SB 126

Environmental Results Program

Under current law, the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) administers

the Environmental Results Program (ERP, also called Green Tier) under which

qualified participants agree to improve their environmental performance and

implement environmental management systems in return for incentives provided by

DNR. There are two tiers of participation in ERP. A participant in tier II enters into

a participation contract with DNR that sets forth the commitments of the participant

and the incentives that DNR will provide. This bill makes various changes in ERP.

Under current law, DNR may not approve any application for participation in

ERP after July 1, 2009. This bill eliminates that restriction.

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