Why are Technical Committee meetings closed?
The overriding commitment of the Technical Committee is to keep the process open and transparent to full public view. A challenge in that commitment, however, is stemming the flow of misinformation that could arise from partial disclosure of facts or comments taken out of context. Technical Committee meetings typically go eight hours a day or longer and involve complex scientific discussions. Working to consensus dictates that appropriate time is given for all views to be aired and heard. At the end of the day, however, the Technical Committee speaks with a united voice on decisions all members support. Those decisions are always made completely public through reports of the minutes of the TC meetings to the Public Advisory Committee, the notes of the Independent Process Observer and through regular updates sent to the news media, posted on the Soils Study web site and published in newsletters. Even though the Technical Committees meetings are closed, members of the community are welco
