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Find a Mediator or Facilitator
A neutral third party, such as a mediator or facilitator, can often be helpful in preventing and resolving conflict. Neutral third parties play a variety of roles, including facilitating discussions, providing parties with a "reality check" on the merits and value of their claims, assisting with creative problem solving, and writing agreements that reflect the needs of the parties. EPA's Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center (CPRC) assists EPA headquarters, Regional, and field staff in evaluating the need for a neutral third party and identifying a source.
External third parties are individuals and organizations outside EPA that assist in dispute resolution and conflict prevention. The sponsoring EPA office typically pays the fees for external neutral third parties in whole or in part. Depending on the circumstances, other parties or offices also contribute. The CPRC can help EPA staff in determining which type of procurement mechanism is most appropriate for external neutral third parties.
A list of potential EPA-specific sources for neutral third parties is
provided below for informational purposes. To make the fullest possible
use of these and other sources, EPA staff are encouraged to contact the
CPRC, whose staff members are knowledgeable about selecting and ulitizing
neutral third party services. The CPRC staff can help by identifying
a variety of options and make a selection that is tailored to individual
or organizational needs. Individuals and offices that are considering
the use of a neutral third party should contact the CPRC (adr@epa.gov
or 202.564.2922), who is available to assist you or refer you to another
CPRC staff member for consultation.
| EPA-Specific Sources of Neutral Third Parties |
- EPA Conflict
Prevention and Resolution Services Contract
All EPA headquarters, Regional, and field offices can use this contract to obtain expert services in conflict or issues assessment, public participation or stakeholder involvement activities, consensus building and collaborative processes, and alternative dispute resolution processes. For more information on the Conflict Prevention and Resolution Services Contract, click here.
- Non-Competitive Procurement of Neutral Third Parties
The Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996 and the Federal Aquisition Regulations allow EPA to use other than full competitive procedures to procure the services of an expert or neutral third party for use in alternative dispute resolutions processes. This option can be less burdensome and time-comsuming when parties are interested in the acquiring the services of a specific neutral third party, but is only available for small purchases.
- National Roster of Environmental
Dispute Resolution and Consensus Building Professionals
The National Roster of Environmental Dispute Resolution and Consensus Building Professionals is a source of information for identifying neutral third parties and matching them to appropriate disputes. The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution
and
EPA jointly designed and initiated the Roster. The Roster is
continuously open and contains information on more than 250 individuals
who have met the qualifications with regard to experience in managing
environmental disputes. CPRC staff and Regional ADR contacts
can access and search the Roster's database for appropriate neutral
third parties. For more information on the Roster, click here .
| Other Federal Sources of Neutral Third Parties |
This information being linked to
by the U.S. EPA Web site is provided as a service to visitors to the EPA
Web site. The U.S. EPA is not associated with or responsible for the content
of these sites.
A growing number of federal agencies are sources of
neutral third parties for a various kinds of conflicts. Examples of such
agencies are listed below for informational purposes.
- Washington, DC Metropolitan
Area Interagency Program on Sharing Neutrals
The Sharing Neutrals Program (SN) provides low-cost, high quality mediatiors to federal agencies in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. SN operates through a pool of trained and experienced neutral third parties, from a variety of federal agencies, who provide medition services to one another on a collateral duty basis. The program is administered primarily by the Department of Health and Human Services. For more information on SN, click here.
- Community Relations Service
The Community Relations Service (CRS), an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, is a specialized Federal conciliation service available to State and local officials to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict, violence and civil disorders. CRS conciliators assist in identifying the sources of violence and conflict and utilizing specialized crisis management and violence reduction techniques which work best for each community. For more information, click here
. - Federal Mediation and Conciliation
Service
The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) was created by Congress in 1947 as an independent agency to promote sound and stable labor-management relations. For more information, click here
.