The Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board convened May 3-4 in Paducah, Kentucky. Participants took part in the meeting in person and virtually.
The Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board convened May 3-4 in Paducah, Kentucky. Participants took part in the meeting in person and virtually.

PADUCAH, Ky. – Members of eight local advisory boards across the cleanup complex gathered on May 3-4 for the biannual Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB) National Chairs meeting, where they discussed cleanup progress and accomplishments, Biden administration priorities, updates on EM’s budget, the status of the board’s latest recommendations and other topics.

EM leadership attended the two-day meeting in Paducah to provide program updates and hear directly from local advisory board members regarding EM activities. Participants attended the meeting in person and virtually. Some attendees toured EM’s Paducah Site.

“By continuing to strengthen our engagement with the EM SSAB, and with a diverse set of stakeholders, EM can build on our record of results, deliver for communities, and prepare for sustainable cleanup success,” EM Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Candice Robertson said.

The Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB) was created to involve stakeholders more directly in EM’s cleanup decisions, providing advice and recommendations on cleanup and environmental management activities.
The Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB) was created to involve stakeholders more directly in EM’s cleanup decisions, providing advice and recommendations on cleanup and environmental management activities.

Kristen Ellis, EM’s acting director of regulatory, intergovernmental and stakeholder engagement, discussed the administration’s goals and highlighted EM’s efforts to build a skilled, diverse workforce of the future through science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) initiatives such as EM’s Minority Serving Institutions Partnership Program (MSIPP). She also discussed DOE’s recently published Equity Action Plan that outlines how to advance equity and remove barriers for members of underserved communities to access DOE programs, benefits and services.

The local EM SSAB members discussed their most recent recommendations and some potential topics for the future, as well as common challenges.

The next EM SSAB National Chairs meeting is planned for September 2022, hosted by the Northern New Mexico Citizens' Advisory Board in Santa Fe, New Mexico.