RD355 - Office of Pollution Prevention 2010 Annual Report


Executive Summary:
For more than twenty-five years, pollution 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 exceed requirements while enhancing their bottom line. A few of the highlights from 2010 are:

• Celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Virginia Environmental Excellence Program;

• Significantly expanding membership in the Virginia Green tourism program, including meeting Governor Robert F. McDonnell’s challenge to recruit 75 new members in honor of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s 75th anniversary;

• Awarding 20 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards to manufacturing facilities, government agencies, and partnerships for their combined reductions of more than 3 million pounds of hazardous waste, 175 million pounds of solid waste, 14 million gallons of water use, and 1.2 billion BTUs of energy use as well as savings of $6.6 million; and,

• Presenting five webinars on various pollution prevention and environmental management system topics to a combined audience of more than 350 people.

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

David K. Paylor
Director