Efforts to form NEWMOA began in earnest in 1985 with meetings of an intrepid group of directors of the waste programs in New England. They adopted a set of by-laws in October 1985. At that time and until 1994, the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) acted as a fiscal agent for NEWMOA, and the organizations shared office space. In December of 1986, the U.S. EPA formally recognized a request from the New England Governors to endorse the formation of the New England Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA). New Jersey joined NEWMOA in 1989, and New York joined in 1990. The Association then changed its name from New England to Northeast… (but the acronym remained the same). For many years, a major focus for NEWMOA was holding an annual conference, most years in Waterville Valley, NH, that brought together waste officials from the state environmental agencies and EPA for two days of intensive information sharing, training, and debate.
NEWMOA’s basic mission and functions have not changed much since its founding. Originally, NEWMOA was “an interstate government group formed by the directors of the state hazardous and solid waste programs in New England with the support of the governors of the New England states.” NEWMOA’s original goals and objectives were to:
- Provide a forum for the discussion of common issues and problems in solid and hazardous waste management
- Provide a vehicle by which regional positions on various waste management issues can be presented to the EPA, Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO), and other federal, state, and local entities
- Provide for more efficient coordination and information-sharing among groups addressing issues of solid and hazardous waste management
- Provide training opportunities for personnel of the waste management programs
- Work on special projects, which address issues of interstate concern
- Promote public awareness of waste management issues
NEWMOA’s Boards of Directors and our many committees and workgroups have actively and effectively steered the organization over its history in pursuit of these objectives.
The founders of NEWMOA could not have imagined the many ways that NEWMOA has grown over the years, but they successfully created an organizational structure and framework for NEWMOA so that it could evolve in response to new challenges. The scope of the organization’s efforts has expanded to cover pollution prevention, sustainability, waste reduction, toxics use reduction, product stewardship, sustainable materials management, environmental justice, waste site cleanup, brownfields, and other topics. NEWMOA now supports national programs, like IMERC, IC2, and TPCH.
Many of NEWMOA’s state leaders and active members were hired in the 1980s and 1990s, and that generation is retiring in the 2020s. EPA and state programs are seeing high levels of turnover in staff, and agencies are facing challenges with finding qualified replacements. In recent years, NEWMOA has been increasingly focused on engaging with and training a new generation of program managers, state inspectors, permit writers, technical assistance staff, rule writers, educators, policy developers, and many more.
NEWMOA Executive Directors
Anne Whitely, 1986-1987
Norman Willard, 1988 – 1991
William Cass, 1992 – 2010
Terri Goldberg, 2010 – 2023
Martin Suuberg, 2023 – present
Highlights from NEWMOA’s History
1970s – 2021
1975-1986:
- State and federal waste management staff meet annually to discuss waste issues and implementation of RCRA and CERCLA and the formation of what would become NEWMOA in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire
1986-1987:
- Governors of New England states formally establish NEWMOA as an official regional organization to coordinate interstate activities
- EPA recognizes NEWMOA
- Board of Directors formed
- Annual conference in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, held
- First executive director, Anne Whitely, hired
- Board starts to meet regularly
- Definition of solid waste debated
1988-1989:
- Annual conferences held
- Additional staff hired
- New Jersey joins NEWMOA
- Hazardous waste capacity assurance meetings held
- Studies on tires and white goods started
- Pollution prevention (P2) grant awarded, and program launched
1990-1991:
- Annual conferences held
- New York joins NEWMOA
- Hazardous waste capacity assurance meetings held
- Studies on management of batteries and tires published
- Research on heavy metals in waste started
- P2 roundtable formed and meetings held
- P2 clearinghouse started
- P2 for pulp and paper conference held
- NE States P2 News began
- P2 workshop for inspectors held
- Toxics Use Reduction Workgroup formed
- P2 train-the-trainer workshops held
1992-1993:
- Annual conferences held
- CERCLA and RCRA reauthorization positions developed
- Comments on proposed EPA Environmental Leadership Program submitted
- First annual report published
- Comments on U.S. EPA’s proposed Hazardous Waste Identification Rule submitted
- Comments on federal transportation of hazardous waste policy submitted
- Memorandum of Understanding on scrap tire management signed
- Waste Site Cleanup Workgroup formed
- P2 Roundtable meetings held
1994-1995:
- Annual conferences held
- Initiative to improve management of universal wastes launched
- Comments on U.S. EPA’s Hazardous Waste Identification Rule submitted
- Managing Discarded Appliances and Vehicles published
- Solid Waste Flow in the NEWMOA States published
- Measuring Solid Waste in the NEWMOA States published
- Solid Waste Volume Source Reduction published
- Innovative site remediation workshop held
- Research on mercury in products conducted
- Regional mercury reduction strategy started
- Northeast Assistance and P2 Roundtable Steering Committee formed
- Skillful Change Agents curriculum published, and workshops held
- P2 Successes: A Compendium of Case Studies published
- Financial Analysis of P2 Curriculum published, and trainings developed and held
- Financing P2 Investments published
- P2 Consortium of New England Universities formed
- National 1994 Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Data Use Conference held
1996-1997:
- Annual conferences held
- Performance Partnership workshops held
- Letter of Intent for collaboration on universal waste programs signed
- State-federal Brownfields meeting held
- Workshop on innovative technology for waste site assessment and cleanup held
- Meeting on state policies on contaminated soils held
- Regional study on mercury deposition launched
- P2 for Metal Finishing published
- Guide to Accessing P2 Information Electronically published
- Wood Furniture P2 and Compliance manuals published
- Online P2 databases developed
- Meeting on enforcement and assistance coordination held
1998-1999:
- Annual conferences held
- NEWMOA website launched
- Coordination of Beneficial Use Determinations (BUDs) started
- Solid waste financial assurance workshop held
- Medical waste management workshop held
- Regulating construction and demolition (C&D) facilities workshop held
- Hazardous waste inspectors’ workshop held
- Agreement on cooperation on site assessment and cleanup signed
- NE States and Eastern Canadian Provinces Mercury Study published
- Regional Mercury Action Plan adopted, and summit held
- P2 in Metal Painting and Coating published
- P2 Metrics Menu developed
- Environmental Management Systems (EMS) workshop held
- P2 Topic Hubs launched
- P2 Programs Directory published
- Low VOC Compliant Coatings for Auto Body Shops published
- Pressure Sensitive Tapes and Labels published
2000-2001
- Annual conferences held
- Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Flow Study published
- Regional e-waste stakeholders meeting held
- National dialogue on e-waste launched with NEWMOA participation
- Solid Waste Action Plan published
- Model legislation to regulate mercury published
- New England Governors’ Conference resolution on mercury products legislation signed
- Multiregional conference on mercury-added products held
- Advanced hazardous waste inspectors’ workshop held
- Hazardous waste identification rule and mixed waste regulations meeting held
- Environmental Merit Award from EPA received
- Waste Site Cleanup Partnership to improve site characterization initiated
- Technology Review Committee advisory opinions developed
- Contaminated sediments meeting held
- Interstate Mercury Education and Reduction Clearinghouse (IMERC) launched
- Mercury Reduction Projects Database launched
- Cleanup of mercury from Massachusetts public schools started
- P2 for Lithographic Printers CD published
- RCRA Compliance for Metal Finishers video and slide show distributed
- Workshop on energy efficiency and P2 held
- Marina Workgroup formed and workshop held
- P2 for Machining and Metal Fabrication published
- P2 Projects Database launched
- Database for P2 metrics started
- Workshop on reduction of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals held
- P2 integration workshop held
- Environmental Management Systems workshop held
2002-2003:
- Annual conference held
- Interstate Flow of Municipal Solid Waste reports published
- Waste Tires in the NEWMOA States published
- Construction and demolition materials interstate flow report initiated
- Report on managing pressure treated wood published
- Advanced hazardous waste inspectors’ workshop held
- Salvage Yard Workgroup formed
- Dioxin Burn Barrel Workgroup formed
- IMERC Database launched
- Breaking the Mercury Cycle conference held
- 8 Good Ideas for Reducing Mercury Exposure and Pollution published
- Mercury-added product bans and phase outs supported
- Workshops on waste site characterization held
- Corrective Action conference held
- Meeting on emergency response after 9/11 held
- Webinar on environmentally preferable purchasing held
- P2 and Compliance Assistance Metrics software (version 1.0) released
- Strategic plan developed
- National P2 Results Task Force launched with NEWMOA’s leadership
- Greening government conference held
- P2 innovative technology profiles developed
2004-2005:
- Common Measures Project started, and training held
- Recommendations to the EPA for improving compliance assistance provided
- Meetings on C&D materials management and reuse held
- Awareness campaign to eliminate the burning of waste in outdoor barrels began
- Advanced hazardous waste inspectors’ workshops held
- Outreach materials on effective and less costly waste site cleanups published
- Case studies of institutional controls at waste sites developed
- Improved quality of site characterization workshops held
- Lamp Recycling Workgroup formed
- National mercury reduction conference held
- The Energy and Materials Flow and Cost Tracker (EMFACT) project launched
- Northeast Environmental Summit held
- Initiative on emerging chemicals of concern launched
2006-2007:
- Interstate Environmental Results Program (ERP) meeting held
- Common Measures Project implemented
- Vapor intrusion workshop held
- In situ chemical oxidation workshop held
- Characterization of chlorinated solvent sites workshops held
- Environmental insurance and Brownfields workshops held
- Avian flu workshop held
- MSW Flow Analysis published
- Meeting on the reuse and recycling of C&D materials held
- Advanced hazardous waste inspectors’ workshops held
- Comments on the EPA’s revisions to the definition of solid waste submitted
- National RCRA corrective action conference held
- Outreach to generators on lamp recycling conducted
- Assistance for mercury removal from schools provided
- Training on school chemical cleanouts held
- National Chemicals in Commerce conference held
- Priority chemicals workshops held
2008-2009:
- Environmental Results Program (ERP) Consortium launched
- Common Measures Report published
- Climate-Waste Action Plan published
- Training program on agricultural plastics recycling started
- Disaster debris management coordination meetings held
- Construction and Demolition Waste Management published
- Updated Beneficial Use Determinations (BUDs) database launched
- Gypsum wallboard project launched
- Advanced hazardous waste inspectors’ workshops held
- Greener cleanup workshop held
- Contaminated sediments workshop held
- Annual Brownfields meeting held
- Trends in Mercury Use in Products published
- Northeast States Succeed in Reducing Mercury published
- Review of Compact Fluorescent Lamps Recycling published
- Hospitality P2 Workgroup formed
- Region 2 P2 meeting held
- Regional Safer Chemicals Workgroup started
- Interstate Chemicals Clearinghouse (IC2) started
2010-2011:
- Commercial Waste-paper Recycling Summit held, and Workgroup formed
- BUD database improvements completed
- Advanced hazardous waste inspectors’ workshops held
- Region 5 Auto Body Shop ERP Project started
- Mercury-Added Products Found at Water Treatment Facilities published
- Mercury science and policy conference held
- Mercury-Added Products Database e-filing developed
- P2 and sustainability conference held in Puerto Rico
- Promoting Greater Recycling of Gypsum Wallboard published
- Enhanced in situ bioremediation workshop held
- Remediation of contaminated sediment sites workshop held
- Annual state-federal Brownfields meetings held
- Ecological risk assessment workshop held
- In situ chemical oxidation workshop held
- Contaminated Soils Initiative launched
- Twentieth anniversary of P2 celebrated
- Sustainable Lodging Network launched
- Green chemistry working group launched
- P2 data collection tool launched
- Wet cleaning technology tradeshow developed
- Region 2 P2 meeting held
- IC2 publicly launched
- Chemical Policy Database managed
- IC2 state priority chemicals database developed
2012 – 2013
- NEWMOA’s Strategic Plan updated
- IMERC’s Mercury-Added Products Reporting System, an e-reporting tool, launched
- Workshops on technical issues related to waste site cleanup and Brownfields held
- Workgroup to address challenges related to the management of mildly contaminated soils at Brownfield and other cleanup sites launched
- Green Lodging Calculator launched
- Monthly trainings for hazardous waste program staff held
- Advanced hazardous waste inspectors’ workshops held
- Environmental Results Program (ERP) Consortium supported and training webinars held
- National Meeting on Environmental Compliance Assurance and Performance Measurement Strategies held in partnership with the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS)
- IC2’s Chemical Hazard Assessment Database (CHAD) launched
- Pharmaceutical Waste Workgroup launched
Sustainable Grocery Initiative kicked off
2014 – 2015
- Moving Toward More Sustainable Remediation held
- IC2 website launched
- Save Money and Reduce Trash (SMART) project launched
- Zero Waste Connection launched
- Lean Summit held
- Summit on garment care held
- IC2 national meeting held
- Waste site cleanup workshops held focusing on “DNAPL Investigation and Remediation,” “TCE and Vapor Intrusion,” and “1,4-Dioxane Investigation and Remediation”
- Workshop for solid waste regulatory programs held
- Monthly trainings for hazardous waste program staff and in-person day-long workshops for EPA Regions 1 and 2 held
2016 – 2017
- NEWMOA’s Strategic Plan updated
- Regional meeting of local, state, and federal officials focused on PFAS contamination in the region held along with a series of educational webinars
- Initiated monthly conference calls focused on poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) issues involving state and EPA officials
- Bulky waste project initiated
- Waste site cleanup workshops held on “Monitored Natural Attenuation”
- Webinar on IMERC’s data held
- IC2 in partnership with the Oregon Health Authority and Washington State Department of Ecology submitted a successful proposal for funding from EPA’s National Environmental Information Exchange Network (NEIEN) program to build an Interstate Chemicals-in-Products Reporting System
- Joint NEWMOA and NERC Strategic Action Plan adopted
- Workshops, titled “PFAS in the Northeast: State of Practice and Regulatory Perspectives” held
- Training and technical assistance for transfer station operators conducted; materials published
- Wet cleaning demonstration events held
- Monthly trainings for hazardous waste program staff and in-person day-long workshops for EPA Regions 1 and 2 held
2018 – 2019
- Joint NEWMOA-NERC webinars on a wide range of SMM topics held, including reducing recycling contamination
- Dairy Sustainability Summit in partnership with VT DEC held
- High Priority Chemicals Data System developed
- Reducing food waste project launched
- PFAS in the Northeast
- Monthly meetings on PFAS held
- Workshops on “Combining Technologies to Improve Remedial Outcomes” held
- Monthly trainings for hazardous waste program staff and in-person day-long workshops for EPA Regions 1 and 2 held
- Planned regional Science of PFAS Conference (postponed due to pandemic)
- Workshops on “Redevelopment of Contaminated Properties and Resolving Conflicts with Stormwater Requirement” and “Remedy Selection: Planning for Success and Lessons Learned” held
- Planning for a “Revitalizing New England: Brownfields Summit 2020” initiated (postponed due to pandemic)
- Fact sheet on “What We as Consumers Can Do About Climate Change?” published
2020 – 2021
- High Priority Chemicals Data System (HPCDS) launched
- 21 webinars on various PFAS topics held
- Series of four webinars to help government officials and the regulated community understand what is needed to comply with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) requirements at cleanup sites held
- Three reports on extended producer responsibility (EPR) for packaging and paper products (PPP) published jointly with NERC
- Joint report with Clean Production Action on Chemical Ingredient Transparency in Products: Review of Existing Public Policies and An Industry Standard published
- 18 joint webinars with NERC on SMM topics
- Principles for Chemical Use Disclosure published in partnership with Clean Production Action, endorsed by more than 100 businesses, governments, health care organizations, investors, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
- Regional Environmental Justice Workgroup formed
- Report on current and projected solid waste disposal capacity in the Region published
- IMERC’s online e-filing mercury reporting system updated and relaunched
- Monthly trainings for hazardous waste program staff held