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EPA, SUNY Reach Environmental Audit Agreement

Release Date: 04/01/2002
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(#02016) Rensselaer, New York – Jane M. Kenny, EPA Regional Administrator, and Robert M. King, Chancellor of the State University of New York (SUNY) signed an historic agreement that commits the country’s largest university system to a comprehensive, five-year environmental self-audit program. The signing event takes place today at the East Campus, University at Albany in Renssalaer. This is EPA’s second audit agreement with a higher educational institution in the country; the first agreement was with Rutgers University system in New Jersey. SUNY has approximately 388,000 students enrolled in more than 5,000 fields on 64 campuses. EPA Regional Administrator Kenny said, “Having SUNY self-audit conserves EPA resources. At the same time, as EPA reduces or even eliminates financial penalties, that helps SUNY save money. A self-audit also helps SUNY move more quickly to fix problems, and that’s good for everyone. This agreement is made in the spirit of cooperation rather than coercion.” Chancellor King said, “This agreement helps SUNY establish a process of continuous self-assessment and improvement. Conducting this audit will give SUNY both a profile of its current compliance and the tools to eliminate the causes of noncompliance. It will also provide an excellent training opportunity for SUNY staff.” Each year SUNY will conduct self-audits at a mix of campuses, reaching all campuses by the end of the five-year agreement in February 2007. For each violation it finds and reports, SUNY will also verify to EPA that it is taking quick action, usually within a couple of months, to both fix the problem and prevent it from recurring. In some cases, EPA will allow SUNY to audit a representative sample of its facilities for a particular potential violation. If, however, there is evidence of a pattern of pervasive violation, EPA will require SUNY to test the whole facility for that particular violation. Facility areas include: automotive and truck servicing areas, teaching and research laboratories with regular chemical use; clinical and dental laboratories; commercial graphic areas facilities and print shops; greenhouses and farms; heating and power plants, pesticide storage facilities, PCB transformers and switches; aboveground and underground storage tanks and their containment systems; septic systems; hazardous waste manifests and land disposal locations. This agreement covers all of the campuses of the SUNY system and community colleges with the exception of those in: Erie, Fulton, and Montgomery.