Comparison of DOE and Army Advisory Boards: Application of a Conceptual Framework for Evaluating Public Participation in Environmental Risk Decision Making

Journal Article · Fri Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 2006 · Policy Studies Journal, 34(4):723-753

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.2006.00199.x· OSTI ID:898623

Branch, Kristi M; Bradbury, Judith A

This article is part of a growing body of literature evaluating public participation approaches and implementation efforts. It compares the characteristics and performance of citizen advisory boards established by the U.S. Department of Energy's Environmental Restoration and Waste Management Program (DOE/EM) and by the U.S. Department of Defense's Army (DoD/Army) as a major part of the public participation programs that were undertaken to help the agencies plan and implement the cleanup of their contaminated installations. We first present the elements of the Acceptability Diamond, an evaluative framework developed by the authors through extensive fieldwork on public-federal agency interactions that identify five objectives of agency/public interactions and public participation programs, and link them to existing literature. We then use the Acceptability Diamond as a basis for comparing the performance of the DOE/EM and DoD/Army advisory boards. In the early 1990s, both DOE and DoD participated in the Federal Facilities Environmental Restoration Dialogue Committee (known as the FFER Dialogue Committee) and were influenced by the Committee's recommendations on public participation. However, the Site Specific Advisory Boards (SSABs) subsequently established by DOE/EM and the Restoration Advisory Boards (RABs) subsequently established by DoD and the Army were governed by significantly different policies and management. We describe some of these key differences and compare the performance of the SSABs and RABs. The article draws on a series of research studies conducted by the authors on the DOE/EM public participation program from its inception in the early 1990s through its transition to accelerated cleanup in 2002 and also on a recently completed study of seven Army RABs.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 898623
• Report Number(s): PNNL-SA-52897
• Journal Information: Policy Studies Journal, 34(4):723-753, Journal Name: Policy Studies Journal, 34(4):723-753
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DECISION MAKING
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
PUBLIC OPINION
REMEDIAL ACTION
RISK ASSESSMENT
US DOD
US DOE
advisory boards
environmental decision making
public participation