Consent Versus Consensus - Stakehold Involvement in the Identification of Necessary and Sufficient Transportation
Transportation (DOT) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to provide for the protection of the public and the environment; historically these regulations have proven quite sufficient. Even so, when the Department of Energy (DOE) makes radioactive materials shipments, that are deemed to be a major federal activity, regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act require that public input on safety issues be sought. This requirement leads to interactions with State, Tribal and local stakeholders that often result in the imposition of extra-regulatory requirements – requirements beyond those prescribed by DOT and NRC regulations. Unfortunately, these additional requirements virtually always increase costs and delay schedules, and usually do so without significantly increasing, and possibly even decreasing overall transportation safety. We believe that this problem arises because of efforts to achieve stakeholder consensus rather than stakeholder consent, where “consensus” connotes universal agreement with all aspects of the program, while “consent”, as used here, is simple agreement with the overall course of action. Gaining consensus entails extensive negotiations because all aspects and requirements of the project must be agreed to by each stakeholder. Gaining consent, on the other hand, requires only that stakeholders be satisfied that the project, as planned, provides adequately for their safety needs. This article addresses the issue of consent versus consensus and proposes a systematic, decision science process for reaching consent. Key steps in this proposed process are early identification and involvement of stakeholders, compilation of their concerns, perceptions, needs, causes, and translation of that information into an appropriate set of “derived requirements.” These derived requirements, along with already-established DOT and NRC regulatory requirements, form the necessary and sufficient conditions for safe transportation and for obtaining stakeholder consent.
- Research Organization:
- Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC07-99ID-13727
- OSTI ID:
- 911982
- Report Number(s):
- INEEL/JOU-02-01583; TRN: US0800253
- Journal Information:
- RAD Waste Solutions, Vol. 10, Issue 2
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
REGULATIONS
SAFETY
SCHEDULES
US NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT
consensus
consent
Department of Energy (DOE)
derived requirements
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
radioactive materials
transport
U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)