CHARTER OF THE
SECTION ON STATISTICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

(Revised 1995)

Article I. NAME

The name of this organization is the Section on Statistics and the Environment of the American Statistical Association (hereafter calledthe Association).

Article II. OBJECTIVES

The objective of the Section is to serve as the focal point for Association members with special interests in the following areas:

1. Application and interpretation of statistics in disciplines related to the environment including, but not limited to, such areas asenvironmental monitoring, environmental chemistry, environmental epidemiology, terrestrial and aquatic ecology, atmospheric modeling, geochemistry, geostatistics, groundwater modeling, dose-response modeling and risk assessment of environmental contaminants, cost benefit studies, and environmental policy studies.
2. Development of improved statistical theory, concepts, and procedures for application to problems of the environment.
3. Improvement of training in environmental statistics, including the development of training materials.

The Section will perform such activities as will support the interests specified above. These will include, but are not limited to:

1. Sponsorship, or cosponsorship with other organizations (including other ASA Sections), of meetings, training courses, and seminars that involve statistics and the environment.

2. Publication of proceedings, monographs, reports, and newsletters as needed to disseminate the results of activities sponsored by theSection.

3. Advising governmental and non-profit organizations on statisticalaspects of environmental issues, including study design, datacollection, data analysis, and data interpretation.

4. Encouragement of early and substantial statistical input toenvironmental studies, including those supported by both the public andprivate sectors.

5. Liaison between the Association and other professional organizations with similar environmental interests.

Article III. MEMBERSHIP

Membership in the Section shall include all full members of the Association who pay dues to the Section for the current membership year.

A person's membership year in the Section coincides with his or her membership year in the Association.

Article IV. OFFICERS

The officers of the Section shall consist of the Chair, the Chair-Elect, the Past Chair, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the Publications Chair, the Publications Chair-Elect, the Program Chair, the Program Chair-Elect, and the Representative(s) to the Council on Sections. All officers must be members of both the Association and the Section.

Article V. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

The Executive Committee of the Section shall consist of the officers of the Section as described in Article IV. Except as specifically noted elsewhere in this Charter, the Executive Committee has complete management responsibility for the affairs of the Section. The quorum for the Executive Committee is a majority of its members, and its Chair is the Section Chair.

Article VI. DUES

The amount of dues for Section membership shall be set by a majority vote of a quorum of the Executive Committee.

Article VII. METHOD OF SELECTION

The Past Chair shall serve as Chair of the Nominating Committee. Three additional members of the Section, appointed by the Chair of the Nominating Committee, shall also serve on this committee. Each year theNominating Committee shall submit, to the Secretary of the Associationand to the Section Chair, at least two nominations for each position tobe filled. These positions are Chair-Elect, Treasurer, Publications Chair-Elect, Program Chair-Elect, and Representative(s) to the Council on Sections.The Association's general deadline for submission on nominations shall apply.

Any Section member nominated by a written petition signed by at least 25Section members shall also appear on the ballot, provided that the petition is submitted to the Secretary of the Association within 45 daysafter the mailing date of the publication announcing the names of the candidates submitted by the Nominating Committee. Balloting shall be carried out as a part of the Association's annual elections, in accordance with the rules for those elections.

If the office of Chair becomes vacant, the Chair-Elect shall becomeChair, the term extending through the following year. The same principle of succession applies to vacancies in the offices of Secretary, Publications Chair, and Program Chair. Vacancies in the offices of Chair-Elect, Treasurer, Publications Chair-Elect, Program Chair-Elect, and Representative(s) to the Council on Sections may be filled by appointment by the Chair, subject to majority approval of the Executive Committee.

All such appointments will be for the balance of the normal term of office. In the event that these rules cannot be followed, vacant positions may be filled by majority vote of the current members of the Executive Committee.

Article VIII. TERM OF OFFICE

The term of office of the officers shall be one year, except for the Publications Chair whose term shall be two years, and the Representative(s) to the Council of Sections whose term is specified by the Charter of the Council of Sections. At the annual change of officers, which occurs on January 1, the Chair Elect shall succeed the Chair, who will in turn succeed the outgoing Past Chair. The Publications Chair-Elect shall succeed the Publications Chair, the Program Chair-Elect shall succeed the Program Chair, and the Treasurer shall succeed the outgoing Secretary.

Article IX. COMMITTEES

From time to time the Chair may appoint committees to consider specific technical issues to organize conferences, or for other purposes related to Section objectives. Such appointments require annual renewal. The Chair of such a committee must be a member of both the Section and the Association.

Article X. PUBLICATIONS

Publication of non journal periodicals, reports, proceedings, or other publications may be authorized by majority vote of the Executive Committee. Editors of Section publications must be members of the Section.

Article XI. MEETINGS

The annual business meeting of the Section shall be held during the annual meetings of the Association. Business may also be conducted with the Section members by mail.

The Executive Committee shall meet at each annual meeting of the Association and at least once between annual meetings at times and places designated by the Chair with the consent of the Executive Committee. Meetings may be held by a call of the Chair, or by a written petition signed by four members of the Executive Committee. Between meetings business may be conducted by mail or telephone.

All meeting shall follow the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order, except as modified by this Charter, the Charter of the Council of Sections, the Constitution or By-Laws of the Association, or a two-thirds vote of a quorum of the Executive Committee.

Article XII. AMENDMENTS

Amendments to this Charter may be proposed by the Executive Committee or by petition signed by at least 25 members of the Sectionand submitted to the Executive Committee. The proposed amendment shall be submitted to the members of the Section for mail vote at the time of the annual election of officers. If approved by a majority of Section members voting, the amendment shall then be considered by the Association's Council of Sections. If approved by the Council, the amendment shall take effect immediately.