Imagine that your company is informed that it needs to change a business process in order to comply with an environmental regulation. While you recognize that compliance is important and helps safeguard the health of your community, you do not know where to start to meet the requirements of the regulation. This is a problem not uncommon to many small and medium-sized businesses — experts at what they do, but when it comes to complying with government regulations, including environmental ones, they do not know where to turn for assistance. In addition, many companies often are unaware of voluntary environmental improvements that can enhance their bottom line or unsure of how to implement them.

A number of organizations have arisen over the past three decades to meet the need for help. As these groups began to proliferate, it became increasingly difficult to differentiate between them and figure out which would be most useful. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology did something about the problem in October, 1996. A provider of services to make small manufacturers more competitive in the world market, MEP gave 18-month grants of $50,000 to $150,000 to 16 states interested in creating their own environmental assistance networks. “We were seeing a number of helpful programs in the environmental sector, but there were overlaps and gaps in services,” says Gary Waldrip of MEP. “We wanted to see holistic solutions for manufacturers, not just regulatory.

Agencies providing environmental services to small businesses tend to have meager budgets, which is why MEP believed that networking could maximize their impact. It also is what heightened apprehension and mistrust as networks were being established. “When one person says ‘let’s create a network or partnership,’ people get worried that their budgets will be raided,” notes Waldrip. Concerns typically were eased when states used the grant to hire a network coordinator or facilitator. Bringing in an outside, professional facilitator opens up dialogue, he says. Under pressure to prove the value of their programs, agencies benefitted from referrals by network partners and a broader customer base attracted by joint network promotion.

Of the 16 states receiving a MEP grant, ten continued an active network when funding ended. Network coordinators are: Vermont – Brenda Kelly, (802) 773-9147; Connecticut – Judy Wlodarczyk, (860) 644-9718; Maine – Suzanne Watson, (207) 775-1200; Ohio – Belinda Minter, (216) 432-5186; Indiana – Beth Holiday, 317-635-3058; Illinois – Susan Gilbert-Miller, (773) 265-2020; Utah – Ryan DuPont, (435) 797-3227; New York – Anne Dillenbeck, (516) 755-3321; Michigan – Janette Lutz, (734) 769-4062; Pennsylvania – Dana Stuller, (717) 705-0374.

PENNSYLVANIA’S SOLUTION

Since its inception in 1996, the Pennsylvania Environmental Assistance Network (PEAN) has helped hundreds of state businesses improve their bottom lines and the environment by looking for pollution prevention and energy efficiency opportunities and reducing compliance costs. These actions saved business owners $2.9 million in the first three quarters of 1999 alone.

PEAN is not an organization unto itself, but rather a consortium of public and private organizations that work together to provide solutions, particularly targeting small and medium-sized businesses. The network pulls together resources from all of its members to give clients easily available, comprehensive environmental services. PEAN’s membership includes Pennsylvania’s seven Industrial Resource Centers, four Ben Franklin Technology Centers, the Electrotechnology Applications Center, Pennsylvania Small Business Development Centers, the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program, Concurrent Technology Center, Team Pennsylvania, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the state Department of Community and Economic Development. These organizations work together as a referral network to ensure customers receive the proper advice and assistance.

Use of PEAN starts by calling the network administrator, who listens to the company’s issues and determines which PEAN member/s in its region can assist. Most services are available at low or no cost and the administrator will work with a business to ensure that it is able to acquire affordable help. PEAN also helps businesses locate financing for the implementation of pollution prevention and energy efficiency projects.

HOW THE PROCESS WORKS

The effectiveness of the network was demonstrated recently in the case of a medium-sized machine tool shop in eastern Pennsylvania. The company was asked by a potential customer to manufacture a beryllium metal part. Manufacturing such parts requires following specific guidelines and state permitting. The company did not have the resources or knowledge to apply for permitting and contacted the Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center (DVIRC), a PEAN member, for assistance.

After assessing the situation, the DVIRC environmental consultant located the applicable rule and determined the requirements under Pennsylvania’s air quality rules for beryllium machining operations. The consultant wrote a letter explaining how the company would comply with applicable National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants and requested permission from the DEP, also a member of PEAN, to conduct machining operations. The DEP also was contacted by phone to explain the company’s circumstances and request a quick determination. A DEP representative reviewed the application and within three days granted permission for the company to machine beryllium parts. As a result, the company obtained a $56,000 contract from its client.

Another case involved Weinstock Associates, Inc. of Lancaster, a manufacturer of marble desktops and an established line of name badges, key and luggage identification tags. Many identification tags and product labels require the etching of brass plates. Although the company had taken the necessary steps to capture and filter wastewater from these processes, it was on several occasions identified as the source of high levels of copper released into the municipal waste stream. Efforts by the company to determine the source of copper proved unsuccessful. The Lancaster City Wastewater Treatment Authority, under strict EPA guidelines, had no alternative but to send Weinstock a letter of intent to cite the company for these and future violations unless a remedy was implemented immediately.

Through PEAN, Weinstock enlisted the aid of the Manufacturer’s Technology Center (MANTEC). After an inspection, MANTEC made recommendations that saved the company costly penalties. Through further work with MANTEC, Weinstock was able to identify a local company for contracting of its industrial etching work. The result: considerable cost savings, alleviation of the need to buy or dispose of acid, removal of overhead associated with the etching process, and the elimination of the need for water filtration equipment. And, Weinstock’s wastewater contamination issue was eliminated.

Other companies helped by PEAN have implemented simple, but effective improvements that have paid off handsomely. A six-person job shop plater, for example, had been spending five percent of its sales value on water. With PEAN’s assistance, it installed a closed-loop recycling system that reduced the wastewater stream and saved the company $12,000 in its first year and $142,000 annually thereafter. To learn more about PEAN’s members and services, visit the PEAN website at www.pean.state.pa.us or call the network administrator at the number listed above.

Eric Thumma is the former coordinator of PEAN. He is now an executive assistant in the Pennsylvania DEP’s Office of Air, Recycling and Radiation Protection.