EPA Releases Public Involvement Policy - June 30, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 13

June 30, 2003 Vol. 4 No. 13:

Published: 06/30/2003

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EPA Releases Public Involvement Policy

Christie Whitman issued a new “Public Involvement Policy” on June 6, 2003, right before her departure as Environmental Protection (EPA) Administrator. The policy establishes what public participation is, why it is important, and how it will benefit the agency. Essentially, the public involvement policy is an information policy because the public involvement that EPA is seeking is the collection and inclusion of information in the form of feedback, opinions, and concerns from the public. The EPA also released the "Framework for Implementing EPA's Public Involvement Policy" and EPA's "Response to Public Comments on the Draft 2000 Public Involvement Policy."

The public involvement policy establishes seven basic steps for effective public involvement:

Plan and budget for public involvement activities
Identify the interested and affected public
Consider providing technical or financial assistance to the public to facilitate involvement
Provide information and outreach to the public
Conduct public consultation and involvement activities
Review and use input and provide feedback to the public
Evaluate public involvement activities.

In an appendix, the policy gives clear and detailed guidance to EPA staff on effective ways to implement each of the seven steps and increase public involvement in all of the agency's programs and activities. The goals for each step are explained and numerous suggestions are often provided for actions and methods to implement each step. Unfortunately, these long list of suggested actions, methods, content and considerations are not prioritized in anyway, therefore leaving staff unaware of what actions and methods are considered the most useful, or even essential basics to implement each step of the policy. The policy should make an effort to explain what factors staff need to consider when attempting to choose what action or method would best fit their program.

The policy clearly states that it is not a rule and is not legally enforceable. It is meant to provide guidance to EPA staff and managers on how to integrate public involvement into any EPA program. The policy supplements specific public involvement requirements under existing laws and regulations, but does not replace them in anyway. As with previous efforts to improve public participation, the key will lay in the actual implementation of this policy to which oversight will fall on the next EPA Administrator.