The goal of community outreach is to advocate for and strengthen early and meaningful community participation in the U.S. Department of the Navy’s (Navy) Environmental Restoration Program (ERP). The overarching objective of the Navy’s ERP is to protect human health and the environment from past hazardous waste practices and releases at Navy and Marine Corps Installation Restoration (IR) Program sites. The Navy is committed to involving the public during the site investigation and cleanup process at Naval Base Point Loma (NBPL), by both formal and informal means of communications. The health and safety both on base and in our communities is a top Navy priority.
In addition, federal and state laws and regulations require community involvement during site investigation and cleanup activities conducted under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This ensures that the public is informed and involved early, that public concerns are heard, and their comments are considered in making final decisions on managing cleanup activities. The Navy encourages meaningful and productive participation by everyone in the community.
The Navy, in conjunction with State of California regulatory agencies, are responsible for oversight of the Navy’s ERP. The Navy developed a community involvement plan (CIP) in 2013 and updated it in 2017. The next CIP update is scheduled to occur in 2023. The CIP provides an opportunity for community outreach activities at NBPL, addressing both community concerns and expectations. Community involvement described in the CIP provides opportunities for active public involvement, strives to meet the community’s needs for information, seeks community input concerning environmental cleanup decisions, and provides mechanisms for feedback to the public on how the Navy is incorporating the community’s concerns into the ERP at NBPL. The 2017 CIP is available in the NBPL Administrative Record for the Navy’s ERP, accessible through the Administrative Records tab on this website.
Community outreach activities include conducting community meetings; publishing fact sheets, newsletters, and public notices; and contacting the community through website postings and by electronic mail. Some documents produced during Navy site investigation and cleanup activities have a required formal review period during which the public can provide comments and input, while other documents are not subject to the same public review and comment requirement. The Navy provides opportunities for public review of these documents in community forums such as Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) meetings and upon request.
Restoration Advisory Board
The NBPL RAB is a vital link between the community, the Navy, and the regulatory agencies. Part of the Navy and regulatory agency decision-making process is to consider comments from the public and respond to them. The RAB discusses and provides comments on IR site CERCLA documents across all NBPL facilities, including the NBPL IR sites.
The goal of a RAB is to encourage regular, two-way communication during the environmental restoration process by:
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Making information about the investigation and cleanup actions available to members of the public and answering any questions they may have concerning IR projects.
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Gaining effective input from stakeholders on cleanup activities.
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Increasing the installation’s responsiveness to the community’s environmental restoration concerns.
The RAB is an important part of the community involvement program. A successful RAB partnership can prevent delays and contribute to better decisions about environmental cleanup projects.
The Navy solicited interest in forming a RAB from community members and stakeholders in 2009, and the RAB held its first meeting in January 2010. By July 2010, the RAB had elected its full advisory board and approved a mission statement and rules of operation. The RAB mission statement and rules of operation were updated and reauthorized in February 2020.
The RAB meetings are held regularly, and public attendance is encouraged. They are conducted by the Naval Facilities Engineering System Command Southwest (NAVFAC SW) and community representative co-chairs and are regularly attended by NAVFAC SW Environmental Restoration staff; NBPL Environmental Support staff; California Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Toxic Substances Control and Regional Water Quality Control Board representatives; and community volunteers.
The RAB reviews and discusses new membership applications, and provides site status updates, discusses IR documents and the review process, takes input and answers questions from the community, and addresses other topics including future meetings and agendas and the annual site visit hosted for community members. Currently, the RAB meets at the following location on a quarterly basis, unless otherwise announced:
Southwestern Yacht Club
2702 Qualtrough Street
San Diego, CA 92106
CLICK HERE for information on the NBPL Environmental Support program, RAB membership, and RAB meetings.
Mailing List
A mailing list of interested parties in the surrounding community is maintained and updated periodically by theNBPL ERP. Currently, the list includes approximately 170 local residents; local, state, and federal regulatory agencies; government offices; news media; homeowner's associations; neighborhood watches; newsletters of environmental organizations; city mayors and council members; and other interested parties. Those on the list will receive fact sheets, news releases, meeting notices, meeting minutes, and other important information. Members of the public can request to be added to the mailing list by either attending the RAB or contacting:
Lead Project Manager
Naval Base Point Loma Environmental Restoration
EV Core, Floor 11
750 Pacific Highway
San Diego, CA 92132-5190
(619) 705-5431
Information Repository
Information repositories have been established to provide public access to technical reports and other information about the investigation and cleanup of sites at NBPL. A collection of environmental restoration documents is available online in the Administrative Record files.
CLICK HERE to access the online Administrative Record files for NBPL.
Correspondence, reports, minutes, fact sheets, public notices, and other records are available for public review at the following locations:
Administrative Record
Point Loma/Hervey Branch Library
3701 Voltaire Street
San Diego, California 92107
(619) 531-1539
Command Records Manager
Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Southwest
750 Pacific Highway
Code EV33, NBSD Bldg. 3519
San Diego, CA 92132-5190
(619) 556-1280
Public Meetings
The NAVFAC SW Environmental Restoration Program holds additional public meetings about project events of significance that cannot be accommodated by the regular RAB meeting schedule, providing the public with current information about investigations, remedial actions, or removal action decisions, and responding to specific community concerns, issues, or events. Formal public hearings are also held in conjunction with public comment periods for major technical milestones, such as the proposed remedial action plans required for removal and remedial actions. These meetings will be announced in fact sheets, public notices in local newspapers, and by communications sent to community mailing list members.