PENNS NECK AREA EIS

PENNS NECK AREA EIS

Membership Subcommittee Meeting

Background Information

1. Mission of the Membership Subcommittee:

From my notes: the membership committee is to come back to the full Roundtable on Aug. 2nd with recommendations regarding "membership of the Roundtable." From that meeting, participants requested that we keep some perspectives in mind:

Size matters

Fairness and adequate representation
Continuous nature of the Roundtable and the need for consistent representation.
Perspectives represented

2. Discuss the Roundtable and their duties:

From the June 14 meeting minutes and the handout from that meeting:

The Partners’ Roundtable is an advisory committee made up of community partners from the public, private and nonprofit sectors. The purpose of the Roundtable is to assist in shaping an EIS for the Route 1-Penns Neck area and to advise the EIS process as it progresses. It is a central, but not exclusive, component of the public involvement activities that will support the EIS process. Recommendations of the Roundtable will be made by consensus. Votes will not be taken. In the first six months of the EIS process, the Roundtable’s charge is to achieve consensus on the following:

‘rules of engagement" that will govern the Partners’ Roundtable from start to completion, including an agreed process schedule (no more than 2 years) with defined decision points;
a statement regarding the nature of the transportation problem(s) to be addressed;
goals and objectives for addressing the problem(s) identified;
the scope of the study area;
a process by which strategies/alternatives to solve the problem(s) will be screened, including clear and understandable decision criteria;
the information/analysis needed to support screening decisions; and
an annotated list of interim and long-term mobility solutions to be evaluated in the DEIS

After the first six months, and throughout the ensuing eighteen months of the EIS process, the Roundtable will be charged with monitoring and reviewing the technical work of the EIS process and advising on the assessment and screening of alternatives under consideration.

Jon Carnegie also sent the following information:

The Partners’ Roundtable is a critical component of the overall public involvement strategy for the Penns Neck Area EIS. It is intended to play a central role in advising and shaping the EIS process. The Roundtable was conceived as a working group of stakeholders from public, private and nonprofit sectors that could consider the mobility issues facing the Penns Neck area and work together to address differences of opinion and approach and to strive for consensus on workable solutions that could address the mobility issues. The Roundtable will provide an important forum for providing input on critically important decisions regarding the nature of the mobility problem to be addressed, the goals and objectives for addressing the problem, the range of alternatives and solutions considered, the process used to evaluate and screen the alternatives, and the evaluation of the impacts of the alternatives selected for detailed analysis as part of the DEIS.

Roundtable membership

I have included an excel spreadsheet from Jon Carnegie that lists the original roundtable roster and the "perspectives" of each group –as determined from the combined knowledge and experience of the project team and the input we received from interviews. In addition, the table includes a comments column that more fully represents some of the reasoning behind why members were invited to participate. Finally, the table includes a list of the three groups added to the Roundtable at the first meeting.

Rationale for original membership – The following is a narrative rationale for the original roundtable membership. Our first step was to derive a working list of potential Roundtable participants. Given the overall constraint of approximately 25 members, first consideration was given to government officials and public agencies that were deemed essential to the process. This group accounts for thirteen (13) members and includes:

2 Federal Agencies;

3 State Agencies;

4 Regional Governments/Agencies; and

4 Local Governments.

Second, we reserved 10 seats for citizen and nongovernmental sector representatives from a variety of perspectives. Finally, given the history of the former Millstone Bypass project, the nature of the mobility issues in Penns Neck and the theoretical range of potential solutions (TDM, transit and road-based solutions) we considered the participation of Princeton University and Sarnoff Corporation as essential.

The 10 citizen/NGO seats were filled largely based on our initial interviews and the project team’s review of files from the former Millstone Bypass project. The following criteria were considered:

Uniqueness of perspective – the project team felt that uniqueness of perspective would be important to enrich the Roundtable discussions. Uniqueness of perspective was not related to positions taken with regard to the former Millstone Bypass project. Given the desire to keep the Roundtable membership to a workable number, and given the multitude of perspectives in the Penns Neck area, if there was a coalition or umbrella group representing a diversity of perspectives, the decision was made to select the leader of that coalition or umbrella group to represent the positions of their constituent organizations. In addition, we expressed an open invitation to meet with the members of umbrella groups, upon request, to discuss issues as the process progresses.

Balance – Balance of perspective was similarly important. Balance was defined in a number of ways, including: environment vs. economic development; community residents vs. motoring public; local interests vs. a regional perspective; and public, private & non-profit.

Fairness/Equity – Fairness and equity in representation was defined, not by numbers in relation to a particular perspective, but by ensuring that those most affected by the problem and/or any potential solutions are adequately represented at the table. Looking at the general nature and scope of mobility and safety concerns in the Penns Neck area, it seems clear to the project team that a large part of the problem, and the burden of any TDM, transit or roadway solution would fall primarily on the residents, landowners and businesses in West Windsor. Therefore, the project team worked to ensure that representation from West Windsor was adequate.

Other Considerations

Don’t disadvantage any group of citizens because they are not officially organized;
"Consulting Party" status was not originally a consideration because it pertained narrowly to Section 106 review and the purpose of the Roundtable was broader. In addition, a separate Section 106 public involvement process, guided by federal regulations, will be conducted as part of the EIS process.

Political affiliation was NOT considered an appropriate criteria.
The project team opted not to invite interest groups with a state-wide focus in favor of those with a more local/regional focus. While Tri-State Transportation Campaign has a state-wide focus, the project team felt that their unique transportation focus would be an important perspective to have on the Roundtable.

"Representing" other groups – The project team absolutely agrees that individuals representing umbrella groups or a coalition "have the responsibility to report to those groups and the groups have a responsibility to monitor and participate in the process." We also feel strongly that the representative has the responsibility to reach out to their constituents to gain a full understanding of their perspectives/issues and to bring those perspectives/issues back to the Roundtable discussions. In addition, as previously stated, the project team has expressed a willingness to meet with the members of coalitions/umbrella groups upon request.

NEPA and Section 106 regulations/guidelines – The Roundtable was conceived as a way to provide a "non-traditional" forum for the exchange of ideas and discussion of issues. There are no specific NEPA, "Scoping" or Section 106 regulations/guidelines pertaining to the Roundtable membership or its functioning. Our overall public involvement program – which includes interviews, Roundtable meetings, small group meetings & presentations, open houses, public hearings and the dissemination of information and materials about the process through a newsletter and website, must comply with NEPA regulations and guidelines and it will. In addition, the EIS process will include a Section 106 public involvement process separate from Roundtable proceedings, so, there are no Section 106 regulations or guidelines relevant to the composition of the Roundtable. Simply said, the Roundtable concept goes well beyond the scope and methods of public involvement required under NEPA. It is an effort to provide a unique opportunity for stakeholder input, over and above the extensive, albeit more traditional, public involvement program we have embarked upon for this EIS.