Oregon Air Quality Business Assistance Program MPC Profile

Do you have a state statute, policy, MOU, or other written document that established your multimedia *small business environmental assistance program (SBEAP)? If yes, please explain and provide a link to the document if possible.

No.

How and when did your SBEAP begin offering multimedia compliance assistance?

Approximately 2002.

Does your SBEAP provide confidential services? Explain.

Yes, we will provide confidentiality as requested. In the case of a suspected violation, we will assist the entity to develop a time-limited plan to come back into compliance if it is not a serious environmental or human health threat.

What role does the Ombudsman play? Does the office address multimedia issues or is it strictly strictly an air ombudsman? What agency or organization does the ombudsman work in? Please provide contact information.

The Ombudsman's role is to ensure that regulations and the consequences associated with regulatory activities are fair and reasonable for small business. In my role I also advocate for the public and private sector if a complaint of harassment, unfairness or excessive compliance or enforcement has been lodged against the Department and its staff.

Rebecca Hillwig, Coordinator
Air Quality SBEAP/SBO
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
811 SW 6th Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
503/229-5376
hillwig.rebecca@deq.state.or.us
What types of multimedia assistance does your SBEAP provide (air, hazardous waste, solid waste, water quality, air, other)? Describe.

We will provide assistance in all media whether it is performed directly through the Air Quality program or coordinated with other DEQ Divisions (Land Quality, Water Quality). If I do not have the technical expertise to address questions or issues in another media, I will facilitate the process of getting the appropriate information collected. I then contact the person with the information requested so that they in turn are not being bounced from one program to another. Oregon DEQ staff work with all programs and many different agencies to provide the best information possible to our customers in a concise package. The bottom line is that DEQ staff will work with any company if assistance is requested and appropriate.

Is your SBEAP’s work prioritized? If yes, explain (e.g., by media, rule, industry sector).

Work is prioritized first by rule (new rules/NESHAPs are the drivers), second by sector (what industry is affected, what industry has expressed a desire to work with the SBAP to come into compliance, etc.), and then by special interest groups, the media, and political pressure.

What percent of your total multimedia assistance effort is delivered through each of the following methods:
-Direct referrals to appropriate regulatory staff (___%)
-Personal contact with appropriate media staff (e.g., arranging meetings with regulatory staff from different media, having each program outline their respective rule requirements, following up as needed) (___%)
-Internal SBEAP expertise (e.g., gathering all information, walking client through requirements) (___%).

Direct referrals--30%
Personal contact--40%
Internal expertise--30%
Describe who actually provides the assistance. Is the primary role of the SBEAP staff to refer assistance requests to the appropriate regulatory staff or do the SBEAP staff possess the knowledge and experience to provide direct assistance? Explain the educational background and experience level of SBEAP staff.

The SBEAP Coordinator (me) provides assistance along with regional staff across the state. In Oregon, regulatory staff doubles as technical assistance staff. We all possess the knowledge and experience to provide most TA directly, and for those areas where we may not have certain expertise, we can provide the mechanism for getting that information to the business. Most if not all staff doing TA have at least a Bachelor's degree and several years of experience in environmental protection.

Please identify the compliance assistance tools your SBEAP provides by completing the table below. In addition, please elaborate on any of the tools and include information about compliance assistance tools not included in the table.

Regulatory Program	Hotline	Publications	Onsite Visits	Workshops	Permit Assistance
Air	X	X	X	X	X
Waste		X	X	X	X
Water		X	X	X	X
Remediation
Storage Tanks		X	X	X	X
Emergency Planning			X		X
Wetlands, Land/Water Interface				X	X

Do you have SBEAP staff members with expertise in pollution prevention/EMS, as well as regulatory compliance?

Yes, most if not all staff have P2 and some EMS experience.
Are there any industry sectors for which you cannot provide assistance or can provide only limited assistance? Explain.

It would be difficult to answer specific questions with regards to operations or processes within industries that do not operate in Oregon (for instance, if a company we were not familiar with wanted to know what regulations applied in Oregon if they were thinking of locating here). However, ODEQ engineers would certainly be able to answer generic questions on AQ controls and emissions, until they came up to speed with the particular industry. This program is also limited in the amount of assistance we can provide to large businesses; however, we can provide information on staff or agencies to call for help.
Where is the technical assistance component of your SBEAP housed (state environmental regulatory agency, Small Business Development Center [SBDC], college or university [not SBDC], other state agency)?

Our program is housed within the Air Quality Division of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, which is a regulatory agency.
Where does funding come from for your multimedia SBEAP (air permit fees only, air permit fees plus other sources, task-specific funding, other)? What are the funding criteria? Please note that since this could be sensitive information, this is an optional question.

We have a general technical assistance fund code set up and use permit fees. We also partner with other programs to provide multimedia assistance using their program funds and assist other Department staff who have grant money and can use our expertise.
How many staff does your SBEAP have (using FTE equivalents)? Does your SBEAP have a documented performance measurement system (system to track data on activities such as web site hits, hotline/telephone assistance calls, mailings, onsite visits, publications, seminars/workshops/trainings, teleconferences/videoconferences, other)? Describe.

We have approximately 1.5 full time FTE plus 1 compliance staff person in each region working about 1/4 of their time on TA.

We do document program activities utilizing the format EPA provides for annual reporting. However, not all elements of the program have a built in measurement system. We are able to easily measure web hits through IT staff and it's easy enough to track the number of onsite visits, publications developed and mailed, training, workshops and conferences held and attended. However, the one place that becomes more difficult to track is the exact number of calls made and received since this is done manually.
What have been the benefits of providing multimedia versus air only assistance? Have you performed any cost benefit analyses? Describe your successes.

I would like to work with other staff in the Department to determine the type and amount of information being collected through programs other than Air Quality. I think multimedia assistance helps businesses in two ways. First, it helps them to get information they need from one single point of contact, and second, it saves businesses time since they only have to talk with one person. In addition to business benefits, the more multimedia interaction we as staff have, the more experience we gain that will increase the assistance we can offer in the future.

To date, we have not performed a cost-benefit analysis.
Provide an overall link or links to your online multimedia assistance web page(s), checklists, calculation spreadsheets, guidance, factsheets, publications, and contacts.

www.deq.state.or.us/aq/bap/index.htm
What kind of peer assistance (for other SBO/SBEAP programs) is your program willing to contribute at this time (information provided here only, telephone/email assistance, program visits, training, other)?

Definitely telephone and email assistance. Program visits might be arranged depending on time and funding. Training for anyone willing and able to journey to Oregon.

Please list the industry sectors that you assist/have assisted most, and feel you have "expert" knowledge about. If possible, use the provided list of industry sector examples to categorize. You may also be more specific, include additional details, or write in a category that is not listed. In addition, please provide contact information for each industry sector "expert."

INDUSTRY SECTOR EXAMPLES:

Aircraft Metal Fabrication

Automotive Metal Finishing

Chemicals Mining

Construction Painting and Coating

Die Casting Pesticides

Dry Cleaning Petroleum Refining

Electric/Power/Energy Pharmaceuticals

Electronics/Computers Plastics

Electroplating Printing/Photoprocessing

Fiberglass Operations Pulp and Paper

Foods Recreation

Furniture Recycling

Hospital/Medical Retail

Iron and Steel Rubber and Plastics

Laboratories/Schools Solvents/Cleaning

Lubricants Stone/Glass/Clay/Concrete

Lumber and Wood Textiles/Textile Services

Machining Transportation

Marine/Shipyard Used Oil

Aircraft
Chemicals
Construction
Die Casting
Dry Cleaning
Electric/Power/Energy
Electronics/Computer
Electroplating
Fiberglass Operations
Foods
Furniture
Hospitals/Medical
Iron and Steel
Laboratories/Schools
Lubricants
Lumber and Wood
Machining
Marine/Shipyard
Metal Finishing
Painting and Coating
Pesticides
Petroleum Refining
Pharmaceuticals
Plastics
Printing and Processing
Pulp and Paper
Recreation
Recycling
Retail
Rubber and Plastics
Solvents/Cleaning
Stone/Clay/Glass/Concrete
Textiles/Textile Services
Transportation
Used Oil

What is your advice to other SBEAPs who want to become multimedia programs? What particular challenges did you face evolving into a multimedia program and how did you overcome them?

Work with your agency head and any other management staff to get top down buy in. Coordinate and work with internal staff to develop a communications strategy. Determine where other agency funding to do multimedia will come from.
Provide contact information for peer assistance with your SBEAP.

Rebecca Hillwig, Coordinator
Air Quality SBEAP/SBO
Oregon Department of Environmental Quality
811 SW 6th Ave.
Portland, OR 97204
503/229-5376
hillwig.rebecca@deq.state.or.us

*Small Business Environmental Assistance Program, or SBEAP, refers to the Small Business Ombudsman and/or the technical assistance program (SBEAP) in each state.

3/05, updated 10/05, 6/07, 12/08