Mid-Atlantic Region: Cost Reduction and Energy Conservation

*Please go to the Small Business Environmental Home Page-Sustainable Business Information for a listing of federal and nonprofit program links providing information on pollution prevention, recycling exchange centers, and ISO 14000. Only those programs/links with regional contacts are included below.

Businesses for the Bay -- This is a voluntary pollution prevention program for businesses and industries within the Chesapeake Bay watershed designed to reduce releases of toxics to the bay. Businesses are encouraged to annually set pollution prevention goals for their facilities, and are asked to annually report on their progress for achieving their goals. Participants receive positive publicity for their efforts, and are eligible as mentors for other businesses that request technical pollution prevention assistance. Individuals that provide outstanding service are eligible for the prestigious Mentor of the Year Award, awarded annually.

Region III Contacts: Call the Businesses for the Bay Coordinator, May Lynn Wilhere, at
(800) YOUR-BAY, x719 or call your state pollution prevention coordinator

Clean Cities Program -- Sponsored by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Provides a framework to accelerate implementation of the Energy Policy Act (EPACT) of 1992 by promoting the use of alternative fuel vehicles (AFV). Works with coalitions of local stakeholders to help develop the AFV industry and integrate into the larger planning process. EPA Region III is developing an information reference manual for fleet owners that will address not only regulatory requirements, but step-by-step vehicle care instruction, benefits of alternative fuels, project demonstrations, etc. Click here to link to individual Clean Cities Coalitions.

Region III Contacts: Brian Rehn (215) 814-2121, Catherine Magliocchetti (215) 814-2121

Energy Star -- Voluntary partnership between U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. EPA, product manufacturers, local utilities, and retailers. Energy efficient products are promoted using the Energy Star logo and educating consumers.

Mid-Atlantic Energy Star Program

Region III Contacts: Mindee Osno (215) 814-2074, Other Contact (888) STAR-YES

Mid-Atlantic Region Business Assistance Center -- Assists owners of small- to medium-sized businesses to comply with the confusing array of environmental requirements. Provides services in the areas of compliance assistance, small business advocacy, pollution prevention, and environmental technology development.

Mid-Atlantic Region Pollution Prevention -- Integrates philosophies such as source reduction into work and daily lifestyles in order to curb pollution before it is generated. P2 concepts form the basis for all of the partnership initiatives. EPA's regional P2 team concentrates on several priority areas: community based environmental protection, data/environmental indicators, outreach, technical assistance, and states/national networking of P2 programs.

Region III Contact: Maryann Helferty (215) 814-3299

Mid-Atlantic Waste Minimization Program -- Emphasizes source reduction and environmentally sound recycling over waste treatment and disposal. The goal is to prevent transfers of chemical releases from one medium (air, water, or land) to another.

Region III Contacts: Tad Radzinki (215) 814-2394, Claudette Reed (215) 814-2997, Noah Borenstein (215) 814-5366

National Environmental Performance Track -- Public/private partnership that recognizes top environmental performance among participating U.S. facilities of all types, sizes, and complexity, public and private. EPA has halted the Performance Track program.

Pesticide Environmental Stewardship Program (PESP) -- Broad effort by U.S. EPA, USDA, and FDA to promote integrated pest management practices that reduce pesticide risk in agricultural and non-agricultural settings. Partners are recognized for their commitment to environmental stewardship.

Region III Contact: Fatima El-Abdaoui (215) 814-2129

Region III Contact: Marie Holman (215) 814-5463

Waste Reduction Resource Center -- Provides pollution prevention support to states in Regions III and IV.

WasteWi$e -- Program that helps businesses identify and implement cost-effective measures to reduce solid waste through office recycling, the manufacture of new products using recycled raw materials, and the procurement of recycled products.

Region III Contact: Mike Giuranna (215) 814-3298

Water Sense -- Provides an overview of EPA's Water Sense Program, which is primarily concerned with municipal water use. Efficient water use helps to reduce the need for costly water supply and wastewater treatment facilities, helps maintain stream flows and healthy aquatic habitats, and reduces the energy used to pump, heat, and treat water. A broad spectrum of stakeholders, from homeowners to state governments, can find information here that can ehlp them become more water-efficient.

Region III Contact: Leslie Reed (215) 814-5772

State

Delaware - District of Columbia - Maryland - Pennsylvania - Virginia - West Virginia

Delaware

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) -- Provides information on Delaware's environmental protection programs, including permitting and environmental compliance information. Click on Business Services for links to pollution prevention and recycling information for businesses.

DNREC Pollution Prevention Guide -- DNREC's series of pollution prevention guides for various types of businesses.

District of Columbia

Department of Health, Environmental Health Administration -- Focuses on a variety of environmental issues that affect the District of Columbia, including pollution prevention and energy conservation.

Maryland

The Corporate and Community Training Institute (CCTI) -- Provides business development and training services to companies and organizations to help them grow, compete, and succeed in tomorrow's marketplace. Located at the College of Southern Maryland.

Maryland Center for Environmental Training (MCET) -- Provides training for environmental professionals, including water and wastewater operators, superintendents, sanitarians, local government officials, and industry representatives. Also provides onsite technical assistance at low or no cost. Services include onsite technical assistance, classroom training, pollution prevention training, clean vessel program, energy conservation, training, publications, and videos.

Maryland Department of the Environment-Permitting and Customer Services -- Non-regulatory arm of the Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) designed to provide assistance to permitting customers. The center answers questions about environmental permitting; distributes factsheets on general permits and on steps businesses can take to make permitting easier; provides pollution prevention information; and assists permit applicants. It also operates MDE's Small Business Assistance Program, which helps small businesses understand and comply with environmental programs.

Pennsylvania

Allegheny County Health Department-Pollution Prevention -- Allegheny County Health Department pollution prevention services, including advice for County residents on pollution prevention at home and at the office, and resources to small businesses for preventing pollution.

Contact:

Jack Peterson (412) 578-8319

GreenTreks Network -- GreenTreks Network, Inc. shares stories through high quality television documentaries, how-to-videos, web programs, radio documentaries, and print media. Their programs reach millions of people who may never otherwise taken the time to learn how they can become involved i protecting the environment, simply because they have not been exposed to localized viewpoints that compel them to care.

Office of Energy and Technology Deployment -- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection's pollution prevention site. Includes contacts, pollution prevention and energy efficiency strategies, leadership examples, partnerships, outreach, education, environmental technology projects, industry-specific information, clearinghouses, technical assistance providers, energy conservation, electronic deregulation, waste minimization, sustainable development, news, publications, and links.

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) - Financial Assistance -- Loan program administered by Pennsylvania DEP and Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED). Helps small businesses implement pollution prevention and energy efficient projects through low-interest loans. Includes Pollution Prevention Assistance Account (PPAA) Loan Program that provides low interest loans to small businesses for projects that reduce waste, pollution, or energy use.

Pennsylvania Material Trader -- Free service offered by the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers to help promote the exchange of reusable materials with little or no market value. Through the Trader, companies with surplus or by-product materials connect with other businesses or individuals who can reuse these materials productively.

Pennsylvania's Multi-State Working Group Pilot Projects (MSWG) -- Group of ten states, U.S. EPA, non-governmental organizations, and industry representatives studying environmental management systems, particularly based on ISO14001. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will launch its own pilot projects in January 1999.

Pennsylvania Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP) -- This program assists small businesses with regulatory compliance, provides information about cost saving pollution prevention practices and ensures that small businesses are considered when new regulations are developed.

Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers (Pennsylvania SBDC Online) -- Through the Environmental Management Assistance Program, the Pennsylvania SBDCs offer confidential assistance and information on energy conservation and waste reduction for retailers, manufacturers, service-based businesses, and others who seek to lower their operating costs and minimize the environmental impacts of their business. Assistance with locating financing for upgrades is also provided. The web site provides links to the 17 SBDCs located throughout the state.

Pennsylvania Small Business Ombudsman -- The DEP Small Business Ombudsman's office is a component of the Pennsylvania SBAP. The Ombudsman provides confidential assistance to small businesses for regulatory compliance, provides information on cost saving pollution prevention practices, and ensures that small businesses are considered when new regulations are developed.

Virginia

Virginia DEQ Combined Heat & Power/Distributed Energy Resources Pages -- Virginia DEQ pages providing information, links, and other resources related to combined heat and power (CHP) and distributed power generation.

Virginia DEQ Office of Pollution Prevention -- Offers free, voluntary, non-regulatory technical assistance and materials to industry, governments, academia, non-profits, and the general public on how to prevent pollution.

Virginia (DEQ) Information Source for Energy (VISE) -- Virginia DEQ Office of Pollution Prevention page providing energy efficiency related tips and links.

West Virginia

Pollution Prevention Program -- West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) program provides technical assistance to small industrial facility representatives interested in implementing pollution prevention techniques. Helps businesses develop p2 programs, maximize the useful life of treatment units, establish early warning indicators for planning process improvement, conduct audits, conduct training programs, work with pretreatment facilities to identify source reduction options, and evaluate sludge/septage disposal processes.

Non-Profit/Other

Mid-Atlantic Combined Heat and Power (CHP) Application Center -- The Center helps organizations locate, design, and implement economically viable distributed energy projects that make appropriate use of their recoverable waste heat. The objectives of the Center are to reduce the perceived risk of CHP to users, foster CHP as a viable technical and economic option for the participating region, and capitalize on existing regional CHP Resources. The Center was created with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to promote the use of CHP in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and is based in the Center for Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland.

Recycling Exchange Links -- List of links to recycling exchange web sites provided on the Small Business Environmental Home Page