Abstract |
Environmental policies based upon comprehensive analysis of air, water and land pollution (such as economic sector, and community-based approaches) are becoming an important supplement to traditional single-media approaches to environmental protection. Environmental regulatory agencies are beginning to embrace comprehensive, multi-statute solutions to facility permitting, compliance assurance, education/outreach, research, and regulatory development issues. The central concepts driving the new policy direction are that pollutant releases to each environmental medium (air, water and land) affect each other, and that environmental strategies must actively identify and address these interrelationships by designing policies for the whole facility. One way to achieve a whole facility focus is to design environmental policies for similar industrial facilities. By doing so, environmental concerns that are common to the manufacturing of similar products can be addressed in a comprehensive manner. Recognition of the need to develop the industrial sector-based approach within the EPA Office of Compliance led to the creation of this document. |