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Evaluating Innovative Pilot Projects
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Within OPEI | Around the Agency
EPA has launched demonstration
and pilot projects to support and test innovative environmental management
strategies designed to work more effectively for the regulated community,
the general public, co-regulators (States and Tribes) and the Agency.
Piloting innovations in environmental management has provided the Agency
with a new mechanism to experiment outside the regulatory arena and signifies
an emphasis on achieving results, not solely on regulatory processes.
Today, EPA has demonstration and pilot projects underway with a variety
of partners - from small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, and industry
sectors to State, Tribal, and Local governments.
These new approaches to environmental protection have provided EPA with
valuable data and lessons learned. Examples of innovation analyses led
or co-led by OPEI are listed below. Additional examples from around the
Agency are also highlighted below. As the Agency's experience in analyzing
innovations grows, the analyses will be added to this list.
OPEI Analyses of Innovations and Innovative Pilot Projects
Evaluation of Three Environmental Results Programs (ERPs) (PDF) (134 pp, 1.35MB) The auto body sector includes between 35,000 and 80,000 facilities across the country that are in the business of repairing and refinishing vehicles, primarily cars. Auto body shops present a wide array of environmental concerns, from use and emissions of hazardous materials such as methylene chloride, to discharges of polluted water into water systems, and worker exposure to toxic solvents and particulate matter. ERP is an innovative approach to improving facilities’ management practices within small business sectors. ERP is an integrated system of: plain language compliance assistance that promotes pollution prevention; facility self-assessment and self-certification; agency inspections; statistically-based performance measurement; and where necessary, comprehensive facility investigations and targeted enforcement actions. These elements are intended to work together to achieve the goals of ERP, which are to improve compliance and reduce environmental impacts of the target sector, while deploying government resources strategically and efficiently. This evaluation examined the experience of three states, Delaware, Maine, and Rhode Island, which established ERPs for the auto body repair sector. Each of these ERPs incorporates voluntary self-certification and encompasses cross-media environmental and/or health concerns. While these states are similar in the types of programs they implemented, they differ in terms of several circumstances in the state that could affect ERP implementation, participation of auto body shops, and outcomes. The evaluation describes each state’s individual experience with their ERP program, focusing primarily on outcomes, changes in facility management practices, and costs. A fact sheet (PDF) (4 pp, 120K) is available.
Evaluation
of Implementation Experiences with Innovative Air Permits: Results of
the U.S. EPA Flexible Permit Implementation Review
Over the last several years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and several State and local permitting authorities worked with several
companies to develop innovative approaches to air permitting. The EPA
and States launched these pilots to increase operational flexibility while
ensuring environmental protection. As interest in flexible air permitting
increased so did concerns (both internal and external) regarding whether
the permits actually worked, achieved environmental reductions and were
enforceable. In response to these critical questions and concerns, EPA
saw the need to evaluate its implementation experience with flexible permits
developed under pilot efforts such as EPA's Pollution Prevention in Permitting
Program (P4) and State innovation activities. Particular interest has
focused on flexible permitting techniques such as plant-wide emissions
limits (e.g., plant-wide applicability limits, or PALs; potential-to-emit
caps). In response to this need, OAR, in partnership with OPEI, launched
the Flexible Permit Implementation Review to conduct in-depth reviews
of six flexible permits developed since 1993.
Evaluation
of Community-Based Environmental Protection Projects: Accomplishments
and Lessons Learned
CBEP refers to an integrated, place-based, participatory approach to managing
the environment that simultaneously considers environmental, social, and
economic concerns (U.S. EPA, February 1999). The community-based environmental
protection (CBEP) process "brings together public and private stakeholders
within a place or community to identify environmental concerns, set priorities,
and implement comprehensive solutions. CBEP considers environmental protection
along with human social needs, works toward achieving long-term ecosystem
health, and fosters linkages between economic prosperity and environmental
well-being." EPA supports and participates in an array of CBEP efforts
throughout the United States. EPA conducted an evaluation of five place-based
projects in which the Agency participated, either as a project leader
or in a supporting role. The objective of the evaluation was to identify:
the advantages and disadvantages of the community-based approach; the
benefits that would not be realized under traditional environmental management
programs; and based on our experience, ways that the Agency can tailor
its participation and support of community initiatives to help produce
the best results.
Towards
an Environmental Justice Collaborative Model: Evaluating the Use of Partnerships
to Address Environmental Justice Issues
In January 2003, Evaluation Support, in partnership with the Office of
Environmental Justice, completed an evaluation of the use of partnerships
to address environmental justice issues in predominantly low-income or
minority communities. These partnerships are part of the Federal Interagency
Working Group (IWG) on Environmental Justice''s national demonstration
projects announced in June 2000. Through increased collaboration between
government, communities and businesses, the intent of these partnerships
is to find sustainable solutions to a range of environmental, public health,
and economic issues. The final reports are now available.
Evaluation
of Stakeholder Involvement
Due to the importance of public participation and stakeholder involvement
to the Agency, Evaluation Support has maintained a series of evaluative
activities in this area. Evaluation Support is currently working with
EPA staff from across the Agency to develop an EPA public involvement
evaluation plan to help EPA better gauge if it's following the right steps
to involve the public in environmental decision making. Consistent with
this initiative, Evaluation Support has developed a new information resource
on stakeholder involvement and public participation at EPA: Evaluation
Support has conducted evaluations focusing on single stakeholder initiatives
and has supported efforts to understand these issues from a broader perspective.
Evaluation
of Project XL: New England University Laboratories
In 1999, a consortium of university laboratories in New England joined
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Project XL (eXcellence
and Leadership) program to test an innovative idea to reduce regulatory
inefficiencies and achieve better environmental performance in laboratories
than what is required under the current regulatory structure. Under Project
XL, three universities proposed an innovative environmental management
system for laboratory wastes and promoted superior environmental management
and performance in laboratories. In September 2001, EPA and the States
initiated a mid-term evaluation of the project. The goal of the mid-term
evaluation is to garner lessons learned from the unique approach to laboratory
management being tested by the three institutions and to highlight opportunities
to improve the overall environmental performance for the universities
for the remainder of the project. The Final evaluation report is available
for review.
Three New England Universities piloted an innovative management system for laboratory waste and chemical management. The mid-term evaluation examines critical Environmental Performance Indicators to assess how well the programs are doing and identifies areas for improvement at each school respectively. The mid-term evaluation also provides valuable lessons learned regarding institutional culture and how it affects environmental performance in college/university laboratories
Evaluating
Project XL
Results from innovations being piloted in Project XL are documented and
analyzed with the intent that lessons learned from this experimentation
with innovation might be integrated into Agency policy, guidance and regulations.
Analyses
of Innovations and Innovative Pilot Projects Around the Agency
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| PrintSTEP |
Evaluation strategy for the PrintSTEP pilot projects that aims to systematically identify: the impacts the program has had on three types of stakeholders: printers, community residents, and the state government agencies administering the program, including the difference PrintSTEP has made in the level of participants' environmental releases, pollution prevention activities, and understanding of regulatory requirements. |
Office of
Pollution Prevention and Toxic Substances
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
|
|
Reports and case studies on DfE voluntary partnerships with industry, universities, research institutions, public interest groups, and other government agencies. |
Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Respone
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| Brownfields | Title
VI Case Studies of Brownfields Pilots were undertaken as a first
step in determining whether or not the “Interim Guidance for
Investigating Title VI Administrative Complaints Challenging Permits”
in fact hinders redevelopment of the nation's brownfields. |
| Pay-as-you-throw (Office of Solid Waste) | Lessons learned guidebook based on proven strategies from communities that have implemented successful pay-as-you-throw programs (also known as unit pricing or variable-rate pricing). |
| Superfund Redevelopment Initiative | A study series
that describes how financing and liability issues have been successfully
addressed at previously redeveloped Superfund sites. |
| WasteWise | Progress reports of the WasteWise program which, since inception in 1994, has grown to over 1,000 organizations committed to cutting costs and conserving natural resources through solid waste reduction. |
Office of Water
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| Effluent Trading - Office of Water | Briefly summarizes
37 effluent trading and offset activities that are in development
or actually occurring in locales around the U.S. Includes useful summary
tables laying out key features of each of the programs. |
| Environmental
Management Systems (PDF Format 2.2M) |
Final Report on an "EMS Pilot Project Initiative for Local Government Entities" launched by EPA's Office of Wastewater Management and Office of Compliance to determine if the EMS approach for managing environmental activities was relevant to local government organizations. |
Other
| Project | Description |
|---|---|
| National Environmental Performance Partnership System | A number of
evaluations have been conducted on the National Environmental Performance
Partnership System both inside EPA and by external sources (NAPA,
GAO). |
| Sectors
/ Common Sense Initiative (CSI) |
|
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