Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable Archive

Green infrastructure can help contribute to community resiliency and reduce climate threats to critical infrastructure, water quality and human health. Heavy downpours are expected to become more frequent and intense in many parts of the U.S. as global temperatures continue to rise. Green infrastructure uses vegetation, soil and natural processes to manage water in place, reducing the impact of severe storms. Green infrastructure also providesadditional benefits, including recharging groundwater, improving aesthetics, combating heat island effects and conserving energy. Treating water and wastewater requires a lot of energy. By reducing rainwater flows into sewer systems, green infrastructure can significantly reduce municipal energy use. This fact sheet includes a case study of Cincinnati's green infrastructure projects.

This bulletin highlights pollution prevention opportunities to increase the compliance, success and competitiveness of your business. Pollution prevention strategies, which include using environmentally friendly products and practices, can reduce the risk of improper chemical management, limit your liability, save money and increase worker and customer satisfaction. Even though perchloroethylene (PERC) has been used for decades as the dry cleaning solvent of choice, several safer alternatives are available including water via professional wet cleaning.

Completely eliminating the use and generation of hazardous solvents is ideal,from a human health, environmental and cost perspective because it prevents pollution and reduces associated costs. Solvent-users should consider safer solvents to help protect the health of their workers and their community, and also to help reduce their costs of complying with environmental and workplace regulations, including those issued under the Clean Air Act, the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

Summarizes EPA programs and tools to help companies with sustainability efforts.

U.S. EPA’s Pollution Prevention (P2) Program has developed P2 calculator tools to standardize the measurement of environmental and economic benefits of P2 implementation activities. Use of the tools ensures credibility and consistency. These tools focus on project-level performance results, providing examples of success. Navigation is made simple with color-coded tabs and clearly featured data inputs and outputs. Data sources and justifications are prominent, enhancing transparency.

Cost sharing and matching contributions may include, but is not limited to: dollars; in-kind goods and services (such as volunteered time, photocopying and printing services, etc.); third-party contributions consistent with 2 CFR 200.306; university faculty time or effort, which can be offered as a cash contribution as long as the cost sharing occurs during the assistant agreement project period and while the faculty member is under a continuing contract with the university; etc. The applicant must document in the budget the type of match applied and how it will be used. The grant project officer in the Region will monitor the grant recipient's compliance.

U.S. EPA's Pollution Prevention (P2) Program has developed P2 calculator tools to standardize the measurement of environmental and economic benefits of P2 implementation activities. Use of the tools ensures credibility and consistency. These tools focus on project-level performance results (not facility level carbon footprints) and provide examples. Navigation is made simple with color-coded tabs and clearly featured data inputs and outputs. Data sources and justifications are prominent, enhancing transparency.

Funded by a 12-month U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Pollution Prevention (P2) grant, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) at the University of Illinois implemented the Illinois Conservation of Resources and Energy (ICORE) project, targeting small manufacturers – including food manufacturers -- in underserved communities. ISTC assisted 27 businesses, conducting P2 assessments at 18 businesses. ISTC marketed their servicesii, recruited participants and local partners, conducted on-site assessments, and recommended improvements to the facilities. As a result of the technical assessments, the grantee made more than 200 recommendations, 42% of which were implemented by the end of the project period. Recommendations were made to improve electrical and compressed air use, natural gas and water use, management and use of hazardous and non-hazardous waste and materials. In addition to on-site P2 assessments, ISTC conducted pilots at eight manufacturers to demonstrate the use and benefits of LED lighting demonstrations which result in 50% savings and significant environmental benefits over traditional high intensity discharge lighting. Five of the companies adopted the LED technology by the end of the project period for a savings of $46,262 annually.

A 2015 Pollution Prevention (P2) Source Reduction Assistance Grant to the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), supported Energy, Economy, and Environment (E3) assessments at five facilities to identify opportunities for: energy, water and hazardous material conservation; waste reduction; and, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. ISTC along with Illinois Manufacturing Extension Center (IMEC), Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) and Nicor Gas combined expertise to provide comprehensive resources to assist Illinois industrial facilities in Cook and DuPage Counties. ISTC incorporated IMEC's Lean and Clean, Waste to Profit and Green Supplier Network models into the E3 process to augment their P2 program.

A 2014 Pollution Prevention (P2) Source Reduction Assistance Grant to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) supported Energy, Economy, and Environment (E3) assessments at four Indiana facilities to identify opportunities: for Lean improvements; energy, water and hazardous material conservation; waste reduction; and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. IDEM managed the grant and assisted Purdue University Manufacturing Extension Partnership (Purdue MEP) by promoting the E3 Initiative to members in the Indiana Partners for Pollution Prevention and the Indiana Environmental Stewardship Program.

Partially funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Pollution Prevention (P2) grant, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency in partnership with the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) at University of Minnesota, piloted the Fiber Reinforced Plastics Sector Economy, Energy, and Environment (E3) project. The team's goal was to work with the fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) sector to provide direct technical assistance and encourage and measure reductions, efficiencies, and associated savings.

Partially funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Pollution Prevention (P2) grant, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, in partnership with the Minnesota Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) at the University of Minnesota, and LEAN assistance providers, conducted an Economy, Energy, and Environment (E3) pilot to provide direct technical assistance on painting and coating processes used in manufacturing. The goal of the project was to achieve natural resource (water and materials) reductions, time, motion and energy efficiencies, and cost savings at Minnesota manufacturing facilities. In addition to working with manufacturers engaged in painting and coating processes, the grantee also worked with the manufacturers' supply chains. E3 assessments that focused on environmental, energy efficiency and LEAN improvements were provided at three facilities. The grantee and project partners also provided follow up support to the companies participating in the pilot to encourage implementation of the E3 assessment recommendations and measure the environmental and economic benefits the facilities' achieved as a result of the implementation.

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.

The grant project was designed to coordinate Ohio Statewide Environmental Network (OSEN) assistance to small and medium sized manufacturers and other entities through training in source reduction and pollution prevention techniques, including environmental management systems, clean manufacturing and energy efficiency assessments. The University of Toledo in partnership along with the Ohio Edison Center, the Center for Innovative Food Technology, the Ohio EPA, and others partnered to achieve the project goal, which was to save money while reducing energy materials and water use and wastewater and greenhouse gas emissions. Funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Pollution Prevention (P2) grant, the project partners collaborated to discuss assistance opportunities for small and mid-size companies. The University of Toledo and the Center for Innovative Food Technology completed nine assessments of Ohio manufacturers and businesses to identify opportunities for pollution prevention, including energy efficiency improvements. Assessments were conducted at a hospital, restaurant, several automobile manufacturers and food processors. In addition, CIFT held a workshop on wastewater issues featuring innovative treatment technologies.

Brief summaries of EPA source reduction grants awarded by U.S. EPA Region 5 during the 2007 federal fiscal year.

Training modules for U.S. EPA Region 5 green chemistry training. The contents include:
Module 1: Pollution Prevention and Hazardous Substance Reduction Fundamentals
Module 2: Design for the Environment Tools and External Resources for Identifying Safer Chemical Alternatives
Module 3: Proven Approaches to Performing Hazardous Substance P2 Assessments
Module 4: Identify and Target Facilities to Perform Hazardous Substance P2 Assessments.