D. Getting Public Notice - Missouri Coalition for the Environment

D. Getting Public Notice

What is Public Notice?

In some cases the government is required to provide public notice. They may use the listservs mentioned above or sometimes notice must be posted in a particular place, such as outside city hall or in a particular newspaper or city journal. Learn where your local government publishes such notices and keep an eye out. For examples, see below.

Be sure to watch for any permit applications or proposed regulations that could affect your environment. As a member of the public, you usually have a right to receive notice (that is, announcements) when government agencies use their power to create rules or issue permits to polluters.

Monitoring these notices is important. The law may only provide a short period (for example, 30 days) after an agency publishes a notice for public comment A public comment period is a length of time during which a government agency will accept feedback and input from the public about a proposed permit or regulation. Prompt notice allows you more time to review the permit application or proposed rule. Failure to comment within the comment period usually means that 1) the agency will not pay attention to your comments, and 2) you may not appeal the government’s decision to a court.

Government notices can include information on permit applications, renewals, and approvals. These permits allow polluters to discharge pollution into the air and water under certain conditions and pursuant to specific criteria. Some government agencies publish or distribute a notice that they have received a permit application. In addition, government agencies often provide notice of proposed permit decisions.

Government agencies create and amend rules to regulate environmental pollution. Usually, the agency will start by drafting a rule or an amendment. Then the agency will publish or distribute notice about the proposed rule and invite public comment.

In a notice of an opportunity for public comment, the government typically invites the public to comment on a permit application or a proposed rule. For example, state agencies like the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) often seek public comment about a permit application by publishing public notice of the proposed permit. The notice will include a deadline or set a time limit (for example, 15, 30, or 90 days from the date of notice) for public comment.

Examples of Public Notice

*coming soon*

How to get Notice from Government Agencies

Your method of accessing notice of government actions will likely depend on the government agency involved and on the type of activity at issue in the permit or rule.

The government may publish announcements in newspapers or flyers about public meetings. Your town, city, or county government offices may also publish announcements about regular meetings on their website or in a city journal. For example, the calendars of meetings and agendas for Cape Girardeau, Columbia, St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Kansas City, and Springfield governments are located at the following internet addresses:

- Cape Girardeau Planning & Zoning Commission
- Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission
- St. Louis City Planning & Zoning Commission
- St. Louis County Planning & Zoning Commission
- Kansas City Planning and Zoning Commission
- Springfield Planning & Zoning Commission

These web addresses may have changed by the time you are reading this. It should be relatively easy, however, to find current web addresses.

Government websites are, in general, good sources of information. Please refer to Section A. People and Agencies to Know, for lists of state and federal environmental agencies. These agencies have websites that you can search for public notices and other information. For example, below are public notice websites for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Missouri Department of Conservation —two important state environmental agencies. The following internet addresses are subject to change, but it should be relatively easy to find current web addresses.

- Missouri Department of Natural Resources – MO DNR Public Notices
- Missouri Department of Conservation – MDC Public Notices

If you would like to have public notices sent directly to you, you can request to be added to a government agency email “listserv.” See Section C. Getting Information From the Government – Lists to Follow, for more information about listservs.

You can also find proposed state rules in the Missouri Register.

On a Federal level, the Federal government compiles public notices about many topics in a daily publication called the Federal Register. You can subscribe online to receive an electronic copy of the Federal Register. You can sign up for the Federal Register here.