EMS in Small to Medium-sized Businesses

The project consisted of three elements: improving performance of participating facilities, expanding access to Best Management Practices (BMPs) proscribed by environmental management systems, and reporting the positive results of the process to as many small to medium-sized firms as possible. Participating facilities were surveyed to determine gaps in their environmental performance. Based on this information, the appropriate industry peer met with facility managers and determined an implementation strategy. Metrics were established to measure performance and to justify operational changes at a facility.

Access to EMS training was facilitated by a series of workshops instructing facilities on various elements of EMS. The Northeast Business Environmental Network Web page included a new area detailing the status of the project and documenting case studies of the participating facilities. DEP promoted the goals and results of the project internally and externally to stakeholder groups through workshops, existing meetings, and newsletters. Finally, the project worked with EPA's StarTrack program to develop standards for 3rd party audits.