Small Community Environmental Compliance Assistance Project
description
Transcript of Small Community Environmental Compliance Assistance Project
1
Small Community Small Community Environmental Compliance Environmental Compliance
Assistance ProjectAssistance Project
May 8, 2007
Arizona’s
2
Byron JamesNortheastern Arizona Community Liaison
3
Presentation Outline1. ADEQ Community Outreach Program
2. Scope of Small Community Project
3. Project Elements
4. Lessons Learned
5. Contact Information
4
Community Outreach Program
Agency OmbudsmanFour Community Liaisons
5
ADEQ Ombudsman• Listens to questions and concerns from citizens
and businesses and helps guide them in resolving issues
• Provides assistance from the ADEQ Director’s office
• Facilitates communications between the agency and its stakeholders.
6
Community Liaisons• Established in 2000• Covering the four corners of Arizona (Yuma, Safford, Kingman, St. Johns)• Focus on Rural Arizona• Allows for frequent, direct contact with
agency customers
7
The Community Liaisons:
• Help identify local needs and respond to them quickly• Coordinate with ADEQ program staff to answer specific questions or resolve problems• Provide permitting assistance• Offer compliance assistance outside of the enforcement process• Perform outreach on grant funding opportunities and new and existing ADEQ regulatory programs and initiatives• Share expertise on area issues• Coordinate activities with other state agencies and local governments• Provide customer service as requested to the regulated community, the
public, citizen groups, districts and local governments
8
Small Community Project• Began August 2005• Grant from Environmental Council
of States (ECOS)• Grant completed September 2006• Project remains ongoing
9
Why Small Community Project?• Small Communities have limited financial,
technical and administrative resources for environmental compliance
• EPA Small Local Governments Compliance Assistance Policy
• Under-utilized State small community policy• Common environmental violations among
Arizona’s small communities
10
Project Purpose• Facilitate small local governments’ efforts to
develop and implement a Small Community Environmental Protection Plan (SCEPP)– A SCEPP is “less robust” Environmental
Management System (EMS)
• Promote sustained environmental compliance
11
Project Elements• New Small Community Policy• Brochures• “One-stop shopping” Web page• Implementation Guide• Outreach
12
Small Community Policy• Our simplified policy is consistent with the EPA’s policy• Small communities < 3,300 persons are eligible to
participate; and small communities between 3,300 and 10,000 persons and special districts are eligible provided they demonstrate need (capacity test);
• Good faith demonstration;• Small community environmental protection plan (SCEPP);• Special penalty considerations (significant reduction or
waiver of penalties)
13
Printed Brochures• Address common environmental violations• Intended for city staff, administrators, elected
officials and the general public• Widely distributed• Have proven useful for other regulated entities
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
“One-Stop Shopping” Web Page• www.azdeq.gov• Contains link to ECOS’ Web site; Small
Community Policy; brochures; national resources; drinking water, wastewater and asbestos resources; funding and technical assistance agencies; statute and rule information; contacts; etc.
21
22
Implementation Guide• Intended to lead small communities
through the policy requirements• Description of environmental regulations• Self-assessment guide• SCEPP template• Policy checklist• Glossary of terms
23
Outreach• In advance of policy development to assess
community needs• After completion of policy and brochures• Face-to-face meetings with small community
and special district staff• Ongoing
24
Lessons Learned• Special districts are as much in need of assistance
as small communities;• Limited staff makes it hard for small communities
to develop a full EMS;• State policy can be developed consistent with
EPA’s small community policy, while meeting the needs of local small communities;
25
Lessons Learned• Small communities are more apt to develop written
procedures with assistance and templates (Implementation Guide);
• Small communities also view ADEQ Small Community Policy benefits beyond the obvious (staff training and marketing for economic development);
• The more populated small communities generally expressed less interest in the Policy;
26
Lessons Leaned• ADEQ’s focus on small communities has
strengthened relations with local governments;• Written materials which target common
violations are useful;• There are many national resources available to
small communities and small businesses, and an effort to pull this information together is useful;
27
Lessons Leaned• The team approach worked well for
development of Arizona’s small community materials; and
• The materials developed for small communities are also useful to agency staff and programs, and for outreach to the regulated community in general.
28
What Now?• Maintain Web page• Continue outreach• One on one assistance to small communities
for SCEPP development• Keep EPA updated on small communities
“in the program” to help them remain eligible for coverage under EPA’s policy
29
ADEQ wishes to express appreciation to EPA and
ECOS for the grant funding for this successful project.
30
Contact informationByron James, Community Liaison
Northeastern ArizonaP.O. Box 2129
St. Johns, Arizona, 85936(928) [email protected]
ADEQ Toll-Free (800) 234-5677