Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

ADEQ Helps With Environmental Regs

Understanding environmental regulations is difficult for many small business owners.

Joe Bob Garner, who works in the customer service department of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality, formerly known as the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology, does what he can to help people get through the tangled web of state and federal regulations.

Garner, speaking to the Clark County Industrial Council Thursday, June 17, said the ADEQ's mission is to protect and enhance the environment, while working within the economy and keeping the environment balanced.

"The coming generation," he told the CCIC members, "is our most important mission."

The ADEQ, he said, works with businesses, sportsmen and others for the common good of all.

Most of the programs the ADEQ deal with come down from the federal level, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), after first being approved by the federal government.

The ADEQ's primary job in this venue is to monitor and enforce the federal rules and regulations.

However, Garner said, the ADEQ works for the people of Arkansas, protecting the environment, regulating, educating and assisting those interested in weeding through the federal bureaucracy.

There are programs the department takes to schools to help educate the children as to how the environment is being protected in the state.

Still, he said, many people, especially business owners, don't realize the ADEQ will come down and help them get through the maze of regulations.

"We'll help in all areas," Garner said. The ADEQ will provide technical assistance where needed, do a confidential compliance audit penalty free do pollution prevention monitoring and give technical assistance for recycling programs.

The department will also provide targeted training and workshops for businesses, and has some grants available for recycling and market assistance.

But, Garner said, one of the best incentives businesses have to call the ADEQ is a 30 percent tax break on the purchase of recycling equipment.

The ADEQ, he said, has a recycling market directory and can help put businesses and industries in touch with companies to buy their recyclable goods.

There is also a "scrap match" program wherein the ADEQ will match the scrap with a buyer.

In some instances, the ADEQ will provide loans to small businesses for pollution control and prevention programs. These loans are normally low interest and easily approved, with the company not needing any collateral to secure one.

Small businesses, according to the ADEQ, are defined as having 100 or fewer employees.

The loans, Garner said, normally are limited to $25,000, with $10,000 to be used for prevention and $15,000 for control. To date, the ADEQ has approved 36 loans for $350,000.

Service stations, he said, have taken out the majority of these loans and other programs.

He said anyone interested in getting help from the ADEQ, or wanting to look into a loan or program, should call (501) 682-0923. They can also address the web site at www.adeq.ar.us

Garner said those who call should be sure and ask for customer service."We want to work with people."