CCC Organizational Practices and Procedures

Click Here for a Printable PDF of CCC Organizational Practices and Procedures

CCC Organizational Practices and Procedures

Introduction/Overview

This document outlines organizational practices and procedures for the Citizen Coordinating Council (CCC) established to provide local citizen input to and support of the Coeur d’Alene Basin Environmental Improvement Project Commission (BEIPC).  It is the intent of the BEIPC Board that working relationships will be developed and enhanced by the advisory process, which can contribute to ongoing dialogue and collaboration in support of environmental remedial actions and improvement projects to address heavy metal contamination in the Coeur d’Alene Basin.

CCC

The CCC is provided for in Section 39-8106(4) of the Basin Environmental Improvement Act and affirmed in the August 13, 2002 Memorandum of Agreement for the BEIPC.  The CCC has been established to provide local citizen review of and input to the BEIPC Board and Executive Director on Basin work.

CCC Functions

The primary functions of the CCC are to:

  1. Support the BEIPC implementation of the Record of Decision (ROD) and Record of Decision Amendment (RODA) in Operable Units 2 and 3 of the Bunker Hill Superfund Site and related plans to address heavy metal contamination in the Coeur d’Alene Basin by serving as the primary mechanism for citizen input.
  1. Provide comment on proposed BEIPC one-year and five-year work plans prepared by the Technical Leadership Group (TLG) and the Executive Director.
  1. Organize project-specific teams or subcommittees, as needed, to provide citizen input to BEIPC and TLG work/projects.
  1. Convey the range of citizen concerns and perspectives to the BEIPC Board concerning implementation of the BEIPC work plans.
  1. Encourage public participation in reviewing the environmental remedial and improvement project actions in the Basin.
  1. Provide guidance on and help develop, with BEIPC support, community outreach tools to keep citizens informed of BEIPC activities and policies.
  1. Contribute to the preparation of BEIPC annual accomplishment reports, specifically the community outreach/involvement sections.
  1. Continually strive to be an open and inclusive body that is capable of representing a diversity and balance of views.

 

Membership

The purpose of membership in this process is to involve all interested and affected parties as fully as possible but recognize that it is desirable to have groups of a manageable size, both for purposes of coordination and to create a setting that fosters substantive dialogue.

Membership criteria: The CCC shall maintain an open-door policy that allows interested parties to participate and contribute.  The CCC shall be open to representatives from all interested groups/perspectives (including citizens-at-large) and include a balance and diversity of views. Members shall meet one or more of the following criteria:

A. Demonstrated interest or responsibilities (e.g., land ownership, statutory authority, or directly and intrinsically affected by environmental remedial and improvement decisions);

B.  Official representative of a defined constituency group;

C.  Represent a specific geographic area or population group;

D.  Views and interests not otherwise represented that are necessary for effective stakeholder dialogue, input, and perspective; or

E.  Technical, scientific, or engineering skills applicable to the process of basin cleanup.

Voting Members:  Voting members of the CCC include all individuals who have completed and submitted the CCC membership application form to the Executive Director or at any time during the existence of the CCC.  The CCC membership application form is available on the CCC Page of the BEIPC website at www.basincommission.com or can be obtained from the Executive Director.

Organizational Structure and Responsibilities

Chair: The CCC shall elect from its membership a Chair whose term of office shall be two years and who can be re-elected.  If a vacancy occurs, the Vice-Chair shall fill such a vacancy for the unexpired term.  The Chair is expected to chair all CCC meetings.  One of this person’s primary responsibilities shall be to communicate, in a fair, balanced, and inclusive way, the diversity of citizen perspectives and/or citizen recommendations on any given issue to the Board.  This person shall also work closely with the Chair of the TLG, Executive Director and Board and shall play a lead role in transmitting CCC materials to the Executive Director a minimum of seventeen (17) days in advance of all BEIPC Meetings.

Vice-Chair:  A Vice-Chair shall be selected in the same manner as the Chair. The Vice-Chair shall serve as Chair in his/her absence.  In the event the Chair is unable to continue to serve, the Vice-Chair shall assume the Chair’s responsibilities until a new Chair is selected.  If a vacancy occurs, the members of the CCC shall nominate and elect an individual to fill the position of Vice-Chair for the unexpired term.

CCC Participants:  CCC participants shall have the following roles: (1) Bring forward own concerns, ideas, and opinions openly; (2) listen to others’ ideas and opinions; (3) agree or disagree with other participants; and (4) focus on the topic of discussion by the CCC.

BEIPC Executive Director Support:  To the extent resources allow, the Executive Director will provide administrative support to the CCC and its sub-groups.  The Executive Director shall be responsible for making logistical arrangements.  The CCC and/or the Executive Director will distribute agendas and meeting materials up to five (5) days in advance of a TLG or CCC meeting and will provide notice to CCC members of all upcoming BEIPC associated meetings. The Executive Director or BEIPC Staff is tasked with preparing CCC meeting summaries.  As well, the Executive Director, will help arrange opportunities for the CCC to interact as a body with the Board, the TLG, and the public.  If the Executive Director is unable to provide any necessary support, the CCC shall be responsible for assigning these administrative responsibilities.

Subgroups:  The CCC may designate from its membership a small group of individuals to raise awareness of BEIPC activities and issues around the Basin and assist the Chair to collect and relay the range of citizen perspectives to the TLG, Executive Director, and the Board on any given issue.

Project-specific subcommittees or teams:  The CCC may designate individuals, specific subcommittees, or teams to address specific issues of interest [e.g., to provide input to TLG Project Focus Teams (PFT)] and present recommendations or perspectives to the full CCC.  The size, makeup, and duration of these groups shall be left to the CCC membership to establish.

Collaboratives:  The CCC may establish multi-stakeholder collaboratives addressing areas that are of interest to the collaborative stakeholders, the CCC, TLG, Executive Director and the Board in a particular geographic region.  A collaborative may establish its own operating procedures and scope of work.  Operating procedures and scopes of work will be submitted to the CCC Chair and the BEIPC for discussion and approval.  To maintain the CCC open door policy, membership in a collaborative will be deemed to meet the general membership requirements of the CCC; however, to be a voting member of the CCC, members must register as a CCC member by submitting a completed membership application for to the Executive Director.

Collaborative shall be organized and operated to support and be consistent with the primary functions of the BEIPC and the CCC.  Collaboratives shall report to the CCC Chair keeping the Chair fully informed of their activities and shall select representatives from their membership to attend respective meetings and represent them before the full CCC, TLG, and TLG PFTs.  These representatives shall be registered voting members of the CCC in accordance with CCC membership requirements.  Collaboratives will be represented to the Board by the Chair of the CCC or his or her designee.

The purpose of the collaborative process within the BEIPC is to develop citizen recommendations to be presented to the CCC, TLG and the BEIPC for discussion and consideration.  Collaboratives must broadly represent the community they represent with consistent attendance and participation from collaborative members.  Reports of each collaborative meeting should be available to the CCC Chair and the Executive Director 20 days following each meeting to keep all parties fully informed.  It is understood that here may be times when this time frame may not be met understanding the objective is to meet the 20 day period on a regular basis.  Recommendations based on the work of Collaboratives should have the benefit of negotiation, compromise, and problem solving among parties most directly affected by proposed actions.

Chair/Vice-Chair Election Process

The CCC shall use the following process to select its Chair and Vice-chair:

Step 1.  Any and all qualified CCC Voting Members may nominate candidates.  Each candidate may be asked to prepare a personal statement/bio-sketch to be circulated to the full CCC membership.

Step 2.  The attending CCC membership shall review the slate of candidates.  Each candidate may be asked to make a brief statement at the CCC meeting.

Step 3. The slate of candidates shall be presented to the CCC voting membership for a vote.  Each CCC Voting Member can vote for up to two (2) candidates.  Votes shall be collected by email, fax, or mail and shall be tallied by the Executive Director.  If there is only one candidate for Chair or Vice-Chair, and if there is no objection, a vote shall not be necessary, and the nominated candidates shall be deemed elected.

Step 4. The individual who receives the most votes shall be named the Chair.  The individual with the second highest tally shall be named the Vice-Chair.  By a two-thirds vote of the full CCC voting membership, new elections can be called for the Chair and Vice-Chair positions.  The new elections shall be called only when at least two-thirds of the CCC voting membership believes the Chair and/or Vice-Chair cannot execute the duties of the position.

Board Review

Membership Review:  On no more than an annual basis, the Board may review the membership of the CCC and determine whether the membership is balanced and capable of presenting a diversity of views.  The Board may, at any time, direct the Executive Director and/or CCC leadership to solicit additional applications to the CCC, these solicitations will be announced in Board meetings, on the BEIPC website, and elsewhere.

Organizational/Functionality Review:  On at least an annual basis, the Board may review the CCC’s organizational structure.  If the Board determines that the CCC, through the office of the Chair, is not adequately conveying the range of citizen concerns, perspectives and/or recommendations, the Board may make suggestions for improving the CCC’s functionality.

Meeting Schedule and Structure

Meeting Schedule:  The CCC and the Subgroups shall establish their own meeting schedule.  CCC meetings shall be announced by electronic mail to CCC members and on the BEIPC website, www.basincommission.com.

Agendas:  CCC meeting agendas shall be developed by the CCC Chair and Vice-Chair, in consultation with the Executive Director, when appropriate.  CCC meeting information and agendas shall be posted to the BEIPC website and sent to CCC members electronically at least five (5) days prior to meetings.

Meeting Summaries:  The Executive Director and BEIPC Staff are responsible for preparing draft summaries of the CCC meetings.  Other subcommittees or teams are responsible for developing their own meeting summaries.  Final meeting summaries shall be posted on the BEIPC website and circulated to CCC members and any other person requesting them.  Every effort shall be made to rely on electronic media.  All meetings of the CCC shall be open to members of the public who may participate in CCC discussions when recognized by the Chair.

CCC Conduct and Decision-Making Process

Decision making Process: The CCC is not a formal decision-making authority of the BEIPC.  The CCC responsibility is to communicate to the Board the full range of citizen perspectives on BEIPC issues.  Although the CCC is encouraged to work toward agreement on recommendations or conclusions to be presented to the Board, this is not a requirement, nor an expectation of that group.  If no agreement is reached, the Chair shall represent the range of citizen perspectives to the Board.

Conduct:  All CCC voting Members shall be given an equal opportunity to be heard at CCC meetings.  Participation shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised and shall engage in a mutually respectful exchange of views, ideas, and information.  Members of the public may be given opportunity to speak if recognized by the Chair.

Parliamentary Procedure: The CCC may consult Robert’s Rules of Order Newly Revised to address any questions of parliamentary procedure.

Communication with Board

 When preparing issues for Board Discussion/Decision:  The CCC Chair shall notify the Executive Director of any topics the CCC would like to provide comment on at the upcoming Board meeting.  This notification shall take place in advance of development of the final Board meeting agenda and shall be reflected on the meeting agenda.  Every effort shall be made to forward to the Executive Director or BEIPC staff at least seventeen (17) days in advance of a Board meeting any materials the CCC has prepared for the Board’s consideration.  The CCC shall have an opportunity to provide a citizens’ update at every Board meeting.

Communication with TLG

 The Chair of the CCC shall work with the Executive Director and the Chair of the TLG to identify issues or topics benefiting from interaction between the CCC and the TLG. At a minimum, the TLG and the Executive Director shall discuss with the CCC their preliminary thinking related to its annual and five-year work planning obligations prior to presenting a set of recommendations to the Board.  It is anticipated that the TLG shall also notify the CCC of any PFTs it forms and will work closely with the CCC on any issues pertaining to the Basin cleanup effort.

Expenses

Individual CCC member expenses shall be the responsibility of the individual members.

Note:

(Amended August 8, 2023)

Comments are closed.