Factsheet

State Innovation Grant Program:

Automotive Body Environmental Results Program (2004 Competition)

EPA

In 2002 EPA introduced the State Innovation Grant Program to support

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 35 state

projects that test permitting innovation for a variety of regulated entities

including several small business sectors. A summary of the awards by year

appears in the table below.

“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

Innovation Grants website at http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants

State Innovation Grant Program Statistics, 2002-2007

Competition

Year

2002/2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

Cumulative

Total

Proposals

Submitted

29

33

26

25

17

130

Proposals

Selected

6

9

7

6

7

35

Total Program

Funding ($)

$618,000

$1.425 Million

$1.479 Million

$1.243 Million

$1.611 Million

$6.376 Million

Project Background:

The auto body sector in Southern Maine includes

approximately 100 shops that are predominantly

small- to medium-sized business. Although these

facilities are subject to federal and state

environmental regulations for air, water, and waste,

often they are not aware of their environmental

requirements and lack resources to hire staff or

invest in technologies to improve compliance. This

is particularly true for air pollution requirements, a

concern in southern Maine, which has historically

lagged behind in compliance with national ambient

air quality standards for ground-level ozone. To help

address the sector’s compliance issues, the Maine

Department of Environmental Protection (ME DEP)

applied for and received a State Innovation Grant in

2004 to launch a voluntary Environmental Results

Program (ERP) for the auto body sector. An ERP

combines compliance assistance, self-certification,

and statistically-based agency inspections to

improve environmental performance within a target

sector.

Project Description

ME DEP’s primary goals for their ERP were to

promote pollution prevention concepts, increase

public and industry awareness of environmental

health concerns, and bolster environmental

compliance. The state sought to educate auto body

repair shops about all relevant federal and state

environmental regulations, and encourage them to

take on voluntary best management practices

(BMPs) and pollution prevention measures. Specific

program components included:

•

Compliance Assistance:

ME DEP hosted an educational workshop for auto

body shops, and gave them a user-friendly,

compliance workbook for sector operators. The

The State Innovation Grant Program

Maine

workbook covered federal and state regulations,

BMPs and pollution prevention measures for all

environmental media (air, water, and waste).

•

Self-Certification:

ME DEP developed a plain language, multi-media

self-certification compliance checklist for the auto

body sector that closely paralleled the workbook

mentioned above. The checklist was designed to

allow facilities to identify and fix any compliance

issues. If a facility was out of compliance and could

not remedy the violation immediately, facility owners/

operators were instructed to submit a Return-to-

Compliance Plan detailing their process for returning

to compliance within 30 days. Through this program,

ME DEP achieved a 42 percent self-certification rate,

and of the facilities that submitted self-certification

forms, 81 percent recognized that they were out of

compliance for one or more requirements.

•

Agency Inspection and Performance

Measurement:

To measure the ERP’s success, ME DEP conducted

on-site assessments at a randomly selected group

of facilities. The state made comparisons between

the results of assessments conducted before and

after compliance assistance and self-certification to

determine the program’s successes and identify

areas for improvement (see Results section below).

Because Maine’s ERP was a voluntary program, the

state developed several incentives to encourage auto

body shops to participate, including:

•

A period of amnesty for shops in non-compliance

ME DEP’s Small Business Compliance Incentives

Policy (SBCIP) allowed facilities that voluntarily

reported less serious violations to work with ME

DEP’s small business technical assistance staff to

solve environmental violations, within 90 days,

without any enforcement action.

•

Free technical assistance from Maine DEP

ME DEP offered technical assistance to help

facilities implement pollution prevention practices, as

well as training on ways to reduce operating and

waste disposal costs, protect the environment,

improve worker health and safety, and project a

positive image to customers.

•

A recognition program

ME DEP recognized participants that self-certified as

“Environmental Leaders” and provided them with a

decal to display at their facility. The state also

highlighted these autobody shops on ME DEP’s

web-site.

•

Equipment giveaway

ME DEP gave away LaserPaint

(TM)

devices to the ten

facilities that implemented the largest number of

pollution prevention practices. LaserPaint

(TM)

is a

spray paint gun attachment that maximizes paint

transfer efficiency and therefore reduces air

emissions from spray painting.

Results

ME DEP reports that it has achieved most of its

program goals for the ERP Program, and that most

auto body shops were very receptive to the ERP. Auto

body shop owners and operators appreciated DEP’s

assistance, as many of them were unaware of their

regulatory responsibilities. In addition, larger auto

body facilities were pleased that the DEP was also

visiting small to medium sized facilities, assuring that

all facilities in this sector complied with regulations.

ME DEP measured the following changes in auto body

shop compliance with environmental requirements:

Table 1 - Changes in Compliance through Maine ERP

Type

Average % Increase/

(Decrease)

Overall Compliance Rate

10%

Compliance with Hazardous Waste

Requirements

3.7%

Compliance with Waste Oil

Requirements

3.4%

Compliance with Universal Wast

Requirements

52.5%

Compliance with Air Pollution

Requirements

(2.5%)

United States

Environmental Protection

Agency

February 2008

EPA-100-F-08-018

Office of Policy,

Economics and Innovation

(1807T)

In addition, the number of shops going beyond

compliance by incorporating voluntary pollution

prevention measures and BMPs increased by an

average of 11.6 percent. All environmental indicators

related to water were voluntary measures, and thus

are included in this statistic.

It should be noted that, despite the fact that

compliance with air pollution requirements

decreased by an average of 2.5 percent, the

average rate of compliance with these requirements

remained high (ranging between 87.4 and 92.7

percent), even after this small decrease in the

compliance rate. The fact that one or two shops fell

out of compliance during the ERP cycle slightly

reduced what was an overall very high compliance

rate. The auto body industry’s low compliance rates

for air regulations in the past were the impetus for

Maine DEP’s ERP pilot, and will continue to be a

focus as they expand their ERP initiative.

Maine DEP hopes to expand its auto body ERP to

include additional counties or even the entire state,

with possibilities of also adding a Stormwater ERP;

and making the ERP either a mandatory program or

a voluntary program with threat of increased

regulation for those facilities that do not participate.

Connection to EPA’s Goals

This program directly supports EPA’s Strategic Goal

#5, focused on compliance and environmental

stewardship, by promoting an innovative approach to

improve compliance and pollution prevention. It also

supports EPA’s Strategic Goal #3 by helping

preserve and restore land through improving the way

waste is generated and managed; as well as the

EPA’s Cross-Goal Strategy of promoting innovation

and collaboration with states.

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

Program Contact:

Project Contacts:

For more specific information on the Maine

State Innovation Grant, please contact one of

the individuals below:

Julie Churchill

Maine Department of Environmental Protection

Office of Innovation and Assistance

Augusta, ME

207.287.7881

julie.m.churchill@maine.gov

Marge Miranda

Project Officer

U.S. EPA, Region 1

Boston, MA

617.918.1825

miranda.marge@epa.gov

Josh Sedunda

Technical Lead

U.S. EPA, Region 1

Boston, MA

617.918.1736

secunda.josh@epa.gov

Scott Bowles

U.S. EPA, Headquarters

Washington, DC

202-566-2208

bowles.scott@epa.gov