Identifying the Interested Public

[Betty Winter <winter.betty@epa.gov>]

As an EPA employee, I am particularly interested in hearing from people outside the agency on today's topic -- Identifying the Interested Public.  I have worked throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi in EPA Region 4's Superfund program for 10 years and in EPA Headquarters for several more; and, as Celeste Hoehne pointed out in earlier discussions,"The daunting task for any agency is to FIND THE TRUE STAKEHOLDERS of each issue and be certain that their interests are expressed."  Mark Bohne confirmed the difficulty of finding "interested stakeholders," and I would like to hear suggestions for better ways to do this.  As background, in Region 4 we used the following techniques with often disappointing results:  newspaper articles and ads (when budget permitted full page ads in local papers and in minority or neighborhood publications), public service announcements on radio and television as well as news stories to catch attention and sometimes paid advertisements on radio, doing radio talk shows, showing videos on community access channels, developing a mailing list of community leaders and residents, announcing and holding open houses and public meetings, enlisting local churches and libraries to spread the word.  We walked neighborhoods going door-to-door and attended city and county council meetings and did presentations for community and neighborhood organizations -- we even took an open house (to which no one came) to a neighborhood meeting going on later in the day.  And yet, after decisions were announced, I would learn of stakeholders who had never been contacted or had never heard about EPA activities in their neighborhoods.  I realize that finding interested stakeholders is only the first step in public participation, but it is definitely a crucial one. What should EPA be doing to be sure that all stakeholders have an opportunity to participate?