[ADEQ Media] Springerville Becomes First Northeast Arizona Town to Join ADEQ's Small Communities Compliance Assistance Program

[media@lists.azdeq.gov]

Springerville Becomes First Northeast Arizona Town to Join ADEQ's Small
Communities Compliance Assistance Program 

PHOENIX (May 15, 2008) - Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
Director Steve Owens announced today that the Town of Springerville in
Apache County has become the first small town in northeast 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 Springerville is a leader 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 Northern Arizona will
follow Springerville's lead and take part in this program." 

As part of the program, Springerville agrees to disclose known
environmental violations within the town, request compliance assistance
before enforcement actions begin, participate in compliance evaluation
to identify violations and to promptly correct known violations. In so
doing, the town 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 communities benefit by getting the
compliance assistance they need and avoiding potentially costly
penalties. The result will be increased compliance, enhanced
relationships with small communities 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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