Prior Informed Consent and Mining: Promoting Sustainable Development of Local Communities
Author
Susan Bass, Environmental Law Institute
Date Released
January 2004
Prior Informed Consent and Mining: Promoting Sustainable Development of Local Co

While nations and multinational corporations profit from mining operations around the world, local communities face the resulting negative impacts. Mining communities have begun to exercise their right to prior informed consent to mining operations, despite skepticism in the international community and business world. However, in December 2003, the World Bank’s Extractive Industries Review endorsed prior informed consent for its projects and private projects.

Safe Drinking Water Workshop for Consumers
Author
Suellen T. Keiner, Environmental Law Institute
Date Released
December 1997

The Environmental Law Institute convened a one-day workshop on May 6, 1997 to allow citizens in the Washington, DC area to discuss the new community right-to-know amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. The objectives of the workshop were to: (1) develop citizen awareness about drinking water quality issues; (2) help state and local governments understand the information needs of citizens who want to learn more about the quality of their drinking water; and (3) help water companies prepare user-friendly information about the quality of drinking water.

NEPA Success Stories: Celebrating 40 Years of Transparency and Open Government
Author
The Partnership Project, the Grand Canyon Trust, and the Environmental Law Institute
Date Released
August 2010
NEPA Success Stories: Celebrating 40 Years of Transparency and Open Government

This report presents 13 vignettes of how the National Environmental Policy Act helped improve government decisionmaking through public comment and vetting ideas with other agencies. This is a joint project of the Environmental Law Institute along with the Grand Canyon Trust and the Partnership Project.

Considering NEPA: Comments to the National Environmental Policy Act Task Force
Author
James M. McElfish, Jr., Jay Austin, D. Bruce Myers, Jr., Lisa Goldman
Date Released
February 2006
Considering NEPA: Comments to the National Environmental Policy Act Task Force

ELI submitted these comments to the House Resources Committee Task Force on Improving/Updating the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that warn the Task Force’s draft recommendations could have the unintended consequences of increasing NEPA litigation and cutting the public out of important federal decision-making.

Building Capacity to Participate in Environmental Protection Agency Activities: A Needs Assessment and Analysis
Author
Linda Breggin & Heidi Hallman, Environmental Law Institute
Date Released
December 1999
Building Capacity to Participate in Environmental Protection Agency Activities:

This report examines and identifies approaches to building the capacity of communities to participate in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) decision-making processes. The focus of this study was on individual citizens and local non-profit groups within communities that may be interested in or affected by EPA activities. Capacity was defined as the ability of a community to participate effectively in EPA activities and decision-making.

The Role of the Citizen in Environmental Enforcement
Author
E. Roberts; J. Dobbins; Margaret Bowman, Environmental Law Institute
Date Released
December 1992

Drawing on the resources of citizens can enrich and strengthen the environmental enforcement process in several ways. First, citizen participation in environmental enforcement taps the direct, immediate connection between individuals and their environment. Citizens are uniquely knowledgeable about their own communities. Their day-to-day observations give them access to information about environmental conditions that the government could never obtain. Involving citizens in environmental enforcement encourages productive use of this information.

African Perspectives on Genetic Resources: A Handbook on Laws, Policies, and Institutions
Author
Kent Nnadozie, Robert Lettington, Carl Bruch, Susan Bass, and Sarah King, Editors
Date Released
December 2003
African Perspectives on Genetic Resources: A Handbook on Laws, Policies, and Ins

Researchers developing innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing problems - disease, hunger, and poverty - rely on access to genetic resources. Regulating the conservation, use, and exchange of these resources - who has access to them under what circumstances, who has the right to benefits accrued through their use, how they are conserved - is a complicated process, and many nations lack adequate laws and policies. This book examines how 12 African nations are meeting this challenge and provides a resource for nations to develop a common policy framework.

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