ABSTRACT
Interest in public involvement has been an important part of the environmental movement. As technologies have become associated with the degradation of natural resources, many critics have begun to question the decision-making process, demanding greater public participation. During the late 1960s, demands for greater public participation from environmental groups were strengthened by congressional fears about the increasing power of administrative agencies. All major environmental legislation around 1970 did have provisions for greater citizen involvement. The National Environmental Protection Act probably provided the most significant advance in public access to information by requiring Environmental Impact Statements. More formal than public hearings are the adjudicative procedures required in the granting of licenses for such activities as offshore oil drilling and power-plant sitting. Participants in hearings and adjudications are often criticized as not representing the public as concerned with their own special interests. The timing of public involvement further limits the potential influence of the public.
