[4] When should an agency update its public involvement process?

The planning regulations do not specify a schedule for updating public involvement processes. Rather, an existing process should be updated whenever conditions indicate that it is ineffective. The enhanced focus on public involvement in the ISTEA and the need for more proactive outreach than has been the case in the past, however, necessitate an evolutionary approach. The public involvement process should be an integral part of an agency's activities and its adequacy should be explicitly considered each time an agency makes major program changes, initiates new studies to identify solutions to transportation problems, and updates its plans.