Systems and Technologies for the Treatment of Non-Stockpile Chemical Warfare Materiel (2002) / Chapter Skim
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5: Public Involvement
5: Public Involvement
Pages 64-70
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From page 64... ...
They include the Congress, which enacted the statutes requiring the Army to make a decision; local citizens who may be affected by the decision; national nonprofit groups involved in the public policy debate; contractors, who must implement decisions; and federal and state officials and regulatory agencies. 64 port, the committee reviewed a schedule of NSCMP program activities; Army Regulation AR 360-1, which provides guidelines on the Army Public Affairs Program; and recent public involvement of the PMCD and its public outreach plans related to non-stockpile activities (Booz-Allen and Hamilton, 2000; U.S.
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From page 65... ...
· Two committee members and the study director made an initial visit in August 2001 to Pine Bluff Arsenal and the White Hall Outreach Office, one of two offices established by PMCD. They met with outreach staff and technical staff associated with the stockpile and non-stockpile programs, as well as with the chairperson of the Pine Bluff Stockpile Citi3The mission of the RAB is to provide advice on cleanup to APG.
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From page 66... ...
It believes that postponing deployment of nonincineration alternatives is a viable option, given the slippage in meeting original CWC deadlines. An NSCWCC spokesperson said that broad public acceptance of plasma arc technology, currently under consideration for one of the facilities to be deployed at Pine Bluff, cannot be assured and hoped that NSCMP would not rush to put the technology in place.
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From page 67... ...
All persons with whom the committee spoke acknowledged the complexity of the nonstockpile program and the challenges faced by management. Several recommended that the Army include the citizens who are most affected by Army decisions in the process of identifying and resolving trade-offs in the selection of disposal technologies and that it put in place mechanisms that allow active community input early in the process, when critical decisions are being made.8 For example, in discussions with the committee in open session, citizen representatives cited the dialogue process, including its linkage to affected communities, established by 7These components are generally consistent with the threefold division of public affairs activities provided in a letter report from the Committee on Review and Evaluation of the Army Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program.
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From page 68... ...
Several specific weaknesses, discussed below, appear to indicate that the involvement of stakeholders is viewed as a requirement of the law and not as an integral and valued part of NSCMP's overall decision-making Specific weaknesses associated with public involvement include the following: · Public involvement and permitting are treated as independent activities that have no effect on other activities or decisions, indicating the absence of a relationship between public contributions and program decisions and the apparently low value placed on the former. lithe Pine Bluff Arsenal document (U.S.
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From page 69... ...
Yet, the limited plans for public involvement in Pine Bluff facility decisions contrasted sharply with the high level of RAB members' awareness of non-stockpile activities and the public involvement activities conducted by the garrison commander at Aberdeen Proving Ground. For example, as committtee members who visited the arsenal and the outreach office at Pine Bluff learned, community outreach and provision of site-specific information on the envisaged non-stockpile facilities and plans were not conducted among the Pine Bluff community until immediately before and during the EIS scoping meeting.
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From page 70... ...
The committee recommends that the Army expand its public affairs program to include involvement as well as outreach activities. Specifically, for the Army to gain from lessons documented in studies of the stockpile program, the committee recommends as follows: · The Army should direct installations to implement, in coordination with program staff, a strategy that includes development of public involvement mechanisms.
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