RE: What information do people need?

["Terry A. Greene" <tgreene@jsi.com>]

Paul Orum has very clearly and concisely summarized important needs
of the public.  It coincides with my experiences working with
community groups across the country. Our most frequent requests
are from concerned residents who either have an environmental
concern that they want to know a) whether it might harm their
family, b) what is being done about it c) what they can do.
Conversely, others know of a health concern (such as asthma, cancer)
and want to know a) is the rate in their community unusual b) are
there environmental problems that may be risk factors for the
disease, and again c) what can they do about it.

In addition to community resident needs, there are needs of advocacy
groups that while similar, are a bit different.  I know our answers
are supposed to be short, but we did a 1998 survey in Massachusetts
of the environmental information needs of public advocacy groups
in Massachusetts, in regard to state information, that those of
you who are interested might want to read.  The summary is below
(note, my previous message I summarized a survey of MA librarians
on their environmental information needs)

---------

In March, 1998 the Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) embarked on a new initiative, INFO 2001: Modernizing
Regulation Through Technology. The purpose of INFO 2001 is to
improve the way DEP gathers, manages, and communicates environmental
information and data through it's regulatory programs.  The goal
is to ensure that DEP's constituencies have information that is
relevant, current, and accurate and that DEP can utilize efficiencies
made possible through modern information and management technologies.

To assist with this effort, DEP established an Internal Work Group
with representatives from bureaus and programs internal to DEP.
They also established an External Work Group with representatives
from industry, public interest, and municipal organizations. Further,
to ensure that the public interest community has an opportunity to
give meaningful input to both Work Groups DEP asked the JSI Center
For Environmental Health Studies (JSI) and the Environmental League
of Massachusetts (ELM) to assess the data information uses and
needs of environmental, health, and labor advocacy organizations
across the Commonwealth.

Forty-one responses (28%) to the survey instrument were received
from public interest organizations that routinely use DEP information
and data. Responses indicated a strong desire and need for
environmental information presented in a way that can be used by
the general public. Responding organizations represented a wide
range of issue diversity such as environmental health, water quality,
watershed protection, air quality, hazardous waste sites, toxics,
and planning. They indicated that DEP information and data is used,
in general, to understand environmental issues, identify potential
problems, and address community concerns.  Specifically, the
organizations use DEP information and data to develop educational
materials, take action on local and statewide issues, analyze data
compliance, plan for resource protection, understand health impacts
of exposures, and affect environmental policy and legislation.

Responses indicated that data must be more clearly presented,
timely, and easier to use than in the past.  Most of the information
obtained by surveyed organizations is in the form of written reports
and about 50% indicated that the information is not current enough
for their purposes. Reasons given for receiving out-of-date
information include difficulty in identifying the DEP person
responsible for the information required, contact information is
often old, and DEP delayed sending requested information. Over 50%
responded that information is incomplete due to information gaps
and missing files, information is not provided in an understandable
context, acronyms are not explained, and information is presented
in conflicting and unreliable technical jargon. Over 50% further
responded that the information is not easy to use or analyze due
to missing data, compressed disks are hard to use, unit measurements
are not standard, data from different DEP program offices is not
compatible and can not be linked to provide facility or community
profiles.

In response to questions about how DEP data should be made available,
the public interest community strongly recommended that data should
be made available online. Information should contain as many common
identifiers as possible to permit linking data and it should be
presented in a relational database to permit users to link diverse
information sources to match their program needs. Data should also
be combined with GIS mapping so the public can better understand
the cumulative effects of multiple releases in a neighborhood,
community, watershed, or airshed. Precedents for INFO 2001 exist
that permit the public to link diverse sources of public information
such as environmental data with health and safety data. The
Right-to-Know Network developed by Unison Institute and EPA's
EnviroFacts database serve as models.

Responses also indicated a strong desire for DEP to provide more
information online about understanding chemical hazards, safer
alternative chemicals, cumulative data for watersheds or airsheds,
whole facility reports, and links to health and safety data.