News Release 584

YEAR IN REVIEW: MISSOURI STRENGTHENS MEASURES
TO HELP CITIZENS HELP THE ENVIRONMENT

Volume 35-584

Contact: Connie Patterson

(For immediate release)

573-751-1010

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, DEC. 14, 2007 -- In 2007, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources continued to mark several important milestones in its on going efforts to assist Missouri's businesses, schools, communities and citizens in its efforts to comply with environmental standards:

Permit Assistant: In June, the department launched a new online tool designed to help those seeking permits in Missouri more easily access information on the department's Web site. Using Permit Assistant, anyone with access to the Web may answer a series of questions to determine which permits or registrations their businesses should obtain from the department.  Permit Assistant then provides links to the necessary permit application forms. The Environmental Council of the States, a national, non-profit, non-partisan association of state and territorial environmental agency leaders, awarded the Department of Natural Resources with the Best State Innovation Award for this new tool. Permit Assistant is available at www.dnr.mo.gov/mopermitassistant/.

Kaizen: Missouri, along with Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, has struggled in recent years to meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requirements for upgrading water quality standards. Ever-shrinking staffs and budgets have tried to keep pace with ever-growing environmental standards and regulations. EPA has faced similar struggles as well. To make improvements, the partners chose the "Kaizen" method, a workplace improvement strategy that aims to reduce waste in any process. In June, representatives from EPA Region 7, EPA's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the four states met to map out every step of the water quality standards development process. They identified a significant number of steps that could be eliminated or compressed in the development of water quality standards. Eliminating some steps and compressing others will greatly reduce the time it takes for the states to submit proposed standards to EPA for review and approval. The Environmental Council of the States also recognized these four states and EPA with an award for their innovative teamwork to improve the water quality standards development process.

Permit improvements: The department has been working to make its permitting process more efficient as well, which has enabled the department to cut in half the time it takes to issue many permits. This year, the department's ombudsmen followed up on a permit survey first done in 1997. In the 1997 survey, 30 percent of respondents reported that they were concerned with the length of time it took for their permit applications to be reviewed and for their permits to be issued. In the recently completed follow-up survey, only 10 percent of respondents reported concerns about the length of time it takes for a permit to be issued.

Ombudsman Program: Since inception of this program, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' seven ombudsmen have visited more than 4,400 citizens, community officials and businesses in all 114 Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis. Face-to-face communication with the ombudsmen and immediate attention by technical staff enable customers to receive answers within hours, rather than days or weeks. Timely response to these requests also helps build understanding and improve compliance. One quarter of these visits generated requests for follow-up and assistance from Department of Natural Resources programs and regional offices. This year, the ombudsmen also personally visited 147 salvage operations to encourage their participation in the End of Life Vehicle Solutions program, known as ELVS. Through this program, auto salvage operations help reduce mercury contamination by collecting mercury switches from scrap vehicles so that the mercury can be recycled. More than 12,300 mercury switches have been recovered in Missouri.

Town hall meetings: Department of Natural Resources Director Doyle Childers and the department's ombudsmen have participated in a series of nearly 100 public meetings in 91 counties throughout Missouri, attended by more than 1,500 citizens. These meetings provide attendees an opportunity to discuss environmental issues of local concern.

Environmental Assistance Visits: Environmental Assistance Visits became standard practice in January 2006 for the Department of Natural Resources. In just the first two years of this program, staff conducted more than 5,800 environmental assistance visits. Staff from the department visited land disturbance sites, newly permitted air sources, drinking water facilities where permit actions are anticipated, limestone quarries and hazardous waste generators. The department walks permittees through their unique permit requirements and provides compliance assistance rather than conducting formal inspections. In a survey of businesses conducted by Department of Natural Resources ombudsmen, nearly 99 percent of respondents reported that they felt well served by staff from the department who visited their operations as part of Environmental Assistance Visits.

Satellite Offices: In 2007, the department further expanded its services to citizens in Missouri by opening satellite offices in Boonville and Cape Girardeau. The department now has offices in Benton, Cape Girardeau, Cooper, Howell, Jasper, Madison, New Madrid, Nodaway and Phelps counties. Another satellite office is in the works for Adair County, which will bring the total number throughout Missouri to 17. These offices complement and extend services provided by the department's five regional offices, which are under the direction of the department's Field Services Division. The department's goal is to serve communities and facilities more effectively by placing more staff in the field, closer to the customers.  The department has reduced travel time by 8 percent while increasing the number of facilities served by 28 percent.

"Improving compliance assistance efforts helps Missouri's businesses work smarter," Childers said. "By cutting down the time they spend searching for answers or filling out duplicative paperwork, businesses are better able to focus their time and energy on maintaining economically and environmentally clean, successful operations."

For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit  the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.

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