Update from Big Sky Roundtable -1998

The Region 8 Peaks to Prairies Center is one of nine national Centers. The coalition of regional centers is called P2Rx. EPA is requiring a 3-year vision from each of the regional centers. Initiatives proposed for Region 8 in 1999-2002 are as follows:

• Fine tuning regional and national networking - web site, conference calls, annual roundtable, news distribution and developing partnerships with other entities
• Maintain/expand assistance provider and higher education databases.
• Maintain regional reference collection - loan library, collection of regionally produced resources, linking with larger collections, publishing documents on-line. Need input on other potential uses.
• Regional marketing support - define what is needed, regional P2 week activities? These have been produced: television PSAs, Radio PSAs, web site, letterhead, business card, P2Rx articles in nationally syndicated magazines.
• Sponsor one training per year of regional benefit.
• Develop evaluation/measurement standards or suggestions - send any metrics used in your state.
• Mini-grants program for P2 efforts with regional benefit - currently funded: Utah - construction waste P2, Montana - Enviro-Rangers youth club. New RFP now out.
• P2 construction and autobody sector lead, expand to petroleum/refinery and national parks
• Identify sustainable funding

EPA / State Updates

PPIS funding should stay the same at $4.995K nationally. He is anticipating funds will be consistent, and is trying to keep money for those initiatives. PPIS last year took out $50k for general program support and $50k for tribal initiatives. Hoping to step up the Federal Register Notice in October with replies due by January. Trends: Region 8 integrates pollution prevention incentives for states (PPIS) with the performance partnership grants (PPG). Many P2 benefits.

State technical assistance program brochure may come out in the fall from headquarters serving as a reference guide to states programs. PBT initiative with PPIS grants. This is to continue for the next few years. It is designed to identify certain sectors that could identify sources of and how to PBTs. Will trickle down to regional and state initiatives. Last year Region 5 was funded for combustion and boiler initiatives. He said that at minimum, this will be a two year interest. There is a strategy and lists are on web site.

The National Resources Defense Council partnered with DOW Chemical in a project to find pollution prevention opportunities at DOW's Midland Michigan site. The program involved community groups, and set guidelines with the expectation of a 35% reduction. The program exceeded every goal set, and saved millions of dollars. John said EPA will work with NRDC to identify more sites. They have identified 3 possible companies so far.

Innovative Approaches to Environmental Protection Taskforce was created last year to give recognition to P2 programs. There were a handful of new/different ideas used: environmental stewardship and compliance initiatives. Project will bring compliance assistance people together. Aiming for Excellence report will be on the web.

Environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) is a top priority. The program received additional support from Congress in the last fiscal year. A new feature of the program is a database of product categories that list and reference environmental aspects of the products. Another pilot project dealt with a renovation of the Pentagon.

Congress has provided a new mandate for strategic planning called the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), Washington, D.C., is integrating this document's objectives and strategies in all activities and has passed along this guidance to the Regions. The element of the plan that the Region 8 Pollution Prevention Program is guided by is Goal 4, Objective 5: Protect Communities, Improve Pollution Prevention Strategies, Tools, and Approaches. Performance measures of this goal are to integrate P2 strategies, tools and approaches into state and tribal environmental regulatory core programs and in regional multi-media and voluntary partnership activities, maintain up-to-date information in the national GranTrack system on all region P2 grants, ensure that the Regional P2 Resource Exchange (P2Rx) Center is responsive to the needs of its states and that the Center collaborates with other Centers to develop national standards for P2 information sharing, ensure activities are ongoing to reduce or eliminate persistent bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals in the environment, and incorporate environmental considerations into the design and redesign of products, processes, and technical and management systems. Congress will continue to give EPA money as long as they can show progress towards these efforts. Measuring results of these activities will show progress and the states' creative ideas on measurements are solicited. In addition to the mandate from Congress, EPA also recognizes that the states have environmental goals to meet and EPA will strive to balance the goals of the states with those mandated by Congress.

Working on regulatory aspects of P2 and are involved in the SPRINT project working with Tellus. So far they have listed all that has been done in integration and have decided if they meet the seven SPRINT criteria required to make P2 change comprehensive, systematic and quantifiable -- They will receive 18 month work plans, and get training for the P2 community.

P2 link is an inter-divisional team that has different job functions. Consists of 30 people that were hand picked for their personality and job function. They are getting together with the core P2 program staff and will be responsible for implementing the SPRINT plan as well as other multi-media prevention-based activities.

Still have governor's challenge. Companies must make voluntary commitments to significant emissions reductions through prevention practices. There are no minimum requirements. In exchange, the companies receive technical assistance and public recognition.

Kathy runs this approximately $95,000 grants program. Each proposal that she receives shows the amount of money that is matched. This program is funded by the Colorado P2 act. To get the money, a fee was created from the SARA 3 community right to know act. The money they receive goes straight into the community. Projecting that they will get near $100,000 this year.

Some CDPHE staff have undergone Natural Step Training and there are plans to integrate training with an environmental/economic efficiency strategy for the agency. The Council of State Governments funded an exchange in P2 technology, services and policy to enhance trade with Asia. The project was administered by the Environmental Business Alliance who helped created a partnership with Malaysia.

Environmental Leadership Program. There are currently no leaders but there are five candidates. All candidates have been admitted to the program since August. She believes that the slow start of the program is due to the fact that the agency doesn't yet provide compelling incentives. The companies must have a clean compliance record for 3 years, an established P2 program, and community programs to be eligible.

Compass Project - this is a two year effort to create a system that will measure environmental results of traditional and non-traditional compliance activities of the agency. She expects it will be hard to design the soft ware, but also difficult to get compliance staff to participate.

The air program is doing an online tool kit for inspectors. The purpose is so the inspectors can quickly look at information before going on to a inspection.

The MSU Extension P2 program is involved in several related projects outside PPIS funding including:

Linking with students and faculty at seven Montana tribal colleges through internships funded by Environmental Justice mini-grants to do P2 work on reservations.

National Resource Center for Sustainable Built Environments, an initiative at Montana State University - Bozeman to collect information about green building nationwide.

Mercury Thermostat Recovery Program started by the Low-Income Weatherization Program in partnership with Johnstone Supply to replace old mercury-containing thermostats with new non-mercury ones.

Healthy Indoor Air for America's Homes - a national project with EPA and USDA. Program managers in 43 states, mini-grants to all states to provide curriculum and train instructors in the basics of indoor air quality in people's homes, October is National IAQ month.

Home*A*Syst program is being used for consumer P2.

John Hudson described the EcoStar recognition program for businesses. Businesses can use the recognition for marketing, but there is some fear of being targeted by regulators. He also described the new equipment rebate program which gives rebates for equipment or process changes. Maximum rebate is $250. Working on eligibility issues (EcoStar winners?), business size and additional rebates.

STAR program -- Spray Technique Analysis and Research. This is to tie in with the Rebate Program. There goal is to assist spray coating businesses with P2 and lowering costs. Certification by Outside Agency: MCRA MDEQ, ICAR.

Lara Dando Local Government P2: Creating Pollution Prevention Guide for Local Governments using portions of EPA's document to create a Montana-specific guidebook. As a complimentary project, the EcoStar Community Awards Program will award local governments for their pollution prevention efforts.

To help create safer working conditions for all Montanans, the MSU Extension Service Pollution Prevention Program and the Montana Department of Labor and Industry Safety Bureau have created a partnership. A brochure advertising both agencies and the benefits of pollution prevention is being produced. Joint workshops/trainings are also in the works. Funds from 1998-99 were used to create a pollution prevention youth awareness curriculum packet and bring the activities to six 4-H camps in June. Several other camps/schools also utilized the information in the packet. The packet will be expanded over the next fiscal year so that more camps and schools can use it to teach kids about pollution prevention. Another service is the Montana Material Exchange: www.montana.edu/wwwated.mme.htm. The MME has close to 200 listings, with, unfortunately, few documented exchanges.

Montana DEQ - Lou Moore:

Montana has pulled together various programs into a P2 bureau to emphasize the importance of P2 in the agency. One important function is housing the Small Business Ombudsman and managing the Small Business Assistance program. In additional to regular program functions, DEQ has two special projects in this area this year. First, Montana has been selected to hold the national conference for Small Business Assistance Program managers and Small Business Ombudsmen for 2000. The meeting will be held in Missoula Montana in June. Second, Montana was selected through a competitive solicitation to receive $75,000 from EPA to evaluate its small business efforts and to try different marketing strategies for outreach to these businesses.

The P2 Bureau has responsibility for the Source Water Protection Program and submitted its program plan to EPA in February. Montana has 1900 public water supplies that must complete delineations and assessments of their water supplies in the next few years. The P2 bureau's goal is to have majority of communities complete a source water protection plan in addition to the required delineations and assessments for their public water supplies. The assessment part of the SWAP identifies businesses or other sites within the delineated area that pose potential risks of contamination because of the chemicals or processes used. These businesses will be targeted for P2 assistance by the Ombudsman and others at DEQ.

The DEQ P2 program has oversight of four local water quality districts in the state. These are set up within local governments to address water quality in specified areas. The bureau assists the districts as the request it with individual requests such as source water planning and household hazardous waste days.

In the past year the P2 bureau has been involved in ground water planning. The coordinated review and recommendations for a ground water plan that was developed jointly with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. This coordination included permitting, remediation, planning, Pollution Prevention and enforcement areas of the agency. The P2 bureau also manages the wetland grants program and facilitates the statewide Wetland Council.

Another important area for the P2 bureau is the research, demonstration, and promotion of alternative transportation fuels, primarily biofuels including ethanol and biodiesel. The bureau issued a request for proposals and helped establish the first E-85 refueling station in Montana last fall. Funding was received from the Legislature to establish 2-4 additional E-85 stations in the next two years. The bureau continues its work to promote E-10 (also known as gasohol) used in two-cycle snowmobile engines. This work continues to focus on the areas around Yellowstone National Park including the community of West Yellowstone. The bureau has joined forces with the Greater Yellowstone Teton Clean Cities Coalition. This group considers and recommends alternative modes of transportation and alternative fuels to reduce traffic, congestion, and air pollution in Montana and neighboring states due to tourism in Yellowstone and Teton national parks.

Another major focus of the bureau is waste reduction efforts including reuse and recycling. Montana needs to update its Integrated Waste Management Plan this year and is beginning to collect information on the types and amounts of wastes disposed of in Montana. An ambitious goal of reducing the amount of waste generated in Montana by 25% was set in 1994. We are not achieving that and will be looking at opportunities to improve. We have hired a second person to work in this are and have good success in the area of glass recycling. We have established local markets for glass recycling at two cement plants and as road base in three communities. DEQ is working to reduce construction wastes through an effort that combines P2 practices with energy efficiency practices and affordable housing issues. This effort will include the demonstration of resource efficient materials in 2-3 homes and inclusion of the homes in a book of affordable, energy efficient house plans under development. This effort has several partners including the MSU P2 program that will provide education and outreach and the Montana Building Industries Association that will assist with the demonstrations and printing the plan book.

There are several P2 regulatory integration efforts starting in Montana and we are excited to expand them. Our efforts working with the Air and Waste Management Bureau and the Board of Environmental Review to change the permitting rules applicable to cement kilns has successfully allowed for the substitutions of glass as a source of silica in the cement manufacturing process. We now have both cement kilns in the state taking glass for recycling in this manner. The Source Water Assessment Program worked with the Public Water Supply Program to amend their rules to require all new applications for public water supplies to complete delineations and assessments of the source of water supplying the public system before applications can be approved. And while not regulatory, integrating source reduction in the construction industry recommendations into the energy efficient and affordable home efforts will have a more significant impact that any single projects.

The primary focus of the SD P2 Program has been rural and agricultural. The program is beginning a shift toward small business. A P2 industrial assessment project is near completion. The project partner is the SD School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T). During the project, onsite P2 assistance was provided to five small industries. One of which is the state cement plant. A new project to assist additional small businesses through the formation of industry specific focus groups will be initiated through the new PPIS Grant. SDSM&T will also serve as DENR's project partner for the focus group project. One focus group will be the jewelry manufacturing industry.

A source water protection video was produced through a partnership with the City of Spearfish. The video is part of a countrywide source water protection effort. DENR's Source Water and Geologic Survey Programs and USGS provided technical assistance for the project.

Phosphorous Based Nutrient Management program. The project is designed to generate the information needed to begin shifting from nitrogen to phosphorous-based nutrient management for crop production in accordance with the Unified AFO/CAFO Strategy. Primary project partners - SD Cattleman's Association, SD Pork Producers and SDSU.

Whole focus is currently the Olympics.

Gives out grants: PAWS (Ground Water and Protection).

Official DEQ Olympic Liaison - Works with: DEQ; six divisions; EPHA (Environmental Public Health Alliance); Local Health Departments; State and federal; EAC (Environmental Advisory Council);

EE Council; waste minimization; sustainable facilities; Public Safety; Environmental Education Council

Coordinates guidelines for state energy efficiency

Mike Vogel - P2Rx (Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange)

• Consists of nine regional EPA Centers.

• Goals: Support but work more closely with existing P2 information providers, not just an internal program, improve networking and minimize duplication of effort.

• Coordinate networking among EPA Regions: Centers are state liaisons to other regions

• First stop shopping network - referral service to activities throughout the nation and region.

• Sector Lead Project: P2Rx decided on pursuing these efforts because there is a lot of stuff produced that could be shared and benefit more assistance providers with national coordination and leveraging of support. Peaks to Prairies chose the autobody and construction sectors based on input from state programs at the 1998 Roundtable.

• Involved in national standard setting: web site development; sector leads; contacts databases and activity measures. Standardization is not a mandate, but being implemented to facilitate information sharing. All 9 centers don't all look the same, they are customized to each region.

Regional Action questions:

• Where does Region 8 fit?
• What are our regional priorities?
• What do we want to contribute nationally?
• Input on the 3 year plan and vision handed out.

Laura Estes - Web Site Tour of Peaks to Prairies: http://www.montana.edu/wwwpeaks/

Easier domain name coming - http://www.peakstoprairies.org. Current features include:

• Regional map linking to general information about each state (suggestions for additional content are welcome)
• Our purpose - describes Peaks to Prairies services and lists state program expertise (check to see if your state's description is accurate)
• Definition of P2 (will check into using EPAs official definition)
• Case studies - are they useful to you? Would you prefer to have a template to submit case studies on? Would other service providers in your state find them useful?
• Contacts - state service providers in the region, new survey will be done in the coming year to make this list more complete, Judy Dorsey's survey of P2 in higher education has been added here (with an input form ready for a database), and Department of Defense contact information
• Sector Links - a hub for sector specific information
• Library page - not many inquiries, how could the library be more useful to the region?
• News & Events - includes news items, training announcements, grant RFPs. Advertise your upcoming event here or let others know about your accomplishments. P2Rx is collaborating with Enviro$en$e on a news tagging standard so news items can easily be shared nationwide. Watch for this to be implemented in the next year.
• P2Rx Directory - Links to all the other regional Centers

2002 Olympics Winter Sports Park Tour

The group toured the construction underway and completed at the ski jumps and luge run.

Diane Conrad, Director of Environmental Programs for SLOC, gave a short presentation of SLOC's environmental programs.

Enhancement projects. Tree Planting projects, Tree-Cology, Cool Spaces 2002 - Use NASA data to identify hot spots, then plant trees in those spots to reduce urban heat island effect. Plant an Olympic Family Tree. Trees for Venues.

Two Aquatic Wetland Habitats restoration projects, Decker Lake and Soldier Hollow.

Environmental Education Program. Held the first summit on November 20 of last year. Diane wants to do a video program with Bill Nye (The Science Guy), and on online SIM venue.

Hotel and Restaurant greening. This program will be kicked off in the winter. Designed to teach the hotel and restaurant industry to use P2 practices.

SLOC does have alternative fueled cars program. They don't have CNG vans, however. They will probably get some vans in time for the games.

Environmental programs only have a budget of about 4 million dollars total.

1999 Mini-grant Projects

Brooke Williams - Construction Waste Minimization Mini-Grant

He works on ideas of how to use the economy to fix the environment. For the mini-grant he is developing a web site to link relevant construction waste sites. It will have a downloadable spreadsheet to track recycled materials from construction waste. He is involved in a Trash Equals Cash Program. He will create a pamphlet to go with the Contractor's Awareness program on construction waste that will help contractors figure out where the most waste is and how to reduce, reuse and recycle construction wastes. He is also working with Sonja on the temporary facilities program with SLOC. However since the Olympic scandal, the budget has been cut. The original project was to build a sustainable buildings that could be reused when the Olympics are over.

P2 Enviro-Rangers Web-based Kids Club Mini-Grant Report

Lara Dando reported that the Club is available to all kids under age 18 interested in helping the earth by practicing pollution prevention. The club offers prizes for completing games and activities that help them learn about P2. It is also a good resource for teachers and youth leaders. To be a member, kids take a quiz and sign a proclamation that they will practice P2. Contacts in all region 8 states have been established. Web site address is: http://www.montana.edu/wwwp2er/ . The group suggested EnviroRangers try to get links to the club from nationally known kid's sites like American Dolls, Lego, Pokemon, Beanie Babies, American Education Association, Girl & Boy Scout Clubs of America, 4-H, and other environmental education groups.

Mike Vogel - P2 PSAs Mini-Grant

A draft 30-second PSA customized for each state by scenic shots, was shown. States participating were Montana, Utah, Colorado, South Dakota, and North Dakota. North Dakota also helped develop an airing tips fact sheet. States are encouraged to work with their state media departments for airing. The mini-grant covered production costs, a beta cam SP copy and VHS copy of the video to each state, a DAT cassette recording of the script to be used for radio PSAs. Using MSU-based resources for this project resulted in a total project cost of under $3,000 compared to the $15,000+ quoted by a private contractor. States should work with Laura on any changes that need to be made. Parry suggested the PSA might be a useful tool for P2 week.

Kevin McMindes - Construction and Autobody Sector Leads

Purpose: Create a first-stop-shopping collection of information. In the process of collecting resources. Hard-copy resources are included in the lending library. Other resources being collected are web sites, contact people, trade associations, etc. One of the tasks of the upcoming year is to define construction and autobody sectors as it pertains to our collection.

Construction: Many of the resources gathered so far are for residential construction. NAICS definition of construction is broad with three subcategories: 1) building, land and subdivision and development; 2) heavy construction; 3) activities by specialty trade contractors; includes commercial, sustainable, demolition, reconstruction, highway, water, power, waste reduction, energy efficiency.

Autobody: NAICS autobody definition fairly straightforward:

• Repairing or customizing automotive vehicles - cars, vans, trucks, etc.;
• Painting automotive vehicle and trailer bodies;
• Replacing, repairing, etc. automotive vehicle glass;
• Customizing vehicles for physically disabled, other special cases.

Sixteen states have contributed resources; 15-20 resources received from EPA Region 8 states. All resources in the collection are currently listed on the Peaks to Prairies web site.

Sector Lead Database: Approximately 195 entries, 133 construction and 62 Autobody. Categories are still being defined. Keywords will eventually tied into a controlled vocabulary used nationwide. Goal is fully functioning database by end of September 1999.

Other links and partners for the P2 Construction Sector Project:

• National Resource Center for Sustainable Building (MSU project)
• 2002 Olympic efforts
• Colorado efforts

Other links and partners for the P2 Autobody Sector Project:

• Illinois Waste Reduction Center/STAR Program
• OECA/Greenlink Connection

Tellus SPRINT (State Pollution Prevention Regulatory Integration Initiative) Presentation

A preview of the day long workshop available to state agencies was given and the SPRINT Compendium was distributed. Workshop Objective: Learn the tools to integrate P2 into your agency's day to day activities by identifying ripe processes, developing a plan using case studies and IP's and working through seven criteria to make it stick. P2 paradigms are evolving.

Colorado is currently using SPRINT and Montana has signed up and will have a workshop in late September. Sonja asked how the program has been marketed to groups like ECOS, FOSTA, and Media State Associations. Look at specific management practices of industry that can be adopted.

John Shoaff - EPA Summary (followup notes from John included)

National network meeting convening process - no date has been set. EPA has hired independent mediators to advise on the process, consult with stakeholders and recommend meeting invitees. Agency is updating P2 Facility Guide, Emma Lou George is the contact. More systematic approach, integrate quality management.

Innovations Task Force report was posted on the web at http://www.epa.gov/reinvent/taskforce. Appendix 3 outlines what actions will occur as a result of the task force report. P2 is mentioned in the report in a number of places and is even included among a few actions. In particular, the convening process or national network of business and environmental assistance providers is listed under Action Item 4, task 2. There are a number of other tasks that may tie into regiona, state or local interests, i.e. tasks spanning regulatory and economic incentives, use of environmental management systems (EMSs), permitting (air and NPRDES), smart growth, and community capacity building.

Incentives workgroup for the last year, they will have a meeting in the fall.

New York Times article featuring Dow Chemical's partnership with environmental groups was sent by email or fax to all states. For the full report on what is formally known as the Michigan Source Reduction initiative (MSRI), see NRDC's web site at: http://www.nrdc.org/nrdcpro/msri/msriinx.html . A handful of additional facilities will be identified to further pilot the success of MSRI. This expansion of the project is known as  the Voluntary Initiative for Source Reduction (VISR). For various reasons, EPA may pursue a more active government role in the effort which could include a regional and state P2 technical assistance program role in identifying and working with facilities to pursue priority PBT and other release (e.g., TRI, air carcinogens or local priority concerns) reductions.

Environmentally preferable purchasing project has a list serve called EPP Net. To join, follow these instructions: 1) send a message to lyris@aladdin.webrover.com  and in the body of the message, write subscribe eppnet (first name) (last name), 2) send a short message to mremolad@sover.net (Mary Ann Remolador) just giving her a quick idea of who you are and what you do and this can be as general or specific as you want. The web site for EPP is located at: http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp/. The Private Sector Pioneers article mentioned can be found from this page.

Other resources -

Official national definition of P2 can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/p2/epamemo.htm. No amendments are planned.

EPA's Environmental Education Office web site contains information on their grants program, regional contacts and additional links to resources such as Partnership for Environmental Technology and Education (PETE) and the National P2 Center for Higher Education (NPPC). See http://www.epa.gov/enviroed/

The Lovinses and Hawken article entitled ANatural Capitalism is in the May/June issue of the Harvard Business Review (page 99309) and can be purchased on line at: http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/hbr/hbr_home.jhtml;jsessionid=N0ZKLIVLIC2J2AKRGWDSELQ?_requestid=49091

Collaboration Opportunities

Trainings of potential regional interest identified were: Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, Public Information Delivery, PBTs, Ski Industry Assessments. Discussion as to how, when, and to whom these will be offered is an action item.

Department of Defense state contact lists were passed out. State programs interested in partnering can find out more about their efforts on the web site. They would like to join an upcoming regional conference call.

Jackson Hole was voted as the location for the next roundtable providing reasonable lodging can be found. Since a new P2 Coordinator has not yet been hired. Linda volunteered to check into this. Tentative dates were set for August 9-11, 2000.

The new RFP for Peaks to Prairies mini-grants is now available. Projects should be of regional benefit and must be completed by September 30, 2000 with a 50% match from non-federal funds.

Utah made a collection of all handouts from the meeting. The complete set, or individual pieces, can be borrowed from the Peaks to Prairies Library. Contact information@peakstoprairies.org.

Contact Us

P2 Network / Web Library / Directory / Topic Hubs™ / Search
Operated by MSU Extension Service / Funded by EPA Region 8 / Member P2Rx™