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Enforcement in New England

Regional ADR Program

The web pages for the EPA New England Regional ADR Program have been archived while the EPA website is being updated. Please note that the Regional ADR Program is still fully operational. Updated ADR information will be available at the EPA Conflict Prevention and Resolution Center (CPRC) website at https://www.epa.gov/adr/cprc_adratepa.html.

Thank you for your interest in environmental mediation and facilitation.
Elissa Tonkin (tonkin.elissa@epa.gov), Regional ADR Program Director
U.S. EPA Region 1
5 Post Office Square, Suite 100
Boston, MA 02109-3912

Who are we and what do we do?

Nationally recognized as a leader in promoting the effective use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in the environmental context, EPA New England's ADR Program is the only established regional team of its kind with so broad a constituency. Our team of trained, experienced mediators does the following:

  1. Consults to EPA staff (including regulatory and superfund case teams), and outside parties about whether some form of ADR is likely to be of use in particular circumstances;
  2. Helps groups of parties collaboratively select outside mediators;
  3. Helps groups of parties agree on & set up an ADR process;
  4. Provides direct mediation & facilitation services;
  5. Provides custom-designed training on conflict management and the effective use of ADR; and
  6. Provides outreach to other agencies, the public and the regulated community to promote effective ADR use.

Since our first recorded use of ADR in 1992, ADR techniques, primarily mediation and facilitation, have been applied in over 300 matters in this region. During the earlier years of our ADR program, ADR was used primarily in the Superfund context to address enforcement and remedy selection issues. Recent ADR activities have demonstrated a shift toward truly agency-wide use. In addition to the expansion of the statutory and programmatic settings in which ADR is being applied, we have also seen a widening of the range of ADR techniques being adapted and applied.

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