SAN FRANCISCO -- During the agency's ninth annual Environmental Awards Ceremony in San Francisco Monday, U.S. EPA Regional Administrator Wayne Nastri presented plaques to over three dozen organizations and individuals throughout the Pacific Southwest in recognition of their efforts to protect and preserve the environment in 2006.
“These organizations and individuals have applied creativity, teamwork and leadership in addressing many of the West's most sensitive and complex environmental challenges,” Nastri said. “Thanks to their efforts, our air, water and land will be cleaner and safer for generations to come. The winners set an example for all of us to follow.”
The Region 9 Environmental Awards program acknowledges commitment and significant contributions to the environment in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, Pacific Islands and tribal lands. Thirty eight groups and individuals were selected from 160 nominees received this year from businesses, media, local, government officials, tribes, environmental organizations and citizen activists.
Among these winners:
Robert Kard and Randy Ballard
The Maricopa County Air Quality Department Enforcement Division
Phoenix, AZ
Bob Kard and Randy Ballard have led a remarkable air enforcement program in Arizona. In 2006, Arizona’s Maricopa County Air Quality Department Enforcement Division negotiated a record $3.7 million in penalties as part of a revamped effort to not only reduce but prevent air pollution in one of the country’s most rapidly developing regions. The division also made an effort to incorporate supplemental environmental projects into more of its enforcement settlements, providing the regulated community the opportunity to offset fines by investing in projects that benefit local communities and the environment. Last year, the enforcement division also achieved the authority to negotiate Title V, non-Title V, dust, and asbestos cases.
Additionally, the division began incorporating training opportunities into environmental settlements as a way to conduct outreach to the regulated community and, hopefully, prevent air pollution in the future.
To read the full article and see the complete list of this year’s winners, click check out the EPA’s website here: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/e87e8bc7fd0c11f1852572a000650c05/f91f51a3ebc5d954852572bf0081f95b!OpenDocument
EPA Contact Information: Wendy Chavez, 415/947-4248, chavez.wendy@epa.gov