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2007 SMALL BUSINESS RECOGNITION AWARD NOMINATIONS BEING ACCEPTED

The National Steering Committee (NSC), representing the Small Business Ombudsman/Small Business Environmental Assistance Programs (SBO/SBEAPs) nationwide, in conjunction with the National Compliance Advisory Panel (NCAP), has established the Small Business Recognition Awards.

The NSC/NCAP are seeking nominations for the 2007 awards. Previous winners are not eligible. Anyone may nominate an agency or individual representing a SBO/SBEAP/CAP, small business, or trade association. However, self-nominations will not be accepted. Nominations will be accepted no later than Friday, March 23, 2007, 4:00 EST. Please note that there will be NO extensions to this deadline. The awards will be presented to the winner(s) at the National SBO/SBEAP Conference in St.
Paul, Minnesota, June 18-21, 2007. More than one award may be given, or no award may be given, in each of the following categories:

Small Business Environmental Assistance Program Award
Small Business Environmental Stewardship Award
Trade Association Environmental Leadership Award.

For more information about the awards and how to nominate a person, program, business or organization go directly to the 2007 Small Business Recognition Awards information and nomination form web page at: http://www.smallbiz-enviroweb.org/sba/2007awards_info.html

Go to http://www.smallbiz-enviroweb.org/sba/awards_smallbusiness_2007.html for the general 2007 Small Business Recognition Awards page, including links to past awards.

For questions or more information about the awards, please contact:

Phyllis Copeland
Awards Subcommittee Co-Chair
Small Business Ombudsman
SC Dept. of Health and Environmental Control
EQC Administration
2600 Bull Street
Columbia, SC 29201-1708
(803) 896-8982
(803) 896-8999 (fax)
copelapt@dhec.sc.gov, or

Jennifer Kimbrough
Awards Subcommittee Co-Chair
Small Business Assistance Program
MS Dept. of Environmental Quality
2380 Hwy. 80 West
P.O. Box 20305
Jackson, MS 39289-1305
(601) 961-5676
(601) 961-5541 (fax)
jennifer_kimbrough@deq.state.ms.us

MULTIMEDIA SURVEY LAUNCHED BY NSC MULTIMEDIA SUBCOMMITTEE

The Multimedia Subcommittee of the National Steering Committee is asking SBEAPs to participate in a brief survey in order to revalidate information on what SBEAPs throughout the country are doing as far as providing multimedia (across the environmental media of air, water, and waste) compliance and pollution prevention assistance. If you are a SBEAP, or a SBO acting in a dual role to cover Ombudsman and SBEAP duties, please participate and answer questions with respect to SBEAP technical assistance activities. The deadline for the survey is February 8, 2007. Look for the email from Phyllis Strong for username and password information.

For more information, contact Phyllis Strong, Small Business Environmental Assistance Program, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 651/282-5847 or 800/657-3938.

Go to Multimedia Survey.

MARK SHANAHAN APPOINTED AS OHIO GOVERNOR'S ENERGY ADVISOR

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland signed Executive Order 2007-02 establishing an energy advisor to the governor to coordinate the state’s efforts to create jobs through becoming a leader in the production of next-generation energy. Strickland designated Mark Shanahan, executive director of the Ohio Air Quality Development Authority, as the governor's energy advisor.

For more information, go to the Executive Order 2007-02.

PLAN ON ATTENDING THE JUNE 2007 SBO/SBEAP NATIONAL CONFERENCE

The 2007 SBO/SBEAP National Conference will be held in Saint Paul, Minnesota on June 18-21. Go to www.sbeapconference.com for updated information.

EPA ANNOUNCES 2007 STATE INNOVATION GRANT SOLICITATION

The National Center for Environmental Innovation (NCEI) within EPA’s Office of Policy Economics and Innovation (OPEI) is requesting proposals for a fifth round of projects to be funded under its State Innovation Grant Program. The State Innovation Grant Program is a primary means by which EPA seeks to strengthen its innovation partnership with states, a cornerstone element of the Agency's Innovation Strategy. This year's competition continues the theme of “Innovation in Permitting” (including alternatives to permitting) from the earlier rounds of competition.

States interested in applying for one of this year's grants will have until January 18, 2007 to respond with a pre-proposal and budget. Go to the full solicitation is available online (PDF) or http://epa.gov/innovation/stategrants/index.htm for more information.

The annual Small Business Regional Liaisons and State Meeting was held August 2-4, 2006 in Washington, DC. Staff from EPA Headquarters and Regions, and representatives of the state SBO/SBEAP National Steering Committee (NSC) and National Compliance Advisory Panel (NCAP) learned and shared information about work conducted to help the small business community. Also participating were the SBA National Ombudsman and SBA's Office of Advocacy. Below are the Agenda, Attendees List, Meeting Notes, and Action Items from the conference.

The National Steering Committee (NSC), representing the Small Business Environmental Assistance Programs nationwide, in conjunction with the National Compliance Advisory Panel (NCAP), has issued awards to recognize the achievements by small business environmental assistance programs and the individuals representing them, small business environmental stewardship, and trade association environmental leadership. The NSC Awards Subcommittee sought nominations for the 2006 awards. There were three awards open for nominations: Small Business Assistance Program Award, Small Business Environmental Stewardship Award, and Trade Association Environmental Leadership Award. The deadline for submitting nominations has passed. Go to the 2006 Small Business Awards web page for more information. The award winners included:

In addition, Karen V. Brown, US EPA Small Business Ombudsman, graciously accepted a surprise award for her many years of outstanding leadership and support of the state small business environmental assistance programs. The NSC established the new award category called the Karen V. Brown Environmental Leadership Award.

An awards dinner to honor these organizations/leaders was held at The Mount Washington Hotel & Resort at the 2006 SBO/SBEAP National Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, on March 27, 2006. For questions or more information about the 2005 awards, contact Linda Hayes-Gorman at 541/388-6146, x274, hayes-gorman.linda@deq.state.or.us.

Check back later for information about the 2007 awards nomination process. For questions or information about the 2007 awards, contact Amelia Gooding, Awards Subcommittee Chair, at 217/785-4557, amelia.gooding@illinois.gov, or Frances Hartwell, Awards Subcommittee Vice-Chair, at 917/275-4759, fran@vanirmail.com.

Before completing the survey, the Measurement Subcommittee requested that SBO/SBEAP Directors review the presentation below. This will enable directors to become familiar with some of the information and terminology included in the online survey.

EPA is very pleased to report that small businesses were highly successful and made significant contributions to the 2006 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Program. Three small businesses were recognized at the Awards Ceremony on June 26, 2006.

The awards are given to individuals or organizations that have made dramatic advances in chemistry that reduces pollution at its source. Awards are presented in five categories: Academic, Small Business, Green Synthetic Pathways, Greener Reactor Conditions, and Designing Greener Chemicals. EPA received more than 90 nominations for the 2006 awards.

Two small businesses jointly won the Award in the Small Business category. Arkon Consultants and NuPro Technologies, Inc. together developed a safer processing system for flexographic printing, an operation that is widely used to print such items as food wrappers, cereal boxes, and shipping cartons. Arkon Consultants and NuPro Technologies, Inc. developed safer solvents and Cold Reclaim System™ recycling machinery to maximize the reuse and recycling of those solvents. Their technology saves energy and reduces accident potential in comparison with traditional solvent recovery systems.

Codexis, Inc., another small business, won the award in the Greener Synthetic Pathways category. This is the first time that a small business has won in a category not reserved for small business. Codexis used innovative genetic engineering to develop an enzyme-based process to manufacture the key building block for Lipitor®, one of the world’s best-selling drugs. Lipitor® lowers cholesterol by blocking its synthesis in the liver. Codexis evolved three enzymes so that they now provide the activity, stability, and selectivity needed for a manufacturing process that involves fewer unit operations than earlier processes. The Codexis process provides environmental and human health benefits by increasing yield, reducing the formation of byproducts, reducing the generation of waste, avoiding hydrogen gas formation, reducing the need for solvents, reducing the use of purification equipment, and increasing worker safety.

The Awards were presented in a ceremony at the National Academy of Sciences, 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C., on June 26, 2006. The other Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards winners were: Merck & Co., Inc., in the Greener Synthetic Pathways category; S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc., in the Designing Greener Chemicals category; and Professor Galen Suppes of the University of Missouri-Columbia, in the Academic category.

For more information, see: www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/. Contact Kerry Humphrey at 202/564-4355, humphrey.kerry@epa.gov.

Over 600 of your colleagues convened for the third annual National Environmental Partnership Summit in Atlanta, at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel during May 8-11, 2006. The theme was Stewardship in Action: Our
Responsibility – Our Environment. During three days of interactive sessions, workshops and field trips, environmental assistance policymakers, providers and recipients will explore stewardship activities in pollution prevention, compliance assistance, and environmental leadership.

Summit Co-sponsors: The National Pollution Prevention Roundtable, Performance Track Participants Association, U.S. EPA - Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Office of Compliance, National Center for Environmental Innovation, and Region 4.

Kenya Stump, Environmental Consultant with the Kentucky Business Environmental Assistance Program (KBEAP) received the EPA Administrator Award for Outstanding State Performance Achievement in October 2005. Scott Miller with the Region IV EPA Office nominated Stump for her "compliance assistance efforts to small and disadvantaged businesses inside and outside of EPA Region 4 regarding regulatory compliance with air regulations under the Clean Air Act." For more information, go to the press release below:

The National Steering Committee (NSC), representing the Small Business Assistance Programs nationwide, in conjunction with the National Compliance Advisory Panel (NCAP), has established the Small Business Assistance Program Awards to recognize the leadership, service, and achievements by the programs and the individuals representing them. The NSC Awards Subcommittee sought nominations for the 2005 awards. There were three awards open for nominations, with categories under each: Small Business Environmental Stewardship Awards, Small Business Assistance Program Awards, and Trade Association Environmental Leadership Awards. The deadline for submitting nominations has passed. Go to the 2005 Small Business Awards web page for more information. 2005 award winners were posted. For questions or more information about the 2005 awards, contact Rosemarie Wilmoth, Awards Subcommittee Chair, at 502/564-2150, x128, rosemarie.wilmoth@ky.gov or Linda Hayes-Gorman at 541/388-6146, x274, hayes-gorman.linda@deq.state.or.us.

The final signed Small Business Strategy, 2003 press release, and final Implementation Plan are posted below. EPA Administrator Whitman presented EPA's proposed Small Business Strategy at the National Summit on Small Business and the Environment on March 13, 2003. The Strategy is intended to make EPA more accessible to small business owners and to improve small business environmental performance by exploring new approaches, simplified regulations, new cost-effective tools, and unified assistance.

NOMINATIONS ACCEPTED FOR 10TH ANNUAL PRESIDENTIAL GREEN CHEMISTRY CHALLENGE AWARDS

The deadline has passed for EPA to accept nominations for the 2005 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. These prestigious awards recognize innovative chemical technologies that incorporate green chemistry into chemical design, manufacture and use – and that have broad applications in industry. Green Chemistry strives to develop alternative ways to synthesize industrial chemicals in order to reduce or prevent the generation of environmental pollutants. Any individual, group or organization, both nonprofit and for profit, including academia, government and industry, may nominate a green chemistry technology for these awards. Self-nominations are welcome and expected. Typically, five awards are given each year: one to an academic researcher, one to a small business, and the rest in specific areas of green chemistry. EPA has given 46 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards. Each nominated technology must have reached a significant milestone within the past five years in the United States. Nominations must have been postmarked by Dec. 31, 2004 to be eligible for the 2005 awards. The 2005 awards, marking the 10th year of the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge, will be presented at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., on June 20, 2005. More information on the Green Chemistry Program is available at: http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/. More information about the nomination process is available at: http://www.epa.gov/greenchemistry/wanted.html.

The Compliance Assistance Advisory Council (CAAC), small group representing state small business assistance programs, was convened by EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assistance to make recommendations for enhancing compliance assistance opportunities at EPA.

The following article is about the experience of a CAAC member, Dale Kaplan, who is a small business owner and Chair of the Pennsylvania Compliance Advisory Panel (CAP). This effort shows how a diverse group working together on a common issue can make a difference by improving the understanding of compliance assistance within the Agency.

APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED FOR 2005 INNOVATIONS IN AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AWARDS

Applications were accepted for the 2005 Innovations in American Government Awards until September 15, 2004. Applications had to be submitted online: http://www.innovationsaward.harvard.edu.

This prestigious awards program is administered by the Institute for Government Innovation at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in partnership with the Council for Excellence in Government. The program identifies and recognizes outstanding examples of creative problem solving in the public sector. EPA's Brownfield program received an award several years ago, and many
environmental programs at the state and local level have also been recognized.

The 2005 SBO/SBAP National Conference will be held in Biloxi, Mississippi on June 12-15, 2005. Please plan to attend this very exciting and informative conference that is designed to help the small business community understand and comply with environmental regulations. This is an annual event that you should not miss! Go to the 2005 SBO/SBAP National Conference web site and check out the Final Agenda.

In response to feedback from the 2004 conference and from the 2005 Conference Planning Committee, the U.S. EPA's Small Business Division (SBD), in consultation and agreement with the National Compliance Advisory Panel and the SBO/SBAP National Steering Committee, has changed
the CAP training session traditionally held in conjunction with the SBO/SBAP Annual National Conference to a program-wide training session. This will provide detailed background and guidance to new state SBO and SBAP staff and CAP members, and will better promote the “tie-in” of the
three program elements. Thus, the SBD is conducting a one-day training session for SBOs, SBAPs and CAP members on Sunday, June 12, 2004, from 10:00 AM - 3:30 PM, in Biloxi, Mississippi, in conjunction with the 2005 SBO/SBAP National Conference, June 12-16, 2005. This program is designed to assist state program staff and CAP members in defining their roles and carrying out their missions; to share information on the workings of successful, established SBOs, SBAPs and CAPs; and to hear about the activities of the SBO/SBAP National Steering Committee and National Compliance Advisory Panel.

A limited amount of funding is available for travel to this training and conference. If you will need travel funding assistance, you must have applied by March 31, 2005 in accordance with the scholarship travel policies established by the conference host. Please note that there is a policy established for SBO/SBAP staff and a separate one for state CAP members.

For more information about the conference, contact Jesse Thompson, Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, at 601/961-5166, jesse_thompson@deq.state.ms.us. You can also contact Angela Suber, EPA, at 202/566-2827, suber.angela@epa.gov.

The National Steering Committee for 507 Small Business Assistance Programs, the National Compliance Advisory Panel, and the US EPA Office of the Ombudsman presented this First Annual Environmental Stewardship Award to Richard Rasmussen "In Recognition of Outstanding Leadership in support of the 507 Programs." Mr. Rasmussen is the Director, Small Business Assistance Program, Air Division, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

A luncheon to honor these organizations/leaders was held at the Holiday Inn at the 2004 SBO/SBAP National Conference in Sacramento, California, on June 3, 2004. For more information about these individuals/organizations and the awards, go to the 2004 Small Business Awards web page.

EPA is awarding $1.6 million in grants to help States explore innovative approaches to environmental permitting. Ten states (Maine, Vermont, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana, Wyoming, and Oregon) will receive grants of up to $200,000 each. Some of the business sectors that could benefit from the permitting improvements include automotive body and automotive repair, retail gasoline sales, printing, and dry cleaning. EPA Acting Deputy Administrator Stephen L. Johnson announced the grant recipients on April 19 at the spring meeting of the Environmental Council of the States in Hot Springs, Ark. Johnson also unveiled a new report that describes the Agency's progress in advancing innovative approaches since the release of a comprehensive innovation strategy in April 2002. The report entitled, "Innovating for Better Environmental Results: A Report on EPA Progress from the Innovation Action Council" highlights innovative approaches being used to improve water quality, address the funding gap for water infrastructure, and reduce smog and greenhouse gas emissions. The report also describes how Environmental Management Systems, market-based incentives, tailored strategies for specific industry sectors, and other innovative tools are being developed to create more options for environmental problem-solving. More information about the 2004-2005 State Innovation Grants Competition is available at: http://www.epa.gov/innovation/stategrants/index.htm. The EPA Environmental Innovation web site, including links to the Innovation Strategy and 2004 Innovation Progress Report can be found at: http://www.epa.gov/innovation.

ENERGY STAR wants to honor small businesses that have made outstanding efforts in improving energy performance though the 2004 ENERGY STAR for Small Business Awards. Such success stories can help other small businesses save money, prevent pollution and exemplify environmental stewardship in their communities. By submitting information on such efforts, ENERGY STAR can recognize these companies via our Web site, Awards media outreach, marketing materials, and more.

Applications are judged on the comprehensiveness of energy efficient upgrades made, cost savings per square foot, creativity and innovation. A small business can nominate itself or another small business, and companies that provide energy efficient upgrades products and services can nominate their small business clients. Other award criteria include: the company or organization must be a facility that is 100,000 square feet or less and nominees may not be in the energy equipment/service industry or government. Applicants must also submit utility usage data for both one year prior to the upgrades and one year afterwards.

Summaries of past award winner achievements and award applications can be found online at www.energystar.gov/smallbiz. The deadline was Earth Day, April 22, 2004.

Last Updated October 26, 2007