ABSTRACT
To perform a useful assessment, you must determine what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. That is, you must plan the assessment. However, because environmental assessments are inherently complex, the planning process may be complex and involve numerous contributors and a lot of work. The planning effort depends on how routine the assessment is. Some regulatory assessments have established protocols. Other assessments can be modeled on precedents. For example, a new pyrethroid insecticide may be assessed like the last one. However, an assessment of a large, contaminated site, a novel agent such as a genetically altered organism, or a proposed strip mine may require much preliminary characterization of the sites, agents, and potential hazards as well as consideration of the most appropriate assessment methods.
