Public Participation in Environmental Decisions: Stakeholders, Authorities and Procedural Justice

Successful management of environmental quality via regulation by federal, state and local governments depends on citizen and stakeholder support. Without it, limited capabilities for enforcing compliance from unwilling citizens and legislative action to overturn unpopular regulations would doom attempts to regulate. Increasingly, public agencies responsible for formulating environmental regulations are involving citizens and stakeholders at various stages of the rule-making process; collaborative processes have become the current buzzword. In addition to satisfying legal requirements for public participation (e.g., NEPA), rule-making agencies also hope that involving those who are to be regulated in setting the rules will lead both to the development of substantively better rules and to better public support once the rules are promulgated.