For Release: September 11, 1997

Contact: Peyton Fleming 277-2771 ext. 2407

Stephanie Powell 277-2771 ext. 4418

PROVIDENCE - The RI Department of Environmental Management will host a Consultants' Day Tuesday, September 16 at its Promenade Street, Providence headquarters to introduce the staff and services of its Office of Technical and Customer Assistance. More than 270 consultants who deal with DEM on behalf of clients have been invited.

Consultants who may not be on any DEM mailing lists - and therefore would not have received an invitation - are also invited and should call the Office of Technical Assistance at 277-4700 and let staff know that you would like to attend.

The office was created last fall as part of DEM's reorganization to provide better assistance to permit applicants, the business community, and the general public seeking information about department programs.

Programs include permitting assistance, file review coordination, Pollution Prevention assistance, Clean Air Act Small Business assistance, major project review coordination, general customer assistance, and web-page development.

DEM is offering identical two hour sessions, at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to show consultants how assistance staff can help them. Andrew McLeod, new DEM director, will greet attendees at both sessions, and program staff will detail what services consultants can expect from the new office.

"We are excited at the opportunities this office offers to work with Rhode Islanders to prevent permitting problems before they occur, and to help them navigate what can be a daunting governmental process," McLeod said. "Creation of the office was a direct response to the public call for improving client contact, and I am pleased to note that people who have dealt with the new office have been happy with the way they have been served. The office is still evolving, but it is definitely on the right track."

McLeod said, "It's particularly fitting to host this open house during New England Pollution Prevention Week, which is being celebrated September 15th through September 21st." He and environmental heads throughout New England, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region I/New England signed a proclamation September 9 urging cooperation between government and the private sector in reducing pollution.

A major component of the Office of Technical and Customer Assistance is the inclusion of DEM's Pollution Prevention program, which for the past 10 years has assisted Rhode Island business and industry voluntarily reduce or eliminate more than 20 million gallons of industrial waste and wastewater.

At Tuesday's open house, consultants will be taken through the steps of how to plan for a permitting pre-application meeting and what to expect from it. They will be briefed on the permit streamlining process underway in the department, and will learn what resources the office has available to them such as coordinated file reviews, groundwater classification and wellhead protection maps, a regulations clearinghouse and a pollution prevention library of successful case histories. The office also acts as a central point of information and referral on all department programs.

After an overview of services offered, the consultants will be taken on a tour of the office facilities, and meet informally with the staff.