The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is expanding the ways we learn and understand the effects of pollution on communities and the environment by incorporating lived experiences into our air permitting process in communities under the cumulative levels and effects statute.
Lived experiences are stories and testimonials gathered from individual members of a community in an area of interest to our regulatory work. These testimonials provide insight into the impact of pollution on communities in ways that might not be captured through epidemiological and toxicological reviews and other environmental evaluations currently utilized by the MPCA.
The MPCA will collect these experiences through a questionnaire provided to residents. Responses to the questionnaire will be incorporated into the cumulative levels and effects analysis conducted for an air permit issued by the MPCA. A cumulative levels and effects analysis is a comprehensive look at all the environmental and health-related information in the area that could be affected by a project. Information from a cumulative levels and effects analysis is used to develop permits and other regulatory actions.
Public feedback
The MPCA collected public feedback on our draft process for collecting lived experiences. You can request to have MPCA staff attend community meetings to discuss the process; contact Alexa Golemo at alexa.golemo@state.mn.us.