Community involvement is an important part of all DEQ programs. Effective community involvement strengthens public confidence in DEQ, and encourages those who are most concerned with agency decisions to address and help implement them. These are some of the steps DEQ is taking as part of its commitment to build community involvement:

• Continue to provide opportunities for meaningful community involvement in all agency programs, and consistently look for new ways to enhance public input, and include development of education materials and training opportunities for the public.
• Identify and implement steps that enable early public involvement and collaboration in significant environmental decisions.
• Seek input reflecting different points of view and carefully consider this input when making decisions.
• Work to ensure that decision-making activities are open and accessible to all interested individuals and organizations, including those with limited experience participating in environmental decision making.
• Develop innovative ways to present information on the agency web site and elsewhere, and ensure that information is useful, understandable and easy to find.

These documents are available to help promote continued community involvement:

• DRAFT Regulation Development Manual
• Public participation concepts
• Virginia Regulatory Town Hall fact sheet
• Standard regulatory process
• Detailed regulatory process
• DEQ's Community Involvement policy
• A Guide to Effective Public Comments