Measurement and Targeting – Design and Implement Programs to Track Results and Accountability

Measurement and Targeting – Design and Implement

Programs to Track Results and Accountability

National Environmental Partnership Summit 2006

Wednesday, May 10th

Douglas Chatham, Carl Koch, Tracy Dyke-Redmond

Carl KochSector Strategies Division

Office of Policy, Economics and InnovationNational Center for Environmental Innovation

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Applying Environmental Data at the Sector Level

May 10, 2006

EPA Office of the Administrator

Office of Policy, Economics & Innovation

• Sector Strategies

Program

• Facility Innovation Pilots

• Small Business

Ombudsman

National Center for

Environmental Economics

Office of Regulatory & Policy

Management

• Performance Track Program

• Community Smart Growth

• Program Evaluation

The Sector Strategies Program:

• Seeks industry-wide environmental gains through innovative actions taken with a number of manufacturing and service sectors.

• A voluntary effort with select trade associations, EPA programs and regions, states, and others to find sensible solutions to sector-specific problems.

Features:

• National point-of-contact

• Address regulatory performance barriers

• Promote EMS implementation

• Measure and communicate environmental performance

• Address cross-cutting environmental policy issues

• Support NCEI programs

• Agribusiness• Cement Manufacturing• Colleges & Universities• Construction• Forest Products• Iron & Steel• Metal Casting• Metal Finishing• Paints & Coatings• Ports • Shipbuilding & Repair• Specialty-Batch

Chemical

Participating Sectors

Sector Welcoming Event & Policy Dialogue, June 2, 2003

24 national associations

$2.1 trillion contribution to GDP

780,000 facilities and locations

30% of total industry environmental spending

Sector Measurement Approach:

• strategy developed in partnership with industry

• track a core set of indicators over time

• include unique sector-specific data

• data is “Normalized ” - a common base for comparing environmental data over time by adjusting for year-to-year changes in industry size or production.

• no imposed industry-specific targets

• inform as well as track

Key Data Sources:

Industry• American Forest & Paper Association • Portland Cement Association - Annual Surveys• Specialty Batch Chemical Data Collection• Iron & Steel Reporting on Sustainability Indicators• Preliminary Survey of Port Authorities• Colleges & Universities Self-Tracking Tool

Government• Economic Census and Annual Survey of Manufactures (Census Bureau)• Industry Economic Accounts (Department of Commerce• Mineral Commodities Summaries (U.S. Geological Survey)• National Center for Education Statistics, • Manufacturing Energy Consumption Survey (Department of Energy) • National Biennial RCRA Hazardous Waste Report (Office of Solid Waste) • National Emissions Inventory (OAQPS) • Toxic Release Inventory (OEI)• Risk Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI)

Environmental footprint of our sectors

• 32% of TRI releases

• 18% of hazardous waste generated

• 33% of criteria air pollutant emissions from point sources

• 20% of energy consumption

Examples of core metrics tracked …

… & some unique sector-specific data

three related charts – provide context and a progressively focused look at a sector’s TRI releases and waste management activities.

TRI Data Example:Paint & Coatings

1. TRI Waste Management

- larger pie chart – overall % for releases, treatment, energy recovery, and recycling.

- smaller pie chart - details the “releases” slice of the large pie chart, showing the percentages released to air, water, and disposed.

TRI Data Example:Paint & Coatings

2. Total TRI Disposal or Other Releases

- trends from 1994 - 2003

- top line = total releases (including disposal), bottom line = releases to air and water

-data normalized by annual value of shipments

TRI Data Example:Paint & Coatings

3. TRI Air and Water Releases

- trends from 1994 - 2003

- blue line = releases in pounds to air and water, green line = toxicity-weighted results for those releases

- scale in pounds line is located on the left side of the chart

- scale for toxicity-weighted line on the right

- data normalized by annual value of shipments

TRI Data Example:Paint & Coatings

TRI Data Example:Paint & Coatings

Applying Toxicity Weights to TRI Data – A Basic (VERY) Overview:- Toxicity – the inherent ability of a chemical to cause harm – varies greatly.

- EPA’s Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators (RSEI) tool calculates a toxicity weighted score (“hazard-based”) = pounds of air or water releases X a toxicity weight specific to the chemical and exposure route.

- toxicity weights increase as the toxicological potential to cause chronic human health effects increases.

- alternative perspective to the typical pounds-based presentation.

- does NOT identify “risk” - that relies on additional information (i.e. fate and transport of the chemical in the environment after release,pathway of human exposure, number of people exposed).

(for more: http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/rsei/index.html)

TRI Data Example:Paint & Coatings

4. Top Toxicity-Weighted TRI Chemicals

- chemicals that accounted for 90%of the sector’s total toxicity-weightedresults in 2003

- separate columns for Air and Water releases

- identifies opportunities for source reduction or chemical substitution

Sector Measurement Challenges

Practical

• Limits of data base content

• Major reporting systems not static

• Toxicity-weighting tool – judicious use

• Need to educate sectors about data sources and environmental footprint.

• Assist sectors in defining a measurement strategy

• Attribution – contributions of voluntary programs not easily recognized in PART or GPRA structure.

Sector Measurement Challenges

Strategic – Influencing Change

• EPA regulations

• Sector stewardship initiatives

Questions?