Project Description and Purpose. This innovative Project is expected to help selected egg producing facilities achieve superior environmental results beyond those that could be achieved under conventional NPDES general permits. This innovative and more comprehensive approach will require qualified facilities to 1) comply with the terms of an NPDES general permit; and 2) develop and implement a multi-media environmental management system (EMS) that addresses a full range of significant environmental impacts, including those not subject to regulation. Participation in this project will be strictly limited to those that can continue to meet these stringent requirements. Each facility will also need to pass an independent 3rd party audit confirming compliance with an NPDES general permit and the fact that an EMS was in place and been developed with input from stakeholders before it could even apply for coverage under a general permit. Based on information submitted by the facility, including audit results, states would then have up to 30 days to evaluate this information and make a final decision on whether to grant coverage under an NPDES general permit. This information would also be available to local stakeholders. Each facility will also need to successfully complete regular follow-up audits and continue to work with stakeholders as the EMS is implemented. Information on the results of these follow-up audits will also be publicly available. Each facility s EMS will also help ensure that on-farm management practices most likely to result in superior environmental performance will be used. Based on EMS audit results or inspections carried out by regulatory authorities, facilities could be required to apply for individual NPDES permits. Facilities that wish to participate in this program will be subject to a two stage compliance screening process, using EPA s Project XL screening criteria. First, following the signing of this agreement, EPA would conduct a national screening, using EPA s Project XL compliance screening criteria. UEP would provide information, as necessary, to facilitate this screening. Facilities that did not pass this screen would not eligible to participate. The second screening will occur at the time a state, as part of this XL project, decides to develop an NPDES general permit. EPA and the state will work together at that time to do another screen, again using the XL screening criteria and any other compliance screening criteria the state felt were appropriate for speci...
Project Description and Purpose. The Xxxxxxx Kodak Company (Kodak) in partnership with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is entering into this Project XL Final Project Agreement (FPA) to pilot the application of and the dissemination of information about the Pollution Prevention Framework (P2 Framework) developed by the EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS). In the context of this XL Project, Kodak will apply the P2 Framework early in its product development cycle to help identify and develop products and processes that can be sustained both environmentally and economically. Kodak’s application of the P2 Framework to its operations will help develop environmentally preferable products, while saving considerable time and money. Kodak believes many other companies can also develop environmentally preferable products by applying OPPT’s P2 Framework, especially at the Research and Development stage of product development. As a part of their participation in this XL project, Kodak will receive administrative flexibility in the form of a shortened pre-manufacture review period (from 90 days to 45) for those new chemicals developed under the P2 Framework and submitted to the Agency for approval. (For additional information see Section IV. B.)
Project Description and Purpose. The EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) has developed a set of computerized risk screening tools that have the potential to significantly advance pollution prevention objectives. The Pollution Prevention (P2) Framework is an approach to risk screening that incorporates pollution prevention principles in the design and development of chemical substances. The objective of the P2 Framework approach is to inform decision making at early stages of new chemical product development and to promote the selection and application of safer chemical substances and processes. These methodologies have been developed over a 20-year period by EPA and others in the scientific community to screen new chemical substances in the absence of data. Annually, EPA evaluates approximately two thousand (2000) Pre-Manufacture Notifications (PMNs) that are submitted to the Agency pursuant to Section 5 of TSCA. The Act requires that persons who manufacture (or import) a new chemical substance provide such notice to EPA 90 days prior to commencing nonexempt commercial manufacture. However, the law does not require that the submitter conduct laboratory tests to evaluate the potential hazard and risk of the new chemical substance. If the Agency does not take regulation action within 90 days of receipt of the PMN, the submitter may manufacture that new chemical substance. Operating under this time limitation, and often lacking sufficient data, EPA has developed methods to quickly screen chemical substances in the absence of data. In an outreach effort to industry, the Agency is making the P2 Framework methodologies available and is demonstrating how these tools can help design safer chemical substances, reduce waste generation, and identify other P2 Framework opportunities. Industry response to the incorporation of EPA’s P2 Framework into the chemical development process has been positive. PPG proposes to apply the P2 Framework early in its new product development process to help it identify and develop products and processes that can be sustained both environmentally and economically. Applying the P2 Framework as a part of its new product development process, PPG will incorporate environmental and health information into the early stages of its chemical development operations as well as identify opportunities for pollution prevention. PPG is planning on using the P2 Framework at three Research and Development (R&D) facilities located at Monroeville, Xxxxxxx Pa...
Project Description and Purpose. The Upper Harbor Terminal (UHT) location, along the west side of the Mississippi river between 33rd Ave N and Xxxxxxx Ave N, is the site of a multi-year planning and construction phasing effort involving the City of Minneapolis, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB), the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO), and private development. MPRB is developing a new 19.5 acre riverfront regional park. Dedication of this new parkland will be the largest single addition of land to the Minneapolis park system in decades. With a mile of riverfront in what has been a heavy industrial zone of the city, this new parkland will be a substantial contribution to the broader vision of transforming the riverfront through North and Northeast Minneapolis from private to public. Parkland proposed for UHT is within the park boundary of the Above the Falls Regional Park; the newest regional park under the jurisdiction of the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB). The several-year, community process to conceptualize parkland at UHT has been a case study for how to position parks as a tool for good in addressing vital topics of gentrification, racial equity, and the creation of welcoming public space for all. This mile of new parkland at UHT presents opportunities to xxxxxx and address deep questions about the responsibility of park. A concept plan was approved by the MPRB Board of Commissioners in the fall of 2021. The concept plan and park design principles include a focus on environmental healing by restoring the land with native and ecologically rich vegetation, stormwater management to protect the river, and mitigating climate change. Another key principle is the support for robust staffing and capacity building with green infrastructure working areas, gardens and stormwater management designed for staff training. (additional background information and approved concept plan can be found at xxxxx://xxx.xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx/project_updates/update-on-new-regional- park-at-the-upper-harbor-terminal-site/). There are several planned features within or as part of the new riverfront regional park that are of interest between project partners including: • Riverbank and shoreline restoration • A pedestrian overlook placed near the southern end of the regional park on the riverbank • A regulatory level district stormwater system consisting of o Connected habitat and public space established within the stormwater footprint o A shared public private stormwater sys...
Project Description and Purpose. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (the Department or NJDEP) has taken the lead in detailed stakeholder discussions to frame the Silver and Gold Track Program for Environmental Performance since the summer of 1999. This program was initiated in November 1996 as one element of the New Jersey Chemical Industry Project (NJCIP), a joint public and private sector project that focused on developing and implementing creative approaches to achieving more efficient and effective environmental performance. New Jersey’s Silver and Gold Program is designed as a tiered system, requiring an increased level of commitment in return for concomitant regulatory flexibility. The first or baseline tier, Silver Track, requires participating entities to meet certain core criteria: certifying current compliance with all applicable environmental rules and regulations, a historically acceptable compliance record, and an agreement to establish both a community outreach program, and implement an Operational and Environmental Compliance plan within one year of acceptance into the program. The baseline incentives offered under Silver Track include: recognition as a top-performing company, via a NJDEP seal/flag, inclusion in a Silver Track category on the Department’s web page, a single point of contact in the Department to expedite and coordinate permitting needs, consolidated reporting (when available) of routine emission and discharge statements, among others, and research, development and demonstration project (RD&D) flexibility. Each participating entity’s commitments and incentives will be memorialized in a five-year covenant with accountability mileposts that will be jointly developed with the facility and the Department. The commitments and incentives under Silver Track were intended to be consistent with and authorized by existing regulations, and so were not implemented through rule changes. The Silver Track portion of the program was implemented in September of 1999. Silver Track II, the second tier of the program, maintains the original core requirements of the baseline tier, as well as some additional commitments. Participants must commit to attaining agreed-upon emission reductions of CO2 or Greenhouse Gas equivalents. In turn, participants will not have to seek certain pre-construction air permits for sources that emit less than prescribed de minimis emission levels. Silver Track II was initiated in May 2000. The Department is developing State rules to ...
Project Description and Purpose. The Project will deploy bike share bicycles at stations along rail and transit lines, and other areas of dense population or employment, and other key destinations in Xxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxx and Holyoke. Its objective is to pilot low-emissions bike-sharing strategically in downtown urban centers of varying sizes and population densities in close proximity to transit services located in Priority Development Areas (PDA), or Transit Oriented Development (XXX) Areas, or other areas with high potential for use. This Project will demonstrate and test the potential to effectively reduce single-occupancy vehicle travel to transit stops by offering bicycles as a first- and last-mile transportation alternative, thereby reducing vehicle miles traveled and greenhouse gas emissions and improving local air quality. It will also work to expand the viability of bicycling as a stand-alone mode of travel. The Project will provide bicycles for use by program members (e.g. memberships may be daily, weekly, and annually) from unattended stations, incentivizing short-term use (e.g. 30 minutes). The bicycles will be tamper and vandalism proof and will employ radio-frequency identification smartcards and wireless and internet technologies to coordinate and track bicycle reservations, pick-up, drop-off, and subscriber information. This advanced technology system will track user demand and provide a mechanism to maintain a balanced distribution of bikes within each host community, and the desirable number of bikes and spare parking within each station.
Project Description and Purpose. This innovative Project is expected to achieve superior environmental results beyond those that could be achieved by only making egg producers subject to NPDES general permits. This more comprehensive approach will require participating facilities to not only comply with the terms of an NPDES general permit, but also to implement a multi-media environmental management system (EMS) that addresses a full range of significant environmental impacts, including those not subject to regulation. Each facility’s EMS will also need to pass an independent 3rd party audit before it could apply for coverage under a general permit. Information on audit results will be provided to the regulatory authority and will be available to local stakeholders. Ongoing audits to remain in the XL program will also take place and information on audit results will be publicly available. Each facility’s EMS will also help ensure that on-farm management practices most likely to result in superior environmental performance will be used. This Project includes a model general permit and a description of EMS guidelines for states. These two documents were developed by a workgroup comprised of EPA, UEP members, several States, non-governmental organizations, and a representative from the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A list of the workgroup members is attached in Appendix A. To supplement the EMS requirements contained in this FPA, UEP will develop more detailed guidance and training to assist individual facilities adopt EMSs and will also develop an independent 3rd party auditing program, no later than December 15, 2000. UEP will also expand its outreach and education program in order to assist egg producers develop EMSs and educate users of manure on ways to properly apply and manage this manure. As the project sponsor, UEP will also have the primary responsibility for tracking progress under the project and providing information to various stakeholders on its success. As described in more detail in Section IV, EPA is not proposing a site-specific rule to implement this project. Individual states may choose to use the model general permit developed as part of this project or could develop their own general permit.
