This step follows the SCoRR strategy described by Reilly and others, 2015. Apply SCoRR ranks to the gridded array of points [contPts.xls].
a) Generate a list of facilities of concern from EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data, and EPA's Facility Registry Service (FRS) data.
TRI data were downloaded from
https://www.epa.gov/toxics-release-inventory-tri-program/tri-basic-data-files-calendar-years-1987-2015 using the drop down menu for the year and state of interest. For this work, 2013 data for the state of New York were used. Each facility was assigned a rank value from 1 to 4 indicating its 'perceived contaminant hazard' based on i) a modified version of ranked contaminants from Olsen et al. 2013 (Reilly and others, 2015; Table 1), or ii) paneled expert opinion following methods outlined in Olsen et al. 2013.
FRS data were downloaded from
https://www.epa.gov/frs/frs-query for New York. Each facility was assigned a rank value from 1 to 4 based upon a questionnaire administered to the same expert panel mentioned above. Three attribute fields were utilized to assess the perceived contaminant hazard of each FRS facility: environmental program type, environmental interest type, and site type. Each of these fields provides details about regulations, uses, and potential hazards relevant to each facility.
When relevant, historic storm vulnerabilities were used to weight each ranked FRS and TRI facility. Storm vulnerability datasets included Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) 100-year flood zones, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Sea, Lake, and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (NOAA SLOSH) model-based inundation extents for hurricanes of category 1 to 5 in magnitude, and probabilities of storm impacts based on National Weather Service’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (NWS IBTrACS) data. Overlay analysis was used to identify all facilities falling within 1 or more of these storm vulnerabilities. Equation 1 in Reilly and others (2015) was used to then weight each facility's perceived contaminant hazard rank based on the number of intersected storm vulnerabilities.
b) Create a shapefile from the point coordinates [contPts.xls] and DEFINE PROJECTION(Coordinate System=WGS 84) as World Geodetic System 1984.
c) GENERATE NEAR TABLE(Input Features=IN_FID; Near Features=NEAR_FID; Search radius= 2000 m) to identify facilities of concern within 2000 meters of each point. Separate tables were generated for the TRI and FRS facilities. These were then recombined later during the inverse distance weighting procedure to arrive at the final rank at each location.
d) Tables are imported into R software package and joined using the fields 'IN_FID' and 'NEAR_FID' to link facility attributes with each location using near table output.
e) SCoRR rank at each location is calculated using the inverse distance-weighted average rank equation (Reilly and others, 2015; Equation 2) within a search radius of 2000 meters, based on the storm vulnerability-weighted potential contaminant hazard rank for each facility, and the distance to the facility location.
