Reinventing
ENVIRONMENTAL
Regulation
REVIEW
PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON
VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE
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COMMON-SENSE STRATEGIES TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH:
A Progress Report on Reinventing Environmental Regulation
March 29,1996
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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COMMON-SENSE STRATEGIES TO PROTECT PUBLIC HEALTH:
A Progress Report on Reinventing Environmental Regulation
Executive Summary
"Do you believe we can expand the economy without hurting the environment?
I do. Do you believe we can create more jobs over the long run by cleaning the
environment up? I know we can. That should be our commitment. We must
challenge business and communities to take more initiative in protecting the
environment and we have to make it easier for them to do it."
-- President Clinton
1996 State of the Union Address
One year ago, on March 16, 1995, President Clinton, Vice President Gore and EPA
Administrator Carol Browner issued a report, Reinventing Environmental Regulation, launching
25 high priority actions to develop and expand the Administration's common-sense strategies that
protect public health and the environment. EPA has made substantial progress in meeting all of
the 25 high priority actions over the past year. These reforms are strengthening the environmental
protection system so it meets the challenges of the future as well as solve the problems of today.
This progress report highlights many of the important accomplishments in EPA's reinvention of
environmental regulation and related common-sense, cost-effective initiatives that are part of the
Clinton Administration's new direction for EPA. Changes have been made in four categories:
1) Reducing paperwork and cutting red tape: To help businesses to comply with
environmental laws faster and more efficiently, EPA:
• is making changes to more than 70 percent of its regulations, and is working to eliminate
1400 pages of obsolete rules — some 10 percent of EPA's total regulations.
• has eliminated more than 10 million hours of paperwork and red tape for large and
small businesses seeking to comply with environmental laws. This reduction is the
equivalent of returning a quarter-million workweeks back to the private sector to
boost productivity and profits. EPA also expects to eliminate another 10 million hours of
paperwork by the end of 1996.
2) Making it easier for businesses to comply with environmental laws: Because it makes
more sense to prevent pollution than to clean it up after the fact, EPA is making it easier for
businesses to comply with environmental regulations. While recognizing that a strong
enforcement capability ensures strong public health and environmental protection, EPA also is
implementing the following innovative approaches:
• Under the Common Sense Compliance incentives for small business, penalties for first-
time violators can be waived or reduced if the business repairs the problem and comes into
compliance with the law.
• EPA's Environmental Leadership Program challenges facilities to take innovative
approaches — such as environmental auditing and pollution prevention ~ to enhance their
ability to meet environmental requirements.
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• EPA also has funded Small Business Compliance Assistance Centers for the metal
finishing, printing, automotive repair and farming industries to help these small
businesses identify low-cost compliance and pollution prevention strategies; and make
compliance easier for as many as one million small businesses.
3) Using innovation and flexibility to achieve better environmental results: EPA is
encouraging innovative and flexible approaches to achieve better environmental results — tapping
the creativity of industry, states and local communities to increase protections for all Americans:
• With Project XL -for excellence and leadership ~ EPA offers this challenge: If you
can meet even higher environmental performance standards, we will provide flexibility
and cut red tape so you can find the cheapest, most efficient way to do it. Twelve
industry or state XL projects and one city project are now moving forward.
• EPA is piloting other innovative approaches to focus on problems that pose the highest
risks to public health, and help control pollution by allowing facilities to trade pollution
reduction "credits" on the open market with facilities that have not made those reductions.
4) Increasing community participation and partnerships: EPA is increasing community
participation and partnerships to engage states, tribes, communities and citizens in the effort to
protect public health and the environment:
• Community right-to-know has been strengthened and expanded, and further expansions
are being considered to provide citizens with more complete information about local toxic
chemical releases. In keeping with right-to-know, EPA has expanded public access to
Agency information — particularly Internet access.
• EPA has established Performance Partnerships that give states and tribes funding
flexibility to combine federal grants to meet their environmental needs.
• EPA, industry and other groups established the Partnership for Safe Drinking Water, a
voluntary commitment to improve drinking water safety, with a focus on high-risk
contaminants.
Reinventing environmental regulation at EPA is a fundamental change in the way the
Agency implements public health and environmental protection. Under the leadership of President
Clinton, Vice President Gore and Administrator Browner, EPA is applying common sense,
flexibility, and creativity in an effort to move beyond the one-size-fits-all system of the past and
achieve the very best protection of public health and the environment at the least cost. In
addition, EPA is extending these reinvention approaches from the regulatory arena to its efforts to
reauthorize environmental laws, proposing responsible legislative reforms that also embody these
principles. Committed to changes that make both economic and environmental sense, the Clinton
Administration believes that these improvements to our system of environmental regulation will
strengthen public health and environmental protections.
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Reducing Paperwork and Cutting Red Tape
"The laws and regulations that brought our environment back from the
brink worked well for their time. But what worked yesterday may not work today
or tomorrow. We believe in higher environmental standards, but we also believe in
more partnership between environmentalists and people working in the private
sector. We believe in more flexibility and more focus on results instead of rule
making. We know that going through Washington may not be the only road to a
safer and cleaner world."
- President Clinton, March 11,1996
Because every hour saved in the environmental regulatory process is an hour that
can be spent better protecting public health and the environment, EPA is reducing and
streamlining paperwork and red tape. Reducing regulatory red tape and paperwork will help
businesses to comply, while saving money and time that can be better spent in preventing
pollution and boosting productivity and economic growth. Following are some of the innovative
actions EPA has already completed to reduce the unnecessary burdens and costs of environmental
reporting and record-keeping:
1) Time and Paperwork Burdens Reduced: To help businesses comply with environmental
and public health protections more efficiently and effectively:
• EPA is making changes to more than 70 percent of its regulations, and is working to
eliminate 1400 pages of obsolete rules ~ some 10 percent of EPA's total regulations.
• In just one year, EPA has eliminated more than 10 million hours of paperwork and
red tape for large and small businesses seeking to comply with regulations ranging from
air and water pollution controls to pesticides registrations and chemical releases. This is
the equivalent of returning a quarter-million workweeks back to the private sector
to boost productivity and profits.
• For industries that discharge wastewater into rivers, lakes and streams, EPA has
streamlined monitoring and reporting, reducing the time spent on water quality monitoring
by 4.7 million hours.
'EPA expects to eliminate another 10 million hours of paperwork by the end of 1996 with
similar measures that increase opportunities for electronic reporting, eliminate some reporting
requirements, and make forms shorter and easier to use.
2) Accountability and Efficiency Boosted Through Electronic Reporting: To increase
public accountability and ensure that industries are meeting public health standards, EPA is
increasing opportunities for businesses to file electronic reports on emissions and discharges in
air, land and water.
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• Over the last year, EPA successfully tested electronic reporting from reformulated
gasoline producers -- an effort now being expanded to the entire petroleum industry -- on
how their product meets Clean Air Act requirements for cleaner gasoline.
• In addition to speeding and simplifying the reporting process, saving time and money for
industry, the new system has resulted in more accurate data on clean gasoline production.
In spring 1996, industry reports on discharges of wastewater into rivers, lakes and streams
also will be accepted electronically. EPA is exploring additional ways to expand electronic
reporting.
3) Air Pollution Permits Simplified: To better achieve reductions in harmful industrial air
pollution and provide the public with better information about such pollution in their communities,
EPA has taken a number of steps to streamline how industries obtain air pollution "permits" --
comprehensive controls on air pollution emissions from industrial facilities.
• In August 1995, EPA proposed ways to simplify the complex procedures under which air
pollution permits are issued, making it easier for industries to identify parts of their
facilities that were violating air pollution standards. Companies will be better able to keep
their processes up-to-date without invoking burdensome procedural requirements.
• In March 1996, EPA proposed reforms that will further simplify the process by combining
multiple, overlapping Clean Air Act requirements into one permit, paving the way for
substantial reductions in paperwork and costs for businesses, while allowing them more
time to focus on avoiding violations of air pollution controls.
• These actions are expected to reduce related paperwork burdens for businesses by as
much as 10 million hours over the next three years, saving about $600 million.
In April 1996, EPA will propose significant revisions to streamline the permitting process
for new sources of air pollution ~ reforms expected to further reduce burdens for many
businesses and cutting in half the number of industrial projects that need to obtain new permits.
4) Low-Risk Pesticide Self-Certification and Exemption: As part of its efforts to focus on
the highest risks to public health, EPA in March 1996 exempted 31 low-risk pesticide ingredients
— which have been determined to pose little risk to public health and the environment — from
registration with EPA, changing a longstanding requirement.
• In addition to focusing Agency and industry efforts on higher-risk substances, this action
reduces the regulatory burden for small businesses that manufacture these ingredients.
• In a similar effort, in May 1995, EPA expanded ways for pesticide companies to self-
certify that changes to low-risk pesticide labeling and formulations comply with EPA
requirements. Previously, companies had to seek approval for even minor changes.
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Making It Easier for Businesses to Comply with Environmental Laws
"Our common-sense initiative for small business emphasizes results, not
punishment. If a small business makes a mistake and is committed to fixing that
mistake, we will waive the fine if they repair the problem. This new way of doing
business overturns the conventional wisdom that we have to somehow choose
between the health of our environment and the health of our economy."
- President Clinton, March 11,1996
Because it makes more sense to prevent pollution than to clean it up after the fact,
EPA is making it easier for businesses to comply with environmental regulations. EPA
recognizes that preventing pollution is the most sensible approach to protecting public health ~
and recognizes that most businesses want to comply with the law. Too often, violations occur
because many businesses lack the technical assistance needed to fully comply. For the first time,
EPA has begun an ambitious program to simplify regulations and make it easier to comply with
environmental laws. The following innovative approaches are already making progress:
1) Common Sense Compliance for Small Businesses: EPA has launched a new program
to encourage common-sense compliance for small businesses in June 1995:
• Under the new policy, penalties for first-time violators can be waived or reduced if the
business repairs the problem and comes into compliance with the law.
• The policy also provides small businesses with a grace period to correct violations without
penalty as long as the violation is not criminal or does not create a serious environmental
threat, and the company participates in EPA or state compliance assistance programs.
2) Achieving Compliance through the Environmental Leadership Program: To help
businesses find the best ways to clean up and prevent pollution, EPA has launched the
Environmental Leadership Program.
• Ten companies and two federal facilities, ranging in size from large public corporations to
smaller privately held businesses, are participating in the program's pilot phase.
• These pilot projects are testing innovative approaches ~ such as environmental auditing
and pollution prevention — to reduce costs and paperwork while enhancing their ability to
meet environmental requirements.
Participating facilities will demonstrate how these approaches can help other regulated
businesses comply in cleaner, cheaper and smarter ways.
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3) Flexible Compliance Policy for Small Communities: Many small communities want to
protect the health of their citizens, but lack the administrative, technical and financial capacity to
ensure that their towns are complying with environmental laws. In November 1995, EPA
announced a policy that promotes states' use of enforcement flexibility to provide compliance
incentives for small communities.
• Under the policy, states will help communities identify and prioritize their environmental
compliance needs and create a reasonable schedule for communities to correct their
environmental violations.
• This policy promotes increased compliance by allowing communities to develop a plan
that suits their individual needs -- so they can first focus on their worst environmental
problems -- and assuring them that asking for help need not result in a penalty.
4) Grants Awarded for Small Business Compliance Assistance Centers: To advance small
businesses' ability to protect public health and prevent pollution before it starts, EPA has funded
Small Business Compliance Assistance Centers -- places where small businesses can get all the
Information they need about regulations that apply to their business, and get it in plain, easy-to-
understand language. The centers also provide information on how small businesses can reduce
their costs by preventing pollution. The centers support state and local agencies and industry
trade associations, and could assist more than one million small businesses in the following
sectors:
• The National Printers' Compliance Assistance Center currently offers
compliance assistance and pollution prevention information to some 100
printing businesses through two Internet-based bulletin boards.
• The Agriculture Compliance Assistance Center is a "one-stop
shopping" source for small farms with comprehensive, easy-to-understand
information about cost-effective approaches to pollution prevention and
compliance.
• The National Metal Finishing Resource Center will provide a one-stop,
electronically linked information and technical assistance source on solving
compliance and production problems, beginning in fall 1996.
• The Automotive Repair Compliance Assistance Center will provide
information on flexible, common sense ways to prevent pollution and
comply with environmental laws to automotive service and repair shops via
the Internet and telephone systems, beginning in spring 1996.
S) Incentives for Self-Policing: To encourage companies to voluntarily correct pollution
violations, in December 1995, EPA announced a new policy offering reduced penalties for eligible
participants who quickly and voluntarily disclose violations of environmental laws and take action
to correct them.
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• In the three months since its inception, the policy has encouraged more than 50 companies
to disclose environmental violations they discovered through self-policing. EPA has
settled 13 of these cases, issuing 12 waivers and one greatly reduced penalty.
• Among the incentives to comply provided under the policy are: 1) If a company or public
agency voluntarily identifies, discloses and corrects violations according to the conditions
outlined in the policy, EPA will eliminate punitive enforcement penalties; and 2) If no
serious public health risk has occurred from the pollution violation, and other conditions
are met, EPA will not recommend that the Department of Justice bring criminal charges
against a company or public agency that acts in good faith to identify and correct those
violations.
6) First Sector-Wide Enforcement Agreement: To achieve consistent corrections of
recurrent environmental problems across an entire industry, EPA is pursuing sector-wide
enforcement agreements.
• The first industry-wide settlement, in October 1995, included 51 enforcement cases
involving more than 200 natural gas processor facilities across the country, for failure to
report specific information on volumes of toxic chemicals released, as required under the
Toxic Substances Control Act. As part of the program, the natural gas processing
industry agreed to put in place controls that will prevent these types of violations in the
future.
This is the first time EPA has worked with an industry association to develop a national
agreement to successfully resolve multiple environmental violations at one time across a sector.
7) EPA Policy to Support Risk-based Enforcement: To target pollution violations that pose
the highest risks to'public health and the environment, EPA has initiated a sweeping initiative to
focus enforcement resources on violations that are likely to pose the highest risks.
• In September 1995, EPA issued a new policy on the frequency of inspections of
wastewater discharges under the Clean Water Act's National Pollution Discharge System.
The new policy will allow inspectors to reduce their visits to facilities that handle lower
risk materials and have good compliance track records, so that resources can be targeted
to more serious compliance and health risk problems.
EPA also is providing enforcement inspectors with risk assessment tools so they can set
enforcement priorities based on the level of public health risk.
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Innovation and Flexibility to Achieve Better Environmental Results
"What I see in Project XL is a real paradigm shift ... The new system
envisioned by Project XL is to work cooperatively and focus on the results: a
cleaner environment; a faster, less costly system; with more input from the local
community . . . Just think of the environmental gains we could make if we tap into
the creativity that put 5.5 million transistors on a chip the size of your thumbnail!"
-- Gordon Moore, Chairman of the Board
Intel Corporation
EPA is encouraging innovation and flexibility to achieve better environmental
results ~ tapping the creativity of industry, states and local communities to increase
protections for all Americans. Using incentives and flexibility, EPA is encouraging businesses,
states, tribes, and local communities to achieve better environmental results in ways that are
cleaner, cheaper and smarter. Among the innovative approaches now in motion are:
1) Going Beyond Compliance to Achieve Excellence and Leadership: To encourage
regulated entities to go beyond compliance with environmental laws, Project XL ~ for excellence
and leadership - offers business, states and communities this challenge: If you can meet even
higher environmental performance standards, EPA will provide flexibility and cut red tape so
that you can find the cheapest and most efficient way to do it. An integral part of pilot XL
projects is the involvement of local citizens, community groups, businesses, and state and local .
governments in the process of achieving better results. Ten companies and two state agencies are
currently using this flexibility in the following ways:
• HADCO, a manufacturer of printed wiring boards, will create a market
for recycling waste from electronic facilities by streamlining hazardous
waste rules at facilities in New Hampshire, California and New York.
• Intel Corporation will build a new facility designed to achieve better
environmental results from the start, through an environmental "contract"
with EPA and the State of Arizona.
• Merck & Company will use a comprehensive single permit approach to
control air pollution from its Elkton, Va., facility.
• 3M Company will take a "one-stop" approach to permitting by
developing a single, comprehensive permit for air, water and waste at
facilities in Minnesota, Illinois, and California.
• Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. will set a single environmental
bottom line target for air, land and water pollution that result from its
operations in Jacksonville, Fla.
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• AT&T's Lucent Technology will take an innovative approach to
monitoring water pollution at its Allentown, Pa., facility by utilizing outside
auditors.
• Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will pilot Project XL across the
state to reduce air, land and water pollution.
• California's South Coast Air Quality Management District will work
with area companies to reduce air pollution from commuting trips.
• Union Carbide will use a plant-wide, stakeholder-driven process to
improve environmental performance at its Taft, La., petrochemical
plant.
• Weyerhaeuser will operate its Flint River, Ga., plant as a "Minimum
Impact Mill," a comprehensive approach to minimize the overall impact
of the mill on the environment.
• IBM will biologically treat its wastes at its Essex Junction, N. Y.
facility, rather than shipping them off site for incineration.
• Berry Corporation will work with EPA and the state of Florida to
combine multiple environmental permits into a single, comprehensive
operating plan at an orange juice processing facility in La Belle, Fla.
2) Alternative Strategies for Communities -- Anaheim, California: To encourage
communities to achieve better results in areas where they are facing persistent
environmental problems, EPA announced a Community XL project in Anaheim,
California, in February 1996. Anaheim proposes to work with all businesses,
industries, schools and other stakeholders in the community to develop and implement a
plan to prevent contamination of groundwater near the public water supply wells.
3) Prioritizing Resources to Address Areas of Highest Risk: To ensure that
Agency actions address the highest risks to public health and the environment:
• EPA has reorganized its research and development program to focus on high-
risk health effects, exposures, and risk management.
• A new system for planning, budget and accountability will help ensure that
sound science is used in prioritizing Agency resources to address high-risk
problems.
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• New Agency-wide policies for peer review and risk characterization -- as well
as a new policy to consider children's health and environmental risks
consistently in Agency actions - also are ensuring that the best scientific
knowledge is applied in actions to protect public health and the environment.
EPA also has asked its independent Science Advisory Board to revise and
update its landmark report on Reducing Risk, so that the best and most current
knowledge can be employed to lower public health risks from environmental hazards
wherever possible.
4) Removing Barriers to Recycling: To encourage recycling of household
hazardous wastes, such as discarded batteries, thermostats and pesticides, EPA revised its
rules to help stores and businesses to collect these items for recycling ~ an effort that was
not being fully pursued because of the regulatory burden involved.
• In April 1995, EPA issued a new regulation which eases the burden by as much as
a half-million work hours on participating retail stores and businesses.
• Approximately 90,000 businesses will benefit from this burden reduction,
saving as much as $70 million annually.
5) Focusing on High Risk Hazardous Waste: To advance EPA's commitment to
target the highest risks to public health and the environment, in November 1995, EPA
proposed a new hazardous waste identification rule that will dramatically refocus the
regulatory program on high risk wastes.
• This rule will exempt wastes that do not pose a significant public health threat
from the hazardous waste management regulatory system — resulting in substantial
savings to businesses handling these low-risk wastes and allowing more time for
both government and industry to focus on greater risks to public health and the
environment.
• About 6,000 facilities would benefit from this burden reduction, saving as
much as $75 million annually.
6) Open Market Air Emissions Trading: To achieve reductions of smog-causing
industrial air pollution, EPA proposed in August 1995 a model rule for "emissions
trading" of smog-creating pollutants.
• This policy allows a facility that exceeds pollution reductions the opportunity to
sell its "surplus" reductions (or "credits") to facilities that find credits a more cost-
effective way to comply with these requirements.
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Once in a state plan, companies may freely engage in trades without prior approval
as long as reporting and public health standards are being met.
This program provides states and industries another innovative compliance option
to cost-effectively and efficiently meet their public health goals for reducing the
health impacts of harmful smog.
7) Promoting effluent trading in watersheds: To achieve reductions of industrial
and other water pollution in our rivers, lakes and streams, EPA announced in January
1996 a new policy to encourage the use of effluent trading within watersheds.
• This policy creates an economic incentive for pollution sources to exceed
requirements for water pollution reductions, through the opportunity to sell
"surplus" reduction credits to facilities that find credits a more cost-effective way
to comply with these requirements.
• These changes benefit facilities that go beyond compliance while helping other
facilities come into compliance.
8) Alternative Strategies for Department of Defense: To assist Department of
Defense facilities achieve better public health and environmental results, EPA and the
Department of Defense agreed in November 1995 on a framework for XL pilot projects at
Defense facilities across the country. The projects, with broad community participation,
will couple cost-effective, innovative ways to improve environmental performance at
Defense facilities, with more flexibility and reduced red tape in the compliance process.
These projects will combine pollution prevention, compliance and technology research
projects.
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Increasing Community Participation and Partnerships
"...Think about what your ordinary day is like. Think about the information that.
keeps you and your family safe and healthy. Think about what your child might
see that might change his or her behavior - a stop sign, a label that tells you
what's in the food you buy for your family, the warning on a pack of cigarettes.
This and other things are simple things that we take for granted because their cost
is minimal, but their value is priceless. The silent threat posed by pollution is as
real and dangerous as the threat of a speeding car to a walking child. We've
known for a long time that what we can't see can hurt us."
- President Clinton, August 8,1995
EPA is increasing community participation and partnerships to engage
states, tribes, communities and citizens in environmental protection. Recognizing
that citizens affected by environmental problems have a central role to play in
environmental protection, EPA is encouraging local participation and partnerships through
policies and regulatory changes that move environmental decisions closer to the problem.
The following innovative community-focused initiatives are underway:
1) Funding Flexibility through State and Tribal Performance Partnerships: To
help states and tribes solve their most pressing environmental and public health problems,
EPA established in May 1995 a landmark program that gives states and tribes flexibility to
meet their environmental goals.
• States with strong environmental programs will be given a stronger role in
setting environmental and public health priorities, along with the ability to direct
federal resources to meet the greatest environmental needs. This allows EPA to
focus on assisting those states and tribes that need more help in solving persistent
public health and environmental problems.
• EPA also is developing a program to allow states and tribes funding flexibility, to
combine several program grants into a single grant that meets their specific
needs, as long as they are consistent with environmental requirements. This
program is expected to reduce administrative burdens and improve environmental
performance. While EPA awaits Congressional approval to move forward with
this program, five states have already signed "Performance Partnership"
agreements with EPA -- including Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, North Dakota,
and Utah.
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2) Expanding Community Right-to-Know About Toxic Chemical Releases: For
nearly a decade, Americans have had an important right: the right to know about what
dangerous chemicals are being released into their communities. Armed with Community
Right-to-Know information, citizens around the country are taking action to solve local
environmental problems that affect their health and safety. Since the inception of these
laws in 1986, reported releases of toxic chemicals have declined by 43% nationwide.
EPA's Toxics Release Inventory is an annual inventory of the amount of toxic chemicals
that industries have released into the environment, organized by zip code. Citizens have
easy access to these reports through local libraries, state and federal environmental offices,
online electronic networks, and EPA's toll-free hotline.
• EPA has acted to strengthen and expand the public's right to know about
local pollution by requiring Federal facilities and government contractors to report
on chemical releases, by considering expansion of information reported to include
industries beyond manufacturing and broader information about chemicals, and by
making it easier for small businesses to report right-to-know information.
3) Providing Safer Drinking Water: To improve the safety of the nation's drinking
water — particularly from new microbial contaminants like cryptosporidium — EPA has
established the Partnership for Safe Drinking Water with industry associations, drinking
water systems and community groups nationwide.
• Under this voluntary initiative, participating water systems must have a third party
assess water operations, implement system improvements identified by the
assessment, and communicate water safety information to their customers. Since
last fall, 122 drinking water systems serving 63 million people have joined the
partnership.
4) Brownfields Program Removing Barriers to Cleanups and Development: A
significant problem for American communities are brownfields ~ abandoned,
contaminated industrial or commercial properties that are less toxic than Super-fund sites,
but still face barriers to their redevelopment.
• With seed money from the Administration's Brownfields Action Agenda,
cities across the nation are participating in pilot projects to redevelop brownfields
and return them to productive community use.
• Forty Brownfields pilots are moving forward to restore abandoned sites to new
uses, thereby creating jobs, economic growth, increased property values, and tax
revenues ~ and protecting the environment by encouraging development on
existing sites, rather than in undeveloped areas. EPA's FY 1997 budget request
calls for expanding pilots in additional U.S. cities.
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• In Cleveland, Ohio, for example, $3.2 million has been leveraged in
environmental cleanup and property improvements to a bankrupt and abandoned
site. The site is now home to several businesses that employ 171 new workers.
Payroll tax base improvements alone have netted more than $1 million for
the local economy.
• The new Clinton Administration Brownfields Tax Incentive for developers who
clean up and redevelop these properties will make available $2 billion over seven
years, and is expected to spur some $10 billion in private cleanups, and
return to productive use as many as 30,000 brownfields properties.
5) Expanding Electronic Access to Agency Information: In keeping with the
Clinton Administration's commitment to community right-to-know about local pollution,
EPA has expanded public access to Agency information about public health and
environmental problems and solutions.
• Citizens, businesses and1 other interested groups can more easily access new EPA
rules on the Internet, as well as submit their comments electronically on
pending environmental and public health rules the Agency is considering.
• The Agency's electronic ENVIROFACTS also provide public access to
information about environmental issues at local facilities.
• In February 1996, nearly one-half million people accessed EPA's Internet
home page.
6) Allowing States and Tribes Flexibility in Municipal Landfill Permits: To
increase local flexibility in handling environmental issues, in January 1996, EPA proposed
a rule which provides flexibility to states and tribes to implement performance standards
for municipal solid waste landfill permits. The performance-based approach sets goals to
ensure that public health and environment protections are achieved. Most states and many
tribes have already opted to use this new flexibility in setting their standards.
7) Chemical Industry Challenged to Prevent Pollution, Create Safer Chemicals:
To encourage the chemical industry to prevent pollution ~ particularly through safer
manufacturing processes ~ and to encourage the development of safer chemicals, EPA
and industry partners issued a "Green Chemistry Challenge" in October 1995.
• The Challenge -- a new awards program that recognizes and promotes
fundamental breakthroughs in chemical production processes that prevent
pollution — has received over 70 nominations, and the first awards will be
announced in April 1996.
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8) Community-Based Environmental Protection: To help communities to become
more actively involved in managing environmental problems, EPA's Community-based
Environmental Protection program encourages local citizens -- neighborhoods, cities, and
watersheds or other ecosystems ~ to work together to identify and set priorities and find
innovative solutions to environmental problems.
• EPA offices around the country are providing communities with technical
assistance and information to foster these community-based solutions and to
encourage citizens, local and state governments, and business to work together on
consensus-based approaches.
9) Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program: To reduce the health and
environmental risks posed by agricultural pesticide use, EPA is working with the
Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, and commercial users of
pesticides in a voluntary partnership to reduce pesticides risks. To date, approximately 40
pesticide user groups — representing growers and other industries that use large quantities
of pesticides ~ have joined the program.
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