£PA £90-^95-005
REPORT BY EPA REGION 1 (NEW ENGLAND)
on
THE MERRIMACK PROJECT: A Regional Demonstration Project of the IP3
The Merrimack Project, a pilot initiative funded under the EPA's Industrial Pollution
Prevention Project (IP3), targeted intensive pollution prevention technical assistance jointly
through Massachusetts and New Hampshire to industries on the Merrimack River, a major
interstate river. The main purpose of the project was to demonstrate how two states can work
together successfully to bring about pollution prevention in the industries along an interstate river.
It pioneered the watershed approach to pollution prevention. It helped set the stage of the joint
EPA/Interstate Merrimack River Initiative.
The IP3 awarded Massachusetts's Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) and New
Hampshire's Department of Environmental Services (DES) $120,000 each to promote
cooperatively the objectives of the project within the Merrimack River Basin.
RESULTS
1. As an interstate effort, the project tested and demonstrated that two states, even with
technical assistance programs that are very different institutionally, can successfully work
together to provide technical assistance to industries along a commonly shared river.
In Massachusetts, technical assistance was well established in an Office of Technical
Assistance separate from the compliance functions of the Department of Environmental
Protection. In contrast, in New Hampshire technical assistance would fall under the regulatory
umbrella of the state's Department of Environmental Services (DES); and, at the start of the
Merrimack Project, such technical assistance was only starting to evolve in the Waste Division
while only being considered in the Water Supply and Pollution Control Division. At the time,
the New Hampshire programs shared (with much of EPA) the conventional reservations about
compromising compliance functions with a technical assistance program, about lack of staff
capabilities to provide technical assistance, about liability, and about competing with consultants.
Through the Merrimack Project, New Hampshire drew extensively on Massachusetts's
experience in developing its approach. Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire exchanged visits
to their respective state offices. The Massachusetts leader and staff for the IP3 Merrimack Project
shared the experience they gained in developing a separate and multi-media technical assistance
program. New Hampshire then established a multi-media statewide Pollution Prevention Task
Force, chaired by the DES's Deputy Commissioner and the Commissioner's Water Resources
Coordinator and staffed by the IPS Merrimack Project coordinator for New Hampshire.
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As a result of the Merrimack Project, the State of New Hampshire has established a
technical assistance program known as New Hampshire's Pollution Prevention Program (NHPPP).
NHPPP is under the regulatory umbrella of the DES. Prior to the Merrimack Project, the State
of New Hampshire did not have any formal technical assistance program providing or promoting
toxics use reduction or pollution prevention.
As the Merrimack Project gained popularity, the NHPPP was increasingly being asked to
perform on-site assessments, organize workshops, train staff, and respond to informational
requests. This presented a resources and organizational challenge for DES. During this period,
DES projected a professional and positive image throughout the State regarding the program,
while Massachusetts OTA and EPA provided public relations support. NHPPP used Total Quality
Management tools to overcome the resource and organizational barriers.
Within two years, NHPPP had become recognized throughout New England as an
organization possessing the ability to identify and characterize pollution prevention opportunities.
It has successfully established a pollution prevention clearinghouse which includes information
on new and innovative technologies, products, fact sheets, and case studies. It has also
successfully developed and instituted procedures for setting priorities and disseminating requests
and information.
Despite New Hampshire's initial misgivings about embarking on pollution prevention
technical assistance, a positive experience gradually evolved. Both states and those in EPA
involved in or exposed to the project became convinced of the benefits of an active pollution
prevention approach.
The two states successfully worked together to conduct jointly many very successful
workshops and other events, involving the industries in both states along the Merrimack River.
2. The Merrimack Project also demonstrated that a technical assistance program can
be successfully structured and implemented under either a regulatory or non-regulatory
organization.
The project demonstrated over a three-year learning period that public agencies with
environmental results as their "bottom line" can deploy technical assistance in their official
capacity in various forms and under the divergent institutional arrangements in Massachusetts and
New Hampshire without jeopardizing industry confidentiality or compromising their ultimate
compliance and enforcement responsibilities.
In the case of Massachusetts, an already established technical assistance program, within
a non-regulatory organization (OTA), continued to demonstrate success in bringing about
pollution prevention with industry. In the case of New Hampshire, the Merrimack Project
illustrated how a regulatory organization can provide "grass roots" technical assistance to its
industries without jeopardizing potential enforcement actions.
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The State of New Hampshire successfully demonstrated the ability to integrate pollution
prevention into traditional enforcement-related activities, e.g., compliance inspection, enforcement
actions, permit writing.
Companies have informed EPA that they were satisfied with the assistance they received
and that, even though (in the case of New Hampshire) the technical assistance service was not
segregated from the regulatory program, they believe that the information collected will be held
confidential.
3. The Merrimack Project also demonstrated the value of publicizing the potential for
pollution prevention opportunities.
The project conducted over 20 major workshops and over 100 public events.
The workshops were targeted to a variety of manufacturing operations, e.g., electroplating,
metal finishing, machine shops, printed circuit board manufacturing and assembly, etc. Workshop
participation was overwhelming and, as the project gained publicity, participation expanded even
more. Massachusetts OTA, for example, found itself visiting and providing assistance to many
more POTWs, because POTW officials valued the opportunity to increase the communities'
public awareness and understanding of the local treatment plant. Manufacturing facilities
appreciated participating in the workshops targeted to them because they received information on
the economical incentives of pollution prevention. Workshops were also a conduit for the
industrial community to express concerns or frustrations.
As the bottom line, Massachusetts and New Hampshire conducted over 200 on-site
assessments of pollution prevention opportunities at industrial facilities. Of these, at least 27
percent already have implemented or are expected to implement pollution prevention measures.
Some industrial facilities have accomplished "zero discharge" by using innovative
technologies such as electrolytic recovery or ion exchange. These processes have made it
possible for the facilities to achieve a "closed-loop" wastewater system.
Furthermore, most of the original POTWs visited by Massachusetts OTA and New
Hampshire NHPPP have already incorporated various pollution prevention activities into their
Industrial Pretreatment Programs. (The Merrimack Project revealed that, while corporations and
local municipalities favor having state or federal agencies promote pollution prevention technical
assistance, corporations favor having local POTWs provide the assistance where possible ~
probably because they feel that there is more of a common interest and bond between the two
parties because they are part of the same local community.) Some POTWs continue to sponsor
workshops, while others integrate pollution prevention directly into program elements such as
permits or enforcement actions.
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4. The Merrimack Project achieved both cost savings to industry and environmental
improvement to the Merrimack River.
The project has resulted already in the elimination of over 1.7 million pounds of toxic
substances, with a savings of over $1.9 million to industry. The project highlights and case
studies presented in a report titled THE MERRIMACK PROJECT — a report jointly written by
Massachusetts and New Hampshire - detail these cost savings and environmental improvements.
5. Positive experiences with the project's workshops, technical assistance, kept-
confidences ~ combined with a desire to continue an intensified level of communication on
an industry-wide basis — led involved Merrimack industries to work with the two states to
form a Merrimack Business Environmental Network (MBEN). In turn, MBEN has
mushroomed into a Northeast Business Environmental Network (NBEN).
Committed to seek and implement solutions that promote pollution prevention through
improved management and technology while enhancing the economic viability of the community,
MBEN initially grew to over 35 corporate members. Members have met monthly to exchange
pollution prevention ideas; they even organized a day-long conference at Maudslay State Park on
the banks of the Merrimack River to share industry, state, and federal experience and insights.
The concept of MBEN captured the attention of industries throughout New England. The
concept has subsequently expanded from the Merrimack River network to a network throughout
the Northeast United States. The Network has now been chartered into a Northeast Business
Environmental Network (NBEN), with chapters like MBEN to be organized on a watershed basis.
6. The Merrimack Project also showed how Total Quality Management (TQM)
techniques can be used by a state agency as a tool in creating a pollution prevention
program and in implementing pollution prevention technical assistance to industry.
The New Hampshire DES used TQM while constructing the NHPPP. DES evaluated
program commitments against existing program resources. The procedure involved an investment
and disinvestment process using TQM. As a result, resources and job functions were shifted
within certain programs in order to create the NHPPP.
IMPLICATIONS: EPA Region 1 (New England)^ Views/Perspective
The Merrimack Project has demonstrated that environmental compliance can be obtained
either by using technical assistance independently or in conjunction with traditional enforcement
related activities. The project has verified that technical assistance is an effective and economical
device for achieving and encouraging environmental compliance.
The project has highlighted that technical assistance should never necessitate the
suspension of enforcement, or disinvestment in enforcement. Enforcement can be used as a tool
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to encourage industrial participation in technical assistance programs, i.e., Supplemental
Environmental Projects. Pollution prevention and technical assistance programs should only
complement and provide support in an enforcement case orientated system. Technical assistance
programs should not assume a lead role in resolving compliance issues. Without the threat of
legal recourse, technical assistance programs could, among other things, delay compliance,
threaten the integrity of an enforcement program, and potentially provide an economic benefit
to the violator.
Over the past three years EPA Region 1 (New England), at all levels, has and continues
to undergo tremendous change and reorganization. Managers and staff have become increasingly
aware and receptive to the concepts of providing pollution prevention and technical assistance
within their respective programs, but not at the expense of delaying compliance or jeopardizing
the integrity of enforcement.
Gradually, the Merrimack Project produced (at the federal, state, and local levels)
numerous examples of "how-to methods" of integrating pollution prevention and technical
assistance programs into enforcement related activities taking into consideration management's
concerns. The project, among other things, has produced a network of valuable technical
assistance resources that assist management and staff. As a result, the project has increased the
ability of each and every person at EPA Region 1 (New England) to access this information more
readily than ever.
The Merrimack Project experience has overcome the deep-seated mindset that EPA, as
well as state environmental agencies, must serve solely as a regulatory agency, taking a "hands
off approach to offering technical assistance. This mindset had discouraged EPA from actively
promoting pollution prevention and had made EPA reluctant to raise questions about pollution
prevention opportunities for process change and materials substitution.
The success and acceptance brought by the Merrimack Project is a result of several
conditions adhered to by all parties:
1) Pollution prevention and technical assistance shall serve as a tool to achieve and
maintain continued compliance; in no way will it substitute for compliance and
enforcement actions;
2) Pollution prevention and technical assistance shall not be supported/funded at the
expense of disinvesting in compliance or enforcement activities/resources;
3) Pollution prevention and technical assistance shall serve as a tool to assist the
industrial community in achieving more stringent environmental levels, not
circumvent lower levels;
4) Pollution prevention and technical assistance shall support enforcement programs
by encouraging and promoting process and/or materials substitution in order to
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achieve compliance. It is possible that the permittee will be allowed to delay
enforcement-related schedules only on an ad hoc basis where pollution prevention
shows promise of achieving enhanced environmental benefits and only as long as
good-faith efforts are demonstrated. It is critically important to set forth clearly
the environmental objectives in the negotiation of compliance schedules.
5) Pollution prevention and technical assistance shall promote relations and encourage
communication among the regulatory agencies, industry, and the public.
In conclusion, the Merrimack Project resolved many myths on whether or not a regulatory
organization could successfully implement pollution prevention. Through the Merrimack Project,
it has become more apparent to the regulatory community that environmental compliance can be
obtained using pollution prevention technical assistance independently or in conjunction with
traditional enforcement actions.
The project has also verified that pollution prevention technical assistance is an effective
tool for encouraging and achieving environmental compliance. Results have illustrated industry's
need for pollution prevention technical assistance while attempting to achieve compliance. The
project also provides us in EPA Region 1 (New England) with additional insight on various
techniques that we might consider when promoting or implementing pollution prevention.
NEXT STEPS FOR EPA REGION 1 (NEW ENGLAND)
EPA Region 1 (New England) — hereafter referred to as "EPA - New England" in this
report — should follow up on the Merrimack Project experience, as follows:
1. Support pollution prevention technical assistance — both separate from and in conjunction
with water quality evaluations, permit writing/negotiations, and compliance. Tailor the
technical assistance, drawing upon various models, to best fit the situation by considering
the following model options:
technical assistance separated completely from compliance/enforcement
(e.g., MA OTA & MA DEP);
preliminary consultation and technical assistance followed up by
inspections, compliance and enforcement, with increasing scale of penalties
as necessary (e.g., OSHA Consultation Program);
inspectors trained to ask questions leading toward pollution prevention and
to direct facility to sources of pollution prevention technical assistance;
inspectors trained to refer facility to sources of pollution prevention when
they notice violations or opportunities for pollution prevention;
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enforcers seek voluntary agreement for facility to research, evaluate, and
implement pollution prevention measures;
enforcers require -- through the inspection, permitting, and enforcement
process ~ that the facility adopt and implement pollution prevention
measures.
2. Strengthen the performance measures for compliance and enforcement activities to include
not only the numbers of permits, inspections, and enforcement actions but also measures
of environmental results.
3. Undertake EPA - New England's proposed pollution prevention FY95 Intermedia
Initiative, "Intermedia Environmental Assistance." drawing upon the Merrimack Project
experience and recommendations.
4. Undertake EPA - New England's proposed pollution prevention FY95 Initiative,
"Integrating Pollution Prevention into Multi-media Permitting."
5. Undertake EPA - New England's proposed pollution prevention FY95 Initiative,
"Technical Assistance to a Pretreatment Community," building on the Merrimack Project's
recommendations to involve POTWs actively in pollution prevention technical assistance.
6. Support the development of local industrial discharge limits that are based on best
available technology which recognizes and credits pollution prevention technology.
7. Support and involve POTWs in pollution prevention technical assistance by assisting them
in negotiating implementation schedules with their respective industrial users.
8. Provide incentives to stimulate development and application of new technology to achieve
pollution prevention and more cost effective measures to meet limits.
9. Support provisions in Clean Water Act Reauthorization to incorporate more pollution
prevention in permitting. In the meantime, take advantage of every opportunity to
integrate pollution prevention into permitting, e.g., implementation measures, compliance
schedules, outreach, and reporting.
10. Develop integrated data management systems to assist EPA, states, POTWs, and industries
to fine tune pollution prevention measures and implementation schedules. Such a system
would make it possible to target pollution prevention technical assistance to the most
critical industrial facilities. (The Merrimack Project revealed that such a data system was
lacking and would be helpful if it existed.)
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11. The New England Environmental Assistance Team
To implement pollution prevention assistance, EPA - New England founded the
New England Environmental Assistance Team (NEEAT) early in FY94 as the core
of EPA - New England's new focus on assistance to the regulated community.
In establishing this function, EPA - New England is seeking to improve
compliance rates and pollution prevention implementation through assisting and
collaborating with industry rather than enforcement whenever possible — the
philosophy behind the Merrimack Project.
NEEAT itself will not perform on-site assessments (the primary outreach tool in
the Merrimack Project) in the foreseeable future, but will use other mechanisms
to reach, inform, and serve the regulated community: a toll-free assistance hotline,
workshops, guidance manuals, technology demonstrations, compliance checklists,
etc. NEEAT is focusing on three industry sectors (metal finishing, printing, and
electronics) and municipalities. Much of its efforts within these sectors will be
focused on resources of concern, like the Merrimack.
EPA - New England is also funding its partner state pollution prevention
assistance programs — Maine's and New Hampshire's included — through the
Pollution Prevention Incentives for States grant program. NEEAT has met with
the board of the Northeast Business Environmental Network (or NBEN, the
successor to the Merrimack-based group MBEN) to discuss collaboration between
NEEAT and NBEN. and will be following with joint outreach.
In sum, the Merrimack Project has provided important experience with assistance
tools, partnerships, and geographic focus that now forms EPA - New England's
own assistance efforts.
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