Government » DOD P2 Partnership

Regional Department of Defense P2 Partnership

Regional Partnership Listserv

Best Management Practices Guide

Chapter 1 - Household Hazardous Waste (PDF, 2.36MB)

Chapter 2 - Hazardous Material Control Pharmacies (PDF, 362KB)

Chapter 3 - Painting and Coating Operations (PDF, 329KB)

Chapter 4 - Construction & Demolition Waste Management and Sustainable Building Design (PDF, 644KB)

Background

The Region 4 Department of Defense (DoD) Pollution Prevention (P2) Partnership (the Partnership) was created in 1999 to share P2 experiences and expertise across military installations, branches of service, and state borders in Region 4. The Partnership is designed to strengthen and support the individual efforts of the State Partnerships within Region 4, and to elevate the visibility and importance of P2 activities at the base level. Through the collective strengths of the individual Partnerships, a unique opportunity exists to meet the stated objective of the Regional Partnership "to enhance mission readiness and to achieve environmental compliance through P2."

The Partnership is comprised of representatives from the following organizations

• Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps installations in Region 4
• Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and DoD Regional Environmental Coordinators (RECs)
• P²AD
• Center for Environmental Policy at the University of South Carolina's Institute of Public Affairs (CEP)
• North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Division of Pollution Prevention & Environmental Assistance (DPPEA)
• U.S. EPA Waste Reduction Resource Center (WRRC)
• U.S. EPA Region 4's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics.

Based on discussions at initial Partnership meetings, a Steering Committee was formed to represent the State Partnerships at the regional level. The Steering Committee is comprised of the REC for each service branch, the Region 4 DoD REC, Region 4 EPA's Office of P2 and Toxics, the Army Reserves Environmental Officer, a state P2 representative and a DoD representative from each state.

Goals and Objectives

Goals and objectives of the Partnership were also discussed. The group felt strongly that the Partnership should complement, but not supplant, the individual State Partnerships, and that the primary focus on P2 should be maintained. With that in mind, the objectives of the Regional Partnership are to

• Facilitate real problem solving at the base level by assisting in the transfer of successful P2 technologies and techniques across state and service lines

• Help to leverage funding and resources to assist State Partnerships in their work with military bases to solve waste problems in an efficient and cost-effective manner

• Share information on not only success stories but also on unsuccessful projects or experiences

• Influence funding levels on P2 both regionally and nationally for the DoD and EPA

• Bring P2 to the attention of military command

• Investigate cross-state contracts on recycling to minimize cost while maximizing collection

• Provide a forum to express concerns with regulations to state and regional regulators and defense regional representatives

• Facilitate education efforts focused on new and existing environmental mandates.

P²AD surveyed Georgia military commanders in September 1999 to determine what they perceived as barriers to more P2 at their installations. The commanders agreed that state regulator/DoD relations, resource limitations, and issues relating to outsourcing/privatization of installation functions were all impediments to P2 successes. At the subsequent February 2000 Georgia Partnership session, these priorities were discussed, and determined to be appropriate for the Regional Partnership to address, as they are common issues to all installations in all states in the region.

EPA-funded Partnership Activities

To assist in coordination of Partnership activities and enable partners to create some valuable work products, the Partnership applied for and received funding from the U.S. EPA in 1999 and 2000. This funding was awarded to P²AD, and CEP as its subcontractor, to conduct the following tasks

• Information Sharing and Coordination
  • Research Coordination
    
• Identifying Regional DoD P2 Expertise
  • Installation Expertise Survey
  • Database Development
    
• Development of a Best Management Practices (BMP) Guide
  • C&D Chapter
  • Painting/Coating Chapter
  • Inventory Control/HazMat Pharmacy Chapter
    
• Participation in Pollution Prevention Resource Exchange (P2Rx).

Information Sharing and Coordination

Perhaps the greatest value of the Regional Partnership is the opportunity for bases to share information and to identify and address issues of common concern. The Regional Partnership serves as a conduit for information sharing among the State Partnerships and with the bases by

• Assisting in the distribution of the "Best Management Practices Guide" and base case studies with Georgia P²AD and the WRRC
• Providing speakers and other information on topics that are of a regional interest or are identified by the states as important to their bases
• Identifying and sharing information on P2 technologies and vendor verification as requested by the bases.

Identifying Regional DoD P2 Expertise

The CEP in conjunction with the NC DPPEA, is working with Region 4 bases to determine their priority sector needs and available resources. The CEP is responsible for creating a survey form for distribution within the Region 4 DOD P2 Partnership. The form will be designed as a simple checklist with room for additional comments to minimize time for completion and therefore increase the chance of receiving information. Telephone interviews of state DoD P2 Partnership members will also be conducted.

The survey will also include a section designed to identify areas of expertise relating to topic areas currently of concern to bases within the region. These topics include, but are not limited to, Construction and Demolition, Painting/Coating, Household Hazardous Waste, and Hazardous Waste Inventory Control Programs (for example, a HazMat Pharmacy). With this information a list of contacts would be created. These contacts will be provided in the BMP Guide as resources for Guide users. A database of information to evaluate survey results is being created. Common areas of concern can then be identified and targeted for assistance. A "top-10" list is being put together for both the region and individual states. This information will also be included in the BMP Guide. The results of the survey and the "top 10 " lists will be made available through the Regional Partnership web page and state partner web pages.

Development of BMP Guide

In 2000, P²AD began development of a Best Management Practices (BMP) Resource Guide (the Guide) that shares installation success stories, identifies issues of common concern, and provides technical information to assist installations in meeting their P2 goals. The Guide has been designed to assist installation program managers in implementing or expanding existing P2 and/or solid waste reduction and recycling programs. Chapters will focus on waste issues of the most concern to installations, with each chapter containing:

• Brief Introduction
• Military Case Studies
• Sample Performance Work Statements
• Camera-ready Public Relations Materials (such as articles and brochures)
• Resource List (including related Internet sites)
• Discussion of Liability and Regulatory Issues
• Educational Materials.

The Partnership is currently focusing on completion of the first chapter of the Guide, Household Hazardous Waste (HHW). The Partnership is using the HHW Chapter of a Georgia BMP Resource Guide, prepared by the Georgia DoD P2 Partnership, as a prototype, supplementing it with HHW information from other states in the region, and adapting the document to be applicable to all installations in Region 4.

The following topic areas have been proposed as subsequent chapters in the Guide, to be completed in FY2001

• Construction and Demolition (C&D) debris
• Painting
• Inventory Control/HazMat Pharmacies.

Participation in P2Rx

Dissemination of P2/Regional Partnership activity information has largely been a result of the efforts of EPA's Waste Reduction Resource Center (WRRC). Past efforts have included establishing an electronic mail list serve to deliver P2 technical information to DoD environmental staff in the region, and the addition of a "Military" industry sector section to the WRRC web page http://wrrc.p2pays.org/

WRRC continues to act as the primary liaison between the other regional partners (P²AD and CEP) and the network of P²Rx Technical Assistance providers, of which WRRC is one. NC DPPEA will supplement the WRRC in this role.