ABSTRACT
Public involvement in national decision making has been an important social value since the earliest days of the United States. In the United States, the development of federal regulations is carried out through a process known as 'notice-and-comment rulemaking'. That process, spelled out in the 1946 Administrative Procedure Act, is applicable to most federal government agencies, including EPA. Prior to the establishment of the Federal Advisory Committee Act in 1971, some 1,800 advisory committees were handling a multitude of issues of concern to federal agencies. Important laws and their implementing programs that assist such involvement include the Freedom of Information Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act. Litigation over pollution control is targeted at either industry or government, typically to halt or prevent polluting activities, to require federal agencies to take actions mandated by law, or to challenge agency actions.
