Enhanced Public Participation - A State's Perspective

Conference · Tue Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2008

OSTI ID:21319743

Wingard, R W; Jenkins, S E ^[1]

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1. South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), Columbia SC (Colombia)

An initiative was started in 2004 to enhance public participation across all of the environmental programs within South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC). The initiative originated as a result of public meetings that created distrust of our Agency within the State's communities. The effort to enhance public participation focused on ways to involve the public more in decisions effecting their health and environment within their communities. Tools and techniques were created and are now used by SCDHEC and continuously evaluated in the process known as enhanced public participation. Enhanced public participation efforts are required for all significant permitting, environmental cleanup and corrective action activities affecting communities within South Carolina. We recognized that public participation is essential to the ability of the SCDHEC to provide outstanding customer service as well as to establish and maintain trust within the community. This paper will describe the development of the program and the results of the implementation of the enhanced public participation using examples of facilities that manage hazardous wastes, high-level radioactive wastes, low-level radioactive wastes as well as mixed waste. (authors)

• Research Organization: WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9 - 332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States)
• OSTI ID: 21319743
• Report Number(s): INIS-US--10-WM-08144
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
ENVIRONMENT
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
LOW-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
PUBLIC INFORMATION
PUBLIC OPINION
PUBLIC POLICY
SOUTH CAROLINA