 

(www.epa.gov/heasd/c-ferst) 

 empowers regions, communities to make informed decisions 

 provides framework to communicate human exposure science 

 contains data, maps, guidance, weblinks, community solutions, other info
C-FERST Background and Status

March 08: “C-FERST” coined

Oct 08: ORD/CARE collaborative session at 

ISEA conference

2008/2009: Assessment of other tools and needs;

ORD/CARE C-FERST Workgroup; 

C-FERST prototype presented at annual CARE Mtgs

2009: NERL communities research plan;

Communities exposure research;

3 JESEE publications

2010: C-FERST intranet v. 1; CARE PO Training;

EJ Conferences; RAF heightened interest

2011: C-FERST extranet->internet v. 1

apply to CARE case studies; 

integrate with other tools & efforts 

late 2007: ORD / CARE discussions on computerizing draft CARE 

Workbook for Community Screening of Environmental Risks
 Follow community guidance; access info

 Map multimedia human exposures and risks

 Learn best practices in other communities

 Generate community reports for risk ranking

Assess Cumulative Exposure/Risk in Communities

Prioritize 

environmental 

issues

Identify 

communities at 

risk

Assess impact of 

actions 

(accountability)

User-friendly 

interface and readouts

Innovative, 

high quality science

modeled local exposures

guidance on local measurements

cumulative risk science

other info useful to communities

C-FERST: Demand Pull vs Technology Push
Supporting Communities and Refining C-FERST 

through Pilot Case Studies

• ORD/NERL supported Region 5 CARE/EJ 

Showcase Community in FY10

• New FY11 Case Studies

–Region 1 Portland, ME CARE

–Region 1 Springfield, MA CARE

–Region 2 Brooklyn, NY CARE

–Region 5 Minneapolis, MN CARE (tentative)

–Region 1 Tribal pilot (T-FERST)
Goals of 

CARE/C-FERST Pilots

• Provide CARE Level 1 Partners with Useful Information to Identify and 

Prioritize Issues

• Enhance C-FERST Usability, for future use by POs, CARE partners, and 

others

• Provide transferable, generalizable methods to identify and prioritize 

issues

• Enhance cumulative exposure and risk science to inform decision-making
Demonstration of C-FERST

8

https://cfpub.epa.gov/cferst
Proposed Steps for C-FERST Application to 

CARE Projects

Step 1. Apply C-FERST via CARE Roadmap or PACE-EH 

 Familiarize POs and Communities with C-FERST

 Apply CARE Roadmap

 Refine C-FERST GUI for usability

 Gather information for issues of concern
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If the user chooses to follow 

community guidance, these C-FERST 

‘crosswalks’ connect specific 

guidance steps, including 

sustainability, with related C-FERST 

information. 
Proposed Steps for C-FERST Application to 

Region 1 CARE Projects

Step 2. Identify Issues of Concern

 Discuss issues identified by the community, and additional 

issues for consideration based on available data, 

guidance, and other community efforts via C-FERST

 Refine list of environmental issues, and vulnerability 

indicators

Proposed Steps for C-FERST 

Application to CARE Projects

Step 3. Apply C-FERST with CARE Roadmap or PACE-EH 

to Gather Information

 Fact Sheets for Issues of Concern

 SES Data to Identify Vulnerable Areas

 Issue Profiles

 Maps

 Other Communities and Best Practices with Similar Issues
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Around Step 6, we 

collect and compile 

information.

We can access 

factsheets, maps, and 

environmental issue 

profiles.
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The Portland CARE 

community has 

identified a number of 

potential concerns.

43 issues are currently 

populated with weblinks to 

fact sheets. The issues are 

based on a review of EPA 

reports and community 

documents. 
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C-FERST Map Data Sources

Ongoing ORD Research
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Portland is a coastal community and has 

identified some water-related concerns. 

This is a map of fish advisories, impaired 

waters, and water discharges.
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Portland is concerned 

about Acrolein. This is a 

map of Acrolein 

exposures overlayed with 

emissions sites and air 

quality monitors.

If we click on a 

point, we can see 

facility info & data 

used to derive the 

estimates.
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We can generate 

“environmental issue profiles” 

for over 40 environmental 

issues currently. The profiles 

include information described 

here.
20

This is an example 

environmental issue 

profile.
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Proposed Steps for C-FERST 

Application to CARE Projects

Step 4. Populate C-FERST Community Data Matrix

 Using information already in C-FERST from EPA databases

 Supplementing info in C-FERST from EPA, Census, State 

databases

 Adding Local Data as Available

 Incorporating human exposure/risk estimates for selected 

issues

 e.g., radon, ETS, fish consumption, childhood lead exposure

 Compare to standards, national averages, other 

communities
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Guidance for risk ranking 

approaches is being developed 

and will be incorporated as it 

becomes available.

A key C-FERST 

product is the 

Community Data 

Matrix.
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This matrix will be the 

main product of the FY11 

case studies
These human health and SES 

indicators could be expanded to 

include ecosystem indicators from 

Atlas, ReVA, RoE, etc., including 

sustainability indicators.

C-FERST Community Data Matrix (cont’d)
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At Step 7 communities will 

begin the risk ranking 

process. C-FERST provides 

options that are under 

development. 
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In step 8, the 

community will 

identify potential 

solutions for reducing 

concerns and filling 

data gaps. 
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We can access fact sheets 

on risk reduction actions 

for high-ranking concerns. 

We can also access ideas for 

‘promising practices’ and 

sustainable solutions 

implemented in other 

communities. 
• Community Partners

– Participate in meetings and provide feedback on C-FERST GUI

– Select issues of concern, and vulnerability indicators of interest 

– Provide local data as appropriate/possible to supplement other databases and 

provide inputs to exposure models 

– Lead risk ranking

• Region 

– Set up regular meetings

– Provide feedback on selected issues, vulnerability indicators, and C-FERST usability

– Assist with data collection, focusing on EPA, Census, and State databases

– Lead C-FERST programming changes as needed

– Assist community with risk ranking

• ORD

– Demonstrate C-FERST in meetings

– Refine C-FERST usability (provide direction to programmers) based on feedback

– Provide input to selected issues and vulnerability indicators

– Focus on specific exposure science issues

• e.g., Radon, ETS, Childhood Lead Exposure, Fish Consumption, Near-Roadway

Planned Roles of EPA and 

Community Partners in Collaborative 

C-FERST Pilots
Recognize that Communities are Different

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Office of Research and Development

National Exposure Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC

Research to Build Sustainable & Healthy 

Communities is an Iterative Process

CUMULATIVE EXPOSURE

AND RISK SCIENCE

COLLABORATIVE 

“CASE STUDIES”

LESSONS LEARNED

ACCESSIBLE 

TOOLS 

(e.g., C-FERST)

Actions to Improve 

Public Health
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Sustainability and 

Trans-disciplinarity

Provides transferable tools to build sustainable communities

 Devolves critical decisions affecting environmental health to communities.

 Engages communities to apply tools and develop methods for problem 

formulation, impact assessment, devising and evaluating solutions.

 Provides options to compare communities and share successful solutions.

Supports a trans-disciplinary Sustainable Communities program

 Engages traditional and multiple scientific disciplines.

 Interfaces with, builds off societal applications and evolution of approaches.
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Acknowledgments

C-FERST Development Team

 Valerie Zartarian, Brad Schultz, NERL/ORD 

 Tim Barzyk, Davyda Hammond, Myriam Medina-Vera, NERL/ORD

 Collaborators in ORD/NERL, CARE, Regions, Program Offices 

 Region 1 GIS and Technical Team

 OEI/National Computing Center

 Contractors (CSC; Alion; student service contractors)