|
|
What is a P2 Assessment and can it help my company?A P2 Assessment is an on-site survey of a company's operations to identify and evaluate opportunities to reduce wastes and pollution. Companies can use P2 Assessments to identify ways to reduce costs associated with waste generation and disposal. OCAPP's P2 Assessments will challenge your company to optimize the use of resources, minimize non-product related losses, and increase productivity. OCAPP has been conducting P2 Assessments for Ohio businesses since 1994. OCAPP is committed to help your company tackle those tough issues resulting from wastes and pollution. But hey, don't take OCAPP's word for it, check out some of the company reported economic and environmental benefits from our P2 Assessments. Is my company a good candidate for a P2 Assessment? Many companies can benefit from a P2 Assessment. If you have costs associated with losses from your operations, P2 Assessments can help identify opportunities to reduce those losses. Companies commonly think of losses as non-product related outputs such as scrap, by-products, and wastes. Environmentally, these losses consist of air emissions (VOCs, HAPs), wastewater,solid non-hazardous wastes, and hazardous (RCRA) wastes. The costs associated with these losses can be significant for many companies. For example, losses often result in increased operating costs (treatment, disposal, raw materials), decreased productivity (losses often indicate inefficient processes), and excessive environmental management costs (record keeping, monitoring, reporting, permitting). OCAPP's P2 Assessments can help companies who lack the available time, resources, and technical expertise to identify and evaluate potential opportunities to reduce losses. So if your company is struggling with losses from operations or processes, and is looking to improve both economic and environmental performance, consider an OCAPP P2 Assessment. OCAPP performs on-site assistance and P2 Assessments for many kinds of businesses including chemical manufacturers, electroplaters, metal product manufacturers, printers, dry cleaners, food processors, plastic product manufacturers, and wood finishers. How is a P2 Assessment conducted? OCAPP will work with your company to focus efforts on those areas where there is the greatest potential for waste reduction savings. OCAPP uses a Pre-Site Visit Survey completed by the company to gather background information and to identify potential opportunity areas before the site visit. No confidential business information or proprietary data is requested. A team of 2-4 OCAPP pollution prevention specialists will schedule a site visit at your company to gather information and data. The site visit will have three components; an opening meeting to review background information, a facility tour to examine processes and operations, and a closing meeting to collect additional information and to summarize preliminary opportunities. A typical site visit is completed in one day. OCAPP's team will then work with the company to gather additional data and information. OCAPP will use this information and data to research and evaluate potential opportunity areas. OCAPP focuses efforts on identifying recommendations that support opportunities with strong environmental and economic benefits. What is information is contained in the P2 Assessment Report? The P2 Assessment Report is a written report which provides pollution prevention recommendations to improve economic and environmental performance. P2 recommendations could include improved operating practices, material substitutions, equipment changes, process modifications, and recycling options. Estimated economic and environmental benefits are provided to illustrate potential waste reduction savings. Valuable resources including case studies, vendor information, financial assistance resources, and business assistance providers are included in the report to support assessment recommendations. The P2 Assessment report is typically completed with 30-45 days from the site visit.
Your company will need to designate a contact person to work with OCAPP through the assessment process. This will include completing the Pre-Site Visit Survey, scheduling the assessment, leading the team on the site visit and coordinating responses to follow-up information requests. The company will also be expected to review the P2 Assessment Report. The report contains recommendations only; your company is under no obligation to implement the assessment findings. Your company will also be asked to complete a Customer Service Follow-up Survey usually within one year of the P2 Assessment. The survey is a quality tool OCAPP uses to evaluate and improve assessments. What about compliance issues that arise during the P2 Assessment? OCAPP operates CONFIDENTIALLY. Information obtained by the office is not shared with Ohio EPA inspection or enforcement staff. How can my company sign-up for or learn more about P2 Assessments? Signing-up for a P2 Assessment is easy. Complete the Pre-Site Visit Survey and send it in to OCAPP. Upon receipt of the PAS, OCAPP will register your company for an assessment and will work with you to schedule an appropriate date for the site visit. If you are still not sure about P2 Assessments and would like additional information, please contact OCAPP by email at p2mail@epa.state.oh.us or phone (614) 644-3469. The only thing your company has to lose is waste!
Office of Compliance Assistance and Pollution Prevention Back to the Office of Compliance Assistance and Pollution Prevention page last updated: March 4, 2005 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
