RSEI Survey

OMB Control No. 2010-0042

Expires: 11/30/2017

Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) User Analysis

RSEI is a computer-based screening tool developed by EPA that analyzes risk factors to put Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) release data into a chronic human health context. RSEI is often used by researchers, environmental/nonprofit organizations, and government agencies to:

• Examine trends;

• Identify important emissions situations for follow-up;

• Support community-based projects; and

• Initially screen potential impacts of emissions.

1. EPA is conducting an independent evaluation of the RSEI model to better understand your views on the usefulness of the tool. We need your input to accurately assess the uses and value of RSEI, in addition to identifying potential improvements. Please indicate how you would classify the usefulness of the information RSEI provides:

   1. Very Useful (necessary to carry out the duties of your job)

   2. Useful

   3. Only slightly useful

   4. Not useful at all

   5. Not applicable
      
      

2. For what purposes do you use RSEI, if any? Please check all that apply.

Learn about chemical releases and associated potential risks to communities		
Analyze trends of specific industry sectors, facilities, or chemicals		
Conduct a screening level risk review		
Identify facilities for potential inspections		
Identify pollution prevention opportunities		
Identify release reduction opportunities		
Identify cost savings opportunities		
Identify/Compare high hazard potentials or potential risks from chemical releases for:
	Industry sectors	
	Facilities	
	Chemicals	
	Communities or other geographic areas	
Identify/Compare high hazard potentials or potential risks to the following environmental media
	Surface water	
	Air	
None of the above		
Other? Please describe __________________________________		

3. At which geographic scale do you use the RSEI data? Please check all that apply.

1. National

2. Regional (e.g., EPA Regions, or other regional scales)

3. State

4. Local (county, zip code, census tract)

5. Individual facilities

4. Which RSEI information do you use in your work? Please check all that apply.

1. Downloadable tool

2. Downloadable tool enhanced with all years of TRI data

3. Geographic microdata

4. A combination of the downloadable tool and the geographic microdata

([If respondent answered a) or b) to Q4 then go to “Downloadable Tool Users Module”]

[If respondent answered c) to Q4 then go to “Microdata Users Module”]

[If respondent answered d) to Q4 then go to “Downloadable Tool Users Module” followed by “Microdata Users Module”]

The above notes are for those designing the questionnaire and the respondents will not see them.)

Downloadable Tool Users Module: Questions 5 – 13

You indicated that you use the downloadable tool. The next few questions ask about your satisfaction with the tool.

5. How frequently do you use the RSEI downloadable tool?

1. Weekly

2. Monthly

3. A few times per year

4. Every year or two

6. Please rate your level of familiarity with how the RSEI Tool works:

1. Very familiar

2. Somewhat familiar

3. Slightly familiar

4. Not at all familiar

5. Not sure/I don’t know

7. Are you satisfied with the ease of use of the RSEI Tool? Please rate your level of satisfaction:

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

8. Are you satisfied with the transparency of the RSEI Tool? Please rate your level of satisfaction:

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

9. Are you satisfied with the ease of obtaining results from the RSEI tool? Please rate your level of satisfaction:

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

10. Are you satisfied with the RSEI tool’s ability to generate data outputs (e.g., relative risk) that communicate results clearly and effectively? Please rate your level of satisfaction:

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

11. Are you satisfied with the transparency of RSEI’s data sources (i.e., where the data comes from)? Please rate your level of satisfaction:

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

12. How satisfied are you with the overall quality of supporting documentation?

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

13. What are some of the barriers to using the RSEI downloadable tool? Please check all that apply:

1. User interface is not intuitive

2. It is difficult to interpret results

3. Limited analyses (e.g., analysis includes too few variables, inability to customize analyses)

4. Insufficient resolution (e.g., model assumptions or aggregation of results are too broad)

5. Tool is too slow

6. Database is too big

7. Other? Please describe_______________________________________

Microdata Users Module: Questions 14 – 20

You noted that you are a user of the RSEI geographic microdata. The next few questions ask about your satisfaction with it.

14. How frequently do you use RSEI geographic microdata?

1. Weekly

2. Monthly

3. A few times per year

4. Less than once a year

15. Please rate your level of familiarity with the RSEI geographic microdata and how it can be used:

1. Very familiar

2. Somewhat familiar

3. Slightly familiar

4. Not at all familiar

5. Not sure/I don’t know

16. Are you satisfied with the ease of obtaining results from the geographic microdata (i.e., can the format of the microdata be used for your purposes)? Please rate your level of satisfaction:

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

17. Are you satisfied with the transparency of RSEI’s data sources (i.e., where the data come from)? Please rate your level of satisfaction:

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

18. Are you satisfied with the transparency of the RSEI Model? Please rate your level of satisfaction:

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

19. How satisfied are you with the quality of supporting documentation (e.g., user guides, methodology documents)?

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

20. Please describe some of the barriers to using the RSEI geographic microdata (e.g., size of the database, difficulty obtaining historical data).

[Text Box]

ALL USERS

The next few questions ask your opinion of the timing of updates. Currently, the RSEI tool and data are updated every two years with the most recent TRI information, including facility revisions to previous TRI reports.

21. How satisfied are you with the current timeliness of RSEI’s TRI data updates?

1. Very satisfied

2. Satisfied

3. Neutral

4. Dissatisfied

5. Very dissatisfied

6. Not sure/I don’t know

22. Which do you believe are acceptable time frames for RSEI’s TRI data updates? Please check all that apply:

1. Once every two years

2. Once per year

3. Twice per year

4. Monthly

5. Real-time

6. Not sure/I don’t know

23. Which potential enhancements would you most like to see? Please indicate the importance (to you) of each the following items on a scale from 1 to 4; where 1 is "Not Important at All" and 4 is "Very Important."

	Not Important at all 1	Slightly Important 2	Important 3	Very important 4	Not Sure/ I don’t know
Development of an online version of the RSEI interface					
Development of a mobile RSEI application					
Improvement of online tutorials					
More frequent training opportunities					
More flexible analyses (adjusting default values and assumptions including toxicity weights)					
Incorporation of additional data sets from other sources (sociodemographic data from the Census, public health data, etc.)					
More frequent TRI data updates to RSEI					
More user-friendly interface					
Additional exposure pathway analyses (groundwater, land)					
Inclusion of ecological risk analyses					
Provide general public users with data aggregated at zip code or census tract levels (i.e., do not provide facility level results).					

[If the respondent selects 3 or 4 for “more flexible analyses” then go to question 24]

[If the respondent selects 3 or 4 for “additional data sets” then go to question 25]

The above notes are for those designing the questionnaire and the respondents will not see them.

24. You answered that more flexible analyses are important or very important to you. Please provide examples of what you would like to see incorporated into RSEI.

[Free form text box for user response]

25. You answered that additional data sets from other sources are important or very important to you. Please list the data sets you would like to see incorporated into RSEI.

[Free form text box for user response]

26. Which of the following tools or data sources could be used to meet your risk screening needs? Please rate the appropriateness of each data source:

	Very useful 1	Useful 2	Only slightly useful 3	Not useful at all 4	I don’t know/not sure
National-Scale Air Toxics Assessment (NATA)					
Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR)					
Community-Focused Exposure and Risk Screening Tool (C-FERST)					
Total Risk Integrated Methodology (TRIM)					
Regional Air Impact Modeling Initiative (RAIMI)					
EJView, or EJScreen					
Other (Please describe)					

27. Do you have any additional comments or suggestions? Please describe them in the space below:

[Free form text box for user response]

28. How would you describe your organizational affiliation?

1. Academia

2. Private industry

3. Non-governmental or non-profit organization

4. Private Citizen

5. Federal government

6. Tribal government

7. State government

8. Local government

9. Other? Please describe___________________________________________

Your survey has been submitted. Thank you!

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