Community Access to Clean Air Decisionmaking

Meaningful public participation is essential for the effective permitting and management of air pollution, yet many communities face persistent barriers to influencing decisions that affect their health and environment. While some states have made significant strides to enhance meaningful public engagement in Title V Clean Air Act permitting, this analysis finds substantial, inconsistent gaps in access, transparency, follow-up, and opportunities for meaningful input. These challenges are compounded by limited agency resources, bureaucratic hurdles, political pressure, and recent federal efforts to reduce or expedite public participation requirements.

State and local agencies can strengthen engagement by making participation information accessible and multilingual, using plain language, publishing responses to comments, proactively evaluating engagement efforts, and providing clear opportunities for continued community involvement. Governors and lawmakers can reinforce these practices through executive orders, agency-wide standards, stronger participation requirements, advisory bodies, community grant programs, and dedicated funding for staffing, training, translation, interpretation, accessibility, and outreach.