ECA Peer Exchange Program
The most valuable program that ECA and DOE work on together is the peer exchange program. ECA provides a venue and funding for local government officials in communities impacted by DOE activities with the opportunity to explore issues impacting their communities. The project’s core is "peer matching," built around an interaction strategy that includes activities, which have involved individual meetings, document sharing, and site visits. Past peer exchanges have been on diverse issues such as environmental cleanup, DOE and local government teaming, transportation, and transition issues.
The exchanges usually last for approximately two days and are usually hosted by a city or county adjacent to a DOE facility. Several peer exchanges can also be an opportunity for an elected official or municipal staff to spend time with a peer going through a similar experience and allow each to learn from each other. As a part of the peer exchange process, ECA documents each peer exchange and publishes a summary on ECA's website.
The peer exchange program has accomplished the following:
- Seven large peer exchanges between multiple DOE communities. The breadth of issues covered includes: environmental cleanup; transportation of waste and materials; continuing missions; local government and DOE relations; long-term stewardship; contention with changing missions; and emergency preparedness and response) added to the participants' understanding of the issues impacting similarly situated communities.
- One peer exchange between five local governments on long-term stewardship;
- Two peer exchanges between two local governments on emergency response;
- Two peer exchanges between DOE and DOD base closure communities;
- Two ECA meetings that featured DOD base closure community officials;
- Additionally, ECA has facilitated document sharing and increased interaction between various local governments on specific issues including environmental cleanup, long-term stewardship, transportation, and emergency response.
