United States Office of Pollution
Environmental Protection Prevention, and Toxics November 2001
Agency Washington, DC 20460 EPA-742-F-01-026
Pollution Prevention at EPA
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue NW (7409M) Washington, DC 20460
Phone: 202-564-8800; Fax: 202-564-8901
www.epa.gov/p2
POLLUTION PREVENTION, or P2, was established as the national environmental policy of the United
States in the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990. At EPA, pollution prevention means source reduction -
preventing or reducing waste where it originates, at the source. By practicing P2, the amount of end-of-
pipe control, treatment, and disposal can be greatly reduced.
The Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) works to promote pollution prevention both inside
and outside the Agency. This is done in several ways, such as using voluntary pollution reduction
programs, engaging in partnerships, providing technical assistance, funding demonstration projects, and
incorporating cost-effective pollution prevention alternatives into regulations and other initiatives.
BUSINESS PRACTICES AND PROCESSES
•»• The Environmental Accounting Project promotes the improvement of management
accounting and capital budgeting practices to better identify the costs of wasteful production
processes and environmental management, http://www.epa.gov/oppt/acctg
•»• Pollution Prevention Business Development and Finance Program promotes environmental
stewardship by assessing a potential role for the financial community.
http://www.epa.gov/p2/programs/finance.htm
DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND GREEN CHEMISTRY
«*• Green Chemistry is the design, manufacture, and use of environmentally benign chemical
products and processes that prevent pollution and reduce environmental and human health
risks, http://www.epa.gov/oppt/greenchemistry
•»• Design for the Environment is another example of industry partnerships which promote the
design of safer products and processes in areas such as dry cleaning, screen printing, and
electronics, http://www.epa.gov/dfe
•*• The goal of the Green Engineering Program is to incorporate risk related concepts into
chemical processes and products designed by academia and industry.
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/greenengineering
"GREEN" PRODUCTS AND LABELING
•*• EPA's Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program has developed tools and
resources to help you "do" EPP, including: a database of environmental information on products,
stories of successful EPP pilots, and discussion areas for sharing ideas and experiences.
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/epp
•»• The Consumer Labeling Initiative (CLI) is a government industry and public partnership
working to provide consumers with better and clearer information on household product labels.
CLI is currently leading a nationwide education campaign encouraging consumers to "Read the
Label First.*" http://www.epa.gov/oppt/labeling
•*• The Environmental Labeling Website offers information about environmental labeling issues,
policies and practices worldwide. The site provides access to reports as well as links to other
environmental labeling resources, http://www.epa.gov/oppt/environmental-labeling
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PBT CHEMICALS AND HOSPITALS FOR A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT
•» EPA's cross-program Persistent, Bioaccumulative, and Toxic (PBT) Pollutants Program is
working to further reduce risks to human health and the environment from existing and future
exposure to priority PBT pollutants. While the Program emphasizes prevention as a means to
stop the transfer of PBT pollutants across environmental media, it is designed to utilize all of the
Agency's tools. http://www.epa.QOv/pbt
•*• Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) is an effort led by the American Hospital
Association and the US EPA to advance pollution prevention efforts in our nation's hospitals.
Through activities, such as the development of best practices, model plans for total waste
management, resource directories, and case studies, the project hopes to provide hospitals and
healthcare systems with enhanced tools for minimizing the volumes of waste generated and the
production of persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic pollutants.
http://www.h2e-online.org/index.asp
P2 INFORMATION RESOURCES
-»• The Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2Rx) is a national collaborative effort to
reduce redundant efforts, establish information standards, and develop a larger vision for a
national network that serves all regional programs, http://www.p2rx.org
-* The Pollution Prevention Information Clearinghouse (PPIC) is a free, nonregulatory service
of the US EPA dedicated to reducing or eliminating industrial pollutants through technology
transfer, education, and public awareness, http://www.epa.gov/oppt/library/libppic.htm
STATE AND LOCAL GRANTS
EPA sponsors three grant programs that specifically promote P2 activities. While it is the policy of the
Agency to encourage pollution prevention in all of the grant programs sponsored under other EPA
offices, the Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances is responsible for the following grant
programs:
.«.-•
«* The Pollution Prevention Incentive for States (PPIS) grant program is announced each ye'ar
in the Federal Register. EPA provides about $5 million annually through PPIS to help develop
and sustain state P2 program activities and pioneer new P2 approaches in the states. "*
http://www.epa.gov/p2/proqrams/ppis.htm
•* The Environmental Justice through Pollution Prevention (EJP2) grant program was initiated
in FY 1995. During the last six years, OPPT, in cooperation with EPA's regional offices, has
awarded more than 85 grants to economically-disadvantaged and minority communities for
training, research surveys, demonstration projects, and development of non-regulatory pollution
prevention strategies, http://www.epa.gov/oppt/ejp2
•»• The Pollution Prevention Information Network grant competition was initiated in 1997 to
promote sharing of P2 information, training, and technical assistance expertise among states.
Regional Centers receiving these grants call themselves the Pollution Prevention Resource
Exchange (P2RX). http://www.epa.gov/p2/programs/ppin.htm
EPA REGIONAL AND STATE P2 ACTIVITIES
•*• Pollution Prevention Regional Contacts - http://www.epa.gov/p2/resources/regions.htm
•» State Pollution Prevention Technical Assistance - http://www.epa.gov/p2/assist/state.htm
PREVENTION
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