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U.S. EPA ANNOUNCES SELECTION OF XL PROJECTS

Release Date: 11/3/1995
Contact Information: Lois Grunwald, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1588

  (San Francisco)-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) today announced that it has selected two California companies, a Southern California air district, and an Arizona facility to participate in pilot projects under U.S. EPA's Project XL (Excellence in Leadership).

     "It is just great, and fitting, that four of the eight pilots chosen nationally are from California and Arizona," said Felicia Marcus, U.S. EPA's regional administrator. "The West is a place where new ideas can flourish, and this program allows folks to create and prove that innovative thinking can reduce both pollution and costs.

     "This is where the future of environmental protection lies - - in the cooperation between industry, regulators and communities to protect public health in a common sense manner that shows that a strong environment and economy go hand in hand," added Marcus.

      Project XL was created by President Clinton as part of his March 16, 1995, strategy to reinvent environmental regulation to achieve the best environmental results at the least cost. U.S. EPA will continue to solicit and select XL projects. U.S. EPA Administrator Carol Browner has set a goal of selecting 50 XL projects by the end of 1996.

     The California entities selected are: 3M, Camarillo; Hadco Corp., Watsonville; and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The Arizona firm is Intel Corp., Chandler.

     The projects developed by the companies will be "real world" tests of innovative pollution prevention strategies that achieve cleaner and cheaper results than conventional regulatory approaches. During the length of the project, the companies will be given regulatory flexibility in exchange for an enforceable commitment from the companies to achieve better environmental results than would have been attained within the present regulatory framework.

     The companies and their projects are described as follows:

* The South Coast Air Quality Management District will give
  firms in Los Angeles the option to replace expensive employee  
  trip reduction programs required by the Clean Air Act with      
  their own strategies to reduce auto emissions.

* 3M will develop permits for its Camarillo and two
  mid-western facilities that set air pollutant emission levels  
  below those required by current law and which simplify ways to  
  ensure that these levels are met.

* Hadco will promote the recycling of metals from the waste
  streams of its printed wiring board manufacturers.

* Intel will create a contract for its new Chandler facility
  that sets multi-media environmental performance requirements,
  and requires Intel to develop ways to meet the requirements.
  The contract is intended to provide environmental protection
  and give the facility flexibility in meeting environmental
  requirements.


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