Situation Assessment & Process Design

Examples of Work

Aircraft Drinking Water Rule Revisions
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Conducted an assessment and provided recommendations concerning the design of a collaborative process to develop new federal drinking water regulations tailored to the unique conditions of commercial aircraft water systems. Given the technical nature of the issues and the time constraints of the process, RESOLVE helped organize two interactive workshops, designed to foster the exchange of relevant information about aircraft water systems and procedures and to create a shared understanding of the policy options, stakeholder concerns, and criteria for what would constitute effective regulatory policy.

Alaska Glacier Bay Compensation Plan Public Involvement Process
U.S. Park Service and the State of Alaska
Assistance to the National Park Service and State of Alaska on engaging the public in allocating $23 million appropriated to compensate parties affected by closure of Glacier Bay National Park to commercial fishing. Planning for and facilitation of multiple public workshops in rural southeast communities, facilitation of public conference calls including parties from seven communities, and management of activities associated with public contact.

Anacostia River
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 3
The Anacostia River flows through Maryland and the District of Columbia, where it joins the Potomac River before it enters the Chesapeake Bay. The Anacostia is one of the nation’s most polluted rivers, with some sections containing toxic bottom contaminants as deep as 20 feet. In an average year, there are over 80 occasions when rainstorms result in sewage flowing directly into the river due to aging sewer infrastructure. Combine these problems with regular urban and suburban run-off, and the river is in serious trouble. In recent years, many groups and individuals have made a serious effort to turn this situation around. However, in the absence of a single entity with the clear authority, resources, and credibility to bring to this massive challenge, well-intentioned efforts could not get enough traction to produce needed results. RESOLVE and Justice & Sustainability Associates undertook an assessment to recommend how all interested stakeholders could collaborate more effectively toward a cleaner Anacostia. Recent actions by federal and local entities appear promising.

Assessment of Opportunities for Collaborative Initiatives
California Health Care Foundation
Assessment to help the Foundation and other interested parties identify opportunities for collaborative initiatives on health care policy issues in California.

Assessment of the Potential for a Collaborative Strategic Planning Process for HIV/AIDS Treatment in South Africa
George Washington University School of Public Health's Forum for Collaborative HIV Research, funded by National Institutes of Health Office of AIDS Research
Working with the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research, under the auspices of the Office of AIDS Research, RESOLVE assessed the feasibility of, and design for, a collaborative strategic planning process for HIV/AIDS treatment in South Africa.

Blue Grass Pipeline
Kentucky American Water Company
Conflict assessment of the potential to resolve issues concerning the construction of a 50-mile long pipeline to convey potable water from Louisville to Lexington Kentucky.

Maryland Tributary Teams Assessment and Retreat
Maryland Department of Natural Resources
The Maryland Tributary Teams are a partnership between federal, state, and local governments, businesses, citizens, farmers, and educators to restore and enhance the environmental health of Maryland’s tributaries and the Chesapeake Bay. Ten teams were formed to identify, develop, and implement region-specific measures to reduce nutrient pollution of the state’s tributaries and the bay out of recognition that citizens should have a hand in developing nutrient load reduction strategies that are efficient and practical within their different regions of the state. The teams have played a key role in policy formation as well as in efforts to build oyster bars, plant trees, conduct public awareness campaigns, and develop educational documents. Chairs and co-chairs are appointed by the Governor. As efforts to reduce nutrient loadings received greater attention in the state, disagreements over policy issues arose. RESOLVE was asked to assess the perspectives of team members on a new state-sponsored initiative, Maryland’s Tributary Strategy, and to facilitate a meeting to discuss the teams’ role as the strategy is implemented and issues concerning the relative priority of the nutrient sources that should be addressed and how to address them.

Otero Mesa Assessment Report
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
A dispute had arisen in 2002 in the context of proposed amendments to the Bureau of Land Management’s Resource Management Plan for Otero and Sierra Counties, in New Mexico, intended to provide guidance for oil and gas leasing in the region. The focus of the controversy was on Otero Mesa, which covers the southern region of Otero County and which contains one of the last remaining portions of healthy Chihuahuan Desert grassland in the state. It is home to independent cattle ranches that have been in operation for generations and to the Aplomado falcon (a listed species), and is used by both the Mescalero Apache and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo for traditional purposes. RESOLVE conducted an assessment of the feasibility of mediating these issues, identified opportunities and barriers to the potential for a resolution of the issues, and conveyed the stakeholders’ conclusions that mediation was not the appropriate next step at that time.

Plains Organization for Wind Energy Resources (POWER) Midwest Collaborative
RESOLVE authored a feasibility memorandum regarding whether to form a multi-party wind power collaborative in the Midwest, which identified concerns and articulated possible issue areas for consideration. A set of meetings were convened for further consideration of a possible collaborative. These meetings and the interest shown during the feasibility assessment, led to the decision that a Midwestern wind power collaborative had strong potential for success.

University of Maryland Connector
Maryland State Highway Administration
In 2004, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) made a commitment to confer with various stakeholders before beginning the University of Maryland Connector highway planning study, an effort to assess the potential benefits and impacts of a connector road between the I-95/I-495 interchange and the University of Maryland at College Park campus. The rapid pace of residential, commercial and university development in Prince George’s County over the past decade had caused a corresponding increase in the frequency and severity of gridlock in the College Park area. The SHA considered a dedicated road for the university as a way of taking pressure off major arteries and side streets in the area. A series of interviews and a meeting of community residents and local elected officials elicited perspectives on the purpose and need for the planning study and the road itself and views on reasonable alternatives to be analyzed. The major finding was that while stakeholders were concerned about increasing levels of gridlock, they believed improved mass transit systems and pedestrian and cycling infrastructures were more efficient than solutions than the construction of more roads. The planning study is expected to go forward later this year.