EPC relies upon and welcomes public
understanding and support to achieve its mission, and the Commission
encourages public participation. Many opportunities exist for the public
to participate: attend or observe the televised EPC meetings;
follow and contribute to discussions of the Citizens
En
vironmental Advisory Committee (CEAC); share information and comment
on environmental issues directly to the Commission members, Executive
Director and staff; notify the agency of situations that raise concern
or that may constitute violations. EPC is your agency as it
endeavors to serve your environmental interests locally, statewide, and
nationally. Its staff is happy to provide you with information and
to respond to your concerns. Some
information is available on this website. For additional
information,
please call or visit the agency at your convenience.
Answers to
Frequently Asked
Questions about the EPC.
Citizen Complaints
Anyone who has an environmental concern about a circumstance in
Hillsborough County can ask the Environmental Protection Commission to
investigate. Anyone with a complaint should call the appropriate
division (click on the appropriate box to the left) or, if you’re not
sure which division to contact, please call (813) 627-2600 and ask the
operator. Pursuant to
Chapter 119, F.S. any e-mails, letters, investigation reports, etc.
submitted by a citizen or created by an EPC staff member may be public
record and subject to public inspection.
Section 668.6076,
F.S. requires the following statement be posted: “Under Florida law,
e-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your e-mail
address released in response to a public records request, do not send
electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or
in writing.”
Citizen's
Environmental Advisory Committee (CEAC)
The Commission established the CEAC several years ago to provide a
forum for sharing information with concerned citizens, and for allowing
their participation in EPC’s activities. Each Commissioner appoints
two members, and each municipality in Hillsborough County appoints one
member to CEAC (Members). They meet
monthly to discuss environmental issues, bring recommendations to the
Commission and become better informed regarding the operations of the
agency (ByLaws*). Their meeting dates are
on the
Calendar, and agendas are
posted as early as possible before each meeting.
*The CEAC ByLaws are PDF documents and
require the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. To download the Adobe
Reader, visit the Adobe site.
Pollution
Recovery Fund
One of CEAC’s annual functions is the review of applications
received for funding from EPC’s Pollution Recovery Fund (PRF) and from
the Gardinier Trust Fund. CEAC endeavors to ensure that our limited
funds are spent on projects that bring great environmental benefit to
our environment. The PRF is funded by penalties obtained through
enforcement against environmental violations. Chapter 1-9 of EPC’s
Rules
sets out the parameters for spending the PRF. Copies of the application forms can be
found under
PRF.
Public and Intergovernmental
Affairs
A new position has been created for the purpose of facilitating
communication between citizens and the EPC, and to improve the sharing
and use of information about the environmental programs and data of the
agency. One focus of that effort is this website, and any suggestions
for its improvement would be most welcome. Please also visit the
News,
Events & Issues pages for more information about the agency.
