Strategic environmental management in Pennsylvania -- New tools for moving beyond compliance

Conference · Wed Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1997

OSTI ID:353535

Hill, M L

This paper describes the new direction that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is taking to move the environmental protection paradigm beyond the traditional command and control approach. The command and control system that created prescriptive and piecemeal environmental standards has made it increasingly more difficult for many companies to retain their competitive edge. It is no longer economically advantageous for many companies to merely be in compliance. Being beyond compliance not only can mean a cleaner environment but also provides a competitive edge for a business. Moving to a strategic environmental management (SEM) approach can help a business get and stay there. The PA DEP is retooling to encourage strategic environmental management (SEM). The Department believes that ISO 14000 and other initiatives like EPA`s Project XL has the potential to lead the way to SEM as a positive step away from the current command and control approach to environmental regulation and toward a market-driven, voluntary zero emissions goal. The goal of SEM is to provide a management framework within which most companies can identify and implement opportunities to work themselves out of the regulatory process by striving for zero emissions over time, while achieving significant environmental and energy efficiencies, cost savings and even product improvement. This paper will discuss how PA DEP will use SEM to develop the next generation of environmental tools needed for sustainable development. It will be the implementation of these tools by businesses in their day-to-day decision making that will make SEM successful in achieving increased environmental performance in a post command and control era.

• OSTI ID: 353535
• Report Number(s): CONF-970677--
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
AIR QUALITY
COMPLIANCE
DECISION MAKING
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
PENNSYLVANIA
PROGRAM MANAGEMENT
STANDARDS