The Department of Environmental Management will hold the last of three public meetings it is hosting throughout the state to solicit comments on Work Plan 2000, an initiative designed to make DEM more efficient, responsive, and accountable to the public. The two-year plan charts the future course of DEM with a clearly defined set of goals, strategies, environmental indicators, and performance measures, with individual work plans for each bureau and division within the department. It also details pilot programs to address environmental issues collaboratively on a watershed-wide basis in the South County watershed region and in the Woonasquatucket watershed.

The workshop will also offer Rhode Islanders an opportunity to comment on DEM's draft Performance Partnership Agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which governs DEM's use of federal grants for certain air, water, waste management, and pesticide programs.

Monday's session will be held at North Providence Town Hall, a central meeting location for residents of the greater Providence, northern Rhode Island, and west bay regions of the state.