LibGuides: Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable Archive: Michigan Retired Engineer Technical Assistance Program (RETAP) P2 Site Assessment Training Tools

About the Training Tools

In 2015, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs' Retired Engineer Technical Assistance Program (RETAP) received a U.S. EPA State and Tribal Assistance Grant focused on Pollution Prevention (P2).

Under this grant, RETAP developed training and guidance documents for a number of P2 tools, as well as templates for conducting on-site assistance and source reduction planning (SRP). These materials are specifically designed to reduce toxic/hazardous material usage and disposal at small to mid-sized manufacturers. GLRPPR was the web home for these materials.

The tools below are all available on IDEALS, the University of Illinois' institutional repository.

RETAP Enhanced Assessments: Energy Efficiency Cost Savings
Presentation for businesses and pollution prevention technical assistance professionals to aid in understanding utility bills and identifying energy savings opportunities at small- and mid-sized manufacturing companies.
Enhanced Assessment Tools Practice Presentations
Practice presentation provides an overview of the RETAP program.
2000 Years of Professional Experience for Free
Overview of the RETAP program.

Pollution Prevention Assessment Report Templates and Samples

RETAP Report Template
Template for RETAP's pollution prevention technical assistance site assessment report. Used to provide the assessment results to the facility.
RETAP Sample Reports and Attachments
Ten Keys for Educating and Engaging Employees
Strategies that environmental managers use to engage employees.
Guide to Industrial Assessments for Pollution Prevention and Energy Efficiency > Lighting Standards
Chapter 6 of this document deals specifically with lighting.

Source Reduction Planning (SRP) Assistance

Hardware products manufacturer
Office furniture manufacturer
Steel and stainless steel castings manufacturer
Includes the example site assessment report and a summary of RETAP's approach to helping the company reduce the amount of hazardous waste generated by their use of potassium hydroxide.
Industrial liquid clarification and air/gas cleaning system manufacturer
The company wants to reduce the amount of hazardous waste they generate to stay under the regulatory limit for small quantity generators. Their largest hazardous waste stream is paint and solvent waste. Includes the example site assessment report and a process flow diagram of the company's paint line. The process flow diagram helps the company identify areas where they can reduce waste.

Training Materials on Techniques, Tools, and Specialized Equipment

RETAP training materials for toxics use reduction
Includes presentation slides for toxics use reduction training, finding information about less toxic alternatives, and environmentally preferable purchasing of janitorial supplies.
RETAP training materials for Lean Manufacturing/Six Sigma
Includes "Incorporating Lean with Assessments" presentation slides, a handout for an in-class exercise, calculations for the exercise, and a summary of Lean Six Sigma concepts.
U.S. EPA P2 Calculators
Includes presentation slides for training on use of EPA P2 calculators and RETAP internal guidance for how they use the tools during the site assessment process.
RETAP training materials for Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM)
Includes presentation slides for training on use of Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) and RETAP internal guidance for using and evaluating the tool.
RETAP training materials for Industrial Assessment Center Database
Includes presentation slides and RETAP internal use and evaluation guidelines for the Industrial Assessment Center database.
RETAP training materials for water conservation
Includes presentation slides for identifying water conservation opportunities, a guide to incorporating water conservation into industrial facility assessments, and Excel spreadsheets for calculating water use in cooling towers and savings from water conservation recommendations.

Specialized Equipment

RETAP training materials on ultrasonic leak detection
Includes information about finding compressed air leaks and instructions for using the Ultraprobe 3000 to detect leaks and download the data from the instrument.
RETAP training materials for 3E Plus Insulation Thickness software
Includes guidance for using the 3E Plus Insulation Thickness computer program and information about how RETAP evaluated the technology.
RETAP training materials for variable frequency drive savings calculations
Includes information about variable frequency drives and how to calculate their cost effectiveness, as well as a spreadsheet to do the calculations.
RETAP guidance on infrared thermography
Includes information about incorporating infrared thermography into pollution prevention site assessments.