State Joins in Test of Environmental 
Management Systems

RALEIGH – North Carolina has joined five private businesses and Camp LeJeune Marine Corps Base to test the value of environmental management systems to protect the environment while reducing costs for business and government.

The State’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will join the five companies and the Marine Corps base in the public-private partnership that is linked to international efforts. The project also will involve business, public interest groups and the Environmental Protection Agency.The six project participants are: Motorola in Research Triangle Park; Honda Power Equipment in Swepsonville; Exide Electronics in Raleigh; Lufkin/Cooper Tools in Apex; Konica Manufacturing USA, Inc. In Whitset; and Camp LeJeune Marine Corps Base in Jacksonville.

North Carolina is the first of 10 states participating in a Multi State Working Group to announce its partners. The states will participate in a national test of ISO 14001, a global effort to develop a uniform approach to achieving environmental protection. The international standard came out of the 1992 Rio Conference on Sustainable Development.

North Carolina will be particularly interested in learning whether the more comprehensive environmental management approach will lead to pollution prevention -- an environmental category for which the state is the national leader.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be the national data repository for results of the pilot projects from the 10 states participating -- Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin.

For more information, contact the North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance, P.O. Box 29569, Raleigh NC 27626. Staff can be reached by telephone at 919-715-6507. Inquiries also can be sent by FAX to 919-715-6794.

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