When Wisconsin became the first state to OK an environmental regulatory system that rewards businesses that go beyond minimum compliance in 2004, it prudently included sunset provisions in it.

The success of the Department of Natural Resources Green Tier program in its first five years led the state Legislature to drop any expiration dates in the re-authorization bill passed  last summer.

So how is the program doing today?

“We're experiencing a surprising amount of support and a pretty good stream of applications,” says Mark McDermid of the DNR, the program's director. As of  May, there were 37 participants involving 50 different facilities. Thirty are in the Tier 1 program, the entry level for companies with good environmental records and a formal commitment to a certified environmental management system; and two are in the Tier 2 program, which is for companies that already have an effective environmental management system and a commitment to improving their industry, region or supply chains. In addition, five trade associations and industry groups have agreed to charters for their organizations, which encourage superior environmental performances.

Progress in Green Tier is good news for the companies involved, the DNR and people concerned about the environment. For the companies, Green Tier offers minimum regulation and a single point of contact with the DNR for easier communications and collaboration. “That speeds up the permitting process,” notes Roger Dupler of Yaggy Colby Associates, the Delafield engineering and consulting firm that joined the program this year. “Since time is money, that provides a savings for our clients.”

The DNR also helps firms develop the environmental management systems, which bring improvements in the financial and environmental bottom lines of companies through elimination of waste and increases in efficiencies. In addition, being able to use the Green Tier logo helps businesses with marketing, public recognition and obtaining other environmental grants and loans.

For the DNR, the program allows the department to minimize manpower and costs of regulation while moving environmental performances above minimum requirements.

The public benefits from less pollution, reduced use of natural resources and more efficient governmental regulation.

Dupler says Yaggy Colby's participation in Green Tier is an outgrowth of “a growing interest in finding sustainable solutions for our public- and private-sector clients.”

Under the program, the consulting firm has committed to not only improve its own operations, but also to advise clients to follow suit.

An excellent example, Dupler says, is Yaggy Colby's design for additional parking for its client, Waukesha County Technical College. Instead of more paving to accommodate 200 more cars, its design involved looking at efficiencies in the existing lot and re-striping, reshaping traffic islands and changing traffic patterns so that no new pavement was needed. This saved $100,000 in construction costs, and some of the savings went for energy-saving LED lighting and rain gardens for the lot.

When Affinity Health System of Appleton became a Tier 1 participant in April, it brought in 27 facilities including its three hospitals, 22 clinics and two specialized facilities in northeastern Wisconsin. Gary Kuznierz, Affinity's vice president of performance excellence, says environmental improvements are “part of the system's overall strategy of reducing waste and energy use.” Its goals under the program include recycling a greater percentage of solid waste, reducing the amount of hazardous waste and reducing energy consumption in each building each year as well as educating its work force on sustainable practices.

Asked about the future of his program, McDermid says, “Green Tier and other programs like it can't be static. The jury is still out on whether government programs can keep pace with the degree companies are making shifts to sustainability.” He sees initiatives like Wal-Mart's new requirements for sustainable supply-chain members as the vanguard of increased environmental stewardship for businesses. Programs like Green Tier need to work to be a part of the overall solution, he says.

By John Hill

You can contact John Hill by e-mail at jhoythill@sbcglobal.net.