Ecological Risk Assessment Approach of Offshore Macro-engineering Project Based on US Environmental Protection Agency Framework

Abstract

Offshore macro-engineering project plays an important role in promoting regional economic development. Macro-engineering projects are marked by high investment, long duration, adverse environmental condition, and high difficulty in estimating impacts in ecology. As an important component of environment risk assessment in the stage of feasible study before construction, ecology risk assessment is required in accordance with Chinese laws. However, critical assessing frameworks have not been established yet in China. Additionally, the shortage of characteristic data is another dilemma in marine ecosystem research. Therefore, in this paper, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) framework is adopted for ecological risk assessment and statistical method is used to estimate the data distribution according to the finite sample. Finally, a case study of Bohai Strait Channel project is analyzed with USEPA framework.