The Army follows the Department of Defense’s policy of establishing full and open communications with local communities ensuring timely public access to information, providing opportunity for public comment on proposed activities, and giving consideration to public comments in the decision-making process. The Army fully supports public involvement in the environmental restoration programs.
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), National Oil and Hazardous Substances Contingency Plan (NCP), National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Endangered Species Act (ESA), and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), as well as the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA), all require public participation at various phases during Army planning and implementation of actions. Stakeholders can find out more of what's going on by contacting their local public affairs office. Almost every Army web page will have a link to the public affairs office who will have someone to help. You can also contact the Army Environmental Command's public affairs office for assistance.
The Army’s public participation goal is to establish open, two-way communication with the local communities outside their gates, often impacted by their activities. As part of this effort, the installations periodically conduct community interviews to determine the public’s level of interest and concern and how they would like to receive information about and provide information on the the Army's activities. These interviews are used to develop formal Community Involvement Plans (CIP) that are published and updated at least every three to five years or at significant milestones associated with cleanup or imlementation of planned actions. Some laws require public meetings at certain phases of an action and other programs establish, maintain and notify the public of the availability of an information repository where community members can access and review documents related to the program, and notify the public of its availability. A more formal administrative record focused on the documents that went into site decisions also is kept and made available.