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Appendixes
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Appendix A
NRC Recommendations on Public Involvement
Reprintetl from 2000 Report
The NRC's Committee on Review and Evaluation
of the Army Stockpile Disposal Program (Stockpile
Committee) has provided technical advice and counsel
to the Army on aspects of chemical stockpile disposal
since the beginning of the Chemical Stockpile Disposal
Program (CSDP) in the mid-1980s. Over the course of
the developments within the CSDP in the ensuing
years, the importance of communicating with the pub-
lic, and where possible, involving interested stakehold-
ers in decision making on matters of local concern re-
garding the CSDP has been apparent. Indeed, early in
the CSDP, Citizen Advisory Commissions (CACs)
were established in each of the eight states holding a
portion of the chemical stockpile in the continental
United States. Members are appointed by the respec-
tive governors. Collectively, these commissions serve
as a formal mechanism to facilitate communication
between local communities and the Army.
As the CSDP has evolved and disposal facilities
have been constructed and become operational, so too
have the Army's efforts in public relations, public out-
reach, and public involvement. During this time, the
Stockpile Committee has consistently encouraged a
commitment by the Army to pursue these efforts, and
through its reports it has offered specific findings and
recommendations. The most recent NRC report to have
been entirely directed to the Army' s public affairs ac-
tivities for the CSDP was A Review of the Army's Pub-
lic Affairs Efforts in Support of the Chemical Stockpile
Disposal Program, published in 2000 (NRC, 2000~.
The recommendations from that report are reprinted
below to illustrate the proactive communication rec-
47
ommended in Recommendation 4-2 of the current re-
port. Since the publication of the 2000 report, the Army
has responded in varying degrees to these recommen-
dations.
Recommendation 1. The mission and vision state-
ments for the Public Outreach and Information Office
(POIO) should describe how the role of POIO relates
to and supports the mission of the Chemical Stockpile
Disposal Program. The mission and vision statements
should differentiate between the roles of public rela-
tions, public outreach, and public involvement. CSDP
as a whole would benefit by explicitly considering how
POIO's effectiveness could be enhanced in conjunc-
tion with CSDP' s operations.
Recommendation 2. The Public Outreach and Infor-
mation Office (POIO) in the Chemical Stockpile Dis-
posal Program (CSDP) should establish specific, mea-
surable objectives and evaluate its organizational
strategy in terms of those objectives. This will require
that the Program Manager for Chemical Demilitariza-
tion integrate POIO's activities into the overall pro-
gram and provide appropriate support from line man-
agement. Outcomes should be evaluated in terms of the
defined objectives.
Recommendation 3. The Program Manager for
Chemical Demilitarization should reevaluate the level
and priority of resource allocations necessary to main-
tain support for the Public Outreach and Information
Office as scheduled disposal operations are undertaken
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at more sites and as the scope of CSDP activities ex-
pands. This reevaluation should include monitoring the
use and effectiveness of the staff and CSDP's outreach
methods, as well as incorporating POIO miscues and
accomplishments into the lessons-learned program.
Lessons learned from program evaluations should then
be reflected in the mission statement, measurable ob-
jectives, and resource allocations.
Recommendation 4. The Stockpile Committee
strongly supports the continued development by the
Public Outreach and Information Office (POIO) of
well-coordinated strategic and tactical documents for
planning and operations, including Tier 3 documents
for all sites. The public affairs planning and strategy
process, including documents supporting the process
as well as the training of employees, should be care-
fully monitored and evaluated. POIO's responses to un-
anticipated events and the subsequent dissemination of
information should be carefully planned, practiced, and
evaluated. Findings from evaluations and exercises
should be introduced into the lessons-learned process.
Recommendation 5a. The Program Manager for
Chemical Demilitarization should continue to reach out
to stakeholders via multiple public relations, public
outreach, and public involvement methods, track the
success of these methods, and evaluate the information
obtained from them. The 1999 CSDP survey of all sites
should be followed up with focused information gath-
ering to clarify key unresolved issues.
Recommendation 5b. The Program Manager for
Chemical Demilitarization should use a variety of
methods in a focused effort to solicit the views, values,
and needs of stakeholders on closures and future uses
of stockpile disposal sites.
Recommendation 5c. The Army should clarify its
policy on funding outside experts to assist citizens ad-
visory commissions (CACs). To ensure that CACs are
credible representatives of the public interest that can
be relied upon to monitor PMCD activities, providing
technical assistance might be appropriate in certain cir-
cumstances.
Recommendation 5d. Citizens advisory commissions
should be encouraged to identify specific objectives
and issues they wish to resolve with the Army.
ASSESSMENT OF PROCESSING GELLED GB M55 ROCKETS AT ANNISTON
Recommendation 5e. The Web site of the Program
Manager for Chemical Demilitarization should be im-
proved and expanded to provide information consis-
tent with the objectives of the Public Outreach and In-
formation Office.
Recommendation 6. The Public Outreach and Infor-
mation Office (POIO) should continue to pursue a
multidirectional lessons-learned program that includes
a tracking system for gathering data from one-way
communications and public outreach efforts, surveys,
and informal and formal meetings with stakeholders.
POIO should also continue to reach out to other gov-
ernmental and nongovernmental organizations (such as
the American Chemical Council) to explore innovative
ideas with analogous programs.
Recommendation 7a. The Program Manager for
Chemical Demilitarization should focus on increasing
meaningful public input into the decision-making pro-
cess in order to build a cadre of stakeholder leaders
who are trusted by the community to monitor the
Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program. These leaders
are likely to include, but are not limited to, local may-
ors, health officers or their equivalents, environmental
commissioners, journalists, educators, and other local
leaders.
Recommendation 7b. The Program Manager for
Chemical Demilitarization should execute memoranda
of agreement, as necessary, with other government
agencies to create responsible partnerships that clearly
define the lines of authority. Because many agencies
are involved, many conflicting views will have to be
resolved to ensure effective coordination.
Recommendation X. The Public Outreach and Infor-
mation Office should define its critical role in deci-
sions related to site closure and future use in addition
to its current role in the disposal of chemical agents
and munitions. Its role should be defined in the context
of the CSDP's overall strategy for dealing with these
Issues.
REFERENCE
NRC. 2000. A Review of the Army's Public Affairs Efforts in Support of
the Chemical Stockpile Disposal Program. Washington, D.C.: National
Academy Press.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
stockpile disposal
