The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection began testing multimedia pollution prevention inspections in 1989 and in 1993 adopted the approach statewide. All three states plan to evaluate the environmental outcomes of integrating environmental management. On the basis of their experiences thus far, officials in Massachusetts and New York generally consider the integrated approaches in their states to be successful, while New Jersey officials believe that it is too early to predict the success of that state’s permitting test. New York Uses a Facility-Management Approach

New York is pursuing integrated environmental management by coordinating its medium-specific activities. New Jersey Is Testing Facilitywide Permits

New Jersey is testing the use of a single, integrated permit for industrial facilities, an approach that departs from the existing practice of issuing permits to industrial facilities on a medium-specific basis. These officials generally believed that their state’s integrated approach was beneficial to the environment while increasing regulatory efficiencies and reducing costs to industry. 1). Obtaining funds for Massachusetts also required EPA’s approval as well as congressional authorization to reprogram funds from other activities. Recent EPA Initiatives Address State Multimedia Activities

A grant program EPA recently proposed may provide states with easier access to multimedia funding and promote the reporting of their integrated facilities management activities.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed: (1) the environmental management approaches used in Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey; (2) state and industry experiences with these integrated management approaches; and (3) the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) role in state efforts to reduce pollution.

What GAO Found

GAO found that: (1) Massachusetts has adopted a single, integrated inspection approach to assess facilities' compliance with environmental statutes; (2) New York is using a facility-management strategy to coordinate medium-specific environmental programs; (3) New Jersey is testing the use of single, integrated permits for industrial facilities, rather than issuing separate permits for pollution releases; (4) although Massachusetts and New York intend to implement their integrated approaches statewide, New Jersey believes that it is too early to evaluate the success of its pilot program; (5) state industry officials believe these integrated management approaches are beneficial to the environment, achieve regulatory efficiencies, and reduce costs; and (6) EPA has proposed a new grant program that will help states gain easier access to funding for multimedia programs, as well as ease the reporting of multimedia activities.