Assignment Instructions/ Description
Paper #3: Public Comments w/ Peer Review
The Public Comments assignment comprises 15% of your course grade. You may choose to do this assignment independently or in small teams of 2-3. The length and content of your comments may vary substantially depending on the topic, but your comments should be at least 2 pages in length using a professional business format (i.e., single-spaced, left-justified).
The following timeline will allow for a peer review process:
3/26/19 – Submit draft to two peer reviewers (cc’ instructor on emails)
4/2/19 – Return 2 peer reviews to corresponding authors (cc’ instructor on emails)
4/11/19 – Submit final Public Comments w/peer reviews via GradeCraft by 4:00 pm
If you (or your team) do not provide peer reviews to at least two other students or teams, you (or your team) will automatically lose 15 points on your final paper grade.
For this assignment, you are asked to prepare public comments on an environmental decision to express support or dissent for specific components of the decision. As we will discuss in class, commenting is a process that allows individuals, organizations, agencies, and businesses to provide written input on environmental policies or programs under review. In class, we will review past comments, learn how to effectively access upcoming decisions on government websites, and discuss strategies for effective commenting. You may choose to submit comments on a completed or pending decision and, if you choose a pending decision, you are encouraged to submit your comments to the corresponding agency.
Evidence-Based: While this is not meant to be a formal research paper, your comments should rely on credible resources and be evidence-based. For instance, you may wish to refer to resources we have discussed in class, including EPA’s various databases or EJScreen or CDC’s Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry’s ToxProfiles or Environmental Health Tracking Network. While a specific citation format is not required, these references should be cited in a professional and consistent format with sufficient information that would allow readers or viewers to refer back to these sources.
Peer Review: You (or your team) will be assigned to peer review two of your classmates’ (or two teams’) draft public comments. A structured rubric will be provided in advance in Canvas. Professional writing is rarely, if ever, done alone without collaborators or reviewers. The purpose of this activity is to improve your paper with feedback and to read examples of similar work.
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