Solving Environmental Problems Through Collaboration
A Case Study
For EPA personnel and partners who wish to implement collaborative problem solving projects effectively.
Sustainable Environment for
Quality of Life (SEQL)
Successful Multi-Party Organization Works to Resolve
Environmental Concerns from Explosive Growth in the
Carolinas
Background
Elected officials from across the
Charlotte, NC - Rock Hill, SC region,
along with the states of North Carolina
and South Carolina, EPA, and others,
have developed an initiative called
Sustainable Environment for Quality of
Life (SEQL). Conceived in 2000, the
initiative is designed to promote a
healthy environment, a strong economy,
and a high quality of life for the citizens
of the 15-county Charlotte, NC - Rock
Hill, SC region.
Sprawl, air quality and water quality
problems, and increases in vehicle
miles traveled are just a few of the
concerns that face the greater Char-
lotte/Gastonia/Rock Hill region. Be-
cause the region is a highly desirable
place to livewith a growing population
of 2.1 million peopleSEQL's ap-
proach is to address the region's
challenges, including the following:
Offering local governments the
opportunity to work with each other to
garner cooperation and collabora-
tionsetting a standard for the nation.
Providing implementation
assistance to local governments on
environmental "commitment action
items"; and
Analyzing ozone air quality issues
while also addressing transportation,
water, land use, energy use, and
economic development.
This project is designed to support the
region's efforts to develop integrated,
long-range plans to ensure economic
development and a positive quality of life
for its future. The project is a coopera-
tive undertaking of local elected officials
and is managed by the Centralina and
Catawba Council of Governments
(COGs). The region has demonstrated
that planning, developed through an
EPA grant, can provide an integrated
strategy that other local governments
across the country could use to address
similar quality of life and environmental
issues.
What made SEQL
Successful
The Charlotte metropolitan region has
seen the impacts of unbridled growth in
the neighboring metropolitan area of
Atlanta. Charlotte's experience demon-
strates that rapid growth is a powerful
catalyst for cooperation to address
economic development and environ-
mental impacts.
SEQL was started in the spring of 2001
as the EPA Sustainability Project with a
$100K grant from EPA to bring together
the region's elected officials to learn
about air quality, water resources and
land use issues. The group developed
and recommended an initial list of 25
"tool box actions" relating to air, water
and land use measures for implementa-
tion across the region.
SEQL: A Two-State,
MulHurisdictional
Approach to
Sustainable Environmental
Quality Of Life
SEQL pulls together diverse groups into
facilitated discussions aimed at
regional problem-solving and policy
formulation. By involving these groups
early, to enable regional consensus on
policies, SEQL facilitates decision-
making by governmental boards and
reduces cross-jurisdictional conflict.
SEQL participants have identified the
following factors as contributing to its
success:
Focus on regional and multi-
jurisdictional impacts.
Showcase local and regional
successes that benefit many
diversified business sectors.
Include non-traditional stakeholders.
Strong, supportive political
leadership.
Strong, steady institutional support
and leadership from the COGs.
Reliable funding from EPA, COGs
and elsewhere.
Provide menu of options from which
local governments can choose
actions to improve environment and
quality of life.
The SEQL process has enabled us to
share what we are doing to create a
more environmentally sustainable
community and has also helped us to
learn from others in the region.
- Scott Padgett, Mayor, Concord, NC
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What Makes SEQL
Unique
SEQL represents a model of regional
cooperation where over 60 local
governments across an area the size of
Connecticut have joined to work
together on a common set of concerns.
SEQL is bi-state where the Centralina
and Catawba COGs serve counties in
North and South Carolina respectively.
Further, SEQL focuses on ways to fully
integrate air quality issues into transpor-
tation, land use and economic develop-
ment efforts. The Charlotte region is
one of the first regions in the country to
work with EPA in this manner.
Lessons Learned
SEQL participants have identified the
following lessons learned:
Get buy-in from local elected officials
and find ways to continually keep
them engaged.
Work through an organization that is
respected across the region (like
COGs in Charlotte).
Encourage both small and large
jurisdictions to participate.
Get local groups involved from
different sectors.
Local elected officials will take
course of action generally favorable
for the environment if they have:
education/information; public and
peer support; and a clear sense of
multiple benefits.
Focus on "interest' rather than
"position."
EPA has identified the following lessons
learned:
Inform all participants - let people
decide what they want to do.
Communicate reasonable
expectations for project results.
Demonstrate long-term EPA
commitment.
Ensure adequate project resources.
Follow the adage, "Defining success
depends on where you sit."
Identify local key driver for project.
Results
SEQL is implementing measures to
address the environmental impact of the
rapid growth that the Charlotte region is
experiencing and continues to experi-
ence. These measures provide local
leaders with options to promote air
quality, clean water and sustainable
growth. To evaluate future growth
scenarios, SEQL is utilizing EPA's state-
of-the-art program called "ReVA"
(Regional Vulnerability Assessment).
The scenarios will incorporate the
various environmental and quality of life
issues of concern to the region.
SEQL's progress includes the following:
Over 700 actions implemented by
over 80 jurisdictions.
Four new county-level air quality
stakeholders groups formed.
Three counties are sponsoring
"integrated planning roundtables."
Clean School Bus funding in two
counties.
Teacher training programs (Air and
Waste ManagementAssociation
curriculum) held in two counties to
date, with over 70 teachers trained.
Keys to Collaboration
Exemplified
Six keys for collaborative problem
solving are demonstrated through
SEQL. Because the Charlotte region is
a highly desirable area to live, the
impacts of unbridled growth represent
the shared problem that leaders within
the region wished to avoid as they
improved quality of life.
To address the problem, Charlotte
Mayor Patrick McCrory, and
Mecklenburg County Commission
Chair Parks Helms, were the conven-
ers of stature for SEQL, and they
kicked off the collaboration with a
$100K grant for bringing together the
region's elected officials. The commit-
ted leaders in this cooperative under-
taking were the Centralina and Catawba
Regional Councils of Government. In
addition to the Councils of Government,
the representatives of substance
included the states of North Carolina
and South Carolina, EPA, and other
organizations.
With input from all of these individual
organizations, SEQL's clearly-defined
purpose was based on promoting a
healthy environment, a strong economy,
and a high quality of life for the citizens
of the 15-county Charlotte, NC-Rock
Hill, SC region. SEQL advances the
objective of a common information
base through integrated long-range
plans, integrated planning roundtables,
and a regional CIS Framework.
For More Information
Office of Air Quality Planning and
Standards
(919)541-0823
http://www.epa.gov/innovation/collabora-
tion
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Policy,
Economics and Innovation
(1807T)
June 2006
EPA-231-F-06-006
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