Liz Felter
Summary of L & M – chapter 3 Laws that Mandate Risk Communication
It may seem that a good risk communications plan is common sense but many it is conducted because of laws and regulatory requirements.
Certain types of organizations are mandated by law to have a risk communication effort. It is important that when working for an organization that you know what type of regulations may affect it. Along with major federal laws many states have even more stringent laws about risk communication requirements and also are responsible for enforcing the federal mandates.
This chapter lists a few of these major laws;
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or Superfund. These requires specific procedures be implemented to assess the release of hazardous substances at inactive waste sites. This procedure must involve the public when determining acceptable clean-up recommendations. It involves several key communication pieces.
A Community Relations Plan - incorporates information about the site to include demographics, concerns and beliefs about the site and the best methods of communicating these concerns and collecting input from the public about clean-up. The public is interviewed about their views in a location they feel most comfortable. It’s updated yearly throughout the process usually over an 8 year period.
The Administrative Record – support documents and research used to make decisions about the clean-up procedures. It’s housed in a location with easy access for the public.
Information Repository – contains site information, site activities and general Superfund information. Also housed with easy access for the public.
Advertisement of Public Involvement Opportunities – Fact sheets, news releases, and proposed plans to alert the public for involvement opportunities.
Emergency Planning and Right to Know Act – This law requires information about hazardous chemicals in a community and notification and an emergency plan if there were to be a leak be provided to the public. Each year quantities of the chemicals and reports of any spills must also be available to the public and the regulatory agencies monitoring them.
Executive Order 12898, Environmental Justice in Minority Populations – Requires that disproportional human health or environmental risks to minorities or low-income populations be considered. It was recognized that many hazardous waste sites were being located in minority and low income areas. Human and environmental risks must be communicated in a language understood by the people that could be affected and easily available to the public.
Executive Order 13045, Reduce Environmental Health and Safety Risks to Children – This order requires that any risks to children needs to be communicated well to the community at risk.
National Environmental Policy Act – Mandate environmental impact assessments. Three categories included are; Categorical exclusion report says that it will not have an effect, environmental assessment says whether it will or will not have an effect and environmental impact statement says yes it will have a significant effect and impact on the environment. If the environmental impact statement comes back as significant impact on the environment then you have a whole lot of CYA to do.
Natural Resource Damage Assessment – this report basically determines what part of the environment will be impacted such as birds, fish, plants, wildlife, ground water, drinking water, etc.
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) - this act was passed to keep employees safe while on the job. It set limits of exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals and other occupational exposures.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act – encourages public involvement in attempting to resolve problems related to solid waste disposal including hazardous waste.
Risk Management Rule/Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990 – facilities must have on file a report of response to different scenarios in the event of an accident at their location.
Privacy Rule – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. This act outlines administrative steps policies and procedures to safeguard individuals’ personal private health information in electronic or other form including oral communication.
In closing I think you’ll see how important it is to know what type of organization you work for, what laws affect them and how they prefer to communicate to the public in order to follow the mandates that pertain to the operation.
It may seem that a good risk communications plan is common sense but many it is conducted because of laws and regulatory requirements.
Certain types of organizations are mandated by law to have a risk communication effort. It is important that when working for an organization that you know what type of regulations may affect it. Along with major federal laws many states have even more stringent laws about risk communication requirements and also are responsible for enforcing the federal mandates.
This chapter lists a few of these major laws;
The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or Superfund. These requires specific procedures be implemented to assess the release of hazardous substances at inactive waste sites. This procedure must involve the public when determining acceptable clean-up recommendations. It involves several key communication pieces.
A Community Relations Plan - incorporates information about the site to include demographics, concerns and beliefs about the site and the best methods of communicating these concerns and collecting input from the public about clean-up. The public is interviewed about their views in a location they feel most comfortable. It’s updated yearly throughout the process usually over an 8 year period.
The Administrative Record – support documents and research used to make decisions about the clean-up procedures. It’s housed in a location with easy access for the public.
Information Repository – contains site information, site activities and general Superfund information. Also housed with easy access for the public.
Advertisement of Public Involvement Opportunities – Fact sheets, news releases, and proposed plans to alert the public for involvement opportunities.
Emergency Planning and Right to Know Act – This law requires information about hazardous chemicals in a community and notification and an emergency plan if there were to be a leak be provided to the public. Each year quantities of the chemicals and reports of any spills must also be available to the public and the regulatory agencies monitoring them.
Executive Order 12898, Environmental Justice in Minority Populations – Requires that disproportional human health or environmental risks to minorities or low-income populations be considered. It was recognized that many hazardous waste sites were being located in minority and low income areas. Human and environmental risks must be communicated in a language understood by the people that could be affected and easily available to the public.
Executive Order 13045, Reduce Environmental Health and Safety Risks to Children – This order requires that any risks to children needs to be communicated well to the community at risk.
National Environmental Policy Act – Mandate environmental impact assessments. Three categories included are; Categorical exclusion report says that it will not have an effect, environmental assessment says whether it will or will not have an effect and environmental impact statement says yes it will have a significant effect and impact on the environment. If the environmental impact statement comes back as significant impact on the environment then you have a whole lot of CYA to do.
Natural Resource Damage Assessment – this report basically determines what part of the environment will be impacted such as birds, fish, plants, wildlife, ground water, drinking water, etc.
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) - this act was passed to keep employees safe while on the job. It set limits of exposure to potentially hazardous chemicals and other occupational exposures.
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act – encourages public involvement in attempting to resolve problems related to solid waste disposal including hazardous waste.
Risk Management Rule/Clean Air Act Amendment of 1990 – facilities must have on file a report of response to different scenarios in the event of an accident at their location.
Privacy Rule – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. This act outlines administrative steps policies and procedures to safeguard individuals’ personal private health information in electronic or other form including oral communication.
In closing I think you’ll see how important it is to know what type of organization you work for, what laws affect them and how they prefer to communicate to the public in order to follow the mandates that pertain to the operation.
posted by Liz Felter at
1/19/2007 08:22:00 PM
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