taneously with planning otiner aspects of the program — at the very 

 beginning. Two steps should be taken to design the work plan: 



• Assess issues and politics. 



• Determine information and participation techniques. 



After this, a public participation work plan should be designed to 

 meet identified needs. The Conference may ask its citizens advi- 

 sory committee (CAC) to develop the work plan, or it may engage 

 a trained professional to complete this effort. 



An assessment of policy issues and politics undoubtedly occurred 

 before the estuary was placed in or nominated for the national 

 program. Staff should review the materials gathered during the 

 nomination process to develop a profile of the social, technical, and 

 political issues related to the estuary. 



There are various ways to do this. By answering the following 

 questions, the Conference can begin to identify the organizations 

 that are interested in the estuary. 



• Are there major conservation groups, fishing associations, 

 boating clubs, or businesses that regularly interact with EPA 

 and state agencies on water quality issues? 



• Do local newspapers consider the problems in the estuary 

 an issue? 



• Do citizen organizations or universities conduct public meet- 

 ings or conferences on subjects related to the estuary? 



• Have elected officials used the health of the estuary as a 

 campaign issue? 



• What do local environmental groups think about how the EPA 

 and state agencies are implementating environmental 

 protection laws? 



The best and quickest way to assess whether the public under- 

 stands the issues is through informal discussion. First, talk to 

 interested people. Ask how they would rate the estuary's condition. 

 Solicit their views on its major problems and their perceptions about 

 how government (at all levels) is addressing them. Keep notes on 

 conversations. 



Determine which groups are influential, and assess public atti- 

 tudes about issues. 



• Do groups seem polarized on one or more issues? 



• Is there substantial agreement on a particular issue? 



• Is any environmental advocacy group recognized as espe- 

 cially effective? 



• Is there a coalition group that appears capable of getting 

 other groups together? 



Assessing Issues and 

 Politics 



B3 



