Next Steps in Navigating the DOD Environmental Cleanup Negotiation Process

Abstract

AbstractMany objectives influence the Department of Defense (DOD( environmental cleanup program, including those from the regulatory, legal, political, public, temporal, economic, technical, and public health (social) perspectives. Although all of these objectives are integral to the environmental cleanup process, preliminary research by the author suggests that the two with the greatest influence (accepting the legal and social as implicitly incorporated in the baseline process) are regulatory and public. These objectives have grown to greatly influence the DOD environmental program over the past 30 years, as evidenced by the evolution of the program from being mildly regulated with little public input to being heavily regulated with increasing public participation and scrutiny. The evolution of the DOD environmental program has resulted in an urgent need to more effectively and efficiently pursue negotiations with regulatory agencies while dealing equitably with public participation and influence. This article will attempt to address this need by (1) presenting the historical context of the DOD environmental program in terms of major pieces of legislation, (2) examining emerging issues catalyzed by this legislation and by the objectives influencing the program, and (3) suggesting options for exploring new negotiating approaches and procedures to address the emerging issues. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.