Note: This information is provided for reference purposes only. Although the information provided here was accurate and current when first created, it is now outdated.

"Unless the reformer can invent something which will substitute attractive virtues for attractive vices, he will fail." - Walter Lippmann

The command-and-control system of environmental protection -- the backbone of the American environmental protection system for the last twenty years -- has yielded many impressive results in the preservation of our natural resources and the safeguarding of our public health. Elements of that system, like the enforcement and permitting programs, are tools on which EPA must continually improve. Nonetheless, those tools are still necessary in protecting New England's environment. But at EPA in New England, we believe that we achieve greater environmental results by offering assistance to those we regulate as well as by enforcing the law. EPA's New England office has launched an unprecedented series of assistance programs designed to help prevent pollution. These initiatives offer assistance to communities, companies and others to educate and empower them to protect the environment and grow the economy -- in large part by preventing pollution before it becomes a problem. In the past year, EPA's innovative assistance and pollution prevention programs in New England have gone from concept to reality. Since 1988, companies have been required to disclose to the public a great deal of information about the release and storage of toxic and hazardous substances under the Community Right to Know laws. Expansion of these provisions to cover more chemicals and more facilities is a top priority for EPA. To help people make the most of this information, EPA's New England office has been training local librarians and community groups in using the computerized Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). Those who have taken advantage of their right to know about toxics emitted into their neighborhoods have likely noticed that industry continues to reduce dramatically their impact on the environment. Figure 15 shows very clearly the progress New England companies are making in reducing toxic releases to the environment. Companies have told EPA that this public reporting requirement and the potential for them to be identified as major emitters has been a major incentive in decreasing toxic releases. The New England Environmental Assistance Team (NEEAT) provides extensive pollution prevention assistance to targeted sectors of the community. The first sectors we identified -- chosen in no small measure based on their impact on the environment -- were metal finishers, printers, manufacturers of computers and electronics, and municipalities. This year, we're adding auto repair shops to that list. With the help of industry leaders from those original four sectors, the group developed an aggressive and results-oriented assistance agenda for EPA. Today, the NEEAT team builds on the successes of EPA Administrator Carol Browner's Common Sense Initiative and offers: workshops on regulatory and pollution prevention issues; user-friendly compliance manuals; model facility and technology demonstration projects; a pollution prevention financing guide for small and medium-sized businesses; on-site assistance to municipal wastewater treatment plants; an awards and recognition program; and, a toll free regulatory assistance hotline (1-800-90NEEAT). NEEAT team members are finding new ways for EPA staff to help protect the environment. For example, one team member played an important role in developing a pilot program to transfer useful equipment from abandoned metal plating operations to active companies that could use it. In past years, the equipment would have been treated as a hazardous waste; today, it's helping to drive the economy. Making these kind of connections is what the NEEAT team is all about. The environmental technology industry of New England is one of the best friends the environment of this region -- and EPA, for that matter -- could have. This industry churns out innovative ways to protect the environment and public health more efficiently and with a lower price tag -- making it possible to protect more with less. At the same time, the industry employs 150,000 people in this good work and contributes over $10 billion to the region's economy. To promote these new ideas, and the environmental and economic benefits associated with them, EPA opened the nation's first regional Center for Environmental Industry and Technology (CEIT) last year. In October, 1995, CEIT celebrated a successful first year by awarding $4.9 million in environmental technology grants to New England institutions and businesses. In addition to these grant funds, the center made huge strides in its first year in all five of its goal areas: Increase Access To Public and Private Capital: EPA sponsors Venture Capital Forums that link technology developers with investors and provides grant funding through the Environmental Technology Initiative. Easy Access to Information: New England's environmental technologists can visit the CEIT World Wide Web site (http://www.epa.gov/region1/assistance/ceit/), receive informative mailings or call into a toll-free hotline (800-575-CEIT). Increase Innovative Technology Demonstrations: The center seeks to find appropriate demonstration opportunities for innovative waste remediation and monitoring methods at Superfund sites and elsewhere. Remove Regulatory and Institutional Barriers: EPA is funding and working with our state partners to bring down the regulatory barriers that stand in the way of innovative technologies on their way to the marketplace. Improve International Technology Assistance: EPA has co-led two trade missions in roughly the last year and sponsors technical training in Eastern Europe. Traditionally, EPA has treated companies and communities more or less the same whether they have a great track record in protecting the environment or not. Today, EPA's New England office has several new initiatives geared toward businesses and communities that have already proven that they are environmental leaders or who want to go beyond what the law requires of them. Compliance Leadership through Enforcement, Audits, and Negotiation (CLEAN): Pollution prevention has been proven, time after time, to save money and preserve the environment at the same time. No two institutions have found this to be more true than EPA's partners in the CLEAN initiative -- the University of New Hampshire and the Maine Metal Products Association. With the help of these able partners and backed by federal grant funding, EPA is offering free environmental audits to metal platers in Maine and New Hampshire to help them find ways to prevent pollution. Companies that participate are receiving this audit free of charge and are offered relief from enforcement if violations are found during the audit and corrected promptly. The Environmental Leadership Program (ELP): New England not only had 2 of the charter companies in the national Environmental Leadership Program in the past year -- The Gillette Company of Massachusetts and Ocean State Power of Rhode Island -- but a new regional program has added 19 more New England leaders to the initiative this spring. ELP encourages and rewards companies to go beyond compliance with environmental laws, with a heavy emphasis on pollution prevention. In return for this leadership, EPA offers a tailor-made combination of enforcement amnesty, expedited permitting, reduced inspections and public recognition. The Excellence and Leadership Program (Project XL) is a flagship of President Clinton's reinvention initiatives. Two New England companies have already been selected for this competitive national program. Through Project XL, EPA says to businesses and communities that if they can come up with more effective ways to protect public health and the environment than the way the law requires, then the agency will throw out the rule-book and offer them a chance to prove themselves. If the company or community is right, EPA will work toward changing those rules based on what we have learned. Most New Englanders today know that an important and popular way to prevent pollution and enhance our environment is by recycling. Many fewer people, though, recognize the full extent of the economic potential of recycling. Today, there are 26,897 jobs in New England associated with the processing and manufacturing of recyclables, contributing $1.1 million to New England's economy every year. And the recycling trends in New England bode well for this job-creating industry: consider that between 1993 and 1994 (the most recent available data), the percentage of wastes that were recycled increased from 45% of the total to 53%. Since EPA's "Jobs Through Recycling" grant program was launched in 1994, it has resulted in the creation of over 250 jobs and sparked over $36 million in capital investments in recycling businesses across the nation. New England states have received five of these grants that create new jobs and investment while reducing solid waste. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management received a grant to help manage the growing amount of "litter" along the information superhighway. The state is developing a business plan and providing consulting services to start an "End-of-Life" Electronics Demanufacturing Facility for used computers and other electronic equipment. The facility is expected to create 75 jobs. A national summary of how our toxic wastes are managed also reflects the types of jobs that have been created in the waste management arena (Fig. 16).