2014 webinar on cip tool for cics new community involvement plan (cip) tool: guidelines to plan and...

2014 Webinar on CIP Tool for CICs

New Community Involvement Plan (CIP) Tool: Guidelines to Plan and

Write your CIP

L’Tonya Spencer&

Yolanda Anita Sanchez

2014 Webinar on CIP Tool for CICs

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New Community Involvement Plan (CIP) Tool: Guidelines to Plan and Write your CIP

Outline:• CIP in Practice: Koppers Superfund Site

• Planning for Participation: Trends and Opportunities in Superfund CIPs

• New CIP Tool: Guidelines to Plan and Write Your CIP

• Facilitated Discussion

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CIP in Practice: Koppers Superfund Site

L’Tonya Spencer2011 CIP-of-the-Year Author

2014 Webinar on CIP Tool for CICs

CIP IN PRACTICE: KOPPERS SUPERFUND SITE

OUTLINE: Background Information

Community Information

Current Status

CIP of the Year Perspectives (Uniqueness/Challenges/Revision)

Facilitated Discussion (Questions)

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2014 Webinar on CIP Tool for CICs

KOPPERS SUPERFUND SITEBACKGROUND INFORMATION

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2014 Webinar on CIP Tool for CICs

KOPPERS SUPERFUND SITECOMMUNITY INFORMATION

Technical Assistance Grant (TAG) awarded in Spring 2010 to Protect Gainesville’s Citizens, Inc.

Community is comprised of commercial industrial; rental housing; and close to University of Florida campus and downtown Gainesville, Florida

Several community groups claim to represent area

Actively involved local government6

2014 Webinar on CIP Tool for CICs

KOPPERS SUPERFUND SITECURRENT STATUS

Consent Decree lodged in February 2013

Consent Decree meeting held February 2013

Indoor air sampling completed

Preparing for residential access for off-site soil cleanup

Preparing Remedial Design (RD) for Remedial Action (RA)

Revision of Community Involvement Plan (CIP) 7

2014 Webinar on CIP Tool for CICs

KOPPERS SUPERFUND SITECIP OF THE YEAR PERSPECTIVES

What was unique about the CIP?

Pictures

Tables

Technical Jargon

Summary of Outreach

Comment Period

Revision Request8

2014 Webinar on CIP Tool for CICs

KOPPERS SUPERFUND SITECIP OF THE YEAR PERSPECTIVES (CONT.)

What were the challenges for the CIP?

Four community groupsClose involvement of local

government officialsMeeting locationsEnvironmental Justice

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2014 Webinar on CIP Tool for CICs

KOPPERS SUPERFUND SITECIP OF THE YEAR PERSPECTIVES (CONT.)

What’s the revision for the CIP?

Additional methods of communication

New schedule for CIP Revision

Region 4 Superfund Art Project

Additional Site Information (Technical/Background)

New local officials

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Questions&

Facilitated Discussion

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Planning for Participation: Trends & Opportunities in Superfund’s CIPs

Justin Hellier’s summer research projectNational Network for Environmental Management Studies Fellow

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PLANNING FOR PARTICIPATION: TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES IN SUPERFUND’S CIPS

Research project was designed to:

• Examine how CIPs are developed and used

• Identify innovative practices that strengthen the effectiveness of the CIP

• Offer recommendations to the CIP Workgroup for strengthening the CIP guidelines and developing other resources

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PLANNING FOR PARTICIPATION: TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES IN SUPERFUND’S CIPS

Research methods included:

• Online survey of Superfund Community Involvement Coordinators (CICs) {n=41}

• Document review of 20 randomly-selected CIPs (2 from each Region)

• Interviews with 10 randomly selected CICs and 4 targeted CICs (based on their innovative use of CIPs)

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PLANNING FOR PARTICIPATION: TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES IN SUPERFUND’S CIPS

Formal conclusions include:• Format, quality, and use of CIPs vary

widely between (and within) Regions

• Never been a review/evaluation on the ways CIPs are created or used

• No general consensus on the “purpose” CIPs serve

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PLANNING FOR PARTICIPATION: TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES IN SUPERFUND’S CIPS

Recommendations include:1. Consider the participation of other site

team staff and contractors

2. Utilize CI Mangers to improve the quality

3. Consider community review of the CIP

4. Move from a set of isolated “templates” to a more purposeful, strategic, and collaborative planning process.

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CLARIFYING QUESTIONS?

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A COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT PLAN IS…

Student Exercise

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New CIP Tool: Guidelines to Plan and Write your CIP

Yolanda Anita SanchezChair, CIP Workgroup

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“I think you should be more explicit here in step

two.”

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

The Community Involvement Plan:• Provides a site-specific

strategy for involving the public

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

The Community Involvement Plan:• Provides a site-specific

strategy for involving the public

• Is the “roadmap” of the involvement program

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

The Community Involvement Plan:• Provides a site-specific

strategy for involving the public

• Is the “roadmap” of the involvement program

• Enables the community affected by a Superfund understand the ways in which it can participate

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

The Community Involvement Plan (cont):

• Is the culmination of a planning process summarized in a document

• Should be a “living” document and is most effective when it is updated as site conditions change

• Involves all Site Team members – RPM, OSC, CIC, contractor, state or local agents, and others – in the development and implementation

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

Major Components of a CIP:• Site description – brief history, overview of

the type and extent of contamination, environmental exposures and concerns

• Community profile – description of affected community

• Community needs, concerns, questions, and expectations – summary of interviews and other communication with residents

• Action plan – description of EPA’s planned outreach activities (i.e., schedule) and how activities address site-related needs/concerns

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

The Action Plan:• Describes the Superfund process and

identifies key opportunities for public input, including significant milestones for community involvement activities

• Outlines a comprehensive plan to address identified community needs related to cleanup

• Identifies appropriate communication methods and activities

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

CIP and the Community:• The CIP should offer a clear invitation to

the community to participate

• The CIP is for the community and should be informed by the community

• The final CIP should be available to the community. At a minimum, it should be placed in an Information Repository and on the site webpage

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

The CIP and the Site Team: • The Site Team’s input is critical to

developing an accurate and complete site description and community profile

Remedial Project Manager’s (RPM) should: • Participate in community interviews• Play a critical role in creating the Action Plan• Forecast potential milestones in the process

for a comprehensive CIP revision

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

• The CIP is a living document that may call for continuous updating.

• The CIP can be updated when minor details of the site change, such as contact information and other reference material.

• Updates may frequently occur.

Updating the CIP :

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

Revising the CIP: A comprehensive revision involves much more than updating

contacts or reference materials A revision should occur when:• Specific benchmarks in the

Superfund process are met (i.e., after ROD)

• Community level of interest changes

• A demographic, economic, or political change in the community has occurred

• A change in EPA’s approach to involving the community is needed

Image: Grant Cochrane / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

Tips of the Trade: • Build/Maintain relationships with the Site

Team as well as state and local partners, EPA

contractors, the risk assessor and other staff involved with the site

• Make a draft CIP available to the community for feedback

• Do not cut and paste from technical documents

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

Tips of the Trade (continued): • Update the CIP often• Plan ahead, with the Site Team, to conduct

a comprehensive revision• Effectively use your contract support

o The CIC should be writing the “meat” of the CIPo Contract support can help with logistics: obtain

demographic information, prepare contact lists, develop graphics, and format the document

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

New CIP Tool is available…• As part of the Superfund Community

Involvement Toolkit: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/community/toolkit.htm

• Due to the hard work of: David Cooper, CIC, Region 9 Leana Rosetti, CIC Region 9 Peggy Linn, CIC Region 8 John Epps, RPM Region 3

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

Community interviews are the backbone of the CIP

Help build relationships and garner trust

Can yield incredibly useful information about the Superfund site contamination

“Sister” Tools: Community Interviews

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

CICs are “in charge” of the interviews process Contractors may help in scheduling

interviews and taking notes Community interviews are not a “social

science” Does not need to be scientifically defended Does not need to reflect a statistically significant sample Not all template questions need be asked Media questions, in particular, can set unreasonable

expectations about outreach plan

“Sister” Tools: Community Interviews

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

RPMs should attend the interviews Helps the RPM learn about the

community One-on-One discussions build community

trust Helps the community “humanize” the

person behind the federal bureaucrat Conclude interviews with a “site update”

“Sister” Tools: Community Interviews

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

Number of interviews is determined by need Start by stratifying your target audience

First tier: • Residents/businesses “on the fence line”• Nearby and interested people, including activists• Elected officials and their staffs (federal, state, local)• Local regulatory agencies (public works, city managers,

county boards of health, etc.) Second tier:

• The press• Nearby schools, hospitals, churches, and community org’s

“Sister” Tools: Community Interviews

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

Interview questions should be tailored To the concerns of unique subpopulations To where you are in the Superfund cleanup process

Consider the broad objectives you wish to address in the interviews

Community concerns or perceptions of “risk” Information to help site characterization and risk

assessment Identifying the community leaders or trusted organizations How people want to receive information Perceptions of EPA, the state, or PRPs

“Sister” Tools: Community Interviews

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NEW CIP TOOL: GUIDELINES TO PLAN AND WRITE YOUR CIP

Description of the affected communityDemographic informationComputer literacyGovernment structureUnique environmentsPopular hangouts, places to

“meet”

“Sister” Tools: Community Profile

• Sets up the opportunity to better meet the needs of a community within the CIP

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GENERAL QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

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THE MOST INNOVATIVE THING I EVER PROPOSED FOR A CIP IS…

-OR-

THE MOST INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUE I WOULD LIKE TO TRY FOR A CIP

IS…

Student Exercise

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“If you don’t know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else.”

-- Yogi Berra

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Yolanda Sanchez, Superfund Community Involvement and Program Initiatives Branch

Sanchez.yolanda@epa.gov 703-603-9246

L’Tonya Spencer, Community Involvement Coordinator, Region 4, Superfund

Spencer.latonya@epa.gov404-562-8463Toll-free 800-231-3075