The department's overall goal is to protect human health and the environment. In addition to reviewing technical information and providing oversight to our regulated entities, the department also facilitates and encourages public participation throughout the permitting, investigation and remediation, or cleanup, processes. The department firmly believes those who must live with the outcome of an environmental decision should know what is going on, have the opportunity to raise relevant concerns and have an active role in the decision-making process. The public can provide valuable information and ideas that can help the department reach better technical solutions, improve the quality of decisions about protecting human health and the environmental and address environmental justice and other community concerns.
State and federal environmental laws and regulations require specific public participation activities at certain steps in the solid waste permitting, hazardous waste permitting and hazardous waste investigation and cleanup processes. Even if it were not required, the department is committed to fostering open communication between Missouri citizens and the department. Active public engagement is crucial to effectively and efficiently work together to protect the environment we all share.
The department works with regulated facilities, potentially responsible parties and, in some instances other state, federal and local agencies, to create the opportunities for Missouri citizens to take part in the permitting and cleanup processes. The public is invited to review and offer written comments on draft permit decisions and proposed cleanup actions. Public availability sessions and public meetings are held if significant information or a large amount of information needs to be shared with the public, or if the information is too complex to explain in print form. These events are an opportunity for the public and project staff to ask questions, share information and concerns and discuss issues, either in a group setting or one-on-one directly with each other.
Do you want to get involved?
Information about specific sites or facilities in your area:
- Sites and Regulated Facilities - Specific facilities and sites the department regulates, organized according to the type of facility
- Missouri Solid Waste Management Map - Interactive map of permitted solid waste landfills and processing facilities in Missouri
- Environmental Site Tracking and Research Tool (E-Start) - Interactive map of hazardous sites and regulated facilities in your neighborhood
Information about public comment periods and public meetings and events:
- Waste and Recycling Public Notices/ Public Comments - List of currently open public comment periods for Missouri's waste-related sites and regulated facilities
- Calendar - List of scheduled public meetings, public hearings and other public events
- GovDelivery topics - List of topics you can receive email or text notifications about when there are updates on specific issues