Duke Environmental Leadership Program

Scoping, Public Involvement and Environmental Justice

April 1-3 , 2009

Levine Science Research Center, A158
Duke University
Durham, North Carolina

Co-sponsored by the White House Council on Environmental Quality

Please register by March 11, 2009

Program Description:

In the late 1970s, the Council on Environmental Quality issued regulations for the environmental impact analysis process required under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act.  From the passage of NEPA to the issuance of the regulations, environmental impact analyses had been characterized by greater attention to impacts of decreasing importance.

While the CEQ regulations were intended to promote better decision analysis, in the succeeding 20 years since the CEQ regulations greater attention to relevant studies are making it easier for decision-makers and the public to participate.

A central feature of the 1979 regulations was the concept of scoping.  Scoping is an early and open process for determining the issues to be addressed in a NEPA analysis.  The intent of the regulations is to ensure that all studies pertinent to the decision at hand are addressed and that irrelevant issues are discarded.

Scoping is an analytical exercise that targets key issues.  It is the first step in the NEPA process where a manager can be successful at making the process cost less, count more in decision-making and ensure that the public participates in the process.  However, if scoping is treated as a public relations exercise or a mere legal requirement to be completed it is likely the manager will lose the opportunity to create a structured study that will save time, money and be relevant to decision-making.

In addition to the above, environmental justice will also be addressed. A change to public involvement processes were introduced under the Executive Order on Environmental Justice in 1994. In order to understand the importance of including diverse publics in the public involvement process and the analytical problems, this course will deal with environmental justice as a concept and provide examples of environmental justice in NEPA analyses.

Through a combination of presentation, case studies, role plays and activities, participants will learn the skills necessary to develop a scoping effort that produces meaningful analyses, saves their agency/client money and ensures full public participation in decision-making

Day 1 ·Introduction of course and overview; public involvement case studies; CEQ regulations and guidance; principles of public involvement and understanding community; interagency coordination in the scoping process; scoping as a practical and analytical exercise.

Day 2 ·Hands-on development of a scoping plan and scoping meeting simulation exercise; public conflict and management styles; effective risk communication; using technology to scope; scoping for biological issues; scoping for other actions planned in the ecosystem; addressing environmental justice issues.

Day 3 (half day) · Nuts and bolts of scoping implementation; alternative meeting types; working with the media; presentation of final scoping plans.

Course Facilitator:

Susanna Liller specializes in conflict management and strategic planning facilitation. Ms. Liller works with people to help them better understand and hear each other and eventually to work out their differences in the areas of Public Involvement, Employment Mediation, Family Mediation, Community Disputes, Contract Negotiations, and Conflict Management Systems Design.

Ms. Liller is the principal of Liller Consulting LLC.  Her twelve year corporate management experience with Bath Iron Works, the Navy shipbuilding firm, and her eight years as a partner with the management consulting firm of Barton & Gingold have provided a strong foundation for her current work.  She now provides public outreach coordination for major transportation - related Environmental Impact Statements across the country and does consulting for other conflict-rich projects.
In her employment mediation work, Ms. Liller helps employees in conflict with other employees, employees and supervisors in conflict and union-management teams who have reached an impasse. She has also helped organizations design a comprehensive system for conflict management.  Ms. Liller serves many for-profit and non-profit organizations in the area of strategic planning. She facilitates the development of visions, missions, values and full-blown strategic plans; working with groups of all sizes from small boards to entire communities.  Additionally, Ms. Liller works with clients who need help with teambuilding, communication skill building, facilitation and conflict management training.

Susanna Liller is a graduate of Colby College, and has done graduate work at Harvard and the University of Southern Maine. She is immediate past president of the Maine Association of Mediators and is on the roster of mediators for The Morris Udall Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, ECR.

Course Instructors:

Ray Clark is the President of the Clark Group, based in Washington, D.C. The Clark Group is a consortium of senior level science and policy professionals specializing in environmental and energy matters. He was formerly the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Installations and Environment) where he was responsible for all the US Army facilities worldwide and stewardship of 14 million acres. He was responsible for military construction, family housing and all real estate transactions. Mr. Clark was responsible for base closure and transitioning excess military property to economic development. Prior to his appointment to this position, Mr. Clark was Associate Director at the White House Council of Environmental Quality where he acted as advisor to the President, the Chairman of CEQ and Senior White House Staff. Mr. Clark is a past recipient of the prestigious National Environmental Quality Award. He is co-editor of two recent books on environmental policy. Mr. Clark holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University, where he has been teaching executive education courses since 1988.

Gary Williams is an environmental sociologist and consultant with over 20 years of experience assessing the effects of energy and natural resource development on communities. He has managed and contributed to numerous environmental impact statements, environmental assessments, developed and implemented socioeconomic monitoring and mitigation plans, developed and implemented public involvement programs and published extensively on the field of social impact assessment. He has been on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Technology Assessment and Forecasting Institutions and on numerous international scientific advisory boards or groups. He has a Ph.D. in Sociology from Colorado State University.

General Information:

Tuition: $800 on or before March 11, 2009 ($875 after March 11, 2009)
Covers registration, instructional materials, and lunch and break foods each day on campus.

Cancellation & Refunds: All speakers and companies listed have confirmed their participation. If for unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances a speaker cannot attend, instructional time will be filled with comparable instructors. If a course is canceled due to insufficient registrations, tuition will be refunded. Duke cannot be held responsible for travel costs or arrangements made by participants.

Cancellation of registration requires 14 days written notice prior to course start date. Individuals who do not attend and fail to send written notice prior to the deadline will be charged the full tuition. You may send a substitute to attend the course in your place. Extenuating circumstances will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Hotel Accommodations: Participants are responsible for their own overnight accommodations. Participants most commonly stay at the Durham Hilton Hotel (3800 Hillsborough Road, Durham, 919-383-8033). The Hilton provides a special Nicholas School rate when reservations are made within the course room block and three (3) weeks prior to the course start date. The Duke Environmental Leadership Program provides complementary shuttle transportation between campus and the hotel at the beginning and end of each class day.

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