2005 Trade Association Environmental Leadership Awards

Associations should be able to demonstrate that they provided leadership in moving their small business members toward better environmental performance, including:

· reducing wastes and emissions by utilizing environmentally-friendly business practices

· reducing or minimizing consumption of natural resources (e.g., water, energy, forest products)

Recipients for the previous year’s awards are not eligible for nomination. Receipt of all nominations will be acknowledged with an email confirmation.

How to Make Nominations

Individuals, businesses, and organizations are encouraged to nominate trade associations. 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 trade association and submit only one form. The award categories are: environmental leadership or environmental partnership. 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 the trade association work with a local, state/territorial, or national SBAP to improve environmental compliance? Explain how.

· What activities has the trade association conducted in moving its sector toward better environmental performance and regulatory compliance? Please describe.

· What activities has the trade association undertaken to assist its members to go "above and beyond the requirements of the law or regulation" to reduce environmental impacts? What were the timeframes: one-time, periodic, or ongoing? Please describe.

· What steps has the trade association taken to reach out beyond its own membership to the industry sector 'at large' to assist businesses with compliance, pollution prevention, or environmental management systems? Please describe.

· Has the trade association worked with a legislative body, a government entity or other organization to create an environmental program that is functional in the business workplace? What is the name(s) of the entities with which the association worked? What program(s) was created, what does it do, and has it been implemented? Have environmental and/or economic benefits been quantified?

· Does the association encourage and train members to utilize some form of environmental management system? If yes, what is the name of that system and how are members trained?

· Does the association encourage members to design their products or services with the environment in mind? If yes, please describe how (e.g., utilize post-consumer materials, build energy efficient machine/structures, purchase from environmentally conscious vendors or contractors).

· Has the association done something innovative to help members improve their environmental performance (e.g., develop a new type of training program or establish a purchasing network for members to buy less toxic materials)? Can the activity be duplicated by others in the industry? Please explain.

· Has the trade association assisted or encouraged members to conduct assessments or case studies quantifying the environmental and economic benefits of environmentally friendly business practices? Please explain and provide examples of economic savings and pollution prevention information generated.

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.

The Trade Association Environmental Leadership Awards will be given annually to a trade association(s) who exhibit leadership in one or more of the following categories:

Environmental Leadership
This award is for leadership that is demonstrated by how the trade association provided leadership in moving its sector toward better environmental performance in both regulatory compliance and in going “above and beyond” regulations. Considerations in judging include: type of environmental assistance provided to association members and the industry sector at large (non-members); whether the environmental assistance provided by the association is innovative; how the association encouraged members to design products and services with the environment in mind; whether the association has encouraged and trained its members to use an environmental management system; and whether the association encouraged or assisted members quantify environmental and economic benefits of environmentally friendly business practices.

Environmental Partnership
This award is for partnering that is demonstrated by how a trade association worked with legislative bodies, governments, or other entities, to create environmental programs that are functional in the industry sector workplace. Considerations in judging include the efforts made by the association in partnering with other entities, as documented by successful legislation or program creation and implementation of the program.

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: environmental leadership and environmental partnership.

Experience working with the local, state/territorial, or national SBO/SBAP is a requirement and will be considered during the review process. 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.

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.

The Trade Association Environmental Leadership Awards are not designed to compete with or supersede other private and public environmental achievement awards.

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, x128

Linda 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

GO TO ONLINE NOMINATION FORM

Trade Association Environmental Leadership Awards

Eligibility Requirements

How to Make Nominations