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Thirty New England Facilities Accepted as Charter Members of EPA's New National Performance Track

Release Date: 12/13/2000
Contact Information: Andrew Spejewski, EPA Press Office (617-918-1014)

BOSTON -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that thirty New England facilities, including four federal facilities, were accepted as the first charter members of EPA's new National Environmental Achievement Track program. The program recognizes and rewards companies that have demonstrated a commitment to superior environmental performance. The New England facilities were among 225 nationwide in the list of charter members.

"If we want to make progress on our environmental problems, we need to encourage facilities to go above and beyond what regulations require," said Mindy S. Lubber, regional administrator for EPA's New England Office. "The National Environmental Achievement Track is a great way to do that."

"These facilities that have been accepted into this new program are environmental leaders in New England." Lubber added "They deserve our thanks for stepping up and making a real difference in our environment."

The National Environmental Achievement Track was developed this year by EPA to reward companies who do more than environmental regulations require. It is part of EPA's new Environmental Performance Track program. A second level of the program, Stewardship Track, is currently being developed by EPA. Today's announcement covers the first round of facilities accepted into the National Environmental Achievement Track.

Membership in the program is on a facility-by-facility, rather than a company-by-company, basis. In order to be accepted into the National Environmental Achievement Track, facilities must:

• have a good record of compliance with environmental laws,
• have an established formal environmental management system (EMS) that includes self-audits,
• have demonstrated progress in environmental performance beyond that required by law, and
• have a commitment to public outreach as part of their environmental management plan.

Benefits for participating facilities include:

• public recognition, including use of the Achievement Track logo, networking opportunities with other Achievement Track facilities, and special events and recognition from EPA;
• streamlined monitoring and reporting requirements for a variety of EPA regulatory programs; and
• enforcement benefits including lowered priority for inspections from EPA, and a presumption of good faith when assessing penalties for violations.

A major foundation of this new national program was the Star Track Program, developed by EPA's New England regional office several years ago. Star Track has been retired in order to avoid duplication with the new national program

"Creation of this new national program is a real credit to staff at EPA New England and the New England companies that participated in Star Track," said Lubber.

The next application period for the National Environmental Achievement Track is February through April 2001. Interested facilities should contact EPA New England's Performance Track Coordinator, Martha Curran, at (617) 918-1802 or [email protected].

More information is available on EPA's Performance Track website: https://www.epa.gov/performancetrack

The facilities accepted as charter members include:

In Massachusetts:

• Acushnet Rubber Company's 2 plants in New Bedford, which design and manufacture custom molded rubber products, high performance o-rings and elastomeric products.
• Beacon Skanska Construction Corporation of Boston, a construction management company working in New England.
• DePuy Orthopaedics facilities in Raynham and New Bedford, which manufacture orthopaedic implants.
• Mitek East, Norwood, a manufacturer of products for soft-tissue repair.
• USGen New England, Inc., with stations in Rowe, Buckland and Florida that provide hydroelectric power generation for the market.
• PerkinElmer Optoelectronics in Salem, which designs and manufactures a variety of electro-optic devices for defense and commercial industries.
• Shipley Company, LLC of Marlborough, a specialty chemical supplier to the electronics industry.
• Snap-on Tools in Natick, which manufactures air power tools.
• Spalding Sports in Chicopee, a major sporting goods manufacturer.
• Teradyne Inc. in North Reading, which assembles and tests printed circuit boards used in the electronics industry.
• Texas Instruments Inc. Sensor and Controls facility in Attleboro, a research and design center producing electronic sensor and control devices for industrial, commercial, HVAC, and automotive markets.
• U. S. Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, which supports a wide variety of Coast Guard missions including aircraft search and rescue, law enforcement and marine environmental protection.

From Connecticut:

• Clairol Worldwide Beauty Care, Stamford, which manufactures hair care and hair coloring products.
• Heating Oil Partners facilities in Danielson and New London, which store and sell fuel oil for commercial and residential use, and sell, installsand repair heating and cooling systems.
• Johnson & Johnson Medical, Southington, which manufactures medical products and devices.
• The Torrington Company, Watertown, a manufacturer of steering columns.
• Unilever Home & Personal Care USA, Clinton, which manufactures personal care products including; hair spray, Vaseline products, facial creams, bath beads and oils.
• U. S. Postal Service, Hartford Processing and Distribution Center, where the primary operation involves processing, coding and distribution of letters and parcels.
• U. S. Postal Service, Hartford Vehicle Maintenance Facility, which services over 1300 vehicles at least twice a year. Services include routine maintenance and repairs, autobody work and painting and fuel storage and distribution.

From Maine:

• Guilford of Maine which weaves synthetic fabrics used as vertical surface fabrics in office interiors.
• International Paper Company Androscoggin Mill, a high-grade paper and specialty paper products manufacturer.
• U. S. Postal Service, Portland Processing and Distribution Center, where the primary operation involves processing, coding and distribution of letters and parcels.

From New Hampshire:

• DM Electronics Recycling Corporation (DMC) in Newfields, an electronics product recycler.
• Heidelberg Web Systems, Inc. in Dover, a manufacturer of lithographic printing presses and related equipment.
• Loctite Corporation of Seabrook, which manufactures adhesives including hot melt glue sticks, epoxies and mold release compounds.
• USGen New England, Inc. facilities in Littleton, Monroe and Lebanon, which provide hydroelectric power generation for the market.
• New Hampshire Ball Bearings, Inc. in Peterborough, which manufactures precision ball and roller bearings for the aerospace industry.
• Sanders, A Lockheed Martin Company facilities in Nashua, Merrimack, Hudson, Litchfield and Londonderry, which manufacture advanced electronic systems for the electronic defense market.

From Vermont:

• International Business Machine (IBM) Corporation in Essex Junction, a manufacturer of semiconductor chips.
• USGen New England, Inc. facilities in Wilder, Bellows Falls, Vernon, Readsboro and Searsburg, which provide hydroelectric power generation for the market.