DEQ’s Office of Pollution Prevention (OPP) promotes pollution prevention through incentive programs and technical assistance. OPP hosts a number of programs and initiatives that support the Pollution Prevention Act as a conduit for non-regulatory assistance to businesses, institutions and communities. These efforts are aimed at motivating Virginians to minimize their environmental footprint through actions that exceed what is required while enhancing their bottom line. A few of the highlights from 2017 are:

• Engaging organizations by hosting two free regional workshops featuring sessions on finding pollution prevention opportunities, environmental management systems and a regulatory update;

• Presenting twelve Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards at the Environment Virginia symposium in April, including six gold awards to recognize exemplary programs; and,

• Working to enhance the Virginia Green Tourism program’s membership process by updating the application to provide a more user friendly online process and transition application processing to the Virginia Green Travel Alliance.

Virginia continues to be a leader in promoting collaborative partnerships through non-regulatory environmental programs. OPP’s programs work to provide Virginia organizations the tools and support needed to implement environmental programs that reduce risk and environmental footprints, while being a sound business decision.