A s its major form of community involvement in its Installation Restoration Program (IRP), the Department of Defense (DOD) created Restoration Advis o y Boards (RABs). These RABs serve the purpose of providing citizen input into DOD's cleanup approaches to abandoned hazardous waste situations at its various installations. Atfirst, this approach applied only to installations slated for closure, but now it has been applied to all installations. This article covers such factors as the histo y of RABs, their mission and locations and thegood and not-so-good results of their use. Recommendations are presented for possible improvements.
NEED FOR COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Community involvement in environmental matters is a goal of the Department of Defense (DOD). DOD recognizes the importance of public participation in decisions relative to environmental matters and has developed detailed programs for those activities.
Public involvement in environmental activities is very desirable for three reasons:
It makes the public a partner in the process. Thus, rumors are laid to rest and the public has the actual facts about the proposed project. Inevitably, this lessens public tensions and hostility to the project. The public often has good suggestions for items to be incorporated or stressed in the work. A better product is the result.