Texas Small Business and Local Government Assistance Program MPC Profile

Texas Small Business and Local Government 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.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)’s Small Business and Local Government Assistance (SBLGA) program is Texas’ SBEAP. SBLGA provides confidential assistance on air, water, waste, and pollution prevention issues without the threat of enforcement. The program and its multi-media assistance are mandated by Texas State statute (Texas Water Code, Section 5.135).

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

The program began offering multi-media compliance assistance in 1999. House Bill 44, 78^th Texas Legislature, 2003, officially required the program to provide multi-media assistance, effective September 1, 2003.

Does your SBEAP provide confidential services? Explain.

All assistance provided by SBLGA staff is considered confidential in nature and is not to be disclosed to anyone outside SBLGA unless done so in such a way that the customer receiving assistance cannot be identified. Exceptions to this policy include: imminent threat to human, animal or plant life; immediate danger to the environment; criminal investigations; and referrals of small businesses and local governments by the TCEQ’s Enforcement program. Confidentiality is secured both through a State Implementation Plan Revision dated November 1992, and by memorandum from the Executive Director of the Texas Air Control Board issued in 1992. Confidentiality of assistance was reaffirmed by agency management in 2007.

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 is also the Director of the Small Business and Environmental Assistance Division, a division of the TCEQ. SBLGA (again, Texas’ SBEAP) is part of that division, giving the Ombudsman a supervisory role over that program’s management and staff. The Ombudsman provides direction and guidance to the division to carry out the mission of the division. In addition, the Ombudsman acts as an advocate to small businesses to ensure that small businesses have an opportunity to be involved in agency rule and policy development on multimedia issues. The Ombudsman reports directly to the Executive Director of the TCEQ, though the Ombudsman is empowered to directly communicate with the TCEQ’s three-member governing board. The State’s Ombudsman may be reached at 512/239-3100.
What types of multimedia assistance does your SBEAP provide (air, hazardous waste, solid waste, water quality, air, other)? Describe.

We provide multimedia assistance in all of the mentioned areas above.

There are three components to our program:

Direct Assistance – One-on-one help to a specific business via our hotline or office visits. Two special programs include a) our site visit program that uses a contractor to do multimedia environmental site visits and b) our EnviroMentor program that utilizes volunteer consultants to provide compliance assistance.

Special Projects – This would include developing a new tool for a sector (e.g. creating a fact sheet summarizing new rules for auto body shops) and having workshops for a specific sector or on an area of rules (e.g. RCRA recordkeeping requirements).

Advocacy – We participate on the TCEQ rule writing team for all rules that will impact small businesses. We are actively involved in ensuring that small businesses are aware of proposed rule changes and have an opportunity to participate in the process.

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

Yes. SBLGA’s work is prioritized based on environmental risks, agency priorities, and regional needs. The TCEQ has implemented risk-based criteria for purposes of allocating resources, and SBLGA follows that lead in determining projects to be initiated. This is accomplished through careful coordination with TCEQ’s permitting, investigation, and enforcement programs. We also track topics that callers ask about on our hotline and use this data to design projects that meet small business multimedia needs.

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--<3%
Personal contact--<5%
Internal expertise--95%
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.

SBLGA staff members actually provide most of the assistance.

Assistance is provided through a number of means:

a toll free hotline number for customers to call and speak with one of our compliance assistance specialist regarding air, water and waste issues

a web site that provides information including checklists, calculation tips and Frequently Asked Questions sheets for air, waste, and water related issues

a free and confidential compliance site visit program to ensure the site's environmental compliance requirements are being met

a free and confidential program where environmental professionals volunteer their time to assist small businesses and local governments that cannot otherwise afford their services

Small Business Advisory Committees that provide small businesses in Texas with a voice in the regulatory process and help promote environmental compliance

the Compliance Advisory Panel (CAP) that advises federal and state government officials about SBLGA’s effectiveness

workshops and seminars to educate small businesses and local governments on environmental compliance rules and regulations.

SBLGA staff members come from varied educational backgrounds which creates a wealth of knowledge and expertise in many areas. New staff members also attend an SBLGA training program and continuing education is provided throughout the year for all staff members.

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	X
Water	X	X	X	X	X
Remediation	X
Storage Tanks	X	X	X	X	X
Emergency Planning	X
Wetlands, Land/Water Interface	X

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

We have staff members who are trained to provide EMS and pollution prevention assistance to our customers.
Are there any industry sectors for which you cannot provide assistance or can provide only limited assistance? Explain.

Yes. Water Rights permitting (in Texas, this is the system for the assignment of surface water to cities, businesses, and individuals); and radioactive waste management are two major agency programs for which SBLGA does not provide assistance. SBLGA does not have experience in those program areas.
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)?

SBLGA is housed within the regulatory agency, specifically the Executive Director’s office of the TCEQ. This allows us to be fully integrated into agency programs, which helps ensure delivery to our external and internal customers.
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 three primary sources of funding:

State fee funds (e.g., Title V fees) collected from entities regulated by TCEQ

State General Revenue Funds

EPA grant funding through Performance Partnership Grants (PPG), e.g., RCRA

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.

Currently the SBLGA program consists of 36 FTEs.
SBLGA’s assistance is tracked for purposes of reporting to the Texas Legislative Budget Board. We log all calls received on our hotline in a Cold Fusion/Oracle database. With this database, we’re able to run quarterly and annual reports on the number of calls received by industry and by type of issue (e.g. Storm Water permits, Site Visit requests and Hazardous Waste or Municipal Solid Waste calls). We also track our assistance through mail outs to either new businesses in Texas or sectors identified for specific outreach (e.g. auto body shops); and through attendance at work shops and seminars.
What have been the benefits of providing multimedia versus air only assistance? Have you performed any cost benefit analyses? Describe your successes.

The primary benefit of providing multimedia assistance has been improved service to our customers. Many small businesses and local governments require multimedia authorizations (e.g., air permit and storm water). Our program provides one-stop service to our customers.

There are three components to our program:
- A 47 percent reduction in waste water recordkeeping violations from participants in our workshops.
- Assisting 640 sites improve compliance after an investigation, often at the request of TCEQ investigators. The need for additional enforcement was mitigated in almost 30 percent of those cases.
- Working with the TCEQ's storm water program to provide extensive outreach and technical assistance upon issuance of the Phase II MS4 General Storm Water Permit.
- Working with the TCEQ's Air Quality Division to reduce regulatory burdens from NOx reduction rules.
- Assisting the TCEQ's Air Quality Division to recruit automobile dismantlers to participate in a vehicle retirement program.
Key Projects:

Recordkeeping and Reporting Workshops for Wastewater Treatment Plants
- Conducted 5 workshops with 175 operators in attendance
  - 100 percent decrease in unreported discharge monitoring reports (DMR)
  - 47 percent decrease in effluent violations (self reported)
Petroleum Storage Tank
- Conducted one workshop with 52 facilities in attendance
  - Assisted 21 facilities with compliance assistance issues
  - 70 percent compliance increase for registration
  - 100 percent compliance increase for financial assurance
  - 50 percent compliance increase for release detection
Great Border Trade Out
- Conducted nine workshops with 250 entities in attendance
  - Exchanged 250 HVLP guns for 250 conventional paint guns
  - 7.3 Tons of VOC reduced annually
  - 11.02 Tons of PM reduced annually
  - 3,011 Gallons of paint saved annually by using more efficient HVLP guns
  - $451,687.50 Annual cost savings due to application efficiency/less paint
State Implementation Plan
- Developed outreach and compliance assistance tools for thousands of regulated entities in the 8-county Houston/Galveston/Brazoria ozone nonattainment area.
- Actively participated on rule teams to develop rules for minor source of NOx in the Dallas/Fort Worth ozone nonattainment area.
- Provided staffing for local application assistance centers to help support the Texas Emissions Reduction Program, a competitive grant program that helps pay for the purchase of cleaner on-road and off-road mobile sources.
Storm Water
- In conjunction with the TCEQ's Water Quality Permitting and Field Operations Divisions (FOD), conducted a series of workshops to educate the regulated community on the Phase II MS4 Storm Water General Permit. Starting in September 2007, and ending in December 2007, SBLGA held 11 workshops in 10 cities across the state. More than 600 people attended the workshops and, as a result, by the permitting deadline (February 11, 2008) approximately 400 applications or waiver forms were received by the agency.
Provide an overall link or links to your online multimedia assistance web page(s), checklists, calculation spreadsheets, guidance, factsheets, publications, and contacts.

www.sblga.info
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)?

We are happy to provide everything,including email or telephone assistance, share any of our materials (which is available on our Web site), our employee training plan and would be open to host a visit to our facility.
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:
Ø Agriculture Metal Fabrication
Ø Aircraft Metal Finishing
Ø Automotive Mining
Ø Chemicals Painting and Coating
Ø Construction Pesticides
Ø Die Casting Petroleum Refining
Ø Dry Cleaning Pharmaceuticals
Ø Electric/Power/Energy Plastics
Ø Electronics/Computer Printing and Photoprocessing
Ø Electroplating Pulp and Paper
Ø Fiberglass Operations Recreation
Ø Foods Recycling
Ø Furniture Retail
Ø Hospitals/Medical Rubber and Plastics
Ø Iron and Steel Solvents/Cleaning
Ø Laboratories/Schools Stone/Clay/Glass/Concrete
Ø Lubricants Textiles/Textile Services
Ø Lumber and Wood Transportation
Ø Machining Used Oil
Ø Marine/Shipyard

Agriculture (cotton gins, grain facilities, anhydrous ammonia facilities)
Airports (small regional)
Auto Body
Auto Repair
Auto Salvage
Car Wash
Chemical Manufacturing
Concrete Batch Plants
Construction
Dry Cleaning
Fleet Maintenance
Foundry
Marina Operations
Metal Fabrication
Metal Finishing
Petroleum Storage Tank Facilities
Printing
Public Drinking Water Systems
Recycling
Rock Crushers
Surface Coating
Thermoset Resin/Reinforced Plastics
Wastewater Systems
Wood Products Manufacturing

Contact: All SBLGA Staff, Compliance Assistance Hotline at 800/447-2827.
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?

The particular challenges were primarily internal and related to acceptance by a wide range of agency programs. Because the program began as part of the old air regulatory agency, there was built in acceptance from our air authorization program. It took time to develop the contacts, expertise, and trust required to successfully assist other agency media programs. We accomplished better integration through open communication and a commitment to work cooperatively with the other programs. We also emphasized how we added value to their operations. For example, we could develop the plain-language guidance so they did not have to—that is one example of a service we provide internally that is valued. We have also emphasized the potential for our program to help with avoided costs from enforcement, i.e. if we can assist a sector first, it will off-set the need for inspections and enforcement, thereby improving agency operations and allowing those programs to focus on other priorities.
Provide contact information for peer assistance with your SBEAP.

You can contact our hotline at 800/447-2827 or send us an email at sbap@tceq.state.tx.us.

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

6/05, updated 10/05, 6/07, 5/08