Arizona Laws 49-289.03. Community involvement plan; community advisory boards; rules
A. The public shall receive notice and be provided an opportunity to comment to the director regarding the following actions taken by the director:
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 49-289.03
- Action: includes any matter or proceeding in a court, civil or criminal. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Community: means the broad spectrum of persons determined by the director to be within an existing or proposed site placed on the registry pursuant to Section 49-287. See Arizona Laws 49-281
- Department: means the department of environmental quality. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Director: means the director of environmental quality or the director's designee. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Facility: means any land, building, installation, structure, equipment, device, conveyance, area, source, activity or practice. See Arizona Laws 49-281
- Person: means an individual, employee, officer, managing body, trust, firm, joint stock company, consortium, public or private corporation, including a government corporation, partnership, association or state, a political subdivision of this state, a commission, the United States government or any federal facility, interstate body or other entity. See Arizona Laws 49-201
- Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Remedy: means a remedial action selected in a record of decision issued pursuant to Section 49-287. See Arizona Laws 49-281
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
- Site: means the geographical areal extent of contamination. See Arizona Laws 49-281
1. The placement of a site on the registry as provided in Section 49-287.01.
2. The selection of a remedy as provided in Section 49-287.04.
3. Entering into a prospective purchaser agreement with a person pursuant to Section 49-285.01.
4. Entering into a settlement with a responsible party pursuant to section 49-292, 49-292.01 or 49-292.02.
B. The director shall adopt rules to implement this section and to govern providing information to communities and community involvement areas that include how to disseminate information, the location of public information repositories and notice requirements.
C. Before it implements a remedial investigation as provided in Section 49-287.03, subsection D the department shall develop a community involvement plan for each site that does all of the following:
1. Establishes a community advisory board.
2. Designates a spokesperson to inform the public and to act as a liaison between the department, the local government and the responsible party.
3. Provides for newsletters with current information about the status of remedial action at the site and other pertinent information to be distributed to residents within the site.
4. Schedules community advisory board meetings.
D. A selection committee shall be established for each site that is required to have a community involvement plan pursuant to Section 49-287.03, subsection D. The selection committee shall consist of the following members:
1. One representative of the department.
2. One representative of a potentially responsible party, an owner or operator of a facility within the site or an affected business or industry.
3. One local elected official.
4. Two community members who are not employees of any responsible party, the department or the local government.
E. Each community advisory board shall advise the department, the public and the responsible parties of issues, concerns and opportunities related to the expeditious cleanup of the site. Each community advisory board shall be composed of at least five but not more than twenty members. The members of the community advisory board shall be chosen to represent a diversified cross section of the community with an appropriate balance of interested parties and affected groups. Applications for membership on the community advisory board and the names of the applicants shall be publicly available. Community advisory board members may serve on more than one community advisory board and multiple sites may share a community advisory board to avoid unnecessary multiple boards.
F. Each community advisory board shall:
1. Within ninety days after appointment of members by the selection committee, elect cochairpersons and other officers if needed and shall develop a charter defining at a minimum operating procedures, membership terms and obligations, goals for developing issues, concerns and opportunities related to expeditious cleanup of the site, and any other anticipated activities of the board for identifying and improving the public’s access and understanding of information regarding the remediation processes at the site.
2. In response to site activities or a request from a community advisory board member or a city, town or county in which the site is located, meet with the department and any identified responsible parties to receive site briefings, progress reports and other pertinent information.
3. Coordinate with the department to establish local repositories for the dissemination of information about the site.
G. Each community advisory board may:
1. Make site visits and participate in public meetings related to cleanup opportunities and remedy selection decisions.
2. Participate in an annual meeting held by the department in each county that has a site undergoing a remedial investigation and feasibility study under Section 49-287.03 or in the process of selecting or implementing a remedy for the purpose of facilitating public involvement and identifying funding priorities for site cleanups.