State Innovation Grant Program: Missouri
St. Louis Comprehensive Multi-pollutant Management of Air Quality
(2008 Competition)
The State Innovation Grant Progi
In 2002 EPAintroduced the State Innovation Grant Program to supp
efforts led by state environmental agencies to test innovative approaches
for achieving better environmental results and improved efficiency in
permitting programs. Between 2002 and 2007, the State Innovation Grant
program competition awarded over six million dollars to support 38 state
projects that test permitting innovation for a variety of regulated entities
including several small business sectors. Asummary of the awards by year
appears in the table below.
State Innovation Grant Program Statistics, 2002-2007
Competition Proposals Proposals Total Program
Year Submitted Selected Funding ($)
2002/2003
$618,000
$1.425 Million
$1.479 Million
$1.243 Million
$1.611 Million
$0.825 Million
Cumulative
$7.201 Million
"Innovation in Permitting" has been the theme of the State Innovation Grant
competition since its inception. In the last three competition cycles states
received awards for projects in the following three categories:
• The Environmental Results Program (ERP) is an innovative
approach to improving environmental performance based on a system
of the interlocking tools of compliance assistance, self-certification
(sometimes, where permissible, in lieu of permitting), and
statistically-based measurement to gauge the performance of an entire
business sector. The program utilizes a multimedia approach to
encourage small sources to achieve environmental compliance and
pollution prevention. (See: http://www.epa.gov/permits/erp/)
• Environmental Management System (EMS) is a system involving a
continual cycle of planning, implementing, reviewing and improving the
processes and actions that an organization undertakes to meet its
business and environmental goals. EMSs provide organizations of all
types with a structured system and approach for managing
environmental and regulatory responsibilities to improve overall
environmental performance and stewardship.
(See: www.epa.gov/ems/info/index.htm)
• Performance Track is a partnership that recognizes top
environmental performance among participating US facilities of all types,
sizes, and complexity, both public and private.
(See: http://www.epa.gov/performancetrack/)
NCEI has provided awards also for projects testing watershed-based
permitting, and for permit process streamlining in past competitions. For
more information on the history of the programs, including information on
solicitations, state proposals, and project awards, please see the EPA State
ittD://www.eDa.aov/innovation/statear
Project Background:
In 2007, The U.S. EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards (OAQPS) initiated three pilot projects to address the
Clean Air Act Advisory Committee's -Air Quality Management
Subcommittee recommendations for a new approach to the
process of managing air quality. The objective of the pilot
program is to forward that mandate by integrating the analysis,
planning and implementation of the current air quality
improvement processes into a single multi-pollutant step, called
an Air Quality Management Plans (AQMP). One of these pilot
projects focuses on the bi-state area of St. Louis (Missouri and
Illinois), with a goal of providing a real-world example of integrated
approaches and comprehensive community planning.
The Clean Air Act (CAA) requires that state environmental
agencies develop and maintain air pollution control plans, known
as State Implementation Plans (SIPs), outlining their strategies to
protect air quality under the CAA. The Missouri Department of
Natural Resources (MDNR) along with the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency (I EPA) have completed dozens of State
Implementation Plan (SIP) submittals since the Clean Air Act
was first established, each involving a number of technical steps
that require significant resources.
States typically develop separate SIPs for every pollutant of
concern. This is particularly resource intensive since, for each
SIP submittal, states are asked to develop updates to emissions
data, new modeling runs, and specific control strategies
scenarios. The use of a multi-pollutant planning approach for air
quality management instead of the traditional pollutant-by-pollutant
approach will help reduce the duplication of technical efforts,
ensure that control strategies developed for each pollutant
examine the effects on other pollutants, and allow for development
of overall air quality priorities for the state and the community.
Funds from the EPA National Center for Environmental
Innovation State Innovation Grant Program will be used to
advance certain aspects of MDNR's AQMP development,
including integrating urban air toxics management into the
planning for the major criteria pollutants of ozone, particulate
matter, and lead; more clearly defining air quality priorities for the
St. Louis area; and continuing development of community
involvement in the air quality management process. Overall, the
states agencies and stakeholders within the St. Louis community
hope this process will provide efficiencies, reduce spending, and
improve air quality, while linking land-use, transportation, energy
planning, and climate change into the new AQMP.
NCEI
NATIONAL CENTER FOR
ENVIRONMENTAL INNOVATION
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Project Description
The overall goal of the St. Louis AQMP pilot project and the MDNR
state innovation grant is to provide a new mechanism to accomplish
air quality planning in the St. Louis metropolitan area and generate
air quality improvements in a more efficient, timely, transparent, and
cost-effective manner. MDNR, working with Illinois and in the entire
St. Louis area, will share the challenges encountered in the
process, solutions developed, and final project outcomes with other
states and EPA so that they may learn from MDNR's experience.
Other overall project goals include:
• Completion of all SIP submittals required for compliance with the
National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in St. Louis,
including ozone, fine particulates, and lead;
• Inclusion of air toxics exposure as a metric when considering
alternative control requirements for applicable NAAQS;
• Greater community involvement in the decision-making
process, including regulated entities and community
environmental advocacy groups; and
• Consideration of additional air quality issues in the development
of SIP submittals, such as smart growth and transportation
planning; environmental justice; and climate change.
The long term success of this effort will be measured through a
number of indicators including:
• Change in the SIP development and submittal process to
incorporate lessons learned from the pilot AQMP approach that
will provide efficiency of scale and effective use of State
resources;
• Reduction in overall timelines for SIP development and submittal;
• Reduction in air toxics emissions and exposure; and
• Attainment of air quality goalsforthe criteria pollutants.
The St. Louis AQMP project is one of three national pilot projects
designed to provide a better understanding of the benefits and
issues associated with a multi-pollutant approach and communicate
those findings to other states. MDNRwill also continue work to
improve air quality through increased public awareness. MDNRwill
continue to provide opportunities for public interaction for all
stakeholders at each point in the SIP development and overall
regulatory process. For example, MDNR will continue to provide
information regarding air toxics exposure in the St. Louis area to its
citizens and other stakeholders during the SIP development
process.
Connection to EPA's Goals
Missouri DNR's project directly supports EPA's Strategic Goal #1
to protect and improve air quality, as well as Strategic Goal #5,
focused on improved compliance and environmental stewardship,
by promoting an innovative approach to enhanced pollution
prevention. It also supports, EPA's Cross-Goal Strategy of
promoting innovation and collaboration with states.
Project Contacts:
For more specific information on the Missouri State Innovation
Grant, please contact one of the individuals below:
Jeffry Bennett
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
Air Pollution Control Program
P.O. Box 176
Jefferson City, MO 65101
573.751.4817
jeff.bennett@dnr.mo.gov
Amy Algoe-Eakin
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 7
901 North Fifth Street
Kansas City, KS 66101
913.551.7942
algoe-eakin.amy@epa.gov
David Beck
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
National Center for Environmental Innovation
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
919-541-5421
beck.david@epa.gob@epa.gov
Tom Rosendahl
US Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Airand Radiation
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
919-541-5314
rosendahl.tom@epa.gov
Program Contact:
Sherri Walker
State Innovation Grant Program
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20460 (MC1807T)
(202)-566-2186; FAX (202) 566-2220
walker.sherri@epa.gov
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Policy,
Economics and Innovation
(1807T)
October 2008
EPA-100-F-08-077
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