Introducing
EPA's Public Involvement Policy
Involvement brings
the pieces together
SSB
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Introducing EPA's Public Involvement Policy
Basic Steps for Staff and Managers
Do you know how to effectively involve the
public and use their input to improve EPA's
environmental decisions? This brochure is
the first in a series developed to help you
design and carry out productive public
involvement practices.
Introduction
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) issued its revised Public Involvement
Policy {www.epa.gov/publicinvolvement) in June
2003. The Policy's overall goal is for excellent
public involvement to become an integral part of
EPA's culture, thus supporting more effective
Agency actions.
The Policy provides guidance to EPA managers
and staff on how you can better involve the pub-
lic in the Agency's decision-making processes.
This brochure, the first in a series for EPA staff,
describes specific steps for effective public
involvement and explains other resources you
can use.
As you assemble the pieces of the decision-
making puzzle, it's smart to consult with
potentially affected groups and individuals,
the stakeholders.
Gain access to useful scientific or historic
information the Agency may not have.
Develop a wider range of choices.
Gather and consider more clues, different
solutions and the important values of
stakeholders.
Encourage people to speak up and share
their ideas so they can influence the overall
quality of their own health and natural
environment.
EPA Public Involvement Policy Today
The Policy urges all EPA programs to invite
public involvement, listen and consider all points
of view. Using the revised Policy, the Agency
intends to:
• Increase the effectiveness of EPA's public
involvement activities.
• Conduct public involvement activities more
consistently.
• Increase public understanding of EPA's
mission and public involvement methods.
• Build more public trust.
• Improve Agency decisions.
Why? Such consultation will help you:
• Reach effective environmental solutions by
inviting and considering a wide variety of
viewpoints.
Seven Steps to Effective Public Involvement
The Policy's seven steps for meaningful public
involvement apply to most Agency decisions
from national rule making to locai decisions on
permits or cleanup plans.
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How your program or region involves its affected
groups and individuals will vary depending on the
specific circumstances.
Applying these seven steps will improve any public
involvement effort and increase its effectiveness.
1. Plan and budget for
public involvement activities
Goal:
To ensure an effective public involvement
process through research, planning, early notice
to the public and enough time and resources for
effective consultation
Recommended actions:
• Think though the issues, people, goals, processes
(as much as you can), apply reality and then
outline a budget.
• Include resources to conduct and evaluate
public involvement activities in budget docu-
ments for programs affecting the public.
• Include these resources as part of regulatory
development plans, analytic blueprints, program
plans or EPA's plans to comply with the
Government Performance and Results Act,
• Know what's required by law, what that will cost
and what else is required to do a good job.
• Understand how other federal rules about
interagency coordination, fairness and unfunded
mandates affect your program. (For more
details see "Appendix 1: Guidance for
Implementing Public Involvement at EPA" in
the Public Involvement Policy and the "How to
Plan and Budget" brochure.)
2. Identify the interested and affected publics
Goal:
To identify groups or individuals who may have
an interest in, or who may, because of their
location, purposes or activities, be affected by
an upcoming EPA activity or action
Recommended actions:
• Develop a contact list for each program, activity
or project, add to the list those people who ask to
be added, and act to protect individuals' privacy.
• Update each list often. It will be most useful
if you subdivide by category of interest or
geographic area.
• Use these contact lists to send out information
about public involvement opportunities (such
as notices of meetings, hearings, field trips
and other events and notices of available
information, reports and documents) and to
identify people you may consider for advisory
group membership and other activities. (For
more details see Step 2 of the Policy and the
"Identify People to Invoive" brochure.)
3. Consider providing technical/financial
assistance to support public involvement
Goal:
To improve involvement opportunities, build
com-munity capacity and help the affected groups
and individuals who may not have adequate
resources to take part in an effective and timely way.
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Recommended actions:
• Whenever resources allow, provide technical
or financial assistance to help people who
otherwise could not contribute to, understand
technical issues about and be involved in
environmental decision-making processes. This
will likely enrich the range of views you hear
and improve the quality of public involvement,
• Experiment with various methods to help
people who lack the resources or expertise.
• Ask EPA colleagues for creative and practical
ideas. Communications and outreach special-
ists often have worked directly with affected
groups and individuals and are a valuable
resource. (For more details see section 3 of
the Policy and the "Technical/Financial
Assistance" brochure.)
Make easily accessible information available as
early as possible. This enables people to make
informed and productive contributions to EPA
decision making. (For more details see Step 4
of the Policy and the "How to Do Outreach for
Public Involvement" brochure.)
5, Conduct public consultation and involvement
Goals:
To understand the interests and needs of the
affected public
To provide for the exchange of information and
views and open exploration of issues, alternatives
and consequences between the public and
officials responsible for the forthcoming action
or decision
4. Provide information and conduct outreach
Goals:
To offer the public accurate, understandable,
relevant and timely information in accessible ways
so groups and individuals can contribute effectively
to Agency program decision-making processes
To help the public understand the reasons or legal
requirements for Agency action and the impor-
tance of related technical data so they can give
meaningful comments that help the Agency make
its decisions
Recommended actions:
• Provide enough timely information about a
forthcoming action or decision.
Recommended actions:
• Conduct public involvement activities only
following timely outreach.
• Notify the public of activities early to ensure
they have time to get and evaluate information;
consult experts, and work out and express
their opinions, choices, and suggestions before
an Agency event.
• Conduct public involvement activities at times
and places that enable affected and interested
people to participate.
• Hold events focusing on local sites during non-
work hours, such as evenings or weekends,
close to public transit and with access for dis-
abled people, (For more details see Step 5 of
the Policy and the "How to Consult with and
Involve the Public" brochure.)
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6. Review and use input and provide feedback
7. Evaluate public involvement activities
Goal:
To consistently earn and keep the public's trust
and credibility for EPA public involvement
processes by:
- Evaluating and assimilating public viewpoints
and preferences into final decisions where
suitable and possible, and
- Telling the public the decisions EPA made and
how their participation affected those decisions
Recommended actions:
• Review and use the input:
- Analyze public information and opinions
- Consider if and how to incorporate public
viewpoints during EPA deliberations
- Make or adjust decisions considering public
views
• Provide feedback to the public:
- Document that you understand and consider
public concerns in various forms and make
the information easiiy accessible
- Tell participants and interested parties how
you used public input in the Agency's delibera-
tions or if you did not use it, explain why not
- Document EPA's decision or action
(For more details see Step 6 of the Policy and
the "Review and Use Public Input and Provide
Feedback" brochure.)
Goal:
To evaluate the effectiveness of EPA's Policy and
of public involvement activities
Recommended actions:
Continually evaluate and measure how well EPA is
using the Public Involvement Policy in both regula-
tory and non-regulatory processes, and determine
the effectiveness of public involvement activities.
Ask participants what they think and use their ideas
to improve involvement practices. Keep asking
formally and informally.
Use surveys, questionnaires and other tools to help
you evaluate whether public involvement activities
are done properly and have the intended effects
(subject to approval by the Office of Management
and Budget under the Paperwork Reduction Act),
The Agency will conduct periodic, broad-based,
agency-wide surveys to determine how EPA is
using the Policy's seven steps to improve public
involvement. (For more details see Step 7 of the
Policy and the "Evaluate Public Involvement
Activities" brochure.)
Getting the job done
Many offices within EPA have already built strong
public involvement programs. For others, meeting
the standard these leaders set should be the goal.
To support and encourage public involvement
excellence, EPA can:
- Publicize public involvement training
opportunities for everyone from new employees
to senior managers
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- Expand EPA public involvement networks and
tools for sharing information and experiences
- Provide public involvement evaluation tools
Information Sharing
This searchable database of resource materials,
case studies, training opportunities and "lessons
learned" is temporarily posted at http://basin.rtpnc.
epa.gov/opei/opeipub.nsf/PIRTHome?openForm
tt also includes materials which highlight public
involvement practices used to develop rules,
permits and policies and to meet administrative
requirements to consult with tribal governments,
environmental justice communities, small
businesses, etc,
The Agency is also fostering an informal
"community of practice" for EPA managers and
staff who interact with and involve the public.
Through this informal learning community, you will
be able to get effective techniques and tools, and
share creative ways to involve the public in EPA's
decision-making processes.
This community will also serve as a communications
network to help you identify the constituencies and
circumstances where each public involvement
method may be more effective.
Through this network, you will also be able to get
advice about handling specific public involvement
issues, training and job opportunities.
Training
Everyone at EPA needs to understand how public
involvement and collaboration contribute to achiev-
ing the Agency's mission.
Those whose job it is to gather public input should
have the knowledge, skills and tools to design and
conduct suitable public involvement processes.
EPA will provide a sustained agency-wide effort to
help you access training in the elements and skills
of public involvement processes.
For current information on a wide range of training
available on EPA's Intranet site, visit http://basin.rt
pnc.epa.aov/opet/opeiDub.nsf/SearchAH?openForm
Evaluation and Accountability
EPA staff who do public involvement work want
their activities to produce useful public input.
They also want those who participate to believe
it was worth their effort.
Staff and managers need tools to evaluate their
public involvement processes and activities so they
can further improve them. Survey tools will be
available at http://basin.rtpnc.epa.gov/opei/
opeipub.nsf/PIRTHome?openForm
They will include approved surveys on activities such
as hearings, meetings, group discussions, advisory
committees, etc. (For more information on evaluation
and accountability see section 3c of the Framework
for Implementing EPA's Public Involvement Policy at
http://www.epa.gov/publicinvolvement/policy2003/fra
mework.pdf)
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Other EPA Public Involvement Brochures
How to Plan and Budget for Public Involvement
How to Identify People to Involve
How to Provide Technical and Financial Assistance for Public Involvement
How to Do Outreach for Public Involvement
How to Consult with and Involve the Public
How to Review and Use Public Input and Provide Feedback
How to Evaluate Public Involvement
How to Improve Public Meetings and Hearings
How to Improve Working with Tribes
How to Involve Environmental Justice Communities
How to Overcome Barriers to Public Involvement
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'Involvement brings the pieces together" artwork is the creation of
Erica Ann Turner, who contributed the work to EPA through an
agreement between the Art Institute of Washington and the Agency.
United States Environmental Protection Agency
National Center for Environmental Innovation
Public Involvement Staff
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW 1807T
Washington, DC 20460
EPA-233-F-03-004
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