Identifying the Interested Public

[Alfonso Evans <aevanssr@home.com>]

Good morning:

I am Al Evans, former chair of the Charleston/North Charleston CBEP 
Community Advisory Group. My interest in the discussion topic(s) 
"Identifying the Interested Public" is related to my participation in 
CBEP during the time I served as chair.  The CEBP approach, as 
defined by EPA, is a new approach to environmental protection. It is 
holistic and I am Al Evans, former chair of the Charleston/North 
Charleston CBEP Community includes multi-level and cross-sector 
stakeholders. According to EPA, CBEP provides for "collaboration 
between diverse public and private stakeholders within a specific 
geographic area. It facilitates a) comprehensive identification of 
local environmental concerns; b) the setting of priorities and goals 
that reflect overall community concerns; and c) the forging of 
comprehensive, long-term solutions."

The Charleston/North Charleston CBEP approach in 1997 began as a 
partnership between EPA Region IV, SC Department of Health and 
Environmental Control, the Medical University of South Carolina's 
Environmental Biosciences Program, local city and county governments, 
neighborhood associations, community organizations, businesses and 
industries, institutions of higher education and local citizens. The 
overall purpose of CBEP was to address environmental concerns and 
issues in a defined geographic area.

CBEP, as envisioned, required a cadre of people who volunteered their 
services to help to help improve the environment where they live and 
work.  Primary focus was to help communities to help themselves 
through established multi-level and cross-level partnerships. CBEP 
provided opportunities for communities to address any and all 
economic, social, and quality of life issues.


Discussion point #1

Suggest how the Agency can enhance its identification efforts. 
(Identifying the Public)

The Agency could enhance its identification efforts by employing the 
Community Based Environmental Protection (CBEP) approach, where 
appropriate, at the local level. This approach provides an 
opportunity to broaden identification.  According to EPA, when the 
CBEP (a place-based) approach is utilized, the number and diversity 
of stakeholders tend to increase. CBEP affects all individuals, 
groups, and industries concerned with the health and sustainability 
of a certain geographic area. 

* Utilize the CBEP approach 

* Provide CBEP training at the national, state and local levels

* Identify and utilize "environmental linking agents" - people who live 
  and work in a define area

* Train "environmental linking agents" in the desired skills


* Recommend ways in which the public can better notify EPA of their 
  interest in particular issues. (Notifying EPA of Interest)

The public could better notify EPA of their interests through locally 
organized CBEP Community Advisory Groups. Such groups should be 
required as a major element in EPA grant proposals to include 
"cross-section and multi-level" community stakeholders.



Discussion point #2

The Agency also wants to enable minority, low-income, and underserved 
populations to participate more effectively in its activities. This 
has been a difficult task, especially where the community has not had 
any prior involvement with EPA and where it may not have Internet 
access.

Recommend ways for the Agency to identify reach and 
address the concerns of these groups. (Environmental Justice)

According to EPA, "Command and Control" approaches to environmental 
protection have been effective at reducing point source pollution and 
improving environmental quality over the past two and one half 
decades, but this approach is less amenable to non-point source 
pollution, which may have several media types and diffused sources. 
How EPA addresses non-point pollution problems may be associated with 
the degree to which this group becomes involved participants in 
addressing environmental concerns.

An alternative to this difficult task has been implemented by EPA 
that emphasizes addressing "place-based" environmental concerns and 
issues through the CBEP approach that seeks to address the various 
causes of problems and to understand the interrelations between human 
behavior and pollution in a specific area.   

Since the CBEP approach provides for multi-level and cross-sector 
stakeholder participation, this group maybe better served by:

* Identifying and defining the geographic area(s) of these groups

* Establishing CBEP Community Advisory Groups in these areas

* Providing for and establishing a cadre of "environmental linking 
  agents" to work with the CBEP Community Advisory Groups 

* Identifying and training geographic area persons to serve as 
  "environmental linking agents"