299.80 Environmental cooperation pilot program.

774 words·~4 min read·/wi/chapter-299/299-80

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(1)Definitions. In this section:

(a)“Approval” means a permit, license or other approval issued by the department under chs. 280 to 295 .

(b)“Cooperative agreement” means an agreement entered into under sub.

(6).

(c)“Environmental management system” means an organized set of procedures implemented by the owner or operator of a facility to evaluate the environmental performance of the facility and to achieve measurable or noticeable improvements in that environmental performance through planning and changes in the facility’s operations.

(d)“Environmental performance” means the effects, whether regulated under chs. 280 to 295 or unregulated, of a facility on air, water, land, natural resources and human health.

(e)“Facility” means all buildings, equipment and structures located on a single parcel or on adjacent parcels that are owned or operated by the same person.

(f)“Interested person” means a person who is or may be affected by the activities at a facility that is covered or proposed to be covered by a cooperative agreement or a representative of such a person.

(g)“Performance evaluation” means a systematic, documented and objective review, conducted by or on behalf of the owner or operator of a facility, of the environmental performance of the facility, including an evaluation of compliance with the cooperative agreement covering the facility, approvals that are not replaced by the cooperative agreement and the provisions of chs. 280 to 295 and rules promulgated under those chapters for which a variance is not granted under sub.

(4).

(h)“Pollutant” means any of the following:

1. Any dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, refuse, oil, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive substance, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt or industrial, municipal or agricultural waste discharged into water or onto land.

2. Any dust, fumes, mist, liquid, smoke, other particulate matter, vapor, gas, odorous substances or any combination of those things emitted into the air, but not uncombined water vapor.

(i)“Violation” means a violation of a cooperative agreement, of an approval that is not replaced by the cooperative agreement or of a provision of chs. 280 to 295 and rules promulgated under those chapters for which a participant has not received a variance under sub.

(4).

(2)Pilot program. The department shall administer a pilot program under which it enters into not more than 10 cooperative agreements to evaluate innovative environmental regulatory methods. In administering the program, the department shall do all of the following:

(a)Provide at least the same level of protection of public health and the environment as provided by the environmental regulatory methods under chs. 280 to 295 .

(b)Encourage facility owners and operators to systematically assess the pollution that they cause, directly and indirectly, to the air, water and land.

(c)Encourage facility owners and operators to implement efficient and cost-effective pollution reduction strategies for their facilities, while complying with verifiable and enforceable pollution limits.

(d)Encourage facility owners and operators to achieve superior environmental performance, both with respect to the effects of a facility that are regulated under chs. 280 to 295 and those effects that are unregulated, to reduce usage of natural resources, to minimize transfers of waste discharges among air, water and land and to reduce waste generation, while achieving a balance among the economic, social and environmental impacts of these efforts that is acceptable to the community in which the facility is located.

(e)Recognize and reward facility owners and operators who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in environmental stewardship or pollution prevention and who can achieve reductions in emissions and waste generation through implementation of innovative measures.

(f)Encourage the transfer of information about methods for improving environmental performance and the adoption of these methods by others.

(g)Consolidate into a cooperative agreement environmental requirements relating to a facility owned or operated by a participant that are otherwise included in separate approvals to the extent that consolidation is practical and efficient.

(h)Grant the owners and operators of facilities greater flexibility than would otherwise be allowed under chs. 280 to 295 and rules promulgated under those chapters.

(i)Seek to reduce the time and money spent by government and owners and operators of facilities on paperwork and other administrative tasks that do not result in benefits to the environment.

(j)Encourage public participation, and consensus among interested persons, in the development of innovative environmental regulatory methods and in monitoring the environmental performance of projects under this section.

(k)Seek to improve the provision of useful information to the public about the environmental and human health impacts of facilities on communities.