The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the release of the final "Achieving Health and Environmental Protection Through EPA’s Meaningful Engagement Policy" on September 5, 2024. The updated policy aims to enhance public participation in the agency's programs and regions by ensuring that EPA actions are informed by the experiences of communities and individuals it serves.
“EPA’s ability to deliver critical public health and environmental protections to all communities depends on the meaningful input that our stakeholders share with us,” said Theresa Segovia, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. “The Biden-Harris Administration has made it a priority to engage with and hear from the American people, and our updated policy brings EPA one step closer to meeting our mission and solving some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our lifetimes.”
The policy outlines three steps for EPA staff to design effective processes for public engagement: understanding key issues that can be informed by public input, identifying expected levels of participation using EPA’s public participation spectrum, and selecting appropriate engagement tools using EPA’s model.
Although not legally binding, these recommendations provide meaningful engagement opportunities tailored to specific program needs. This final policy updates the 2003 "Public Involvement Policy," reinforcing EPA's commitment to providing timely, accessible information about its programs while fostering mutual trust between the agency and the public. It also supports several Executive Orders issued under President Biden aimed at revitalizing national commitments to environmental justice.
For more details on this policy, visit EPA’s website.
In historical context, recognizing requirements for meaningful public engagement in authorizing statutes and executive orders led EPA to issue its Public Participation Policy in 1981. This was updated in 2003 following a multi-year review effort by a cross-agency workgroup established in 1999. Over time, this resulted in regular meetings, development of training materials, publication efforts, documentation of case studies, and collection of customer satisfaction data.
The Federal Register Notice contains further details on this updated policy along with responses to comments received during a 60-day consultation period from November 16, 2023, to January 16, 2024.
