Pollution Prevention and Sustainable Policies for Government

Table of Contents

• Introduction 
• Important Links

Introduction

Sustainable development and long-term planning will soon become a political mainstay for government at all levels and communities everywhere. Governments can implement pollution prevention and sustainable development in several different ways, including regulatory integration, sustainable development, and incorporating sustainable P2 practices into daily operations such as purchasing, planning, etc.

One of the goals of pollution prevention and sustainablility programs is to design regulations with built-in incentives for implementing pollution prevention technologies and sustainable business practices. Governments have historically used pollution legal "disincentives" to discourage pollution. Pollution prevention regulatory integration encourages the use of incentives that reward companies for implementing source reduction programs and pollution prevention technologies. Such advances can also help make businesses more sustainable over the long-run by increasing efficiency. Incentives can also be used in development and building regulations and long term planning, as well.

Federal, state and local governments can all develop long-term plans and regulatory systems with pollution prevention and sustainable development incentives. Businesses can assist in this process by educating lawmakers so that they can design such efforts that reward investment in newer, cleaner, and more efficient technologies.

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Related Concepts, OPP Projects and Documents

• Sustainable Development
• Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP)
• Pollution Prevention: The Basics
• Pollution Prevention Regulatory Integration
• Free Pollution Prevention Assessments
• P2 and Environmental Management Systems (EMS)

  Case Studies

• Village of South Charleston, Ohio
• Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission
• City of Cincinnati
• Mahoning County's Industrial Waste Minimization Project

Important Sustainability Links for Government

• King County Environmental Purchasing Program
• DOE's Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development
• Environmental Purchasing Guide, from GSA
• Minnesota OEA - Environmental Purchasing
• Sustainable Minnesota 
• Pennsylvania Governor's Green Government Council (GGGC) 
• Smart Growth Network Welcome Page
• Sustainable America - National Town Meeting

Disclaimer: Some of the hyper-links contained in this document point to pages generated outside of Ohio EPA. Please note that inclusion of this information does not constitute endorsement by Ohio EPA or the State of Ohio. Ohio EPA makes no guarantees expressly or implied regarding data generated outside of the Agency.