Subject: RE: Question for Sept 19: What about EPA's info?
In responce to Tom's question:
Federal law provides for public participation in all sorts of decision making processes. The duty of the Agency is not just to take comment, but also to provide the necessary information for citizens to use in evaluating and developing a position. In addition, there are numerous checks built into the system to allow citizens to challange agency decisions.
I would argue that the Agency cannot fulfill its duty, nor meet the intent of Congress, without some tailoring of information for the public so they can participate. Don't invite me in if you're not going to offer me a seat.
I don't expect that the Agency is going to spend a lot of time putting out information about how to organize a community group. But once I've figured out how to do that on my own, the Agency needs to give me the information that relates to the issue I'm working on. The Agency also needs to make it clear how I can participate in the process, including options for appealing decisions.
I would argue also that the Agency has some duty to help the public sector because of the enormous resources available to the other side. Public participation is at least as important a part of the process as any other. EPA should, at the very least, treat the various stakeholder groups equally. To do that, EPA should either provide some resources to help equalize things for citizens, or shut out the hired guns, the high priced law firms and lobbyists, from industry. Congress intended for us to be a counter to the industry. But, it's unfair to expect us to show up on the battlefield unarmed.
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