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INCENTIVE-BASED PROGRAMS
The success of environmental
management in the regulatory climate of self-assessment and voluntary
compliance relies on the willingness and desire of industries and local
governments to accept the responsibility and accountability that comes with
self-regulation. Self-regulation
also demands that facilities and operations who impact the environment take
the lead in adopting best management practices and mitigating adverse
impacts. These organizations need to
closely manage their environmental activities and outcomes, and accurately
establish and communicate their compliance with performance standards.
Many benefits accompany
self-regulation. Some are obvious, such as flexibility in operation,
greater freedom to innovate, less intervention by regulatory agencies, and
innovative ways to reduce environmental management costs. In addition, a superior environmental
track record brings with it the social, economic and political advantages
of enhanced environmental performance, market growth and community-relations.
Other benefits include long-term sustainability, greater profit potential,
and relief from more onerous regulatory options. Benefits are
incentives. When the perceived value
of incentives exceeds costs, self-regulation becomes desirable, profitable
and practical for agricultural, industrial, municipal, and other
organizations.
SES specializes in identifying, developing and implementing incentive
systems to assist agriculture, manufacturing industries, utilities and
communities design and affect self-regulatory environmental programs that
meet the bottom lines of regulators and the top lines of an environmentally
aware public. Our expertise in the development of incentive systems
includes agricultural self-regulation programs, rangeland management practices,
watershed non-point source mitigation, and industrial-urban compliance with
waste disposal standards. In addition, we provide guidance in the
development of incentive-based policy for all levels of government,
environmental organizations, and extractive natural resource users and
their organizations.
We can assist your company with
building an incentive package that will make self-regulation work
effectively and pay the environmental and economic dividends needed to meet
the high standards of today’s environmental management. And, if needed, we
can work with you to develop public policies at the local or national level
that will facilitate and enhance more effective incentive-based programs
for voluntary compliance of performance standards.
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