236 



A final meeting occurred, attended by the Administrator and Regional 

 Directors of the five Federal agencies. During this meeting the five- 

 member team presented the draft plan, followed by any members of the 

 task force who wished to comment, and a summary of the public 

 conunent received in meetings or in writing. Although called a "hearing," 

 this meeting was an informal process during which the five decision 

 makers could ask questions and interact with the presenters. The room 

 was arranged so that the five decision makers were seated like a panel at 

 one table, with a panel table opposite them for presenters. In addition, the 

 decision makers could, by mutual agreement, call in outside experts or 

 leaders of interest groups whose opinion they wanted to hear before 

 reaching a decision. 



Following the "hearing," the five decision makers had a fifteen-day period 

 during which they negotiated an agreement on a final plan. The agreed- 

 upon plan was documented in a brief Record of Decision that was 

 distributed to everyone who participated in the process in any manner 

 (e.g. by submitting a proposal, attending a public meeting, or writing a 

 comment) or to appropriate mailing lists of the five agencies. 



The five member planiung team then became the operations management 

 team for the coming year, and a new planning team began the cycle over 

 again. 



Final Draft - September l5, 1993 67 



