Tiefenbacher, John P.Cunningham, Catherine A.2021-02-222021-02-222006-05Cunningham, C. A. (2006). The effectiveness of public participation: Public engagement in the re-permitting of a smelter in El Paso, Texas (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas.https://hdl.handle.net/10877/13194Public participation has become a popular focus of current policymaking. To legitimize their policy decisions government agencies often scramble to somehow involve the public before implementation. Published literature however tells us that not all attempts at public participation are effective. Based upon a review of previous research, this thesis develops a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of public participation and applies this to an evaluation of efforts by three government agencies at three scales - the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ), and the City of El Paso. The evaluation analyzes the attempts at public participation in the process of re-permitting the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) smelter located west of downtown El Paso, Texas. Using four prescribed criteria, this evaluation creates an assessment that combines digital spatial data, government documents, reports, websites, and local newspaper articles. The evaluation included measures of the strength of an agency's ability: to establish legitimacy with the public, to include the use of value-based testimony in the decision-making process, to achieve decision making transparency, and most importantly, to involve those who are most affected by the hazard.Text64 pages1 file (.pdf)enpolitical planningpublic engagementEl Paso, Texassmelter facilitiesenvironmental protectionThesis