External Engagement / Public Involvement
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Public Meetings
The NRC holds approximately 800 public meetings per year to help the public understand the important work we do and why we do it. Since 2019, the Environmental Center of Expertise (ECOE) has held over 132 public meetings regarding environmental reviews and other purposes. Public meetings are broken down into three categories: observation, information, and comment gathering. The NRC has developed a guide that breaks down information regarding public meetings: NRC Public Meeting Brochure.
The NRC staff hosts multiple public meetings during an environmental review. Development of an environmental impact statement (EIS) typically involves one or more scoping meetings to collect public comments on the scope of the environmental review and one or more meetings, on the draft EIS, to collect public comments on the preliminary results of the staff’s review. The staff may hold or participate in other public meetings involving technical matters during the course of the review. Check out the NRC’s public meeting schedule.
How to Submit Comments
Comments may be submitted to the NRC through several methods:
- By mail to: Office Administration, Mailstop TWFN-7-A60M, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-0001
- Through Regulations.gov with the appropriate Docket ID; or
- Via project-specific emails, the details of which are accessible during public meetings
- In person at a public meeting for scoping or regarding the draft EIS
Public Comment Data
The ECOE staff bins, sorts, and responds to public comments gathered from public meetings as well as comments submitted via Regulations.gov, email, and through the mail. Below is a graphical representation of the number of comments received since the year 2000 for various project types.