Definitions and Responsibilities of Stakeholdersin the ITRC

ITRC Stakeholders include Public Stakeholders, Tribal Stakeholders, Emeritus Stakeholders, and Academic Stakeholders.Public and Tribal Stakeholders serve as the voice of the people who are most affected in their daily lives by the problems at hand. Stakeholders add key voices, as well as balance and diversity. They provide written and verbal input on a regular basis and in accordance with the team’s project work plan schedule. Academic stakeholders provide subject matter expertise and offer access to the most recent research in the subject matter of the team. Emeritus stakeholders are highly experiencedretirees from agencies, industry, consulting and academia that have substantial topic knowledge.

Definitions and Acceptance Requirements of ITRC Stakeholder Groups

Public– A public stakeholder represents the interests of citizens, communities, community advocacy groups, or other citizen groups that deal with environmental issues. Public Stakeholders must submit a letter of interest and current resume to the Stakeholder Representative to the ITRC Board of Advisors upon their initial application to a new team. Public stakeholders are approved by the Team Leader(s) and by the Stakeholder Representative on the ITRC Board of Advisors. Team membership must be requested and renewed each year.

Tribal– A Tribal stakeholder is affiliated with, or is an employee of and Indian tribe, or are Native American, Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian. Tribal Stakeholders must submit a current resume or letter of interest indicating their tribal affiliation to the Stakeholder representative to the ITRC Board of Advisors upon their initial application to a new team. Tribal stakeholders are approved by the Team Leader(s) and by the Stakeholder Representative on the ITRC Board of Advisors. Team membership must be requested and renewed each year.

Academic– An Academic stakeholder is an individual who is a full-time professor, post-doctoral fellow, research assistant, or is enrolled as a full time graduate student at an accredited institution of higher learning. Academic stakeholders must submit a curriculum vitae and/or letter of interest to the Stakeholder representative to the Board of Advisors. Academic Stakeholders are approved by the team leaders and the Stakeholder Representative on the ITRC Board of Advisors based on their technical expertise on the team’s subject matter. Team membership must be requested and renewed each year.

Emeritus– An Emeritus stakeholder is a retired former state, federal, academic, industry, or consulting employee that does not represent the views of their prior employer or other ITRC member groups. Emeritus stakeholders must not be employed by any organization in the environmental industry.Emeritus members have special expertise in the subject matter of an ITRC Team, and must submit a resume and/or letter of interest indicating that specific expertise. Membership acceptance is subject to approval by the ITRC Director. Team membership must be requested and renewed each year.

Roles and Responsibilities of Stakeholders Groups

Stakeholdersare key players in the ITRC. Since the primary products of theITRC are developed by working teams, the most important role of the stakeholder members is to serve on these teams. The stakeholdersprovide a number of valuable resources to these teams. The ITRC Stakeholders have representation on the Board of Advisors; the Stakeholder Representative is a voting member of the Board. Below,the primary roles and responsibilities (R&R) of ITRC stakeholders are described.

Public and Tribal Stakeholders

  1. A public or tribal stakeholder represents the interests of citizens, communities, or tribeson environmental matters.
  2. Public and Tribal Stakeholders serve as the voice of the people who are most affected in their daily lives by the problems at hand. Stakeholders add key voices, as well as balance and diversity. They provide written and verbal input on a regular basis and in accordance with the team’s project work plan schedule.
  3. Public and Tribal Stakeholder team members serve as objective and critical voices, such as in the evaluation of claims by vendors and by responsible parties. Public and tribal stakeholders are not bound by official policies or by political constraints and are completely free to speak out on the technical and regulatory issues at hand. Public and Tribal Stakeholders shall perform theseR&Rs in a collegial manner with the Team Leader(s) and other team members.
  4. Public and Tribal Stakeholders make certain that ITRC documents and training reflect stakeholder issues, needs, and concerns.
  5. Public and Tribal Stakeholders participate in the development and in some cases, the implementation, of team products (e.g. Internet-based and classroomtraining).Stakeholders should be active and contributing members of the team, as determined by the Team Leader
  6. Each ITRC document includes a section on Public and Tribal Stakeholder Concerns. It is the responsibility of the Public and Tribal Stakeholders on the team to take the lead in the development of this section of the document. The purpose of this section is two-fold. First, this section helps a person in an affected community or tribe to raise good questions and to play a more meaningful, informed role in the evaluation of problems and of remediation plans. Second, this section provides advice to the state regulator and other environmental professionals in the engagement of public and tribal stakeholders. This section should pertain directly to the specific technologies and/or environmental problems that the document addresses; it should not be simply generic material on the value of public and tribal stakeholder participation. Typically, this section addresses the issues, needs, and concerns of public and tribal stakeholders. This section guides state regulators in the identification of, and communication with, affected tribes and communities. Some of the questions addressed in this section include: What valuable benefits are realized from the active engagement of affected tribes and public stakeholders, for example information pertaining to site history or intended end use? What are the questions that affected tribes and communities are likely to have about a particular innovative technology or remediation plan? Are there any potential problems or objections that might be raised by public and tribal stakeholders? Are there local cultural and/or spiritual practices that might have an effect on the risk level of affected individuals? What are effective and constructive ways to encourage tribal and stakeholder participation? Case studies that illustrate tribal and stakeholder engagement in environmental projects may be appropriate to include in this section.
  7. Public and tribal stakeholder members of teams shouldensure that the team productsare useful and understandable to the lay person. This does not mean that all information within an ITRC product cannot be presented at a high technical level, but it does mean that eachproduct as a whole should be of value to the lay person.
  8. Public and tribal stakeholder team members shall participate in the ITRC Public and Tribal Stakeholder group. The group has conference calls once or twice per calendar quarter and also meets in person at ITRC Members meetings.
  9. When team members are developing the Public and Tribal Stakeholder section of a document, the draft of that section shall be shared with the Public and Tribal Stakeholder group for discussion on a conference call or in a group meeting or via e-mail. The intent of this process is to enable each stakeholder team member to incorporate the suggestions of all of the stakeholders, such that each team may have the benefit of the knowledge, experience, and perspectives of the entire Public and Tribal Stakeholder group.
  10. Public and tribal stakeholders should have a place at the table in all ITRC teams and in activities, deliberations, and decision making. Stakeholder members may be called upon to serve on ad hoc committees or review groups, and may be asked to evaluate ITRC training, documents, and work plans such that quality products are completed on time and in accordance with the project work plan and the Document Quality Framework, as requested by the Team Leader(s) and/or the Public and Tribal Stakeholder Representative.
  11. Public and tribal issues, needs and concerns should be considered in all ITRC products and activities.
  12. Travel accommodations are provided for one public and one tribal stakeholder for each technical team. If a team does not have a tribal stakeholder, those funds may be allocated to support another public stakeholder if there are more than two on a team. If there are less than two public stakeholders on a team, the team leaders may allocate travel funds to support another team member with the approval of the Stakeholder Board Representative and ITRC Executive Director

Emeritus Stakeholders

This is the population of highly experienced retirees from agencies, industry, consulting, and academia that have substantial topic knowledge on a particular ITRC team topic. These subject matter experts have a willingness to contribute and to lend their knowledge to ITRC teams through active participation. The Emeritusstakeholder program in ITRC is outlined below:

1.Team Leaders will actively solicit and encourage team participation of emeritus candidates that have the unique expertise needed by the team.

2.ITRC membership costs will be waived for all accepted emeritus members.

3.Travel reimbursement will be provided to one emeritus stakeholder based on Team Leaders and Program Advisor recommendation (additional emeritus stakeholder travel reimbursements will be subject to budget and ITRC Executive Director approval on a case-by-case basis).

4.Emeritus stakeholders participate in the development and in some cases, implementation of team products (e.g. Internet Based and Classroom Training).

Academic Stakeholders

ITRC strives to develop products that embrace the state of the art in science, technology, engineering, and math relevant to the subject matter of each of the ITRC technical teams. In order to stay relevant with current research efforts, ITRC looks to the expertise within our Colleges, Universities, and other institutions of study. The Academic stakeholder program is outline below:

  1. The Academic Stakeholder member within ITRC represents individuals who are full time professors, research assistants, post-doctoral fellows, or enrolled graduate students at a recognized institution of higher learning.
  2. The team leaders will actively solicit and encourage team participation of academic stakeholders.
  3. ITRC membership costs will be waived for all accepted Academic Stakeholders.
  4. Travel reimbursement will be provided to one Academic Stakeholder based on Team Leaders and Program Advisors recommendation (additional academic stakeholders travel reimbursements will be subject to budget and ITRC Director approval on a case-by-case basis).
  5. Academic Stakeholders participate in the development and in some cases, implementation of team products (e.g. Internet Based and Classroom Training).