EPA 305-F-03-011
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I EPA's Planned Compliance Assistance Activities for Fiscal Year 2003: | ^
\Lna^/	Highlights of the Final EPA Plan and Inventory	X 'T/
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is committed to helping business, industry and
government comply with regulatory requirements and improve environmental performance through compliance
assistance (CA).1 EPA provides a wide range of compliance assistance activities to help users implement new
regulations; address problems with existing regulations; or address geographical, national, regional, local or facility-
specific environmental issues. Compliance assistance may include written or electronic materials and tools (e.g.,
overviews of laws and regulations or best management practices); outreach opportunities (e.g., training, workshops,
seminars, mailings); new Internet Web pages; and on-site visits.
EPA documents its planned compliance assistance activities in an annual plan and inventory. For Fiscal
Year (FY) 2003, in lieu of publishing a hard copy plan and inventory, EPA has prepared summary highlights and
supporting tables about CA activities planned. As of March 20, 2003, the FY 2003 plan includes 369 CA activities
that EPA intends to undertake this fiscal year, 86 fewer that last fiscal year. This decrease is primarily due to a new
system of projecting Regional CA activities for FY 2003. New instructions asked Regions to focus reporting on a
subset of their planned CA activities. As a consequence, fewer Regional activities were captured in this year's plan.
Also, Headquarters offices reported fewer activities this fiscal year. This decrease probably reflects some degree of
under-reporting and also delays in receiving the final FY03 operating budget, rather than an absolute decline in
planned CA.
Highlights of EPA's Planned CA Activities for FY 2003
This year's highlights are very similar to the highlights from the FY 2002 plan with two exceptions. Among
types of activities planned, "Tools Developed" has increased as a relative percentage of all activities reported. And
more of the CA activities reported include an effort to measure the impact or outcome of the CA, such as change in
awareness of environmental requirements or the environmental performance of the regulated entity - be it business,
industry or government.
Types of Activities: These vary widely in scope and purpose. Two types, Tools Developed (50%) and
Workshops/Trainings/Presentations (24%), account for nearly 75% of all planned CA activities.
•	New v. Ongoing: Many CA activities (e.g., Compliance Assistance Centers and telephone hotlines)
continue from year to year. Hence a significant percentage (70%) of all planned CA activities are ongoing
from the previous fiscal year. About 30% are new.
•	Organizational Mix: Depending on their mission, different EPA offices conduct different amounts of
compliance assistance. EPA's Regions will implement or conduct about 74% of the total activities planned
for FY 2003, while Headquarters offices will conduct 26%.
•	EPA Financial Support for Other CA Providers: Through grants, contracts and other types of
agreements, EPA funds a portion of the CA activities offered by a diverse group of states and other CA
providers. Such activities represent 16% of the total CA activities reported by EPA for FY 2003.
Support for Agency Priorities: Slightly more than one half of the CA activities reported for FY 2003
address national (38%) or regional priorities (20%) of EPA.
•	Chemicals and Pollutants Addressed: EPA plans CA activities to address more than 30 chemical and
pollutant categories. Among the specific pollutants most frequently addressed are solvents, oil, and non-
hazardous solid waste, together accounting for 18% of planned activities.

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•	Sectors Addressed: EPA plans CA activities to address 35 industry and government sectors. The most
frequently addressed of all sectors are local government (49 activities), federal facilities (39 activities), and
schools and utilities (33 activities each), together accounting for 25% of all sectors reported.
•	Small Business Focus: EPA is also addressing the needs of small business through general and sector-
specific assistance. A total of sixty-three (63) CA activities address one or more small business sectors
(e.g., dry cleaning, auto salvage, automobile-repair/service, etc.) representing 17% of all planned activities.
Also, 14% of planned CA activities support previous EPA regulations or regulations being issued in FY
2003, that either have an impact on small entities and/or have an economically significant impact on larger
businesses.
•	Measuring the Impact of CA: Along with improved CA planning, EPA is measuring the impact of its CA
activities on the regulated community. About 70% of records indicate that some type of measurement is
planned The most frequently reported type of measurement tool used is the Workshop Survey (25%),
followed by On-site Visit (22%). About 20% of records indicate that measurement is planned but do not
report the specific approach to be used.
•	Integrated Approaches or Strategies: EPA is promoting strategic consideration and use of compliance
assurance and enforcement tools in environmental problem solving. Related to this, the FY 2003 inventory
reports 130 project descriptions (35%) that indicate the planned CA activity is part of an integrated
approach, meaning an approach or strategy that combines compliance assistance, compliance monitoring,
enforcement and/or compliance incentives to address the environmental problem.
Electronic Access to CA Planning Information
Tables that Support These Highlights: These Highlights are based on a series of tables showing summary
statistics about the FY 03 plan and inventory. Tables 1-9 are located in the Appendix to these Highlights; these
tables are available only in electronic form on EPA's Compliance Assistance Planning Web Page:
http://www.epa.gov/comDliance/assistance/planning/index.html.
Project or Activity Specific Information: More detailed information (e.g., title, brief description, contact
information) about specific activities planned is available in a database searchable by business, industry, government
and the general public via the Internet at: National Environmental Compliance Assistance Clearinghouse,
http://www.epa.gov/clearinghouse. To search this information for FY 2003, go to the Clearinghouse; select the
"Planned and Ongoing Activities" button in the left sidebar, select "US EPA Activities," and select "FY03 CAPD
Data." Then search by organization and other criteria (e.g., sector, pollutant, geographic focus, etc.). For additional
information about these materials and/or Web access to them, contact: Ms. Rebecca A. (Becky) Barclay, U. S. EPA,
Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Office of Compliance, 202-564-7063, barclay.rebecca@epa.gov.
1 Compliance assistance, for purposes of this plan and inventory, includes activities, tools or technical assistance
that provides clear and consistent information for: (1) helping the regulated community understand and meet its
obligations under environmental regulations; or (2) helping compliance assistance providers to aid the regulated
community in complying with environmental regulations. Compliance assistance may also help the regulated
community find cost-effective ways to comply with regulations and/or go "beyond compliance" through the use of
pollution prevention, environmental management practices, and innovative technologies, thus improving their
environmental performance. To be categorized as a compliance assistance project or activity, at least one objective
must be related to achieving or advancing regulatory compliance.

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