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Small Business Environmental Stewardship Awards
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 Environmental Stewardship Awards. The NSC Awards Subcommittee is seeking nominations for the 2005 awards. More than one award may be given.
These awards will recognize the commitment of a small business to not only be in compliance with applicable environmental regulations but to be stewards of the environment. The awards will recognize exemplary performance in one or more of the following areas: pollution prevention leadership, industrial environmental leadership, and community environmental leadership. The nominee(s) must also have worked with their local, state/territorial, or national Small Business Ombudsman/Small Business Assistance Program (SBO/SBAP) in these efforts. The winner(s) will be invited to attend a luncheon at the annual SBO/SBAP National Conference in Biloxi, Mississippi, on June 13, 2005, where the awards will be presented.
Anyone may nominate a small business by submitting a completed form on line (click on button below instructions). Nomination guidelines can be found below.
Eligibility Requirements
Small business nominees must:
· be an individually owned company(s) with less than 100 full-time employees
· have worked with a local, state/territorial, or national SBO/SBAP
· be located either in the U.S. or territories.
Businesses should be able to demonstrate that they have gone above and beyond the requirements of the law:
· to reduce their wastes and emissions by utilizing environmentally-friendly business practices
· to reduce or minimize consumption of natural resources (e.g. water, energy, forest products)
· to be leaders in their industry
· to serve as a positive role model to their peers
· to have designed their products with the environment in mind.
Recipients for the previous year’s awards are not eligible for nomination. Receipt of all nominations will be acknowledged with a confirmation email.
How to Make Nominations
Individuals, businesses, and organizations are encouraged to nominate small businesses. Please complete the nomination form and submit on line, if possible, including electronic submittal of supporting documents. If online submittal is not possible, please contact Rose Marie Wilmoth or Linda Hayes-Gorman for hard copy submittal instructions. Contact information is listed below.
Each nomination form must be accompanied by an activity summary of 500 words or less. The summary should describe the nominee’s environmental stewardship activity and results. Nominators should identify the appropriate award category for the small business and submit only one form. The award categories are: pollution prevention leadership, industrial environmental leadership, and community environmental leadership. These are described below. The Awards Subcommittee reserves the right to assign a nomination to a different category as appropriate. The nominator should address the following points, where applicable, in the body of the summary:
· Did small business work with a local, state/territorial, or the national small business program to improve environmental compliance and environmental stewardship? Explain how.
· What activities has the business conducted that have earned them recognition in the community as a leader and/or role model in the area of environmental performance? Describe.
· What activities has the small business undertaken that go above and beyond the requirements of the law to reduce environmental impact? What were the timeframes: one-time, periodic, or on-going?· What were the results of the activities? Quantify if possible.
· What were the levels of participation in the activities?
· Did the activities have environmental education benefits? If so, to whom?
· Were the activities innovative?
· Were the activities duplicated (or can they be) by others in the industry? Explain.
· Does the business design their products with the environment in mind?
· What does the business do to change the character or composition of their waste to render the waste less toxic or hazardous?
· Does the business implement activities or processes that minimize the consumption of natural resources such as water, energy, and forest products?
The nominator is encouraged to enclose up to ten pages of supporting material including the activity summary. Additional materials such as program literature, news clippings, data, slides, letters of support, and photos may be submitted. These should be submitted electronically with the online nomination form, if possible.
Award Categories
The Small Business Environmental Stewardship Awards will be given annually to small businesses who exhibit environmental stewardship in one or more of the following categories:
Pollution Prevention Leadership
This award will be given for practices that reduce the amount of hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants entering the air (including fugitive emissions), waste stream or water prior to recycling, treatment or disposal. Items considered in judging include environmental benefits, the amount and percentage of reduction in emissions or discharge, innovation, transferability, management commitment, employee involvement, the degree to which the activity goes beyond regulatory requirements, and the economic benefit to the business.Industrial Environmental Leadership
This award is given for demonstrating environmental controls that are more effective than what is normally required. The effective environmental control system should reflect a strong commitment for advancing protection of the environment by reducing the amount of emissions, recycling what cannot be reduced or by providing better treatment, spill prevention or disposal techniques. Consideration will be given to innovative environmental control methods that can be duplicated at similar facilities. Employee involvement in environmental protection, employee training and efforts to educate and involve the local community will also be considered.Community Environmental Leadership
This award is for leadership that involves members of a community for the enhancement of the community’s environment in a demonstrable or measurable fashion; correction of or attempts to correct a problem that threatens some aspect of the community’s air or water quality; or actions in these areas to involve the citizens of that community that have benefited from the community’s improved environmental conditions. Community activities that have been initiated to correct problems related to the award applicant’s operations are not eligible.Judging
A committee of representatives from the NSC for the SBAPs, and the NCAP will review all nominations and select a winner(s). The Awards Subcommittee will select nominees principally based on their environmental stewardship in one or more of the following areas: pollution prevention leadership, industrial environmental leadership, and community environmental leadership.
Experience working with the local, state/territorial, or national SBO/SBAP is a requirement and will be considered during the review process. Businesses with outstanding enforcement actions for non-compliance with environmental regulations will be disqualified. Depending on the number, range, and quality of applications, several or no awards may be presented. Members of the Awards Subcommittee will not participate in evaluating nominations from their state of residence.
Additional Information
The NSC has approximately ten members, each representing the SBAPs of their states in respective U.S. EPA regions. The NCAP has approximately nine members and represents the states' small business compliance advisory panels (CAPs). The CAPs represent small business interests from their region.
Information about the SBAPs is available on the Small Business Environmental Home Page (Home Page) at: http://www.smallbiz-enviroweb.org. The Home Page is maintained by Audrey G. Zelanko, Concurrent Technologies Corporation, representative for the SBAPs pursuant to funding by the U.S. EPA, Small Business Ombudsman, Small Business Division.
Other Award Programs
The Environmental Stewardship Awards are not designed to compete with or supersede other private and public environmental achievement awards.
Contact Information
Rose Marie Wilmoth
Chairman, Awards Subcommittee
Division of Compliance Assistance
KY Dept. for Environmental Protection
14 Reilly Road, Bldg. #6
Frankfort, KY 40601
Email: rosemarie.wilmoth@ky.gov
Phone: (502) 564-2150, x128Linda Hayes-Gorman
Awards Subcommittee
Air Quality Business Assistance Program
OR Dept. of Environmental Quality
2146 NE 4th Street
Bend, OR 97701
Email: hayes-gorman.linda@deq.state.or.us
Phone: (541) 388-6146, x274
