State environmental agencies have increasingly been facing the dual pressures to oversee ever growing numbers of pollution sources with fewer resources, and to demonstrate that agency compliance assurance efforts are yielding measurable results. The States Common Measures Project began in 2006 as a multi-state effort to address both these pressures by:

• Evaluating the performance of targeted business sectors using common measures and statistical approaches
• Beginning to use the results to identify particularly effective strategies states employ to promote good environmental performance on the part of the regulated community

Under the project, funded through a 2005-2006 EPA State Innovations Grant Program, ten participating states - California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington applied a measurement methodology developed by Massachusetts for the Environmental Results Program. The States Common Measures Project, Final Report presents the results, methodology, conclusions, and recommendations from this initiative.

The States Common Measures Project Final Report [PDF]

Appendices

A. Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) [PDF]

B. EPA Quarterly Reports

1. Quarterly Report 1 [PDF]
2. Quarterly Report 2 [PDF]
3. Quarterly Report 3 [PDF]
4. Quarterly Report 4 [PDF]
5. Quarterly Report 5 [PDF]
6. Quarterly Report 6 [PDF]
7. Quarterly Report 7 [PDF]
8. Quarterly Report 8 [PDF]
9. Quarterly Report 9 [PDF]
10. Quarterly Report 10 [PDF]
11. Quarterly Report 11 [PDF]

C. Introductory Training and Quality Measurement Slides

1. Introduction [PDF]
2. Module 1: Data Quality Indicators (DQIs) [PDF]
3. Module 2: Introduction to ERP Statistical Concepts and Tools [PDF]
4. Module 3: Using Statistics for Benchmarking and Comparison [PDF]
5. Module 4: Establishing the Universe [PDF]
6. Module 5: Principles of Good Data Collection [PDF]
7. Module 6: Working with Secondary Data [PDF]
8. Exercise 1: Planning and Analyzing Single Samples [PDF]
9. Exercise 2: Planning and Analyzing Two Samples [PDF]

D. Individual State Responses to Group Preference Checklists [XLS]

E. Aggregated Data on Group and Indicator Evaluation Charts [PDF]

F. Data Quality Considerations When Selecting Groups [XLS]

G. Complete List of States' SQG Indicators by Indicator Category [XLS]

H. How to Generate a Random Sample [PDF]

I. Training Attendance Log [PDF]

J. Quality Assurance Procedures [PDF]

K. Confidence Intervals for each State's SQG Achievement Rate and Mean Facility Score at the 85%, 90%, and 95% Levels

1. Achievement Rates by Indicator with Confidence Intervals (NY, RI, VT) [XLS]
2. Achievement Rates by Indicator with Confidence Intervals (MA, ME, NH) [XLS]
3. Achievement Rates by Indicator with Confidence Intervals (CT, CO) [XLS]
4. Mean SQG Facility Score for All States [XLS]

L. Statistically Significant Differences in each State's SQG Achievement Rate and Mean Facility Scores at 85%, 90%, and 95% Confidence Levels [XLS]

M. Histograms for each State's Facility Scores for "All," "Regulatory" and "Beyond Compliance" Indicator Groups [XLS]