The Department of Environmental Protection’s Northcentral Regional Citizens’ Roundtable

celebrated its 30th anniversary of on-going, transparent community dialogue at Monday evening’s meeting, which featured DEP Secretary E. Christopher Abruzzo as the special guest speaker.

“The Corbett administration made the revitalization of the department’s regional roundtables a priority from the very beginning, recognizing the need to openly share important agency information and receive feedback from citizens,” DEP Secretary E. Christopher Abruzzo said. “This group, however, needed no revitalization, celebrating 30 years of continual meetings today. I commend them for their dedication and interest in protecting our environment.”

For three decades, the Northcentral Regional Citizens’ Roundtable has enabled DEP to communicate openly and receive valuable feedback on a wide variety of environmental topics. The roundtable has held 120 consecutive quarterly meetings-in January, April, July and October of each year since its first meeting on April 26, 1984.

“The regional roundtable has been a real success story with regard to the department’s outreach efforts,” DEP Northcentral Regional Director Marcus Kohl said. “While the membership has changed over the years, the purpose has not—to improve communication and public participation by explaining our different program initiatives and regulations, and answering questions.”

The 19-member group represents environmental and public interest groups, business and industry, government, and academia. The group’s members reside in seven north-central Pennsylvania counties, including Centre, Clinton, Lycoming, Northumberland, Snyder, Tioga and Union.

Elected to serve two-year terms, the roundtable selects a chairperson and a steering committee. Megan Lehman, the current chairperson, represents Lycoming County’s Department of Planning and Community Development.

For more information, including meeting times and locations, visit DEP’s Northcentral Regional Citizens’ Roundtable webpage.

4/28/2014