EPA recommends, however, that whenever an agency provides a correction period to a small business, the agency notify the appropriate EPA Region or state of its action, to assure that federal and state enforcement responses to the identified violations are consistent. In developing the Policy, EPA balanced three primary considerations. First, the Agency is seeking to provide States with ample opportunity to adopt innovative approaches to environmental compliance. Thus, the Policy provides the parameters within which States have flexibility to tailor SBAPs to their needs. Second, EPA recognizes that participation in SBAPs by individual businesses is typically voluntary.
Assistance is provided generally upon request.
Thus, the agency is seeking to assure states of the ability to provide incentives that will encourage many small businesses to participate in SBAPs. Thus, EPA has an obligation to ensure that state SBAPs are structured so as to maintain an appropriate level of enforcement authority within delegated or authorized state programs. The Agency believes this Policy will allow states sufficient latitude to use an appropriate combination of delegated state enforcement authority and compliance assistance activity to improve compliance in the small business community. This Policy does not apply to the Public Water System Supervision Program because EPA is developing another policy which addresses compliance by small communities. However, if a small business wishes to obtain a corrections period after receiving compliance assistance from a confidential program, the business need only disclose the violations to the appropriate regulatory agency pursuant to criterion 1 and comply with the other provisions of this Policy.