[ADEQ Media] Winslow Becomes First Northern Arizona Community to Join ADEQ's Small Communities Compliance Assistance Program

[media@lists.azdeq.gov]

Winslow Becomes First Northern Arizona Community to Join ADEQ's Small
Communities Compliance Assistance Program

PHOENIX (Aug. 26, 2008) - Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Director Steve Owens announced today that the City of Winslow in Navajo
County has become the first municipality in northern Arizona to
participate in ADEQ's statewide program to help communities comply with
state and federal environmental regulations. 

ADEQ unveiled its Small Communities Environmental Compliance Assistance
project in 2007 for small towns and special water and wastewater
districts to sustain compliance with state and federal environmental
laws and reduce the number of violations and enforcement actions. 

The project was funded by a $12,000 grant from the Environmental Council
of States (ECOS) for the communities to develop Small Community
Environmental Protection Plans (SCEPP) to improve compliance. Guidance
materials, including a comprehensive manual, have been prepared to train
small communities on environmental requirements and help with SCEPP
development.

"We are very pleased that Winslow is the leader in northern Arizona in
this effort," Director Owens said. "We are committed to providing small
communities with the assistance they need in light of their limited
resources to comply with the various environmental laws.  Our experience
is that small communities want to do the right thing and just need a
little help to do that.  We hope that other small towns throughout
Arizona will follow Winslow's lead and take part in this program."
 
As part of the program, Winslow agrees to disclose known environmental
violations within the city, request compliance assistance before
enforcement actions begin, participate in compliance evaluation to
identify violations and to promptly correct known violations. In so
doing, the city will be eligible for up to a 100 percent penalty
reduction if it has future environmental violations. 

"This is really a win-win for everyone," Owens said.  "The environment
and public health is protected by getting environmental problems
identified and addressed, and the community benefits by getting the
compliance assistance it needs and avoiding potentially costly
penalties. The result will be increased compliance, enhanced
relationships with the community and a cleaner environment for all
Arizonans."

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News media interested in additional information on this or any other
topic concerning the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality should
contact the Office of Communications at (602) 771-2215 or via email at
communications@azdeq.gov.

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