Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §343-G is enacted to read:

§343-G.__Environmental management systems

1. Policy. It is the policy of the State to encourage facilities subject to regulation by the department to improve their environmental performance and compliance through the development and implementation of environmental management systems that conform to international standards.

2. Incentives. The commissioner shall develop and implement a program of incentives to encourage facilities to implement environmental management systems.__The incentive program may provide relief from regulatory requirements and may include, but is not limited to, the following elements:

A.__Exemption from routine compliance inspections at the discretion of the commissioner;

B.__Presumed submission of a spill prevention control and clean-up plan that meets the criteria of section 1318-C; and

C.__Public recognition by the commissioner.

To be eligible for incentives under this subsection, a facility must have developed and implemented an environmental management system certified by an accredited 3rd-party certification body as conforming to the International Organization for Standardization's standard 14001 (ISO 14001:1996).

SUMMARY

This bill establishes a state policy to encourage facilities to develop and implement environmental management systems that conform to international standards. The bill requires the Commissioner of Environmental Protection to implement an incentives program to encourage facilities to implement environmental management systems by offering regulatory relief to facilities that implement certified environmental management systems.