[Federal Register: August 5, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 150)]
[Notices]
[Page 47434-47437]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05au04-61]
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
[FRL-7797-2]
Local Resource Centers to Assist Public Entities Develop
Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency.
ACTION: Notice and request for public comment.
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SUMMARY: This Notice requests public comments on the efforts of the
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promote the
adoption of environmental management systems (EMS) by local governments
and other public entities through the establishment of EMS Local
Resource Centers. EPA is seeking comments particularly from not-for-
profit organizations interested in providing technical assistance to
public entities that are considering adopting EMSs for their
operations.
The EPA, through a cooperative agreement with the Global
Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF), is interested in
providing financial and technical assistance for up to three additional
not-for-profit organizations who would then work with various public
entities, primarily local governments, that are interested in
developing EMSs. The financial and technical assistance provided to
these not-for-profit organizations could include help with developing
business plans, providing relevant EMS materials to facilitate each
organization's existing EMS assistance activities, train-the-trainer
sessions on ways to address the needs of public agencies, and other
marketing services. Each not-for-profit organization would also gain
increased attention, and recognition of the key role they can play in
meeting the growing needs of public agencies wishing to adopt EMSs
through a Web site managed by GETF at http://www.peercenter.net, and other
means.
This Notice is soliciting comments from not-for-profit
organizations interested in becoming part of an existing program
involving seven organizations around the country. These EMS Local
Resource Centers, which were first designated in 2002, are now working
with public agencies around the country to educate and assist them to
develop EMSs. A list of these Local Resource Centers and more
information about their services can be found at http://www.peercenter.net.
EPA, in cooperation with the Global Environment and Technology
Foundation (GETF), is now interested in receiving comments and
information from additional not-for-profit organizations that would be
interested in serving as a Local Resource Center and providing EMS
assistance to public entities. EPA is particularly interested in
receiving comment from organizations located in areas of the country
not now served by an existing EMS Local Resource Center in EPA Regions
VII, VIII, and IX. Region VII includes the States of Missouri, Kansas,
Nebraska, and Iowa. Region VIII includes the States of Colorado, Utah,
Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota. Region IX includes
the States of California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the U.S.
Territories of Guam and Northern Mariana Islands.
DATES: Responses to this Notice, identified by docket identification
(ID) number OW-2004-0018, must be received on or before September 7,
2004.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted electronically, by mail, or
through hand delivery/courier. Follow the instructions as provided in
Section I of the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.
In addition, a copy of the comments should also be submitted to
Nick Martin, Global Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF), 2900
South Quincy Street, Suite 410, Arlington, Virginia 22206, (703) 379-
2713, Ext. 290, nmartin@getf.org.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Horne, U.S. EPA, Office of Water,
by phone at (202 564-0571, or by e-mail at horne.james@epa. gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. How Can I Get Copies of This Notice and Other Related Information?
1. Docket: EPA has established an official public docket for this
Notice under Docket ID No. OW-2004-0018. The official public docket
consists of the documents specifically referenced in this Notice, any
public comments received, and other information related to this action.
Documents in the official public docket are listed in the index list in
EPA's electronic public docket and comments system, EDOCKET. Documents
may be available either electronically or in hard copy. Hard copy
documents may be viewed at the Water Docket in the EPA Docket Center
(EPA/DC), EPA West, Room B-102, 1301 Constitution Avenue, NW.,
Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from
8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202)
566-1744, and the telephone number for the Water Docket is (202) 566-
2426.
2. Electronic Access: Your may access this Federal Register
document electronically through the EPA Internet under the Federal
Register listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedregstr/. An electronic
version of the public docket is available through EDOCKET. You may use
EDOCKET at http://www.epa.gov.edocket/ to view public comments, access
the index listing of the contents of the official public docket, and
access those documents in
[[Page 47435]]
the public docket that are available electronically. Once in the
system, select ``search,'' then key in the appropriate docket
identification number referenced above.
Certain types of information will not be placed in EDOCKET.
Information claimed as Confidential Business Information (CBI) and
other information whose disclosure is restricted by statute, and which
is not included in the official public docket, will not be available
for public viewing in EPA's electronic public docket. EPA's policy is
that copyrighted material will not be placed in EPA's electronic public
docket, but will be available only in printed, paper form in the
official public docket. Publicly available docket materials that are
not available electronically may be viewed at the docket facility
identified in Section I.A.
For public commenters, it is important to note that EPA's policy is
that public comments, whether submitted electronically or in paper,
will be made available for public viewing in EPA's electronic public
docket as EPA receives them and without change, unless the comment
contains copyrighted material, confidential business information (CBI),
or other information whose disclosure is restricted in statute. When
EPA identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will
provide a reference to that material in the version of the comment that
is placed in EPA's electronic public docket. The entire printed
comment, including the copyrighted material, will be available in the
public docket.
Public comments submitted on computer disks that are mailed or
delivered to the docket will be transferred to EPA's electronic public
docket. Public comments that are mailed or delivered to the Docket will
be scanned and placed in EPA's electronic public docket. Where
practical, physical objects will be photographed, and the photograph
will be placed in EPA's electronic pubic docket along with a brief
description written by the docket staff.
B. How and to Whom Do I Submit Comments?
You may submit comments electronically, by mail, or through hand
delivery/courier. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, identify the
appropriate docket identification number in the subject line on the
first page of your comments. The docket identification number for this
Notice is OW-2004-0018. Please ensure that your comments are submitted
within the specified comment period. Comments received after the close
of the comment period will be marked ``late''. EPA is not required to
consider these late comments.
1. Electronically. If you submit an electronic copy as prescribed
below, EPA recommends that you include your name, mailing address, and
an e-mail address or other contact information in the body of your
comment. Also, include this contact information on the outside of any
disk or CD ROM you submit, and in any cover letter accompanying the
disk or CD ROM. This ensures you can be identified as the submitter of
the comment and allows EPA to contact you in the case EPA cannot read
your comment due to technical difficulties or needs further information
on the substance of your comment. EPA's policy is that EPA will not
edit your comment, and identifying or contact information provided in
the body of the comment will be included as part of the comment that is
placed in the official public docket, and made available in EPA's
electronic public docket. If EPA cannot read your comment due to
technical difficulties and cannot contact you for clarification, EPA
may not be able to consider your comment.
i. EDOCKET. Your use of EPA's electronic public docket to submit
comments electronically is EPA's preferred method for receiving
comments. Go directly to EDOCKET at http://www.epa.gov/edocket, and
follow the online instructions for submitting comments. Once in the
system, select ``search'' and then key in the Docket ID No. OW-2002-
0018. The system is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA
will not know your identify, e-mail address, or other contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment.
ii. E-mail. Comments may be sent by electronic mail to
OW-Docket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID Number OW-2004-0018. In contrast to
EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's e-mail system is not an
``anonymous access'' system. If you send e-mail comments directly to
the docket without going through EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's
e-mail system automatically captures your e-mail address. E-mail
addresses that are automatically captured in EPA's e-mail system are
included as part of the comment that is placed in the official public
docket, and made available in EPA's electronic public docket.
iii. Disk or CD ROM. You may also submit comments on a disk or CD
ROM that you mail to the mailing address identified in Unit I.A.1.
These electronic submissions will be accepted in WordPerfect or ASCII
file format. Please avoid the use of special characters and any form of
encryption.
2. By Mail. Send your comments to: Water Docket, Environmental
Protection Agency, Mailcode: 4101T, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.,
Washington, DC, 20460.
Attention: Docket ID No. OW-2004-0018.
Finally, please provide an additional copy of your submission to:
Nick Martin, Global Environment and Technology Foundation (GETF), 2900
South Quincy Street, Suite 410, Arlington, Virginia 22206,
nmartin@getf.org.
3. By Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver your comments to: Public
Reading Room, Room B-102, Attention Docket ID No. OW-2004-0018, EPA
West Building, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20004. Such
deliveries are only accepted during the Docket's normal hours of
operation as identified in Unit I.A.1.
Regardless of the method you choose, please provide the name of a
person in your organization that EPA may contact, along with that
person's mailing address, phone number, and E-mail address. This
information is needed for EPA to selectively follow up with commenters,
as explained in the Section V. of this Notice.
II. Background
Public entities, including local governments and local authorities,
are responsible for managing and maintaining large-scale physical
plants. These may include power systems, wastewater treatment
operations, water systems, and roadways. Local authorities are also
responsible for managing solid and hazardous waste. As the front line
implementers of environmental programs, they protect the health and
safety of hundreds of millions of citizens. Faced with shrinking
resources and aging infrastructure, public entities must manage their
operations in a more efficient manner, at lower cost, and with less
environmental impact. EMSs are an important emerging tool to help
public entities do this.
EMSs follow Stewart and Deming's plan, do, check and act systems
methodology and can be implemented by organizations of all sizes and
types. They provide a set of problem identification and problem-solving
tools that can be implemented in an organization in many different
ways, depending on its activities and needs. Based on the
organization's core values, business goals, and environmental
commitments, employees examine their environmental footprint and the
[[Page 47436]]
procedures they use to manage environmental issues. They incorporate
strong operational controls and environmental responsibilities into
existing job descriptions and work instructions. They set measurable
objectives and targets, monitor, measure, and evaluate progress, find
and fix environmental problems as they occur, and provide top
management with a feedback loop to assess progress and make appropriate
changes to the management system. The various elements of the EMS work
together to provide opportunities to continually improve management of
environmental impacts both in regulated areas and in areas that are not
regulated (e.g., odor, water or electricity use, and growth
management).
Key elements of the EMS include:
An environmental policy statement endorsed and actively
promoted by senior management;
A planning process that identifies the organization's
environmental impacts and integrates their management into the
organization's regular business and operations decisions;
An organizational structure that places environmental
responsibilities directly with employees in operational functions that
deal with significant environmental impacts;
An implementation process that stresses training,
communication, operational controls, and reaching measurable goals--all
oriented toward reducing risks of significant environmental impacts and
continually improving environmental management;
Measurement and auditing procedures that focus on finding
and fixing problems and reducing the chances of their recurring; and,
Periodic top management review of the EMS to ensure
continual improvement.
Since 1996, the most commonly used framework for an EMS is the ISO
14001 Environmental Management Standard developed by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO). The ISO was established in 1947
with the mission of developing voluntary technical standards to promote
international trade in goods and services.
For the last several years the EPA has been promoting the adoption
of EMSs to help public entities, particularly local governments,
improve their environmental performance beyond compliance, prevent
pollution, promote greater environmental stewardship across the
workforce, and improve their overall efficiency. EPA has issued an
overall EMS Position Statement and is using EMSs in a wide variety of
voluntary programs. More information about EPA's position on EMSs can
be found at http://www.epa.gov/ems.
The EPA's Office of Water (OW) has played a leadership role in
bringing EMS capacity to local governments. This leadership has
continued and expanded to include other Headquarters and Regional
Offices. Since 1997, through a cooperative agreement with GETF, OW has
supported three EMS initiatives helping local governments test the
applicability and benefits of an EMS on environmental performance,
compliance, pollution prevention, and stakeholder involvement in
government operations. In total, 32 local governments have participated
in developing and implementing their own EMSs through these two
initiatives.
The agencies participating in these three initiatives have realized
a wide range of benefits including improved environmental performance
and compliance, reduced operational costs, increased recycling,
improved relations with their communities and regulatory agencies, and
improved operational controls and internal communication. More
information about these projects and the specific benefits the
participating agencies have seen can be found at http://www.peercenter.net.
III. The National Public Entity EMS Resource Center: The Peer Center
The EMS initiatives described above have helped to demonstrate the
relevance of EMSs in the public sector and established a solid basis
for expanding EMS adoption for public agencies, especially local
governments. The strong enthusiasm and tangible environmental results
demonstrated through these initiatives suggest substantial long-term
benefits from EMS implementation and ensure the parallel development of
sustainable management practices in both the private and public
sectors. Public entity EMS implementation has sparked interest from
government leaders around the world. Building on the successes of these
efforts, EPA, through a cooperative agreement with GETF, launched the
National Public Entity Environmental Management System Resource
Center--the National PEER Center in 2002.
The PEER Center's goals are three-fold:
To promote the understanding and adoption of EMSs by
public entities;
To facilitate peer-to-peer exchange of information and
experiences and build awareness of EMSs as a tool to improve
environmental performance; and
To build regional EMS competence and technical assistance capacity
through EMS Local Resource Centers.
The PEER Center consists of two major components: A national
clearinghouse and seven EMS Local Resource Centers.
National Clearinghouse of EMS Information
The National PEER Center Clearinghouse is currently in place
(http://www.peercenter.net) and link users to a national database of key
resources such as sample EMS documentation, local and state EMS
programs in place, EMS service providers, detailed descriptions of the
EMS implementation phases, trainers, mentors and course providers, as
well as training materials, web links, contact information, and case
studies. The Clearinghouse also serves to clarify the elements of
environmental management systems and programs. It provides case
studies, reports, implementation guidance, and other information to
help public entities understand EMSs, their potential benefits, and
ways to develop them for various operations.
EMS Local Resource Centers
Critical to the effectiveness and success of the PEER Center are
seven existing EMS Local Resource Centers (LRCs) that advance the use
of EMSs in public entities. Building on individual EMS skills and
competencies, and leveraging the successes and skills of the other LRCs
and the National PEER Center, each LRC serves as a high-quality EMS
resource center for the public entities in their area. The LRCs
facilitate information transfer, provided training, and government-to-
government mentoring in order to maximize public entities' time and
resource investment in EMS implementation. The joint efforts of the
National PEER Center and the LRCs are helping an increasing number of
public entities, particularly local governments, that develop EMSs for
various operations. More information about each Center can be found at
http://www.peercenter.net.
Activities that the existing Centers are currently providing
include:
Leveraging their existing EMS expertise to provided
training, technical assistance, tools and materials that will
facilitate EMS implementation on the public sector;
Using their data, information, resources and key contacts
to encourage EMS information transfer and facilitate government-to-
government mentoring;
Leading regular and frequent outreach activities to
increase awareness and understanding of EMS applicability
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among public entities in their local/regional area;
Collecting data and information and preparing case studies
about EMS implementation in public entities and assisting in the
dissemination of this information across public organizations;
Facilitating information transfer between the PEER Center
Clearinghouse and other Local Resource Centers to ensure access to the
most current data, information, tools, keys to success, and lessons
learned; and
Facilitating EMS workshops and conferences in their local/
regional area
Based on the experiences of these existing Centers, EPA is
interested in receiving feedback from other not-for-profit
organizations that are already providing some degree of EMS services in
their respective areas, and may now wish to become a Local Resource
Center. EPA is especially interested in hearing from organizations in
areas of the country not now served by an existing Center, primarily in
EPA Regions VII, VIII, and IX. Any additional Local Resource Center
will be expected to offer a menu of EMS services, including: EMS
training, technical expertise, field-tested tools, information,
speakers/mentors, workshops and conferences, outreach, and EMS
implementation assistance.
IV. Benefits of Becoming a Local Resource Center
Each Local Resource Center will receive, at no cost, extensive
start-up support, including a full catalogue of EMS implementation
tools from GETF and materials that have already been field-tested and
used in the public sector, including:
National attention, visibility, and partnership
opportunities from EPA, GETF, and other partners and stakeholders;
Assistance in developing a business plan, and business
development materials;
An extensive suite of field-tested, high-quality and
successful materials for public entities: training techniques,
implementation strategies, document samples, outreach and presentation
toolkits;
Regular train-the-trainer work sessions on EMS
implementation in public sector organizations with other LRCs and
national partners;
An extensive database of national mentors and experts with
hands-on experience to assist in local/regional EMS outreach and
implementation;
Support services and mentoring from existing public
entities that are implementing an EMS; and
Assistance with marketing services and opportunities.
V. Opportunity To Provide Comment For consideration as an EMS Local
Resource Center
Based on the information provided above, EPA is interested in
receiving public comment from not-for-profit organizations that may
wish to serve as an EMS Local Resource Center, especially organizations
located in areas not now served by an existing Center, primarily in EPA
Regions VII, VIII, and IX. Based on these comments up to three
additional not-for-profit organizations could participate with the
other Centers and provide high quality EMS assistance to public
entities, especially local governments. Providing comment based on this
Notice does not guarantee that the organization will participate.
When reviewing comments, EPA considers a number of factors.
The most important of these include: (1) A clear understanding of
EMSs, (2) demonstrated experience and delivery mechanisms in providing
EMS services to various organizations, (3) commitment by the
organization's top management to the goals of the PEER Center
initiative, (4) adequate staffing to support both start up and ongoing
activities, (5) a willingness to proactively reach out to public
entities in their area, (6) strong web literacy and functionality, and
(7) a willingness and ability to share data and other information with
other Local Resource centers and the PEER Clearinghouse.
Organizations are also encouraged to provide a more general
statement outlining why they are interested in becoming a Local
Resource Center and describing how their participation could benefit
the program as a whole. Finally, organizations are encouraged to
provide a letter from top management accompanying their comments that
includes the name and contact information of the individual that would
represent your organization on possible follow up calls with GETF.
Following the receipt of this feedback, staff from GETF may
schedule follow up calls, as appropriate, with each applicant's
management and appropriate staff at a mutually convenient time and will
consult with EPA. Following this, staff from GETF will begin work with
each new Local Resource Center to develop business plans, materials,
processes, marketing strategies, information transfer, data collection,
etc.
Dated: July 29, 2004.
Jane S. Moore,
Acting Director, Office of Wastewater Management.
[FR Doc. 04-17789 Filed 8-4-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-M