Project Overview and Objective: The Community Environmental Awareness
Project is a state-led initiative being undertaken by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to improve
how environmental information is presented to the public. The objective is to
provide a meaningful, holistic, and accurate view of environmental issues and
environmental performance of facilities and make that information readily available to the
local community. The project will involve a number of pilot plants in the automobile
manufacturing sector. In developing and implementing this project, these agencies
will work with and seek input from the former American Automobile Manufactures Association
(AAMA), General Motors Corporation, Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler Corporation,
community organizations and citizens in the vicinity of the pilot plants, academia and
other interested stakeholders such as state-wide public interest groups.
Under this project environmental information for the pilot facilities will be compiled
and presented in a new user-friendly format, following which the information system will
be tested in the communities of the pilot facilities.
Background and Approach: Currently, local citizens and organizations
interested in obtaining an understanding about the environmental performance of facilities
within their locale must deal with the question of how to obtain access to such data and,
once having obtained it, attempt to understand a complex array of regulations and
regulatory data bases. These databases are in many different formats and systems.
(State environmental agencies currently maintain several databases relating to the
environmental protection programs they administer. Examples include the Toxic
Chemical Release Inventory (TRI), Air Emission Inventory, Air Quality Permits, NPDES Permits, NPDES
Permit Compliance System (PCS), Ground Water Dischargers, Hazardous Waste
Treatment-Storage-Disposal Facilities, and others.) Citizens or organizations are then
left with trying to interpret these data without meaningful context or explanation.
The new Community Environmental Awareness Project will help local residents by
providing environmental information and data in a format and context that is
understandable by, and meaningful to, organizations and citizens within the vicinity of
the plant. In addition, the presentation will provide an overview of environmental
laws and regulations and a historical and manufacturing profile of each of the pilot
plants.
This will be achieved by enhancing accessibility, clarity and context of a
facility’s environmental information available to the local community as follows:
Accessibility -- Will be provided:
- Through easy, local access of hard copy information about a facility;
- Through an Internet site; and
- Through designated contacts for explanation of the information at the state level, and
for some information from the company that operates a particular facility.
Clarity -- Will be achieved in the following ways:
- The first information presented will be kept at a level understandable to a lay person,
with subsequent information provided with increasing amount of technical detail for those
who wish;
- There will be no presumption that one knows the environmental laws, the regulatory
process of applying those laws to facilities, or an understanding of what a specific
facility does or what product it produces; and
- Identification of state and company contacts will be provided to help respond to
questions.
Context -- Will be achieved by:
- Presenting basic information about the plant, about its employees and products,
and its role in the community;
- Presenting in easily understood terms the facility’s environmental obligations and
its programs to protect the health of its workers and the community; and
- Presenting information on the facility’s environmental performance.
The pilot project is being pursued at the following auto plants: DaimlerChrysler
Sterling Heights (MI) and Belvidere (IL); Ford Motor Wixom (MI); and General Motors
Hamtramck (MI), and Janesville (WI) assembly plants. Under the pilot, the state
agencies, with feedback and input from the companies and the public will:
- Compile important and meaningful environmental information for each of the plants;
- Develop a format for presenting this information in a clear and straight forward manner;
- Develop and pilot a mechanism for effectively communicating the information to the
public in the vicinity of the pilot plants;
- Organize a focus group related to each pilot facility comprised of community leaders
representing the range of community interests;
- Pilot the system with the focus groups and obtain feedback on its usefulness; and
- Advise other interested stakeholders of the approach and provide opportunity for
feedback.
Environmental information to be presented would include a description of applicable
laws, regulations, and permits issued for the facility related to air quality, water
quality, and management of waste materials. Compliance information will also be included
in a manner that provides perspective about the facility’s overall compliance record,
including any violations and the relative importance or severity of a violation and the
agency’s response and ultimate resolution.
The project is under the direction of Paul Zugger, Chief of the Environmental
Assistance Division for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Ms. Lynda
Wiese, Director of the Bureau of Cooperative Environmental Assistance, Wisconsin
Department of Natural Resources, and Mr. Joseph Svoboda, General Counsel, Division of
Legal Counsel, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Environmental Assistance Division
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality
P.O. Box 30457
Lansing, MI 48909-7957
Revised November 24, 1998
www.deq.state.mi.us/ceap/concept.html
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