Cal/EPA Environmental Management Systems Innovation Initiative
Purpose of the Multi-State Workgroup

California is participating in a national study through our involvement in the Multi-State Working Group. More than one hundred organizations are participating as pilot projects in the United States. A national database is being established to support ongoing research on the performance of EMSs.

• What is the MSWG?
• What is the purpose of MSWG?
• Who are the participants in the MSWG?
• Interested in the MSWG?
• Winner of Council of State Governments' 1998 Innovations Award

What is the MSWG?

The Multi-State Working Group (MSWG) on Environmental Management Systems (EMS) is a voluntary group of participants from state, federal, nongovernmental, business, and higher education organizations who are interested in determining the effectiveness of Environmental Management Systems (EMS).  The group's focus is on six areas and how they are affected by environmental management systems:

• environmental performance,
• environmental conditions,
• environmental compliance,
• pollution prevention,
• costs and benefits, and
• interested party involvement.

The MSWG has published data protocols and a guidance document which are available online at http://www.eli.org/isopilots.htm.

What is the purpose of MSWG?

The purpose of the Multi-State Working Group is to conduct research on the ability of environmental management systems to improve the state of the environment and the economy and to evaluate their utility in public and private policy innovation. 

In cooperation with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the MSWG will accomplish this through:

• collection, evaluation, and dissemination of credible data from pilot projects;
• consideration of new models of managing environmental risk, measuring environmental performance, and reporting environmental data;
• facilitating participation, communication, and networking;
• encouraging partnerships.
• These accomplishments will be made for the benefit of the environment, community, and economy.

Who are the participants in the MSWG?

....a group of fourteen states, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and industry representatives that are studying environmental management systems (EMSs). 

Since its start two years ago, MSWG has contracted with the University of North Carolina (UNC) to host and develop a database.  Each of the states involved in MSWG is partnering with companies and organizations within their state to create pilot projects.  Companies and organizations will submit the data to the states according to the MSWG Data Protocols developed by UNC.  The states will gather data generated by their pilots' EMSs and place them into UNC's database where researchers studying a variety of environmental and management issues will have access to it. 

	MSWG Participants	MSWG Observers
Federal Government	U.S. EPA Office of Reinvention U.S. EPA Office of Water
State Government	Arizona California Illinois Indiana Maine Massachusetts Minnesota Missouri North Carolina Oregon Pennsylvania Texas Wisconsin	Alaska Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Hawaii Idaho Iowa Kansas Louisiana Michigan Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Rhode Island South Dakota Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Wyoming
Other Members	Ashland Chemical Company Coalition on ISO 14000 Implementation Community Nutrition Institute Environmental Law Institute Iowa Waste Reduction Center National Institute of Standards and Technology Pacific Institute Pillsbury Madison & Sutro LLP Raychem Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition TECHNE Environmental Consulting Tulane Institute for Environmental Law and Policy University of North Carolina University of South Carolina Western Environmental and Business Initiative	CEGAS MISSTAP Montana State University University of Louisville University of Nevada, Reno UTCIS

Interested in the MSWG?

If you are interested in participating in the MSWG, or would like to attend a future meeting, please contact Bob Stephens, chair, at (510) 540-3003 (phone), (510) 540-2305 (fax), or rds3@ix.netcom.com (e-mail).

To be kept informed by email about MSWG activities or to request information, contact Kirsten Oldenburg at (202) 546-8542 (phone), (202) 546-8386 (fax), or p2cp@iname.com (e-mail).

To obtain information online, please visit the MSWG's website, http://www.mswg.org/, maintained by the State of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

Winner of Council of State Governments' 1998 Innovations Award

The Multi-State Working Group is proud to be one of the "elite eight" recipients of the Council of State Governments' 1998 Innovations Award.  These "elite eight" are the winners of a rigorous national competition. Choosing from a host of exceptional state programs, a committee of elected officials and staff in each of CSG's four regions picks the top two programs from its region.  In recognizing these creative programs, CSG hopes that other states and U.S. territories will learn from the successes of Innovations Awards' winners and, perhaps, try them on for size.