RD368 - Office of Pollution Prevention 2009 Annual Report


Executive Summary:
For more than twenty-five years, prevention has played a key role in the Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) mission to protect and enhance Virginia’s environment. DEQ’s Office of Pollution Prevention (OPP) hosts a number of programs and initiatives that serve as a conduit for non-regulatory assistance to businesses, institutions, and communities. These efforts are aimed at motivating Virginia facilities to minimize their environmental footprint through actions that often enhance their bottom line. A few of the highlights from 2009 are:

• Doubling the size of the Virginia Green tourism program, from just over 300 in 2008 to almost 650 participants today;

• Awarding twenty-three Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards Program to individuals, government agencies, manufacturing facilities and partnerships; and,

• Achieving the milestone of 500 Virginia Environmental Excellence Program facilities.

As in previous years, DEQ’s reputation as a leader in promoting partnerships and engaging audiences through non-regulatory environmental programs continues both within the Mid-Atlantic region and nationally. I am confident that as we move forward and face new environmental challenges, pollution prevention will continue to be an important strategy for the Commonwealth.