Sector Strategies Program

[logo] Sector Strategies Program: Insight, Innovation, Results

The Sector Strategies Program achieves performance improvement and burden reduction in 13 important sectors by addressing their unique issues and challenges in a collaborative setting.

Staff contacts are experts on their sectors, providing a resource to EPA and external partners, and assessing factors that are drivers or barriers to better performance. Program staffers create ad hoc partnerships with essential stakeholders, including business leaders in each sector, state and local officials, and others. Through informal dialogue, stakeholder teams design tailored strategies to improve environmental performance and reduce regulatory burden.

New 2007 Energy Report

[cover] Sector Strategies Performance Report, 2006

New 2006 Performance Report

Sector strategies may include targeted regulatory changes, sector-based EMS programs, and easier links to assistance services. Action plans are supported by shared knowledge and objective analysis. Innovative measurement approaches track performance with a more strategic allocation of resources by all stakeholders.

Participating Sectors

At present, there are 13 manufacturing and service sectors participating in Sector Strategies:

There are many participants in these sector partnerships who engage with EPA on wide range of activities, such as issue analysis, policy dialogue, project planning, pilot testing, and long-term program change. Participation varies from sector to sector, and issue to issue. Active participants include over 24 national trade associations, hundreds of involved companies, major colleges, all EPA programs and regions, state and local agencies (and their national associations), and NGO, and academic groups that are actively involved with specific issues.

Beneficial Reuse of Industrial Byproducts in the Gulf Coast Region

The Sector Strategies report: Beneficial Reuse of Industrial Byproducts in the Gulf Coast Region describes how participating sectors can turn "would be wastes" into substitutes for raw materials and/or sources of energy. This report identifies the major industrial byproduct streams for 9 major sectors that have a significant presence in the Gulf coast region. The report summarizes state beneficial material reuse programs in that region, and offers a detailed summary of factors that support or inhibit the creation of market connections to the reuse of industrial byproducts (i.e., drivers & barriers). The report is intended to provide information to state and federal regulators, trade associations, and other stakeholders to support and promote beneficial material reuse.

Download the full report (PDF) (116 pp, 1.8MB, About PDF)

For additional information, please contact Keith Chanon (chanon.keith@epa.gov, phone: 202-566-1410)

Environmental Management Systems and other sector tools

Sector teams work with trade associations to develop and implement a plan for delivering needed outreach, training resources, and support to build a 'business case' for EMS.

In 2003 and 2004, Sector Strategies released brochures highlighting the benefits of EMS implementation at various industrial facilities. Environmental Management Systems: Systematically Improving your Performance was created in partnership with multiple trade associations. Business cases exist for six industry sectors: Agribusiness (meat packing), Construction, Metal Casting, Metal Finishing, Ports, and Shipbuilding and Ship Repair.