ABSTRACT
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Regional Vulnerability Assessment Program (ReVA) is designed to develop and demonstrate approaches to identify the ecosystems at the greatest risk from regional population growth and economic activity (Smith, 1999). A region is a multistate area involving many metropolitan areas, drainage basins, associated ecosystems, and cultural infrastructures. The term vulnerability is a variable, ranging from no vulnerability to low and high vulnerability; without a qualifier, the term implies nothing. ReVA is particularly used to compare risks arising from all sources of potential harm, acting alone or in combination, over the entire region. ReVA is beginning with a pilot study conducted as part of the Middle Atlantic Integrated Assessment (MAIA). The study area includes all of Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, the District of Columbia, and parts of North Carolina, Delaware, New York, and New Jersey. This area was selected because it has a wealth of ecological data collected by field surveys, remote sensing, and other ecological monitoring, modeling, and research activities.
