|
 |
|
The RCGA’s
leadership in environmental affairs impacts the community and encourages
economic growth.
The Environmental Council is a body of individuals representing
more than 225 RCGA member companies and organizations including
industry, small business, scientists, engineers, consultants, attorneys
and academicians.
The Council addresses environmental issues that either do, or have
the potential to, impact economic development in the St. Louis region.
Topics ranging from air quality management to brownfield redevelopment
to water, waste and energy administration are the focus of numerous
committees and workgroups comprised of nearly 250 individual Council
members. The Council and its component committees serve as a conduit
for information to members as well as a forum for discussion of
salient environmental and economic issues affecting area businesses.
The Environmental Council is formally represented on the RCGA’s
Board of Directors by a Vice Chair for Environment. RCGA volunteers
and staff have established a routine presence in Jefferson City
and Springfield relative to environmental issues in both legislative
and regulatory venues. Regional concerns have likewise been well
represented by volunteers and staff at the federal level.
Members of the Council may serve on any one or more of eight established
committees, in addition to a variety of ad hoc workgroups convened
throughout the year to address general and issue-specific topics
of concern to RCGA members and the region as a whole.
Regulators and policy-makers from local, state and federal jurisdictions,
as well as members of other business associations, frequently attend
committee and workgroup meetings. The cooperative nature of such
interactions serves to both educate and enlighten all participants
and to facilitate prudent environmental management for the region.
Environmental Council Highlights in 2000:
- Fruits
of Environmental Council Labor For the past several years,
Environmental Council members, collectively, have committed
an extraordinary amount of time and effort in support/opposition/
defense/etc. of a variety of initiatives in Springfield,
Ill., Jefferson City, Mo., and Washington D.C. Those efforts
were validated in 2000 as the region experienced the fruits
of that labor.
- Best
ozone season on record. Following several years of
strong RCGA support for such programs as auto emissions
testing, cleaner burning fuel and manageable nitrogen
oxides controls, as well as public outreach through the
Clean Air Partnership, the 2000 ozone season yielded only
a single exceedance of federal air quality standards (note:
the standard is 125 ppm ozone—the offending monitor measured
exactly 125 ppm). While several factors do contribute
to this success, the RCGA is gratified by the impact its
members have had on regional air quality policy and improved
ozone conditions.
- More
than two dozen major projects complete or in process using
Missouri’s Brownfield Redevelopment Program. Since
1995, RCGA Environmental Council members have worked closely
with local, state and federal agencies to create and implement
prudent development programs and strategies for the region’s
brownfields inventory. In less than two years of availability
in its current form, the MO Brownfield Redevelopment Program
is impacting more than 20 major area redevelopment projects
with a net economic benefit to the state projected at
more than $65 million with a significant social, environmental
and economic impact on the region.
- Risk-base
assessment/clean-up becomes a reality in Missouri.
Several Council members were directly involved in the
development of a risk-based assessment and clean-up policy
for Missouri (CALM) that went into effect in 2000. With
that program, in addition to the incentives provided in
the Missouri Brownfield Redevelopment Program and the
existing Site Remediation and Tiered Approach to Clean-up
Objectives (TACO) programs offered in Illinois, the greater
St. Louis metropolitan region now boasts one of the most
progressive brownfield development packages of any metropolitan
community in the country.
|
Community Outreach
The RCGA’s Environmental Council continues to expand its role as
a leader within the St. Louis regional community through a variety
of outreach initiatives either hosted or supported by the RCGA.
- St.
Louis Regional Clean Air Partnership. The Clean Air
Partnership, a coalition of local organizations including
American Lung Association, St. Louis County Health Department,
Washington University, East-West Gateway Coordinating
Council, Ridefinders, Citizens for Modern Transit and
many others, has established a bi-state network of employers
who deliver advanced ozone forecasts on potentially bad
(red and orange) air days to workers at approximately
400 of the largest employers in the region. This five-year
old initiative has received an EPA Pollution Prevention
Award.
- Choose
Environmental Excellence– Gateway Region (CEE-GR).
This organization, comprised of representatives from the
business, environmental, not-for-profit and media communities,
promotes positive environmental practices throughout the
community with “simple steps for environmental excellence”
as its mantra. Working with administrators of government,
not-for-profit and private environmental programs, CEE-GR
serves as an information clearinghouse for anyone interested
in improving his impact on the natural environment. CEE-GR’s
hosted its first annual awards banquet in June 2000, recognizing
26 different award recipients.
- 2000
Earth Day “Environmental Summit.” In April, the RCGA,
the Missouri Coalition for the Environment, East-West
Gateway Coordinating Council and several others hosted
an event, in conjunction with the Earth Day celebration,
aimed at improving communications between the “business”
and “environmental” communities in the St. Louis region.
- Brownfield,
Waste and Energy Workshops. Coordinating with St.
Louis Development Corporation, Missouri Department of
Natural Resources – Energy Center, U.S. EPA, BOMA, MERP,
Parkway School District and many others, the RCGA participated
in a series of workshops focusing on improved coordination,
marketing and leveraging of programs/tools available for
the management of brownfield redevelopment, commercial
waste administration and energy conservation and efficiency.
- Brownfield
Development Guide. The RCGA Brownfield Committee,
along with the St. Louis Development Corporation and many
others, has drafted Brownfield Development Guides for
both Missouri and Illinois that list programs, tools and
general information related to the region-specific brownfield
redevelopment process.
|
|
|
|
|
|
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
|
