Jun 30, 2021

New activity from ASTM International’s environmental assessment, risk management and corrective action committee (E50) aims to address climate impacts and resiliency. Three proposed standards are the first in development by the recently established subcommittee on climate and community (E50.07).  

The first focuses on terminology for climate and community (WK76915). This proposed standard will define various words, acronyms, and nomenclature used by federal, state, municipal, tribal, and industry entities to describe climate change phenomena, extreme weather impacts on communities, and corrective responses to these impacts.

“Defining common terms related to climate and environmental justice will be incredibly valuable for fostering effective communication between various stakeholders and the development and implementation of effective and equitable climate change policies,” said Joel Scheraga, Senior Advisor for Climate Adaptation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The committee also began work on a proposed standard guide for climate and community mapping (WK76938). This guide aims to provide a standardized approach for data-driven climate and economic justice screening tools to identify communities threatened by the cumulative impacts of climate change, racial inequality, and multi-source environmental pollution. 

In addition, committee members are focusing on a proposed standard on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure related to climate and community (WK77095). It seeks to provide a comprehensive framework that produces consistent, comparable, and reliable climate-related disclosures leading to more sustainable institutions and communities. 

“ESG factors continue to become the focus of regulatory guidance, consumer demand, investor goals, academic research, and industry efforts to manage risk and maximize return,” said Eileen Snyder, ASTM International member and technical coordinator at Alpha Analytical. “This ASTM committee work seeks to expand recent ESG initiatives in the United State and worldwide.” 

A new standard was also recently approved by the committee. It offers guidance for remedial action resiliency to climate impacts (E3249), outlining various techniques for evaluating and mitigating the impacts of climate change and weather extremes on remediation systems, activity and use limitations, stewardship, and remediation activities.

The committee will meet in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, Oct. 4-7, during ASTM’s October standards development meetings. For more information, please contact ASTM E50 Staff Manager Molly Lynyak at mlynyak@astm.org. ASTM welcomes participation in the development of its standards. Become a member at www.astm.org/JOIN. 

Media Inquiries: Jaime Martorana, tel+1.610.832.9796; jmartorana@astm.org
Committee Contact: Molly Lynyak, tel +1.610.832.9743; mlynyak@astm.org 

Release #11249

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