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Document Review Policies

Purpose:

The following policies are intended to provide a method for ensuring that the documents produced by the Lower Nehalem Watershed Council are:

• accurate
• reflect the opinions of Watershed Council
• are processed in an expeditious manner and
• are readily available for review.

Definitions:      

Documents as used in these policies, includes policies, public documents and grant proposals as defined below.  It does not include:

• letters from the Chairperson or Secretary for which prior approval has been received from the Council or Steering Committee or
• news releases that are to be reviewed by the Council chairperson (as provided for in the by-laws).

Policies are guiding principles intended to:

• describe how decisions are made or
• provide general direction for Council actions (Strategic and Action Plans are considered to be policies)

Public documents include newsletters and documents placed on the council web site.

Grant proposals refer to proposals for funding of council projects that are submitted to state and federal government agencies or private foundations and organizations.  There are two types of proposals to consider: 

• Routine and
• New

Routine grant proposals include:

• necessary operations funding
• project continuation with no change of scope
• resubmitted proposals for previously approved Council projects

New grant proposals are those that do not fall within these categories, and it is recommended their authors first seek the advice of the Steering Committee.

Steering Committee refers to the Steering Committee established by the Council Chairman to provide leadership and direction to the Council  (as described in the bylaws).

Lead person includes chairs or lead persons of any committee(s) or work group(s) established by the Council.

Policies:

Documents developed by Council members and staff will be:

1. labeled as drafts until adopted,
2. dated to indicate when they were last revised,
3. placed on the council web site after approval.

Documents that establish policy are:

1. reviewed first by the Steering Committee and appropriate revisions made,
2. presented to the full council for comment and suggested revisions,
3. open for additional revisions until the following council meeting,
4. adopted at the second council meeting if consensus (as defined in the bylaws) is reached for their implementation.

Public documents are:

1. reviewed first by the Steering Committee and lead persons and appropriate revisions made,
2. reviewed by the full council if it is deemed appropriate by the Steering Committee,
3. adopted when there is consensus within the Steering Committee for their release.

Routine grant proposals are:

1. reviewed by the lead person(s) having responsibilities for the area covered by the proposal
2. reviewed by state agency technical staff as required by the funding source
3. approved by the Chairperson prior to submission

New grant proposals are:

1. presented to the Council as a Proposal Summary at least one month prior to the due date for submission. Proposal Summaries should consider all of the following, if applicable:
   • Provide background information or describe current conditions at the project site(s)
   • Describe the scope of the project.  What are you proposing that we do?
   • List possible agencies and organizations that might participate or partner in the proposed project
   • Consider the agencies and individuals who should review the proposal before it is submitted for funding i.e., state and federal agencies, stakeholders, Council members.
2. returned to the council for a second review if the scope of the project is changed
3. reviewed by the lead person(s) having responsibilities for the area covered by the proposal.
4. reviewed by state agency technical staff as required by the funding source
5. approved by the Chairperson prior to submission.

If a lead person who has interest in the content of any document is not present at the time of document review, that lead person will be given a copy of the document and at least five days to make comments.

The group (Council or Steering Committee) reviewing the document will determine if a document needing revision should be returned for further review by the group.