"Protect people,
not bureaucracy.
Promote results.
not rules.
Get action,
\
not rhetoric."
United States
Environmental
Protection Agency
Office of the
Administrator
EPA100-R-97-007
July 1997
A REPORT ON REGULATORY REINVENTION
Creating a "Fundamentally
Different System..."
Can we create an environmental regulatory system more attuned
to the needs of specific industry sectors and stakeholder groups?
• his question is often asked
during debates about how to ,
improve our current envi-
ronmental regulatory system. As a result,
early in her tenure EPA Administrator
Carol Browner launched the Common
Sense Initiative (CSI) as a "fundamentally
different system" that would allow industry-
based, multistakeholder approaches to be
explored.
From its origin, CSI has provided a
pathfinding forum for breaking through
one of the biggest constraints associated
with the current environmental regulatory
system — the single-media approach to
pollution control that has prevailed for
more than 25 years. During this time, con-
trolling pollution in specific media — our
air, land, and water — has worked well for
„ :-,:..*,«, H,;£g*fe-i
inside.
CSI Sectors Get Special Help
in New England 3
New York City Printers and
Communities Get a Helping
Hand from CSI 6
Metal Finishing Sector Creating
National Performance Goals 7
Reinvention Listserver
8
reducing adverse impacts from the most
obvious sources, namely large industries
and municipal operations. But recently, the
limitations of this approach have become
widely recognized. Across the country,
environmental managers in industrial and
municipal facilities face difficulties in try-
ing to track, understand, and comply with
multiple regulatory requirements. And
EPA staff have often failed to recognize the
opportunities for achieving better environ-
mental results that lie outside their tradi-
tional realm of responsibility. In addition,
concerned citizens and other interested
stakeholders often have difficulty accessing
and understanding environmental infor-
mation and participating in environmental
policy and decision-making.
CSI confronts these limitations, replac-
ing the single-media or pollutant-by-pollu-
tant approach of the past with a more com-
prehensive industry-by-industry approach
for the future. This new orientation, along
with a commitment to multiple stakeholder
involvement and consensus-based decision-
making, are CSI's three defining elements.
(CONTINUID ON PAGE 2)
PRESIDENT CLINTON
-------
Automobile
riz&Him&r m Manufacturing
Computers
& Electronics
iron & Steel
Metal
Finishing
Petroleum
Refining
industries
7 7 nercent o
ross national
over
,
veople, and
The Defining Elements of CSI
CONSENSUS-BASED
DECISION-MAKING
CSI
An Industry-
by-Industry
Approach
Under CSI, diverse stakeholders con-
vene to discuss how to improve environ-
mental performance in specific industry
sectors. This involves looking at tradi-
tional regulatory functions, such as per-
mitting and reporting, and also searching
for new opportunities to improve envi-
ronmental performance that may not
have been investigated or even recognized.
To date, CSI has targeted six industry
sectors: automobile manufacturing, com-
puters and electronics, iron and steel,
metal finishing, petroleum refining, and
printing. Together, these industries com-
prise 11 percent of the U.S. gross nation-
al product, employ over 4 million people,
and account for more than 12 percent of
the toxic releases reported by American
industry.
These sectors were chosen to represent
a broad array of challenges currently fac-
ing American industry. Among the six,
automobile manufacturing, iron and
steel, and petroleum refining are three
large, highly regulated industries with a
long, and sometimes controversial, rela-
tionship with EPA. The metal finishing
REPORT ON REINVENTION
and printing sectors were chosen to rep-
resent the challenges of small businesses,
which dominate these industries. Finally,
the computers and electronics industry
was selected because many of today's
processes were not in existence when
most environmental regulatory require-
ments were written years ago.
Multistakeholder
Participation
To ensure all relevant interests are
brought to bear on the changes that evolve
under CSI, multiple stakeholders are
invited to participate in the dialogue on
how to improve traditional regulatory
approaches within specific sectors. These
stakeholders, which include environmen-
tal organizations, environmental justice
groups, labor unions, government regu-
lators, and industry, have their own dis-
tinct needs and interests. For example,
industry participants often want more
operational flexibility; environmentalists
seek continued tough action against pol-
luters; communities seek better access to
information about the industries in their
neighborhoods; and state, tribal, and
local governments rally for simpler regu-
latory systems. CSI invites these diverse
interests to explore and promote innova-
tive reforms together.
July 1997
-------
*l(:U>fe&"«?* *•
-„ Ufe-lHf ,*%* (,
«*±1*."W
g%*tfr
S v ri "^ ej, ^ TT *• „
peratirtjjj
rinciples
Tr!S?/W""'*»J * vi"*1- «n» »i » V
cipating and commumcat-
***£ * «**"«* »«wO«d^%»w«=.J
~~ i,pperi7cliiect coopera- !
U .,&*
fstls
I
and takirig caie not to rais-
, /^present the views of other
i parties on any agi cement "1
tied,,or to mischaiacteiize 1
^ % •'•'s'"'™ w "* $* ****•» g
; final those matter^ stijl under 1
^ Seeking to reach a consensus in
Jgood faith, asking for clanfica-
ttton, offering alternative sug-
"gestions, and listening with an *
^l**~ * Vf, ^ T *^
operl"inind to issues under
'»vf ,v
_ , -,
JBuilding relationshipb with
, Vv» 4 -i^p-j^ v i^^. ^ -,_
other membei s that go beyond
teriure of ttje Council orv
nducting ourselves and pur
Jajiiza'tTons in a mannei con-
^ jgSten,t with^the goals and spint
"*! ^ClpSI, which each membei
*has accepted by agreeing to
«^rv£pn the C^SJ Council
Decision-Making
by Consensus
How does CSI channel the energies
of diverse stakeholders into decisions that
are productive and acceptable to all par-
ticipants? The answer lies in consensus-
based decision-making, which means
giving all voices an equal chance to
speak; treating all options, suggestions,
and opinions as worthy of considera-
tion; and promoting flexibility. Over the
past 3 years, CSI participants have found
that consensus-based decision-making,
while sometimes lengthy, produces
stronger environmental protection
strategies developed with the very parties
responsible for their implementation.
A consensus-based approach creates
synergy among participants — it affects
the way people listen, encourages them
to weigh options, and stimulates their
creativity in finding solutions to tough
problems. It also encourages full and
open discussions prior to EPA action.
Traditional regulatory processes have
often led to conflict and gridlock, with
environmental and economic ideals pit-
ted against one another. In contrast,
CSI's consensus-based approach airs the
interests, concerns, and requirements of
the various stakeholder groups up front
in an effort to identify mutually accept-
able and advantageous strategies and to
avoid costly and time consuming con-
frontations later in the process.
CSI
Help in
• ,. . . A~£* . . »«OT - „ *
I
n the northeast, CSI is getting a bo,cpt from the New England EnvirorSjiental
Assistance Team (NEEAT), anElk staff dedicated to helping.speafic sec-^
tori, understand and comply wi§ envnonmental lawsand regulations, and^*
a means of achieving economic and enyi
>Iiance. Based on focus group discu:
the greatest challenges in i
il finishing, electronics majj^afturing, and
attention;
plore pollution prevention practices
nmental benefits that go beyorKLco
Lifelttfy those sectdfs
. _ _ ., ftoWJtti* CTvfes^tf-yh^ ^
'-"requiiements, NEEAT i
- all CSI sectpiS —*Jor speci
If
• mT jiff *^ K ' ' •-' «4fff*
INEEAT is devo& toJistenmg tjr segor representativ^lnd then working in j
bperation with teade associations* In^idual com|p§ies, and local government j
|ncies to proviff ir^rmation, trammi, and oiher assistance as needed — even if *
Jjlg jsiij Sr aSff *^K ' "'
i not align iptrQraditional EPA,^ergices. Sample services offered to date include: 1
Joll-free;
vice for j
ilk
j hotline (1-80E90K&BA.T) that provides a "one-stop-shopping" |
ask questjpcts about pollution prevention and compliance.
tJ'Partners for Change/' ajrolun|ary recognition program that encourages busi-
*^^^id commnmties — nojjjptter how small — to explore and implement
onsible environmental practices.
"documents on nQntiaditional topics, such as Financing Pollution
^mpd si' ' -
ItwegttjentstAGmdefy Sryall and Medium-Sized Businesses.
|pst recently, ^Pan wor^g Wlth the auto repair and wood coating
flgld^jigfthe positive response from its customers, EPA expects
ST\y]|lexpand in the future to provide additional services and to include
jLsectors,
July 1997
REPORT ON REINVENTION
-------
How
Project
Work
Groups
Project
Work
Groups
Project
Work
Groups
Project
Groups
Project
Work
Groups
Project
Groups
L EPA's Administrator and Deputy Administrator co-chair the CSl Council;
Assistant Administrators! Fiegional Administrators, and Deputy Regional Administrators serve as chairpersons for CSi subcommittees.
Putting CSI to
Work
CSI is guided by a Council that
includes senior leaders from industry
and numerous national stakeholder
groups. The Council acts as an umbrella
for the subcommittees established to
explore issues facing each sector. The
subcommittees then create work groups
to pursue various projects specific to
their interests.
Sector subcommittees and work
groups meet frequently to discuss project
progress and policy issues. Results from
these efforts may lead to action in one of
two ways. First, decisions and findings
may be forwarded to the CSI Council,
which may translate them into recom-
mendations for EPA policy or regulatory
actions. For example, the computer and
electronic subcommittees recommended
EPA take action to ensure that all inter-
pretations and decisions affecting envi-
ronmental management practices be
compiled, made accessible, and publi-
cized to interested parties. In response,
EPA has set up an Enhanced Public
Access Task Force that, among other
things, will provide training to regulation
writers to help improve the clarity of
EPA regulatory language and institution-
alize the posting of all new regulatory
documents on the Internet. In cases
where no EPA action is needed, industry
and other participants in the CSI process
may act on opportunities for improve-
ment independently. Together, these two
outcomes are the means through which
CSI becomes a force for long-term, pro-
gressive change.
The CSI Council operates in accor-
dance with the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (FACA), passed in 1971
to improve public confidence in decision-
making and open government processes
to public participation. FACA commit-
tees are required to have balanced mem-
bership representation; their meetings
are announced in advance and open to
the public, and, as the Act states, "they
are frequently a useful and beneficial
means of furnishing expert advice, ideas,
and diverse opinions to the federal gov-
ernment." Given the number and diver-
sity of participants involved, the rules
guiding FACA committees provide a
firm foundation for CSI's open, deliber-
ative process.
Cross-Agency
Support
Within EPA, CSI is not an isolated
program. Rather, it permeates nearly
every traditional program office in the
Agency. It does have a small distinct staff,
located in the new Office of Reinven-
tion, with coordination and communica-
tion functions inside and outside the
Agency. This staff is only part of a larger
cadre of EPA professionals, however,
REPORT ON REINVENTION
July 1997
-------
CSI Projects
Are Exploring
AH Aspects of
Environmental
Management
Environmental
j \Technology
Recordkeeping
& Reporting '
Compliance
& Enforcement
12%
Permitting
8%
working on a variety of CSI sector-
specific initiatives. This internal network
is creating new links among programs, a
critical development in achieving the
multimedia, industry-by-industry break-
throughs that CSI envisions.
Success, To Date
As CSI has evolved over the past 3
years, a common interest in building a
better environmental regulatory system
has helped to keep participants at the
table even during the most difficult dis-
cussions — when diverse opinions and
interests have been obvious. Because of
this commitment, progress continues to
be made in each of the six industry sec-
tors. Over 40 projects, in various stages
of development and implementation, are
underway that, collectively, have the
potential for affecting all aspects of envi-
ronmental management and regulation.
These projects were based on subcom-
mittee members' intimate knowledge of
the processes, regulations, and policies
that affect industries, communities, and
our natural resources. The sector profiles
that follow provide more detail on why
Over 40 projects, m'':f|
;v;"'Si.
various stages of devel-
opment and implemeh-
that, collectively, hav|
.. . • _ •-•L'Siiii
'!'" " fli'H^
ing all aspects of envi-
ronmental managemien^
and regulation. :>'^3Jl
specific projects were chosen, what has
been accomplished, and how they may
affect environmental policies and man-
agement approaches more broadly.
As work continues under each sector,
EPA and Council members are consider-
ing how the CSI process might work
more effectively in the future. At differ-
ent stages, various stakeholders, as well
as EPA's own staff, have registered con-
cerns. For example, one conclusion
reached in independent and government
evaluations, as well as during the Coun-
cil's own self-assessment, is a need for
more direction and leadership from EPA.
As CSI becomes more mature and moves
into the new Office of Reinvention, the
Council may be asked to assume an
expanded advisory role, one that would
focus on an even broader array of regula-
tory reform issues. This expanded role is
being considered based on EPAs contin-
ued confidence in the Council's ability to
lead and address some of today's most
challenging environmental management
issues.
July 1997
REPORT ON REINVENTION
-------
New York City Printers and
Communities Get a Helping
Hand from CSI
Solvents, inks, and other mate-
rials used in the printing
process create a number of
environmental management challenges
for the printing sector. In an effort to
help these businesses better understand
and comply with their obligations under
federal, state, and local environmental
laws, CSI targeted an area of the country
with a heavy concentration of printing
shops — New York City. Nearly 2,400
shops are in operation there, and more
than 75 percent of them are small busi-
nesses with 10 employees or less. By act-
ing as an organizational force for local
printing service providers, as well as for
community activists interested in pro-
moting cleaner printing in their neigh-
borhoods, CSI is helping to meet the
informational needs within the printing
industry while testing models with possi-
ble applicability in other locations and
sectors.
Printers Learn
Where to Turn
A dozen organizations in New'York
City offer technical assistance to local
printers to help them understand envi-
ronmental requirements and to assist them
with pollution prevention techniques.
These include state and local providers,
trade associations, environmental ombuds-
men, and industrial extension services. Col-
lectively, these organizations are a powerful
resource for printers interested in obtain-
ing environmental regulatory information.
But CSI work group members, dedicated
to improving environmental performance
within the sector, realized that many assis-
tance providers were not aware of each
other's services. So, how could printers
know where to turn for information?
hi an effort to raise awareness about the
educational and assistance opportunities
available, CSI invited Newark City tech-
nical assistance providers to a summit to
describe their services and to learn about the
services of others. Thanks to these organiz-
ing steps taken by the CSI work group, this
information exchange was so successful
that meetings have continued quarterly.
This summit also resulted in a technical
assistance directory, which is distributed
free to all printers and to community
members who are also keen to learn
about preventing pollution from printers
in their neighborhoods. So far, well over
4,000 books have been distributed, and
based on high demand, plans have been
made to reprint the directory in other
languages, such as Korean, Spanish, and
"Yiddish, and to provide for regular updates.
Communities
Share the
Responsibility
CSI is also building assistance capacity
for the printing sector through another
network: interested and committed indi-
viduals living and working within the
community. Realizing that federal, state,
and local environmental officials cannot
be the sole advocate for environmental
protection, citizens are fast becoming
active participants in seeing that their
neighborhoods are clean, healthy, and
prosperous. One avenue for this partici-
pation is helping local businesses operate
in an environmentally sound manner.
Through the community advocacy
and technical expertise of the CSI print-
ing work group, five community groups
in the New York City boroughs were
brought together to learn about printing
procedures and pollution prevention
techniques that local printers may use to
help keep the environment clean. Today,
these community groups are better edu-
cated about good printing practices, and
as consumers, know how to select
"green" processes that reduce pollution.
Soon, they will reach out directly to local
printers to encourage them to learn more
about compliance and pollution preven-
tion, while keeping sight of the much
needed printing services and employ-
ment opportunities provided by these
companies. This unique approach has
lead CSI participants in all sectors to
reconsider the public's role in environ-
mental matters.
REPORT ON REINVENTION
July 1997
-------
Metal Finishing Sector
Creating National
Performance Goals
»n a bold effort to foster improved
environmental performance across
an entire industry, the metal fin-
ishing sector is creating a voluntary
Strategic Goals Program that sets "mean-
ingful and achievable" performance targets
for metal finishing firms. These targets
include a 98 percent efficiency rate for
metals utilization on products, a 50 per-
cent reduction in water use, a 25 percent
reduction in energy use, a 90 percent
reduction in organic Toxic Release Inven-
tory emissions, and 50 percent reductions
in metals emissions and hazardous sludge
disposal. The voluntary goals also include
reductions in sludge generation, human
exposure rates, and compliance costs.
Performance targets also are being set
for the metal finishing industry as a
whole. These include a 100 percent
compliance rate across the industry and
80 percent of all firms achieving the
facility-specific targets described above.
The performance goals are bolstered by
an action plan that includes commitments
by all stakeholder groups — industry,
government, and nongovernment organi-
zations — to support the Strategic Goals
Program. These actions will cover many
important issues for the metal finishing
industry, such as reporting reforms,
improved compliance assistance, and
development of low-cost pollution pre-
vention technologies. The action plan
includes a commitment to tough enforce-
ment against chronic noncompliers, bal-
anced by tangible recognition of top-per-
forming facilities by all stakeholder
groups. Taken as whole, the action plan
will provide facilities with incentives to
pursue the goals and will reduce barriers
to achieving them. Below are two exam-
ples of specific actions being taken to
support the industry.
Working With
Local Wastewaier
Plants on Industrial
Wastewater
Pretreatment
Publicly Owned Treatment Works
(POTWs), also known as wastewater
plants, have a major impact on the envi-
ronmental performance of metal finish-
ers because of the control POTW opera-
tors have over the wastewater sent from
metal finishers to the POTWs for treat-
ment The metal finishing sector recognized
this leverage point, and identified oppor-
tunities for POTW operators to improve
pretreatment practices of industrial facilities
in their systems — in other words, to reduce
pollutant loadings without limiting indus-
trial activity. The sector analyzed POTW
practices in three states, then presented
ideas for improved POTW information,
education, and flexibility to EPA's Office
of Water. The Agency has used these
stakeholder findings in taking decisive
action to provide POTWs with better data
systems, training tools, operating guidance,
and soon-to-be-proposed regulatory
reforms. This collaborative effort by CSI
stakeholders and EPA will help POTWs
continue their progress in reducing the
discharge of pollutants in wastewater.
A Well-Balanced
Compliance
Assistance Program
The metal finishing sector is address-
ing the compliance assistance needs of
small business in this sector with two
products that are now available to metal
finishers nationwide. The National
Metal Finishing Resource Center pro-
vides online technical assistance on metal
finishing processes and environmental
technologies. The Metal Finishing
Guidance Manual contains comprehen-
sive, plain English information on federal
and state environmental standards.
Together, these two new tools provide
metal finishers with quick, easy, and up-
to-date information on how to improve
their environmental performance.
Meijil:^
water' tiSSipf'; bjf ''Bl;|SIjr|
cent, "alia '^nrMus
July 1997
REPORT ON REINVENTION
-------
Reinvention Listserver
Wint to stay on top of the
atest activities and
events on reinventing
environmental protection? EPAs Office
of Reinvention has set up an e-mail list-
server to distribute key announcements
about reinvention activities and events.
The listserver is just one tool in EPA's
continuing efforts to improve public
access to critical information.
Anyone with an e-mail account may
subscribe (at no charge) to the reinven-
tion listserver. To subscribe, send an
e-mail message to:
listserver® unixmail.rtpnc.epa.gov
On die first line of the message type:
"Subscribe reinvention your name"
"Vbu should receive an automatic
confirmation message stating that you
have subscribed successfully. Questions?
Suggestions? Contact Jeff Morin,
Office of Reinvention, at
morin.jeff@epamail.epa.gov
or 202 260-5067.
More
nformatlon
CTo'you have questions about EPA's
reinvention activities? Would you ITRe
of thisjeport? If so, corrtacf*
.EPA's Regulatory Reinvention Team at
12 260-4261. Or look for more
__.jnformationj>n the Internet_2J_V^^_
^KttpiT/wwwTejJa'.'gov^reinvent). You'll
JliricrspecJa'r reports, remarks from
"^Iprriior Administration and Agency ^_
Officials, detailed fact sheets, and
^- much more.
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20460
(1102)
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use
$300
FIRST CLASS
POSTAGE & FEES
PAID
EPA
Permit No. G-35
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