Changes to and extension of the Environmental Results Program, extension of the Environmental Improvement Program and the length of a compliance schedule under that program, and reporting requirements for certain environmental programs

Under current law, certain environmental enforcement actions taken against an entity disqualify the entity from acceptance into ERP for a specified period. The act that created ERP, in 2004, gave the secretary of natural resources temporary authority to waive the provisions concerning an entity's environmental enforcement record if the secretary determined that the waiver was consistent with the purposes of ERP and that the waiver would not erode public confidence in the integrity of ERP.

The waiver authority expired at the end of 2006. This bill allows the secretary of natural resources to waive the provisions concerning an entity's environmental enforcement record based on the same criteria as under former law. The bill does not contain a termination date for the waiver authority.

Current law requires participants in ERP to conduct annual audits of their environmental management systems and, for participants in tier II, annual audits of their compliance with environmental laws and to report the results of those audits to DNR. Under the law, if an audit reveals a violation of an environmental law, the participant must provide information about the violation to DNR. If a participant complies with these requirements and corrects the violation within a specified period, the participant is generally exempt from paying a forfeiture (civil monetary penalty) for the violation.

This bill authorizes a participant in ERP to report to DNR a violation of an environmental law that it discovers, other than through an annual audit. If the participant reports within 30 days of discovering the violation, provides required information about the violation, and corrects the violation within a specified period, the participant is generally exempt from paying a forfeiture (civil monetary penalty) for the violation.

Currently under ERP, a participant is required to correct a violation within 90 days unless DNR approves a longer compliance schedule. The law prohibits DNR from approving a compliance schedule that is more than 12 months long. This bill authorizes DNR to approve a longer compliance schedule if the secretary of natural resources determines that a longer schedule is necessary.

Currently, DNR administers the Environmental Cooperation Pilot Program under which DNR was authorized, before October 1, 2002, to enter into not more than ten cooperative agreements with persons subject to environmental laws. The term of an agreement is five years with the possibility of one renewal for five years. In a cooperative agreement, a participant in the program is required to implement an environmental management system and to improve its environmental performance.

In return, DNR may grant operational flexibility and, under specified circumstances, provide variances from requirements under environmental laws.

This bill provides a process under which a participant in the Environmental Cooperation Pilot Program may become a participant in tier II of ERP, using the cooperative agreement under the pilot program as a basis for a participation contract under ERP.

Currently, under ERP, DNR may issue an environmental results charter to an association of entities to assist the entities to participate in tier I or tier II and to achieve improvements in the quality of the air, water, or other natural resources beyond that achieved through compliance with environmental laws (superior environmental performance). Under this bill, DNR may issue a charter to an association of entities to assist the entities to participate in tier I or tier II or to take actions that may lead to superior environmental performance.

The bill makes some changes in the required characteristics of an environmental management system and gives an applicant for tier I of ERP one year from the date that DNR approves its application, rather than one year from the date of application, to implement an environmental management system that complies with the law's requirements. The bill also changes the name of ERP to the Green Tier Program.

Environmental Improvement Program The Environmental Improvement Program (EIP), administered by DNR, limits to $500 the amount of a forfeiture (civil monetary penalty) that a qualifying entity can be required to pay because of a violation of an environmental law if the entity discovers the violation through an environmental compliance audit, reports the violation to DNR, and corrects the violation within a specified time. Current law sunsets the EIP on July 1, 2009.

This bill eliminates the sunset of EIP.

Currently, an entity does not qualify for EIP if within two years before it submits the environmental compliance audit the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed suit against the entity to enforce an environmental requirement or DNR or a local government issued a citation to the entity to enforce an environmental requirement.

This bill eliminates the automatic disqualification provision. Instead, under the bill, DNR must consider whether DOJ filed a suit against an entity to enforce an environmental requirement within two years before the entity notifies DNR that it will conduct an environmental compliance audit. If DNR determines that, because of the nature of the violation involved in a suit, the entity's participation would damage the integrity of EIP, DNR must notify the entity that it is not eligible for participation.

Currently under EIP, a qualifying entity is required to correct a violation within 90 days unless DNR approves a longer compliance schedule. The law prohibits DNR from approving a compliance schedule that is more than 12 months long. This bill authorizes DNR to approve a longer compliance schedule if the secretary of natural resources determines that a longer schedule is necessary. The bill also changes the name of EIP to the Environmental Compliance Audit Program.