A mailing list should indicate when the group meets and who chairs 

 the organization. A public participation strategy should include 

 meeting with at least two or three affected organizations within each 

 of the categories of interest groups in the estuary. 



The fvlanagement Conference will create a citizens advisory com- 

 mittee to ensure direct citizen involvement in the policy-making 

 process. At explicit junctures in the estuary program, direct inter- 

 action among the various affected interest groups and between 

 those groups and program managers needs to occur. A formally 

 constituted advisory committee is an important way to facilitate this 

 interaction. 



There are many ways to operate a CAC. The chairperson or other 

 CAC representative serves on the management committee or, in 

 some cases, on the policy committee. Some estuary programs are 

 experimenting with management committees that represent both 

 public and private interests, in contrast to those composed solely 

 of government agencies. 



CAC members should be appointed by the Management Con- 

 ference. The CAC should consist of about 20 people who broadly 

 represent the estuary's user and interest groups. It is advisable to 

 develop criteria for appointees. Usually each member should 



• Serve as a spokesperson for a major user or interest group; 



• Have experience in the development of water quality and 

 resource management policy; 



• Be knowledgeable about the technical and economic 

 feasibility of some of the pollution control options being 

 considered; 



• Be potentially affected by the management recommenda- 

 tions of the Management Conference; and 



• Be able to provide constructive advice and work with varying 

 points of view in a committee setting. 



The Conference must establish a clear charge for the CAC — what 

 its purpose is and how it functions. The CAC's primary role is to 

 help see that the public participation goal is met and that, through 

 public consensus, long-term support for CCMP implementation is 

 assured. It is critical that the committee's charge reflects this. Other 

 specific functions of the CAC include these: 



• Helping establish program goals and objectives; 



• Helping set funding levels; 



• Assisting with public participation activities; 



• Helping to communicate program activities to user groups; 



• Commenting on research priorities; 



• Reviewing technical findings and analyses; and 



• Helping to develop implementation plans. 



A Citizens Advisory 

 Committee 



B9 



