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National Environmental Performance Track

2003 Outreach Award Application

American Ref-Fuel Company of Hempstead

Westbury, NY

[Section 1:]{.underline} Description of Company

American Ref-Fuel Company of Hempstead is the owner and operator of the
Hempstead Resource Recovery Facility, which is a 914,325 tons per year
mass burn Waste-to-Energy facility that combusts municipal solid waste
(MSW) for volume reduction and energy recovery. The MSW is reduced to
ash at 10% of its original volume and ferrous and non-ferrous metals are
recovered from the ash for recycling prior to the ash being landfilled.
The heat of combustion is recovered as steam in three identical
water-wall boilers to generate enough electricity to supply
approximately 65,000 homes. The facility is equipped with
state-of-the-art air pollution control equipment and emissions are among
the lowest in the industry -- well below regulatory standards.

American Ref-Fuel Company was accepted into EPA's National Environmental
Performance Track program on August 1, 2002. We were the first facility
of any type to be accepted into the program on Long Island, NY and were
only the second Waste-to-Energy facility to be accepted nationwide (of a
total of 98 WTE facilities). Two of our four commitments for improvement
were completed in the first seven months of membership and the remaining
two, which require larger capital projects, are on schedule to be
completed in the first half of 2004.

American Ref-Fuel has a long history of good corporate citizenship and
has always been active in community relations. We have applied the same
type of approach to spreading the word about Performance Track -- within
the company, among our peers, and to the general public. This has
included public speaking events, use of the PT logo in advertisements
and on apparel, an by proudly flying the PT flag at the entrance to our
facility. We believe we are a worthy candidate for the 2003 PT Outreach
Award and appreciate your consideration of our application.

[Section 2:]{.underline} Examples of our Outreach Efforts

[Internal Communication]{.underline}

February 2003: The Performance Track logo was used along with the OSHA
VPP logo on windshirts that were awarded to employees who reached the
top level of our EH&S Recognition and Reward program for calendar year
2002. Twenty-four of the 80 facility employees earned these shirts.
(Picture of logo and shirt attached.)

April 2003: As part of a plant clean-up day designed to increase
environmental awareness and enthusiasm at the facility, we held a PT
flag-raising ceremony with a lunch for all employees. The Chief
Executive Officer and Vice President of Safety and Environmental, as
well as several other company officers, attended the celebration. As a
momento of the event, an insulated travel mug with both the PT and
company logo was given to all employees. (Please see attached pictures.)

[Communication to the Public]{.underline}

September 2002: Our acceptance into the Performance Track program was
announced to the local media in a press release issued by the company.
The press release briefly described PT as "a voluntary partnership
program that recognizes and encourages top environmental performers" and
noted our designation as the first such honoree on Long Island. (A copy
is attached.)

February 2003: American Ref-Fuel contributed to an article in the Winter
2003 edition of the OSHA VPPPA newsletter "The Leader." The article,
titled "VPPPA and EPA's Performance Track: A Natural Synergy," was
authored by Daniel Fiorino and spotlighted three companies that are
members of both programs. Scott Wheeler, the plant Environmental
Engineer and PT Coordinator, edited the Ref-Fuel section and provided a
quote indicating the company's support of both programs. (Copy
attached.)

April 2003: American Ref-Fuel became one of four corporate sponsors of
[Long Island]{.underline} [Newsday]{.underline}'s year-long "Our Natural
World" feature that highlights environmental issues on Long Island. We
used our first monthly half-page space to highlight our participation in
Performance Track. (Copy attached.)

November 2003: Our PT membership was featured on one of six display
boards at three public information sessions held in Brookhaven and
Riverhead, NY to discuss the current waste situation on Long Island and
the options for future waste management. The sessions were attended by
approximately 120 residents.

[Section 2:]{.underline} Examples of our Outreach Efforts (continued)

[Public Speaking Events]{.underline}

January 2003: Scott Wheeler, the plant Environmental Engineer, spoke at
a meeting titled "Environmental Management: ConEdison's EMS and
ISO14001" at ConEdison's offices in New York City. The meeting was an
information session for ConEdison employees at which Marcia Seidner also
spoke. The Ref-Fuel presentation centered on our experience with
Performance Track and the benefits gained from participation in the
program.

May 2003: Steve Bossotti, Hempstead Plant Manager, gave a presentation
titled "Application of EMS to a Waste-to-Energy Facility" at the
Federation of New York Solid Waste Associations' annual meeting in Lake
George, NY. Again, the talk stressed the benefits of PT membership and
encouraged those in attendance to consider applying to the program.

May 2003: Herb Tracy, Electrical, Instrumentation and Controls
Supervisor at the plant, spoke at the OSHA VPPPA Region 2 Annual
Conference in Albany, NY. Similar to the article in "The Leader"
mentioned above, the talk emphasized the synergies between OSHA's VPP
program and Performance Track and encouraged VPP members to consider
pursuing PT membership.

July 2003: Andrew Szurgot, Director of Environmental Affairs at
Ref-Fuel, was a speaker at the ASTSWMO State Solid Waste Managers
Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah. In his presentation of "The Role of
Waste-To-Energy in Managing Bioterrorism Waste -- An Operator's
Perspective" he discussed the record of safety and environmental
excellence at American Ref-Fuel facilities and presented the attached
slide with the PT and VPP logos and the picture of the respective flags
flying at the Hempstead facility.

September 2003: Ken Armellino, the Environmental Manager responsible for
compliance at the Hempstead facility, spoke at the American Society for
Quality conference in Las Vegas, NV about the benefits of membership in
Performance Track.

November 2003: Three representatives from American Ref-Fuel Company
attended the second annual Region 2 Performance Track Roundtable meeting
in New York City, where our outreach efforts were prominently displayed
in a collage depicting examples from PT members in the Region. (Please
see attached.)