[ADEQ Media] Navajo County City of Holbrook Joins ADEQ's Small Communities Environmental Compliance Assistance Program

Tue May 31 10:08:33 MST 2011

PHOENIX (May 31, 2011) Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
officials announced today that the City of Holbrook in Navajo County is
the most recent municipality to participate in ADEQ's statewide program
to help communities comply with state and federal environmental
regulations.

ADEQ began its Small Communities Environmental Compliance Assistance
Program in 2007 for small cities and 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. Holbrook is the sixth municipality in the state participating
in the program along with Show Low, Springerville, Eagar, Winslow and
Miami. The Pinetop-Lakeside Sanitary District also is a participant in
the program.

As part of the program, Holbrook agrees to develop a Small Community
Environmental Protection Plan (SCEPP). In addition to developing and
implementing a SCEPP, Holbrook agrees to disclose known environmental
violations, request compliance assistance before enforcement actions
begin, participate in a compliance evaluation to identify violations and
promptly correct known violations. After satisfying the above
conditions, the city will be eligible for up to a 100 percent penalty
reduction if it has future environmental violations. 

"We are happy that Holbrook is a statewide leader in the effort to build
sustainability and environmental cooperation and hope other small towns
will join the program," said ADEQ Director Henry Darwin. "We are
committed to helping small communities in the state comply with
environmental laws and be good green stewards."

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

For more information about the program, please visit:
http://www.azdeq.gov/function/compliance/smallcomm.html 

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