MMR IRP Citizen Team Groundrules
(as of September 2002)

Please note that these MMR IRP Citizen Team Groundrules do not apply to MMR IRP Decisionmaking Teams such as the RPMs, MRG, and the ERG.

New team members will be recruited, evaluated, and appointed as follows:

1) The Senior Management Board (SMB) will approve all new team members.

2) The PCT has the following responsibilities regarding its membership:

a. Determine the total number of members and ensure that no one constituency has a majority.

b. Recruit and evaluate its prospective new members.

c. Make a recommendation to the SMB regarding new member, providing the SMB along with its new member recommendation an overall team membership status report.

d. Strive to maintain a balance between the four affected towns and the base community, affected neighborhoods, the kinds of organizations represented, and the interests of the members. Each team will seek to have at least two members from each affected town. Where appropriate, the team will seek out members with particular technical or other kinds of expertise. Meetings will be held in the community; the location will be determined by the agenda topics.

Members agree to:

1) Attend all of the regularly scheduled meetings. Members will notify an RPM, the facilitator, or another team member if they cannot attend.

2) Arrive at each meeting prepared to discuss the issues on the agenda. Preparation will include reviewing meeting summaries, technical information, and drafts of documents distributed in advance of each meeting.

3) Present their own views and the views of the members of their constituents on the issues being discussed and be willing to engage in "active listening" and respectful, constructive dialogue with other members of the group and report back to their constituents;

4) Strive throughout the process to bridge gaps in understanding, to seek creative resolution of differences, and to commit to the goal of achieving consensus on topics under discussion.

5) Not presuppose to speak for the group as a whole.

6) Assign a member to report to the SMB and other teams periodically as needed, regarding the work of the team.

7) Team members are always welcome to offer their individual viewpoints verbally or in writing.

In order to ensure an active membership and to ensure wide participation by affected communities, the teams have developed the following procedures regarding inactive members.

1) A member who has six (6) consecutive absences will be placed on an Inactive Members list.

2) Members will receive a letter notifying them of this change of status.

3) Inactive members will continue to receive team mailings for six (6) more months.

4) Inactive members can reactivate their membership by attending at least one meeting during the six (6) month inactive period.

5) After six (6) months on the Inactive Members list, the inactive member will be removed from the team member list and the team will seek to fill the open member position.

In order to facilitate an open and collaborative discussion, team members will seek to abide by the following rules:

1) Only one person will speak at a time and no one will interrupt when another person is speaking.

2) Each person will express his or her own views rather than speaking for others at the table.

3) No one will make personal attacks or issue statements blaming others for specific actions or outcomes. If a personal attack is made, the facilitator will ask the members to refrain from personal attacks. If personal attacks continue, the facilitator will ask the group to take a break to "cool off."

4) Each person will make every effort to stay on track with the agenda and avoid grandstanding and digressions, in order to move the deliberations forward.

5) Each person will strive to be respectful, open-minded, and to listen well.

6) Teams will provide opportunities for the general public's questions and comments; each team may decide where best to provide these opportunities for the public on the team's meeting agenda.

7) Individuals need to be as concise as possible and regulate themselves. The facilitator will break in when appropriate to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to speak. The team does not object to a "round robin" approach for the purposes of polling occasionally, but in general is not in favor of this technique as a replacement for placard recognition. Unless there is a particular request from the community, the PCT is comfortable with having presentations, followed by PCT comments and questions, and then comments and questions from the community.

8) All corrections and additions to team summaries should reflect what was actually said at that meeting. If someone wishes to add clarifications, retractions, or corrections to what was actually said, these changes will be recorded in later meeting summaries.

9) Team communications (i.e., e-mail, telephone, or fax) among the team members between meetings should seek to abide by the groundrules to help ensure constructive dialogue.

Members are expected to communicate concerns, interests and ideas openly and to make the reasons for their disagreements clear. In the event that a member is unable to speak about a concern directly to another member, he or she can contact the facilitators by phone, e-mail, or in person. The facilitators will serve as a channel for such concerns. Upon request, all information or views shared during conversations with the facilitators will be kept confidential.

The purpose of the PCT is to share information, discuss concerns and viewpoints, and build consensus around advice and recommendations to the Installation Restoration Program's (IRP) Remedial Project Managers (RPMs) from the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence (AFCEE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The team will operate by consensus, and every effort will be made to meet the interests of all team members.

Because the purpose of this advisory team is to advise the program and its regulators, employees of state and federal agencies (the IRP, AFCEE, DEP, and EPA) do not take part in consensus decisions.

A. Definition of Consensus

Consensus means that there is no dissent by any member. There will be no formal votes taken during deliberations. No one member can be outvoted. Members should not block or withhold consensus unless they have serious reservations with the approach or solution that is proposed for consensus. If members disagree with the approach or solution selected by the rest of the group, they should make every effort to offer an alternative satisfactory to all stakeholders.

Members should remain at the table during deliberations to hear the full discussions in order to make informed judgments when advice is developed. Absence will be equivalent to not dissenting.

If all efforts have been made to arrive at consensus, but it appears that the group will not be able to achieve it, members may choose to vote in order to come to agreement, resolve the issue, and maintain progress in their deliberations, regarding their recommendations.

B. Support for Consensual Agreements

If a meeting or meetings generates a consensus on specific issues and/or recommendations, members agree to support and advocate for the agreement within their own organizations and stakeholder groups as well as with the public. If consensus is reached, members agree to refrain from commenting negatively on the agreement.

To the extent that the process does not reach a final consensus on some or all issues, members shall retain the right to comment negatively on those aspects of the agreement that are not based on a final consensus.

V. Role of the RPMs:

The role of the RPMs (the Remedial Program/Project Managers, from AFCEE, DEP, and EPA) in the advisory process is:

1) To participate in PCT meetings, including making presentations, answering questions, offering comment, and listening to the deliberations of the team. As noted above, the RPMs do not take part in consensus decisions.

2) To receive the advice of the team and in good faith seek to incorporate that advice into remedial investigation, design, and construction decisions.

3) In the event that consensus is not reach by the PCT on a key matter, RPMs will further investigate stakeholders' preferences and make every attempt to understand the nature of objections and preferences. They will ensure that all the acceptance group's concerns and comments are heard and understood. They will work among themselves to determine if an alternative can be modified or compromises can be incorporated to satisfy the as many members of the team as possible.

4) In the event that the RPMs are not able to incorporate the advise of the PCT, the RPMs are responsible for offering clear, reasoned explanations for the divergence, either in writing or verbally at team meetings.

5) The PCT and/or the RPMs may elevate disagreements and concerns to the attention of the Senior Management Board (SMB), as necessary.

6) As mandated by law, the AFCEE is lead agent and decision maker in remedial decisions, with EPA and MassDEP offering regulatory oversight and concurrence. As mandated by law, EPA has the authority to enforce federal laws related to cleanup and the MassDEP has the authority to enforce state laws related to cleanup.

When the team uses facilitation, the facilitator(s) will:

1) assist in formulating the agendas;

2) facilitate the meetings;

3) ensure compliance with all the groundrules;

4) identify and synthesize points of agreement and disagreement;

5) assist in building consensus among members;

6) serve as a confidential communication channel for members or observers who wish to express views but do not feel comfortable addressing the full group; and,

7) advocate for a fair, effective, and credible process, but remain utterly nonpartisan with respect to the outcome of the deliberations.

8) The meeting support contractor will record the meetings, track action items, attendance and future agenda items, and distribute draft agendas.

All advisory team meetings will be open to the public and the media. Members are free to make statements to the press regarding their own opinions, but agree to not attribute statements to others involved in the process. No member should presuppose to speak for the group as a whole. In order to facilitate productive deliberations, members will make every effort to abide by the groundrules under the section "Communication" listed above, while interacting with the media.

If an article or report appears that misquotes or inaccurately represents an individual, that individual, if aware of the inaccuracy, should inform the group of that occurrence as soon as possible so that it may be clarified and/or corrected.