vvEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of
Reinvention
(1802)
EPA100-F-99-001
February 1999
www.epa.gov/ProjectXL
PROJECT XL
STAKEHOLDER
INVOLVEMENT:
A GUIDE FOR
PROJECT SPONSORS
AND STAKEHOLDERS
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ADVISORY NATURE OF THIS GUIDE:
This guide is designed to help potential Project XL sponsors design and
conduct effective stakeholder involvement processes during the development of
XL proposals and to tell stakeholders interested community and
environmental groups how to participate
effectively in such processes.
The ideas, tools, and resources in this guide are based on the experiences
both successes and failures of others involved in XL and a variety of other
stakeholder-based projects and programs.
The recommendations in this guide are not a forma] regulation or rule.
CREDITS:
This guide was prepared in consultation with a stakeholder group that included
the following people:
Linda Breggin, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, D.C.
Kevin Bryan, Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, D.C.
Maura Carney, Environmental Law Institute, Washington, D.C.
Pam Raster, Citizens for a Clean Environment, Zachary, Louisiana
Peter Molinaro, Union Carbide Corporation, Washington, D.C.
The Project Manager was Kimberly Green-Goldsborough, of EPA's
Office of Reinvention.
Consultant support was provided under Contract 68-W4-0001 between EPA and
RESOLVE, Inc. James L. Creighton, Creighton & Creighton, Inc., Los Gatos, California,
a RESOLVE subcontractor, served as consultant and principal author.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION I: PROJECT XL STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT 5
What Is the Purpose of This Guide? 5
Who are the Potential Sponsors of XL Projects? 6
Who are the Potential Stakeholders? 6
Who are Cosponsors? 7
How Much Impact Will Stakeholders have on Decisions? 7
How Does an XL Project Get Developed? 7
Where In the Process Does Stakeholder Involvement Occur? 9
SECTION II: IF YOU ARE A STAKEHOLDER 10
How Can You Or Your Organization Participate? 10
How Should Your Organization Decide Whether to Participate? H
What Else Can You Or Your Organization Do to Help? 13
What Should You Or Your Organization Expect from the
Stakeholder Involvement Process? 15
SECTION III: IF YOU ARE A POTENTIAL SPONSOR 17
What Will a Sponsor Get Out of Stakeholder Involvement 17
How Can a Potential Sponsor Assess Its Ability to Work Positively With Stakeholders? 17
What Stakeholder Involvement Does EPA Require? 19
When Should Stakeholder Involvement Start? 19
How Do You Set Up a Stakeholder Group? 20
- Step 1: Do an assessment of community interest 20
- Step 2: Decide what help is needed 20
- Step 3: Develop a list of potential direct participants 21
- Step 4: Decide what type of process will be used 23
- Step 5: Invite people on the list to participate 23
- Step 6: Hold the first stakeholder group meeting 23
- Step 7: Agree on ground rules 24
How Can You Involve Commentors? 25
- Step 1: Develop a mailing list 25
- Step 2: Send review copies of documents to key groups and individuals 26
- Step 3: Hold public meetings or workshops 26
What Is the Stakeholder's Role While the Sponsor is Working Out
an Agreement with EPA and Other Regulators? 27
What Is the Stakeholder Group's Role During Implementation? 27
APPENDICES 28
Appendix 1: EPA Project XL Regional Points of Contact 28
Appendix 2: Technical Assistance Available to Stakeholders 29
Appendix 3: Finding a Third-Party Facilitator 29
Appendix 4: Other EPA Stakeholder Involvement Resource Materials 31
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Section I:
PROJECT XL INFORMATION
PROJECT XL
STAKEHOLDER
INVOLVEMENT
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) created Project XL to give
companies, communities, state and local
agencies, federal facilities, and even industrial
sectors, the opportunity to propose cleaner,
cheaper, and smarter ways of protecting the
environment. Project XL provides real world
tests of these innovative strategies. EPA will,
after careful evaluation, replace or modify
regulatory requirements, policies or
procedures if the proposed XL project will
produce superior environmental benefits and
promote accountability to the public.
To ensure these new approaches truly
meet local needs and protect the environment,
people from the community, environmental
groups and workers are included in
evaluating each Project XL proposal. EPA calls
this "stakeholder involvement."
The goal of Project XL stakeholder
involvement is a collaborative working
relationship between sponsors the
organizations proposing new ways of doing
things and stakeholders people who
believe they or their community could be
affected by an XL project.
EXAMPLES OF XL PROJECTS
Some of the innovations currently being
tested as part of Project XL are:
Taking money spent on compliance
with the administrative requirements of the
Clean Air Act and spending it to reduce
emissions by upgrading and retrofitting
equipment
Preparing a single operating and
regulatory plan for a manufacturing facility,
rather than requiring compliance with a
number of individual regulatory permits
Lowering overall air emissions from a
facility in return for greater operational
flexibility
Substituting a new third-party
certified environmental management system
(ISO 14001) in place of existing permitting,
recordkeeping and reporting requirements
*
What is the Purpose
of This Guide?
Both the sponsor and stakeholders have
responsibilities if the program is to be
successful. If you are a potential sponsor, this
guide will show you how to organize an
effective process for including the public in
designing and evaluating your XL project. If
you are from a community where an XL
project is under consideration or are a
member of an organization that has an interest
in an XL project, this guide will show you
how to participate effectively.
Section I provides general information
that is useful to both stakeholders and
potential sponsors. Section II provides advice
to stakeholders. Section III provides advice to
potential sponsors.
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Section I:
PROJECT XL INFORMATION
Who Are the Potential
Sponsors of XL
Projects?
Who Are the Potential
Stakeholders?
Any organization or agency whose
actions are subject to environmental
regulation, policies or procedures is a
potential sponsor. Sponsors might include:
Companies who use chemicals or other
potentially hazardous materials in
manufacturing or produce solid waste or
emissions to the environment that affect air,
water, or land.
^^B Groups of companies or an entire
industry, such as the printing or automotive
industries, that could achieve superior
environmental performance through a large-
scale or industry-wide approach to pollution
prevention
^^H A federal, state, tribal or local
government agency, such as a city or county
agency, water district, sanitation district, or
economic development agency, whose
activities affect air or water quality or use
previously polluted land.
^^^| Communities who wish to propose
new environmental management approaches
for a designated geographic area.
EPA defines stakeholders as
"communities near the project, federal, state,
tribal or local governments, businesses,
environmental and other public interest
groups or other similar entities."
EPA's guidance identifies three levels of
participants and requires that each level be
given a chance to participate:
^H Direct Participants
Direct participants are individuals or
groups who choose to work intensively with
project sponsors as part of an organized
"stakeholder group."
^B Commentors
Commentors have an interest in the
project, but choose not to participate directly
in an organized group. EPA requires sponsors
to provide opportunities for commentors to be
heard during the development of an XL
project. These commentors can still affect the
design and implementation through the
comments they make.
^H Members of the
General Public
EPA requires sponsors to provide
members of the general public with easy
access to the proposal development process
and to information about the project and its
results. Members of the general public also
have the right to participate more actively, if
they so choose.
6
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Section I:
PROJECT XL INFORMATION
HO Who Are Co-sponsors?
A co-sponsor is a state local or tribal
government, or community, environmental or
other public interest organization, that joins
the sponsor in proposing the project. For
example, a local manufacturer might reach an
agreement with a coalition of local
environmental groups to jointly propose an
XL project. This can enhance the credibility of
the project. When sponsors work with outside
groups to develop a co-sponsoring
relationship, they build working relationships
that can have continuing benefits for the
environment, the community and the
sponsoring organizations.
IJO How Much Impact Will
Stakeholders Have Upon
Decisions?
Stakeholders often worry that
"involvement" means they will express their
opinions but their opinions won't be given
real weight or importance. The amount of
impact that individuals or groups will have
upon a decision depends, at least in part, on
the level at which they choose to participate.
If they enter into an agreement with a
project sponsor to be a "co-sponsor," they will
actually be a codecision maker.
If they choose to become a "direct
participant" a member of a stakeholder
group advising a potential sponsor they
will be working directly with the sponsor. At
the beginning of the process they and the
sponsor will discuss and agree upon their
roles during decision making.
EPA will review both the sponsor's
proposal and the recommendations of the
direct participants. EPA has stated that the
views of direct participants should strongly
influence the details of the project as well as
EPA's ultimate decision whether to accept the
project.
If individuals or groups choose not to be
part of a stakeholder group but simply to
comment upon the XL proposal, both the
sponsor and EPA will carefully review their
comments. Substantive comments will be
addressed and, if necessary, discussed with
the commentor. EPA believes that the views of
informed commentors are a strong indicator
of whether the approach or technology in the
proposal may be suitable for use in other
locations.
EPA uses "stakeholder support" as one of
the criteria in evaluating whether to accept an
XL proposal. EPA is not going to accept an XL
proposal that faces across-the-board
stakeholder opposition. If a project sponsor
wants its proposal accepted, it must credibly
address stakeholder concerns and find an
approach that is generally acceptable.
K| How Does an XL Project
Get Developed?
Every XL project goes through a process
in which the sponsor prepares and submits a
proposal to EPA for acceptance. This process
is shown in Figure 1 on the next page.
The sponsor starts the stakeholder
involvement process by inviting stakeholders
to participate in developing the proposal and
overseeing the development of the final
agreement between the sponsor and EPA. The
sponsor initiates the process, sets up forums
in which stakeholders can participate, and
may even provide funds for third-party
technical assistance or meeting facilitation.
EPA can also assist in these efforts (See
Appendix 2). But stakeholder involvement
works best when the sponsor and
stakeholders work together to create both the
proposal and the process.
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Section I:
PROJECT XL INFORMATION
Figure I
DEVELOPING AN XL PROJECT
PREPROPOSAL
The sponsor decides whether to prepare a proposal, begins to define what to include in the
proposal, and begins talking often informally with EPA and state regulators and with people
from community and environmental groups to determine whether a proposal would be likely to
receive support.
PROPOSAL DEVELOPMENT
The sponsor gets specific about the details of the project and develops a formal proposal.
Normally a sponsor will set up a stakeholder group of people (direct participants) willing to consult
with the sponsor on a continuing basis and will also provide opportunities for other interested people
(commentors) to comment in meetings, or by mail or e-mail. The sponsor also provides information
about its proposal to the general public. The proposal will document how the sponsor worked with
stakeholders and the support the proposal has received from stakeholders.
o
EPA/STATE PROPOSAL REVIEW
EPA and state regulatorsthen review the proposal. If the proposal affects tribal lands, the tribal
regulatory agency will also be a reviewer. The government agencies may ask formal questions of the
sponsor about the proposal or may require revisions to the proposal. EPA and the sponsor will consult
with stakeholders about any significant changes in the proposal.
FINAL PROJECT AGREEMENT
If EPA and the other reviewers find the proposal generally acceptable, a written agreement called
the Final Project Agreement will be prepared. The Final Project Agreement spells out what actions the
sponsor will take to protect the environment, the modifications EPA and/or the state will make in its
normal regulatory practices, policies and procedures, the manner in which results will be measured,
and how information will be transmitted to the regulators and stakeholders. Stakeholders will have
the opportunity to comment upon a draft version of the Final Project Agreement.
PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION
Once the Final Project Agreement is signed, the sponsor begins to implement the project. The
Final Project Agreement developed in the last step describes how stakeholders will be involved during
implementation
8
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Section I:
PROJECT XL INFORMATION
Where In the Process Does
Stakeholder Involvement
Occur?
Preproposal
Normally, sponsors will hold preliminary
discussions with EPA and state regulators
before there is much open discussion with the
community. This is done to screen out projects
that have no chance of acceptance and allows
the regulators to communicate informally
with sponsors about whether their
environmental compliance record justifies
consideration as an XL sponsor.
But once these initial discussions with
the regulators have occurred, informal
stakeholder involvement is strongly
recommended in the preproposal stage,
although it is not required.
Stakeholder involvement at this stage,
even if it is informal, can prevent creation of a
project that has little chance of community or
stakeholder acceptance. It can also produce
ideas that can make a difference in making a
proposal acceptable.
Proposal Development
EPA requires the sponsor to work closely
with direct participants (those people who are
part of an actual stakeholder group), as well
as to provide opportunities for commentors
(people who make comments at meetings or
write letters or e-mail messages) to offer ideas.
The proposal itself will document the manner
in which the sponsor has worked with
stakeholders and the support the proposal has
received from stakeholders.
EPA/State Proposal Review
Stakeholders should be consulted
throughout this stage, since responses or
revisions resulting from discussions with EPA
or other regulators could substantially alter
the scope or content of the project.
Development of
Final Project Agreement:
The Final Project Agreement spells out
how stakeholders will be involved
throughout the life of the project.
Under EPA procedures, stakeholders will
have the opportunity to make comments
directly to EPA or other regulators on the
draft Final Project Agreement.
People who have participated in
developing a proposal often are upset if
changes are made unilaterally. If during the
development of the Final Project Agreement
EPA and the sponsor identify significant
changes in the proposal, the sponsor and EPA
will discuss these changes with the
stakeholder group. One of the advantages of
discussing this information with stakeholders
is that they may be able to suggest options or
help the sponsor and agencies move towards
resolution if things get stalled.
As the final decision maker, EPA must
balance the needs and interests of the
sponsors and stakeholders with the legal
requirements and other constraints within
which EPA must operate. Sometimes these
legal constraints can make EPA appear
unresponsive to the concerns that have been
expressed. EPA always tries to provide a clear
rationale for decisions it makes that run
counter to comments it receives from
sponsors and stakeholders.
Project Implementation
Once the Final Project Agreement (FPA)
is signed, the sponsor can begin
implementing the project. The FPA describes
how stakeholders will be involved
throughout implementation. For example,
stakeholders may play a role in monitoring
the environmental results of the project.
Outcomes from project implementation
should be reported both to the regulators and
stakeholders on a periodic and regular basis.
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Section II:
STAKEHOLDER INFORMATION
IF YOU ARE
A STAKEHOLDER
How Can You Or Your
Organization Participate?
Treat any XL project as your
opportunity to
Have a voice in important
environmental issues that could affect your
community
Be a part of developing and testing
innovative approaches that could ultimately
be adopted at a national level
1) The first step is to get information
about what's going on. Remember that even
though this may be the first you've heard of
the project, the process may have been going
on for some time.
There are several ways you can get
information:
Call the sponsor. Typically the
environmental manager, governmental
affairs or public affairs manager at the
company or agency will be the best source of
information.
Call the regional office of EPA.
Names and phone numbers of Project XL
contact points in EPA's regional offices are
shown in Appendix I.
Call your state environmental
regulator.
Consult the EPA webpage. There is a
great deal of information about Project XL,
including descriptions of specific projects,
posted on the EPA website at www.EPA.gov/
ProjectXL.
2) Volunteer to be part of the
stakeholder involvement process. To be sure
that people know of your interest in
participating, you can contact the sponsor,
your state environmental regulatory agency,
or the XL coordinator in the EPA regional
office (Appendix 1).
Before you express an interest, consider
how much time you're willing to spend. If
you become a member of a stakeholder
group, you will be making a significant time
commitment. There is normally no
reimbursement or compensation for this
time.
Some of the demands on your time
could include:
Time for regular group meetings
Time spent reviewing documents
between meetings
Time spent researching or
developing concepts or ideas
Time spent in subcommittees
or communicating with
other stakeholders
If you are not sure you can handle this
time commitment, you might choose instead
to be a "commentor," someone who reviews
information about the project and comments
by phone, e-mail, letter, or at public
meetings.
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Section II:
STAKEHOLDER INFORMATION
Direct participants who serve as
members of the organized stakeholder group
established for the project are likely to have
more impact on the final outcome than
commentors. But they also make a more
significant investment of time and energy.
If there is an existing stakeholder group
for the project, there may be an established
procedure for selection of new members. If
you're not invited to join the group right
away, understand that it has little to do with
your qualifications and everything to do
with controlling the size of the group (for
better group dynamics) and ensuring
balanced representation.
3) Identify and communicate your
interests and concerns. Speak up. Insist that
your ideas and concerns be considered, but
also be constructive. Submit comments so
that your ideas will be on the record. Also
educate yourself identifying your interests
often requires learning more about the
project to be sure you know how your
interests are best met in this situation.
If you decide you can't commit the time
to be part of the stakeholder group, you can
still make comments in a public meeting or
in writing to EPA or other regulators. These
comments are taken seriously by the
regulators and can lead to changes in any
agreements reached with the sponsor.
How Should Your Organization
Decide Whether to Participate?
Many XL stakeholder groups include
representatives of community and
environmental organizations. Others include
labor unions or other organizations
representing workers. Some groups include
representatives of national business or
environmental groups as well.
But representing a group raises some
additional challenges. You need to make sure
there is agreement in your group that
working in a collaborative manner is
consistent with the long-term goals of your
group. Your group will also need to decide
whether its representative is there as an
official spokesperson of the group, stating
the positions of your group, or is there as an
individual free to express personal opinions.
Experience with prior XL projects
suggests that group representatives
sometimes feel uncomfortable presenting the
conclusions of the stakeholder group back to
their own group. Group representatives also
had difficulties getting policy decisions from
their groups in a timely manner. If your
group wants to have an official group
representative, you will need a
communication mechanism within your
group to ensure that people are kept
informed of what's happening. You'll also
need some way to ensure that decisions
about group policy can be made quickly.
Figure 2 on the next page provides a
self-assessment tool your group may find
helpful in deciding whether to participate.
Even if you answered "no" to a number of
questions, it doesn't mean you shouldn't
participate. It simply means that if your
group is going to participate effectively, you
will ultimately need to spend some time
addressing these procedural issues.
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Section II:
STAKEHOLDER INFORMATION
Figure 2
SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL
FOR STAKEHOLDER GROUPS
l)Does your membership support working with the sponsor in
a collaborative manner?
2) Is there agreement within your group on the goals for the process?
3) Is your organization able to commit the time and resources that
participation will require?
4)Are there well-established mechanisms for the representatives
of your group on the XL stakeholder group to communicate
regularly with your members.
5)Are there mechanisms in place for your group to make
timely decisions regarding the XL project?
6)Do you already have established communication with the sponsor?
7)Does the proposed stakeholder group membership or process
provide adequate representation to all interests?
8)Do you believe your voice will be heard during
development of the XL proposal?
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
YES NO
12
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Section II:
A
STAKEHOLDER INFORMATION
What Else Can You Or Your
Organization Do to Help?
In addition to volunteering your own
participation, there are many other ways you
can help:
Inform others about the process.
If you belong to a community,
environmental, or business group, talk about
the project. See if you can get others
interested. Find out what their interests or
concerns might be. EPA, the state or the
sponsor will make a presentation to your
group, if requested.
Help the Sponsor Develop
a Mailing List of Interested
Stakeholders.
Give the sponsor names and addresses of
people who should be on the mailing list. If
you think everyone in your organization
would like information, provide your mailing
list to the sponsor or offer to mail materials to
your group's members. Check with other
organizations to see if they have names and
addresses that should be included on the list.
Help the Sponsor Plan the
Stakeholder Involvement
Process.
Help the sponsor think through the
various community and environmental
interests that should be represented in the
decision-making process. Then help the
sponsor identify people who can speak for
each of these interests.
Get information about other stakeholder
processes in your community, and share
information with the sponsor about what
made them a success, what problems arose,
and how these problems can be avoided or
addressed.
Check with other groups with whom you
are affiliated, such as national environmental
or business groups, and find out what they've
learned about participating in stakeholder
processes.
Help the Sponsor Recruit
Other Stakeholders for a
Stakeholder Group.
Even if you are not able to participate,
suggest people or groups who may be
interested in the project. Help the sponsor by
calling other people and asking them about
their interest.
You could also take on responsibility for
recruiting additional group members. You
may be more effective in recruiting
stakeholders than the sponsor, particularly
with someone you know or who shares
similar interests. A leader of an environmental
group may be more willing to participate if
approached by another environmentalist, just
as a business person may be more responsive
to another business person. In particular,
provide a bridge to people or groups who
may be wary of the sponsor or the project.
Be sure to coordinate recruitment with
the sponsor to avoid unnecessary duplication.
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Section II:
STAKEHOLDER INFORMATION
Volunteer to Serve As a
Member of a "Core Group"
That Helps the Sponsor
Organize a Stakeholder Group.
Sponsors often find it helpful to meet
first with a small group of representative
stakeholders to help in setting up the full
stakeholder group. This core group may help
in recruiting the membership of the group
and will discuss how the group can work
together to ensure the whole group feels the
process is fair and meets the needs of
stakeholders and the sponsor. This core
group may also work with the sponsor to
develop a draft version of ground rules for
the group, subject to review by the full group
once it is assembled.
Help the sponsor evaluate whether the
stakeholder group, once established, needs
an up-front, team-building session or would
benefit from joint training on how to work
together effectively as a group.
Encourage others in the stakeholder
group not to rush through issues about how
you will be working together in order to get
to the substance of the proposal. These issues
about "the process" can prove to be very
important later on. Encourage others to be
patient during discussion of process issues.
Help the Sponsor Hold Public
Meetings and Communicate
With People Outside the
Stakeholder Group.
The sponsor is expected to conduct
public meetings and provide information to
interested people who are not part of the
organized stakeholder group. The sponsor
and stakeholder group may decide that
members of the stakeholder group should
play a major role in communicating with the
broader public. The stakeholder group
might, for example, review draft versions of
public information documents and give the
sponsor feedback on whether the document
seems objective and easy to understand.
Stakeholders may also play a role in
designing and conducting public meetings.
During public meetings you might be
asked to present a report on the issues
identified by the group or give a group
report on the advantages and disadvantages
of various alternatives. Remember that
whenever you speak for the stakeholder
group you have to represent the entire
group, not just your own position. Similarly,
if you are asked to lead a meeting or small
group discussion, you will need to act like a
facilitator, remaining neutral on the content
of the discussion.
Improve Your Technical
Understanding of the Issues.
This increases your ability to participate
in a meaningful way and puts you on a
stronger footing during technical
discussions. You can ask the sponsor for
information, or you can speak with EPA,
state, or local government technical
specialists or regulators to get information or
access to people who can advise you.
If you want to get information from
third-party sources, technical assistance may
be made available through a local university.
In some cases, sponsors may be willing to
provide third-party technical assistance, or,
where requests for technical assistance come
from the entire stakeholder group, EPA
funds can be used to obtain expertise.
Appendix 2 provides information about EPA
technical assistance programs.
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Section II:
STAKEHOLDER INFORMATION
Talk With Friends and
Members of Groups to Which
You Belong About Their
Interests and Concerns.
You can serve as a conduit for other
people's views. This is also a way of being
sure that you don't "lose touch" with what
the rest of the community is feeling.
Sometimes people get so involved in an issue
that they forget that others in the community
or in their organization don't have all the
information they do.
Seek Measurable Results.
XL projects are supposed to produce
superior environmental performance
better than what is being achieved now. You
can help by pushing for well-defined
procedures for measuring whether, in fact,
these results occur. Ideally these measures
should be something objective that are easy
to identify and evaluate, such as substitution
of environmentally preferable substances for
hazardous products or raw materials,
reduced emissions, or increases in the
number of acres of land cleaned-up, or
technologies tested.
*
What Should You or Your
Organization Expect From
the Stakeholder Involvement
Process?
You should expect that:
The process will be open
and transparent
Everybody should know what the
process will be, what's going on now, who's
doing what, and what happens next.
Everybody will have
access to information
If it's going to feel like a partnership or
team, everybody is going to need access to
the same information. The sponsor may need
to keep some information confidential if it is
important to its competitive position. But
other than that, the sponsor and the
stakeholders need to go into the process
expecting that all relevant information is on
the table. At the same time, stakeholders
should expect that while they will be
provided full information related to the XL
project, the sponsor is not expected to
provide information unrelated to the Project
XL proposal.
If the XL project is about the operations
of a physical facility, stakeholders may need
to visit the facility itself. Some sponsors need
to limit access to facilities due to security,
protection of proprietary information or
quality control procedures. If visiting the
facility is essential to the work of the
stakeholder group, arrangements can usually
be made to provide access, but not without
reasonable lead time and careful planning.
Everybody will be treated with
mutual respect
Stakeholders should be treated with
respect, as should the sponsor and its
consultants, and the regulators. Respect
means that people are listened to and given
serious consideration, and everyone is
assumed to have a genuine concern for both
the environment and the community. All are
assumed to have a constructive interest in
the outcome of the project.
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Section II:
STAKEHOLDER INFORMATION
p Everybody will have a genuine
opportunity to influence outcomes
The payoff for people who participate is
the sense that their participation has made a
difference for the environment, the economy,
and their community. This means that there
must be genuine opportunities to influence
the project's development. To make this
happen, stakeholders need to be offered
opportunities to participate before decisions
are made by either the sponsor or the
regulators. This opportunity to participate
should be early enough that stakeholders'
ideas can contribute to the decision.
Having "an influence" doesn't mean
that everything must conform to your beliefs.
But all participants need to leave the process
feeling their ideas were given serious
attention.
Everybody will take responsibility
for a positive outcome
Everybody needs to feel ownership of
the project and be committed to its success.
With this attitude, if something isn't working,
people don't just complain, they do
something to fix the problem. They don't just
oppose a particular approach or solution;
they find an approach that does work for
everybody.
The sponsor alone can't ensure that
these expectations will be met. Meeting these
expectations will require the commitment of
both the sponsor and the participants.
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Section III:
IF YOU ARE A
POTENTIAL SPONSOR
What Will a Sponsor Get Out
of Stakeholder Involvement?
Although your organization will need
to spend time and effort to make stakeholder
involvement work, most people who've
conducted stakeholder involvement
programs believe it is a wise investment with
significant returns.
To begin with, stakeholder support is a
precondition for acceptance of your XL
proposal. Stakeholder involvement is the
primary means of assessing whether there is
broad-based support for the project concept..
Stakeholder support can even speed up the
approval process, because regulators are
more confident the impacts of the project
will be carefully reviewed since the
community and other stakeholders may play
a role in monitoring implementation. Also,
effective stakeholder involvement increases
your credibility with regulators and helps
reduce the amount of time it takes to build
trust between you and the regulators.
There may be savings involved even if
you find there is opposition. It's better to
find out if there are potential problems or
issues as early as possible. If you know about
people's concerns early on, you can address
them before becoming too committed to a
particular approach, or you can make a
decision not to submit a proposal, saving
money that might have been spent on an
unsuccessful process.
Stakeholder involvement also
contributes to well thought-out plans.
Stakeholders often identify assumptions or
problems that could prevent effective
implementation. Because they approach the
issue differently than either sponsors or
regulators, stakeholders may identify
options or issues that the technical experts
might miss.
SPONSER INFORMATION
Stakeholder involvement is also a way
for you to enhance your relationship with
the community. At a minimum, you will
receive important information about how
your operations affect the community.
Stakeholder involvement is a way of
building good will in the community. That
good will may make a difference not only for
this project but also when you want
community support or approval for other
aspects of your operations.
How Can a Potential Sponsor
Assess its Ability to Work
Positively With Stakeholders?
A starting point is your organization's
current and past relationship with the
community. If you have a strong positive
relationship with the community, you'll start
out with credibility. You probably have
already established relationships with many
of the people you will need to include in the
process.
But if you have adversarial
relationships with some of the possible
participants, you may want to ask yourself if
you are willing to do the extra work it will
take to build a positive working relationship.
The rewards may be great, but it will take
extra effort.
One way to determine whether you are
likely to work together effectively with
stakeholders is to do a self-assessment of
your existing relationship with the
community. To conduct a quick self-
assessment, complete the assessment tool on
page 18.
If you find you answered "yes" to all
the items, you are starting from a strong
position for working with the community to
develop an XL project. If you answered "no"
to some of the items, think about how you
will address these issues with your
stakeholders. The more "no's" you have, the
more challenging the stakeholder
involvement process is likely to be.
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A
18
Section III:
SPONSER INFORMATION
SELF-ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR
Figure 3 POTENTIAL SPONSERS
1) This facility/organization has a history
of active involvement in this community. YES NO
2) This facility/organization has a good
reputation in this community. YES NO
3) The facility/organization has a good
compliance record (no major fines or
violations). YES NO
4) Employees of the facility/organization live in
and are apart of the community. YES NO
5) The facility/organization has established
communication with all racial and economic
segments of the community. YES NO
6) This facility/organization has a good
employee relations history. YES NO
7) Senior managers have periodic
dialogues with the facility or organization's
neighbors (commercial and residential). YES NO
8) Senior managers have periodic dialogues
with the organization's critics. YES NO
9) Senior managers know some environmental
and community group leaders well. YES NO
10) Senior managers are willing to discuss
issues brought up by stakeholders and
consider changes based on these
suggestions. YES NO
11) Senior managers are willing to commit the
organization's time, effort, and resources to
making this project a success. YES NO
12) Senior managers are receptive to ideas and
concerns expressed by workers. YES NO
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Section III:
SPONSER INFORMATION
*
What Stakeholder Involvement
Does EPA Require?
EPA requirements for stakeholder
involvement are defined in the Project XL
Federal Register Notice of May 23,1995, and
in the Federal Register Notice titled Clarifying
the XL Process issued April 23, 1997. Both of
these documents can be downloaded from
EPA's website (www.epa.gov/prqjectxl) or
you can get them by calling your EPA
regional office XL coordinator (listed in
Appendix 1). Appendix 4 describes other EPA
guides and information that may be useful.
Achieving "stakeholder support" often
requires a more substantial stakeholder
involvement program than what is defined in
XL program guidance.
Generally speaking, the scope and
complexity of the stakeholder process should
match the scope and complexity of the project
itself. If the sponsor is asking for significant
changes from existing environmental
requirements and national policy or if the
project could have widespread impacts on the
community or particular segments of it, then
the stakeholder involvement process may
need to be equally significant. If the changes
or impacts are modest, then it may be
appropriate to scale back the involvement
process.
The scope and complexity of the process
also reflects the level of interest and
enthusiasm of the stakeholders. On some XL
proposals it has been difficult to stimulate
stakeholder interest. On other proposals the
involvement process has greatly exceeded the
minimum requirements.
*
When Should Stakeholder
Involvement Start?
You may want to talk with EPA and
state regulators before you begin talking
with stakeholder groups. There may be
regulatory or other reasons, other than
stakeholder reactions, why your proposal
would not be accepted. Also, at some point
EPA and state regulators will conduct a
screening for eligibility based on the
Guidance for Compliance Screening available
on the Project XL web page. If they have
concerns,you may want to know about these
before you begin a public process.
But once these initial discussions have
taken place, the experience with earlier XL
projects shows that you should begin to
consult stakeholders early, while you are still
thinking about whether to develop or submit
a formal XL proposal. Early consultation
may be quite informal, such as an
exploratory discussion over lunch or small
informal meetings.
Early consultation should include
individuals or groups you think might be
interested in the project. They, in turn, can
suggest others to whom you should talk.
Don't avoid people you think might
oppose the project, as these people often
have valuable information about what it
would take for the project to be successful.
Also, "opposition" is sometimes created by
how people are or are not included in the
process. People who are included from the
beginning often feel very differently than
people who believe something is being
forced upon them. People who don't agree
with the project are still likely to respect the
fact they were approached directly by you at
an early stage in the process.
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Section III:
SPONSER INFORMATION
How Do You Set Up
A Stakeholder Group?
Below is a series of steps you can follow
to set up a stakeholder group. Although you
have the primary responsibility for carrying
out these steps, the stakeholders role becomes
more important with each step. Experience
shows that in the most successful processes,
the sponsor and the stakeholders cocreate the
process.
Step 1: Do an assessment
of the interest of community
and environmental groups
At this stage you are still deciding
whether or not to prepare a proposal and
what kind of things to propose if you do.
You've probably held some preliminary
conversations with the regional EPA office and
your state regulator. You are now ready to
begin developing your stakeholder
involvement process.
Your first step is to talk to people in the
community to make an initial assessment of
how much interest there is likely to be. The
simple rule is: If you want to know how much
interest there will be in a project, ask the
people who are most likely to be interested.
Conduct a series of informal discussions with
stakeholders you know, e.g., state and city
officials, employee representatives, leaders of
environmental or community groups.
Questions you may want
to ask include:
What is the level of community
interest in the facility?
How knowledgeable is the
community about the issues
surrounding your facility?
What kinds of issues have been
important to the community in the
past?
How active is the community on
environmental or public health
issues?
Are there organized groups
representing the community or
environmental interests?
Are there mechanisms by which
workers can be represented?
Will the project affect minority or
economically disadvantaged people
more than others?
Who needs to be included in a
stakeholder group in order for it to
be seen as representative?
What is the most effective way to
involve stakeholders, (e.g., a series of
workshops, a defined stakeholder
group that meets regularly, etc.?)
Remember that various parts of your
organization already have established
relationships with people in the community.
Do a quick check around your organization
to identify these existing relationships. If
other people in the organization are the
primary point of contact with people in the
community, have them set up the initial get-
together, perhaps accompanying you.
Step 2: Decide what help is needed
There are three kinds of help you might
consider: a co-sponsor, a convenor, or a
facilitator.
0 Co-sponsor
You may want to form a partnership
with a credible community or environmental
group (or groups) who will serve as Project
Co-sponsor (s). A co-sponsor may be
particularly important if your organization is
not well-known, or does not have an
established track record for environmental
excellence. If you are going to seek a co-
sponsor it is important to do this early in the
process. Organizations are not likely to be
willing to be a co-sponsor if they are not
included in the original planning.
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Section III:
SPONSER INFORMATION
£ Convenor
EPA has recently developed a program
that provides assistance to sponsors in
"convening" stakeholders. EPA will provide
support from skilled facilitators
("convenors") who are neutral about the
contents of the proposal. These convenors
stakeholders and set up the process that
leads to the first meeting of a stakeholder
group. The convenor will lead the kick-off
meeting, helping the group develop
agreement on the process and ground rules
for working together. Once the group is
established, the convenor has completed his
or her job, and the sponsor and stakeholders
will continue to work together to build their
own process.
Contact your Project XL regional
coordinator (Appendix 1) to get information
on how to obtain this assistance from EPA.
£ Facilitator
Project-related convening assistance
provided by EPA is free of charge but ends
after the first meeting. But EPA strongly
recommends that you have a neutral
facilitator throughout the entire stakeholder
process.
A facilitator plays two roles: (1) an
experienced facilitator has knowledge about
how to help groups work together effectively
and can help the sponsor plan a stakeholder
involvement process that will be effective;
and (2) facilitators are trained meeting
leaders who can help design and conduct
good meetings.
Facilitators are effective both because
they have training and experience in helping
people work together but also because they
are neutral about the contents of the
proposal. Even if there are people in the
sponsoring organization who have
facilitation skills, stakeholders will react
more positively to an outside facilitator
because the facilitator does not have a stake
in any particular result.
Because neutrality is a matter of
perception, sponsors may want to talk with
people who could be direct participants
about which facilitators would be acceptable.
Sponsors won't want to hire a facilitator who
is viewed as having a bias, because the value
of neutrality will be lost.
Appendix 3 provides information on
finding a facilitator.
Step 3: Develop a list of
potential direct participants
Once you decide what assistance will be
helpful, identify people who are willing to be
part of a stakeholder group that will meet
with you regularly to discuss and develop
the proposal.
One way to get started is to make a list
of people who are likely to see themselves as
affected by the project. Here's a quick
checklist of the reasons people might see
themselves as affected:
Proximity/exposure,
(e.g., workers or people who live
near the facility or could be
affected by land, air, water
or soil pollution, or by
construction impacts)
Concern for the effects of this
project upon other land uses
on this or adjoining land,
(e.g., whether this project frees
up or forecloses the use
of other land)
Concern for the effects of this project
upon the environment,
(e.g., impact upon air or water,
or on endangered species)
Economics, (e.g., jobs, potential
for economic development)
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Section III:
SPONSER INFORMATION
Mandate, (e.g., agencies whose
job it is to protect a particular
resource such as wetlands
or endangered species, or who
regulate land use)
Values/political philosophy,
(e.g., people who are strong
advocates for "environmental
stewardship," or "reducing
governmental waste and
paperwork")
One way to expand the list of
potentially interested people is to ask for
recommendations from people such as:
- State agencies
- Mayor, or County Executive
- City Council member
- State legislators
- District school board member
- Local health officials
- Pastors of community churches
- Current and former Community
Advisory Panel (CAP) members
(if your organization already
has one)
- State and local environmental
organizations
- Academia or local universities
- Neighborhood associations
of residents near a facility
- Environmental justice
organizations
You can show these people the list
you've developed so far and ask them who
else needs to be included for the stakeholder
group to be seen as credible or
representative.
The goal is to involve the
stakeholders representative of a]]
the major interests associated with
the proposal.
Be sure you don't leave out
these groups:
State, regional, and
national groups.
State, regional, and national groups
may see themselves as stakeholders because
local XL projects test ideas that may later be
applied nationally. Don't assume that the
positions of local environmental or business
groups are identical with those of
comparable national organizations.
It is better to seek participation from
state, regional and national organizations
from the beginning (assuming they are
interested), rather than have them get
involved late in the process after agreements
have already been reached with local
stakeholders.
Economically disadvantaged
stakeholders or groups
representing these interests.
EPA is particularly concerned about
avoiding disproportionate adverse impacts
on such groups and is very interested in
projects that alleviate impacts currently
experienced by such groups.
Employees.
Employees are a crucial group of
affected stakeholders. Some facilities have a
plant employee environmental advisory
committee or other group from which
candidates may be recruited. At union
plants the method of selection may be
subject to contractual requirements.
There are several issues you will need to
address to ensure adequate worker
representation: How can you eliminate fear
of retribution if workers take positions
different than management? Is time spent on
an XL stakeholder group paid time? How
can you ensure that the worker
representatives are in fact perceived as
representative?
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Section III:
SPONSER INFORMATION
Step 4: Decide what kind
of process will be used
Stakeholders often want a voice in
decision making, not just access to
information, and have needs and
expectations of their own. The stakeholder
involvement process is something that has to
be agreed upon by all the parties who are
participating.
When people are invited to participate,
they are going to want to anticipate what
time commitment is involved. For example,
will the group participate in a series of
workshops scheduled for key points in the
development of the proposal, or will there be
regular meetings?
Sometimes decisions about what kind of
process it will be can be resolved in one-on-
one discussions with potential participants.
In other cases you may want to assemble a
core group of stakeholders with whom you
can discuss the options. Even the core group
should include a range of viewpoints. If
major interests feel left out, it will undercut
the credibility of the process.
Step 5: Invite people on
the list to participate
Once you are confident the list is
representative and credible, invite the people
on the list to be part of the organized
stakeholder group. A personal contact is
almost always more effective than a letter,
although the sponsor may want to follow up
the personal contact with a letter.
Remember that you are asking people
to donate their valuable time to the project.
Even if these individuals work for
organizations which are active on
environmental issues, this project must still
compete for their time with other important
environmental issues in the community. You
may have to convince people of the
environmental benefits that can be achieved
through the program before people will
make the needed time commitment.
Recruitment of stakeholders may take
positive and creative action on your part.
You may need to seek people out to get them
involved, rather than expecting they will just
come to you. You may need to try new
approaches to stimulate interest and
generate the willingness to participate.
If national groups are interested in the
project, you may need to create mechanisms,
such as conference calls or videoconferencing
to include people from these group in the
discussions.
If your project is of great interest to
stakeholders, your challenge could be to
keep the group to a workable size. When
groups get larger than about 20 people,
group dynamics become increasingly
difficult. But limiting the size of the group
must sometimes be balanced with the need
to ensure that all major interests are
represented.
Step 6: Hold the first
stakeholder group meeting
The first meeting is usually an
"organizational" or kick-off meeting in the
sense that it focuses primarily on how the
sponsor and stakeholders will work together,
not the contents of the XL proposal. During
this first meeting the group needs to gain
mutual understanding about the process and
participants' expectations and roles, rather
than try to reach substantive agreements.
Consider the possibility of starting with
a team-building session with the group or
going through joint training on how to work
together as a team. EPA may be able to
provide third-party process assistance for
team building, facilitation, or training.
Frequently the first meeting focuses on
the ground rules for the stakeholder group.
This is discussed in more detail below.
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Section III:
SPONSER INFORMATION
Step 7: Agree on Ground Rules
The ground rules define your role and
responsibilities, and the role and
responsibilities of the members of the
stakeholder group. They also define the
procedures you and the stakeholder group
will follow throughout the development of
the XL proposal and agreement.
The discussion of the ground rules
typically begins during the first meeting of
the group. But the process may take more
than one meeting.
These procedures should be adopted by
agreement of the participants. If you can't
get agreement on how you are going to work
together, there's little hope of agreeing on the
project itself. Of course "consensus" doesn't
always mean that everyone is equally
enthusiastic. It does mean that everybody
"consents" to the ground rules.
Typically it is easier for a group to react
to and modify a "strawman" set of ground
rules than create the ground rules from
scratch. The word "strawman" simply means
that this is a preliminary proposal that
(because it is only made of straw) can be
readily discarded or changed. The strawman
may be perceived more neutrally if it is
generated by the convenor or facilitator.
Topics to be covered in the ground rules
include:
Role of the stakeholder group
Is the group advisory (e.g., it gives
advice or makes recommendations), or does
it make decisions that are binding on the
sponsor? What obligations does the sponsor
have for reporting what it did in response to
recommendations?
Method of decision making
Who are the decision makers? Will
decisions be made by consensus? What
constitutes consensus? Does any single
stakeholder or constituency have a veto?
How will disagreements be resolved? If there
isn't unanimity, can people submit minority
reports expressing their disagreements?
Membership of the group
What are the criteria for membership in
the group? Are members considered
representatives of their groups or
constituencies? How will additional
stakeholders be selected if more are needed
or vacancies are created? Who makes the
decisions about who gets added to the
group?
Definition of responsibilities/
accountabilities
Beyond the ultimate authority of EPA
and the state to decide whether a project
goes forward, what are the roles of the
sponsor, the governmental agencies
involved, and the volunteer stakeholders at
each step of the process?
Facilitator's role
Will a facilitator be used? Will the
stakeholder group participate in selecting the
facilitator? What role will the facilitator play?
Method of communication
How will the group share
correspondence, meeting notes/minutes, or
reports among the stakeholders? Who has
the responsibility for making this happen?
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Section III:
SPONSER INFORMATION
Treatment of confidential
information
How will information deemed
competitively sensitive by the sponsor be
protected and/or shared?
Technical assistance
Do the direct participants need training
or technical assistance and what kind? Who
will the stakeholders rely on for technical
information? Is there a need for third-party
technical assistance? Who will decide
whether it is needed? How will such
assistance be selected? Who will pay for it?
Project termination
If the sponsor decides not to submit a
proposal or not to proceed with a project,
what obligations does the sponsor have to
the stakeholder group?
When you've completed the steps
above, you are formally launched. From this
point forward, the process can be
determined by mutual agreement between
you and the stakeholder group. As provided
for in the ground rules, you and members of
the stakeholder group will now work
together to build a successful XL project.
How Do You Involve
"Commentors"?
"Commentors," as EPA defines it, are
stakeholders who are interested in an XL
project but are not able to commit the time
and resources necessary to be members of
the organized stakeholder group. But they
are willing to write a letter or e-mail
message, make a phone call, or attend a
meeting or workshop to make a comment on
the proposal.
EPA requires sponsors to provide
information to potential commentors and
create periodic forums in which they can
express their comments.
Here are some suggestions on how to
involve commentors:
Step 1: Develop a mailing list
You will need to mail information
bulletins, newsletters, reports, meeting
announcement to commentors. Begin
right away to develop a mailing list that can
be used for such mailings.
Some of the people to include on
the list are:
Immediate neighbors of
the site/project
Employees of the sponsor
Local and state elected officials
Government agency officials
with responsibilities related
to environmental protection
or cleanup, water or air quality,
or land use
Community, environmental
and business groups
(including local and national
organizations)
Local newspapers, publications, or
organizational newsletters
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Section III:
SPONSER INFORMATION
Every time there's a public meeting,
have a sign-in list to capture the names and
addresses of any attendees who are not
already on the mailing list. Set up the
mailing list so that there will be the option
later of targeting specific audiences.
Step 2: Send review copies of
documents to key groups and
individuals
One important way to keep
commentors informed is to send them
review copies of the important documents
related to the project. Invite them to submit
comments on these documents, within
specified time limits. The key documents to
consider sending out are:
Draft proposal
Final Proposal
Questions from regulators
(and your responses)
Draft Final Project Agreement
Final Project Agreement
If the documents are long, prepare a
short synopsis and send that along with a
mail-in postcard on which people can
request a copy of the complete document.
Include the same postcard with any copies of
the actual documents, so that people who
receive them can request that the documents
be sent to others.Some sponsors have
developed web sites which allow people to
download the documents that interest them.
Another option is to publish a periodic
newsletter. Include a hotline number in any
newsletter stories so people can request
copies.
Step 3: Hold public meetings or
workshops
Set up periodic meetings at which the
public can get more information or make
comments.
The most effective time for public
meetings is just before major decisions, when
all the information is available but the public
can still influence the decision.
The key times for public meetings are:
To review the draft proposal
To review possible substantive
changes in the proposal resulting
from questions or suggestions
from regulators
To review the draft
Final Project Agreement
Some of the ways to publicize public
meetings are by issuing news releases, by
putting out a newsletter containing the
information people will need to participate
effectively, and by paying for ads in the
communication media.
If the meeting could be controversial or
challenging, consider hiring a neutral
facilitator. Facilitators not only have skills at
conducting meetings, but their neutrality
helps keep things calm.
Be sure to consider formats other than
public hearings. Workshops where people
actually work together to complete a task
or other interactive kinds of meetings are
usually far more satisfying than a hearing
format.
26
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Section III: jpt
SPONSER INFORMATION^fjf
What Is The Stakeholders'
Role While The Sponsor Is
Working out an Agreement
With EPA And Other
Regulators?
Once you submit a proposal, EPA
reviews the proposal in collaboration with
state or tribal regulators. Often the regulators
will have questions or suggestions for
changes that will make the proposal more
acceptable. Once the proposal is accepted in
principle, a Final Project Agreement (FPA) is
worked out between project sponsors and
the regulators. This agreement captures the
intent of the signators in carrying out the
project proposal.
To this point the sponsor and
stakeholders have been working very closely
to develop the proposal. Now the sponsor
and regulators are working together directly,
and there may be considerable dialogue
between them, sometimes leading to
significant changes in the proposal. It is easy
for stakeholders who've donated
considerable time and energy helping the
project get this far along to feel "cut-out"
of the process during these negotiations.
You and the stakeholder group need to
develop agreements, in advance of this stage,
on how stakeholders will be kept informed
and involved to the extent that they desire to
be. One of the issues to discuss is how big a
proposed change in the proposal must be to
trigger a review by stakeholders. If it isn't
easy to agree on "how big" a change must
be, talk about "who decides" to notify or
reassemble stakeholders.
The compelling reason for keeping
stakeholders informed and involved is to be
sure they continue to support the project.
Their continuing involvement is also a way
to identify any new concerns that could
derail implementation.
Particularly when people have been
involved in developing the proposal, they
may have very strong feelings about changes
made in the project. It would be a tragic
waste to develop strong stakeholder support
then lose it because stakeholders weren't
included during the final negotiations.
What Is the Stakeholder
Group's Role During
Implementation?
The Final Project Agreement will define
the role of the stakeholder group during
implementation. EPA strongly encourages
XL sponsors to actively involve stakeholders
in reviewing reports of the results of the
project. Some groups have maintained a
continuing interest in how the results are
measured. In other cases, there has not been
significant interest except in the final results.
Sponsors will need to find the appropriate
level of involvement based on the
stakeholders' level of interest and the nature
of the project.
If there is high interest or potential for
controversy, it pays to sustain the
involvement of stakeholders. Their
continued involvement lends credibility to
the study results and reduces the risk that
stakeholder groups will challenge the
manner in which studies were done.
27
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APPENDICES
The appendices provide additional resources:
Appendix 1 lists Project XL contacts at each of EPA's regional offices. Call them
to discuss your proposal, to request convening assistance, or to request technical
assistance for your stakeholder group. EPA will support the efforts of project
sponsors and stakeholders to develop XL proposals.
Appendix 2 discusses the kinds of technical assistance that EPA can provide to
sponsors and stakeholders.
Appendix 3 discusses how to how to find a third-party facilitator.
Appendix 4 lists other EPA guides or documents that provide additional advice
about stakeholder involvement.
Appendix 1
EPA PROJECT XL REGIONAL
POINTS OF CONTACT
Region 1 (ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT)
Environmental Protection Agency
John F. Kennedy Building
Boston, MA 02203-0001
George Frantz (617) 565-2752
Fax (617) 565-3415
Region 2 (NY, NJ, PR)
Environmental Protection Agency
290 Broadway
New York, NY 10007-1866
Sherry Bishko
Aleksandra Dobkowski (212) 637-3571
(212)-637-3676
Fax (212) 637-5045
Region 3 (PA, DE, DC, MD, VA, WV)
Environmental Protection Agency
16 50 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
David Byro or Beth Termini (215) 814-5563
Mindy Snoparski (215)-814-3316
fax (215) 814-5103
Region 4 (KY, TN, NC, SC, MS, AL, GA, FL)
Environmental Protection Agency
6 IForsyth Street SW
Atlanta, GA 30303
Michelle Glenn (404) 562-8674
fax (404) 562-9594
Region 5 (MN, WI, IL, MI, IN, OH)
Environmental Protection Agency
77 West Jackson Boulevard
Chicago, IL 60604-3507
Linda Martin (312) 353-9486
fax (312) 353-5374
Region 6 (NM, TX, OK, AR, LA)
Environmental Protection Agency
1445 Ross Avenue, Ste. 700
Dallas, TX 75202-2733
Adele Cardenas (214) 665-7210
fax (214) 665-3177
Region 7 (NE, KS, IA, MO)
Environmental Protection Agency
726 Minnesota Avenue
Kansas City, KS 66101
Dick Sumpter (913)-551-7661
fax (913) 551-7976
Region 8 (MT, ND, WY, SD, UT, CO)
Environmental Protection Agency
999 - 18th Street, Ste. 500
Denver, CO 80202-2466
Mary Byrne (303) 312-6491
fax (303) 312-6741
Region 9 (CA, NV, AZ, HI)
Environmental Protection Agency
75 Hawthorne Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Mark Samolis (415) 744-2331
fax (415) 744-2360
Region 10 (WA, OR, ID, AK)
Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Sixth Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
Bill Glasser (206) 553-7215
fax (206) 553-8338
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APPENDICES
A
Appendix 2
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
AVAILABLE TO STAKEHOLDERS
Appendix 3
HOW TO FIND A THIRD-PARTY
FACILITATOR
EPA has set up a mechanism to provide
task-specific technical assistance to XL
stakeholder projects. The Institute for
Conservation Leadership manages this service
under a cooperative agreement with EPA.
The kinds of services available under
this project include assistance with:
Understanding technical issues
Interpreting and evaluating
technical information
Facilitating the stakeholder process
Providing other kinds
of professional expertise
This assistance is limited to $25,000 per
group and is available only when requested by
the entire stakeholder group.
For information, contact:
Institute for Conservation Leadership
6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 420
Takoma Park, MD 20912
301/270-2900
e-mail: peter@icl.org or dianne@icl.org
If the project involves hazardous waste,
technical assistance may also be available
through a program called Technical Outreach
Services for Communities (TOSC). The goal of
the TOSC program is to inform, educate and
empower communities with hazardous waste
problems by providing technical information and
guidance. TOSC uses five Hazardous Substance
Research Centers (HSRCs) and a network of 23
universities nationwide to provide this support.
These services are coordinated by the
Superfund Community Involvement Coordinator
in each region. Your Project XL regional contact
person can connect you with this individual.
Typically, a facilitator is someone who is not
associated with any of the parties and has no
vested interest in the decision being made. This is
to make sure that no one fears that the way a
meeting or workshop is being run gives any
particular organization an advantage.
It is helpfulbut not mandatoryfor the
facilitator to be familiar with the organizations
involved and the subjects of discussion. As a
minimum, the facilitator needs to know enough
to be able to follow the discussion. Since agencies
often use numerous acronyms and technical
jargon, this can be an important point. On the
other hand, if the facilitator is too directly
involved in the subject matter he or she may
have opinions that make it hard to remain
neutral, or he or she may be seen by one of the
parties as biased or partial towards a particular
point of view or organization.
There are many levels of skill and
experience among people who call themselves
facilitators. Some have just completed their
training, while others may have 20+ years of
facilitation experience in a variety of
circumstances. Typically, their fees reflect these
differences (although some relatively junior
facilitators may seek "senior facilitator" fees).
Facilitator fees range from $500/day (in 1999
dollars) to $2,000/day or more. A fully qualified
facilitator can normally be hired in the $750 to
$l,500/day range.
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APPENDICES
There are several sources of information
about qualified facilitators:
Each EPA region has an "ombudsman"
who is also responsible for providing conflict
resolution assistance throughout his/her region.
Each ombudsman has a list of qualified
facilitators. Your Project XL contact person can
provide you with this information.
For a number of years, EPA has
maintained a national contract for dispute
resolution services to support its environmental
and public policy efforts. Through this contract,
EPA obtains the services of numerous qualified
dispute resolution and stakeholder involvement
specialists around the country. Deborah Dalton,
the EPA contract manager, can be contacted at
DaIton.Deborah@epamaiI.epa.gov, for information
about consultants.
Training officers of sponsoring
organizations may have lists of facilitators who
have conducted team building or management
development programs for the organization.
Most professional facilitators with
environmental or public policy experience belong
to one of the two professional organizations
listed below. Typically, these organizations will
provide rosters of their members, but do not
comment on the qualifications of the people on
the rosters. You can get lists of professional
facilitators by contacting:
Environmental and Public Policy Sector
Society of Professionals
in Dispute Resolution
1527 New Hampshire Avenue, 3rd Floor
Washington, D.C. 20036
(202) 667-9700 fax (202) 265-1968
E-Mail: spidr@spidr.org
International Association for
Public Participation
P.O. Box 10146
Alexandria, VA 22310
(800) 644-4273 fax (703) 971-0006
E-Mail: iap2hq@pin.org
In October 1998, Congress established the
U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict
Resolution. At EPA's request, The U.S. Institute is
in the process of constructing a "National Roster
of Environmental Dispute Resolution and
Consensus Building Professionals." They expect
to have this roster in place by Summer 1999. The
Institute expects that the roster will contain up to
400 names of experienced environmental
facilitators, mediators, and arbitrators. The roster
can be used by Federal agencies, state agencies,
or parties to disputes with federal agencies.
Contact Information: U.S. Institute for
Environmental Conflict Resolution, 110 South
Church Avenue, Suite 3350, Tucson, AZ 85701,
(520) 670-5299.
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APPENDICES
A
Appendix 4
OTHER EPA STAKEHOLDER
INVOLVEMENT RESOURCE
MATERIALS
Draft EPA Manual on Consultative
Processes: Better Decisions through
Consultation and Collaboration, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, March 25,
1988. This guide provides an overview of all types of
consultative and collaborative processes used by EPA
including stakeholder involvement and alternative
dispute resolution (ADR) approaches.
Constructive Engagement Resource Guide,
US EPA, Draft 3, November 16,1998.
"Constructive Engagement" is a term used
in the computer and electronic industry for
efforts between facilities and stakeholders to
work together in a cooperative, non-adversarial
way to establish and monitor a facility's
environmental management system. While this
guide covers a wider range of activities than
Project XL, it still provides considerable practical
information appropriate to Project XL
stakeholder involvement programs and is more
detailed than the guide you are reading.
Community Advisory Group Toolkit,
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response
(OSWER), US EPA, EPA 540-R-97-037, September
1988. Although this guide is written for Superfund
projects, it contains a great deal of information about
advisory groups that will be equally useful for Project
XL stakeholder groups. It also contains detailed
descriptions of over 30 tools (techniques) for
community involvement that can be used to reach
"commentors" and the general public.
Evaluation of Project XL Stakeholder
Processes, US EPA, Office of the Administrator,
EPA 1CO-7-98-009, September 1998. This report
describes lessons learned from a careful evaluation of
the stakeholder involvement processes for four of the
first XL projects.
Project XL Best Practices for Proposal
Development, US EPA, Office of Reinvention,
January 1999. This guide provides a template for
preparing a Project XL proposal.
Guidance for Compliance Screening for
Project XL. The document describes how EPA will
screen potential Project XL sponsors to determine
eligibility for Project XL. The purpose of this
screening is to make an informed judgment regarding
the likelihood of the sponsor's ability to achieve
superior environmental results.
The Model Plan for Public Participation,
Public Participation and Accountability
Subcommittee of the National Environmental
Justice Advisory Council, Office of
Environmental Justice, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Washington D.C., 10 pages,
1996, EPA 300-K-96-003. This short guide contains a
statement of guiding principles and critical elements
for an effective public participation program. It also
presents a statement of core values for the practice of
public participation.
Guide for EPA XL Project Teams, US EPA,
Office of Reinvention, January 1999. This is a
guide for EPA staff providing guidelines for how to
organize as an effective XL team and describing
internal EPA roles and responsibilities at each step in
the XL process.
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