California's Environmental Technology Certification Program Named Finalist in 1996 Innovations Awards Program

For Immediate Release (C-30-96)
Contact: Communications Office (916) 324-9670
September 11, 1996

555 Capitol Mall, Suite 525
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 324-9670
FAX (916) 445-5563

Sacramento -- California's Environmental Technology Certification program, which improves environmental protection by facilitating the development and marketing of new hazardous-waste environmental technologies, has been named one of 25 finalists in the 1996 Innovations in American Government Awards program by the Ford Foundation and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Ten of the finalists will be selected as award winners in December, and each will receive $100,000 Foundation awards. The remaining 15 programs will each receive $20,000 awards. The finalists were chosen from more than 1,550 applicants representing federal, state, and local governments.

Considered to be among the nation's most prestigious public service prizes, Innovations Awards honor programs and policies that represent creative, highly effective government efforts to meet public needs. This year is the tenth anniversary of the program.

The regulatory process that grants permits for new environmental technologies can be cumbersome and complex, creating unnecessary delays and uncertain legal liability. As a result, promising new technologies that would advance environmental protection often face difficulty in reaching the market and attracting investment capital.

California's Environmental Technology Certification program accelerates the deployment of emerging technologies by certifying their effectiveness and increasing awareness of their availability. As a result of this validation, technology entrepreneurs are better able to secure investment capital, gain regulatory acceptance elsewhere, attract customers, and achieve economies of scale.

The certification process includes a technology assessment, thorough data reviews, additional test measures, and peer review. Evaluation teams comprise representatives from the scientific community, regulators, and government officials. In addition to providing necessary proof for regulators and investors, the resulting certification seal can be a powerful tool in product advertising and packaging.

Since the California program was established in 1993, thirty-eight new technologies have been certified. They include an oil filter that allows more than 100,000 miles between oil changes, double wall piping that prevents leakage of hazardous materials in factories, an ozone water purification system that eliminates the need for toxic chemicals in cooling systems, and a laser testing device that reduces the cost of characterizing hazardous waste sites.

California and five other states recently launched a pilot program that will enhance regulatory acceptance of certified technologies in each of the states. A number of nations, including Canada, Mexico, Germany, Russia, and China, have expressed interest in replicating the California program.

"The finalists are restoring public faith in government and its capacity to make a critical difference in people's lives," said Susan V. Berresford, President of the Ford Foundation. "They are a national resource for solving some of our most urgent public problems."

On September 6, representatives of each of the finalists made presentations before the National Committee on Innovations in American Government at the Kennedy School in Cambridge, Mass. The National Committee, chaired by William G. Milliken, former Governor of Michigan, will select the winners. Dean Alan A. Altshuler of the Kennedy School directs the Innovations program.

Four criteria are used to evaluate each finalist: the program's effectiveness in addressing important problems; its novelty; the value of the services it provides to clients; and the degree to which it can be replicated in other jurisdictions. More than 80 percent of the programs that have received Innovations Awards since 1986 have been replicated or significantly expanded.

The Innovations in American Government Awards program reflects the Ford Foundation's longstanding commitment to strengthening the operations and processes of democratic government. Since the program began, the Foundation has granted awards totaling $10.7 million to 95 winners and 60 finalists.

The Ford Foundation, established in 1936, is a private, nonprofit institution that serves as a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide. Its goals are to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. A national and international philanthropy with assets of $7.8 billion, the Foundation has granted more than $8 billion to some 9,000 institutions and 100,000 individuals worldwide. The Foundation maintains headquarters in New York City and has offices in 16 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

The John F. Kennedy School of Government is one of the nation's foremost schools of public affairs. Its mission is to train leaders for excellence in government and public service and to foster understanding of major public issues.

(The Innovations program's World Wide Web site is http://ksgwww.harvard.edu/ innovat/).

Attached are lists of the 25 finalists in the 1996 Innovations Awards program and of members of the National Committee on Innovations in American Government.

Attachment to Press Release

Innovations in American Government Awards Program 1996 Finalists

State and Local Programs:

Environmental Technology Certification (State of California) - speeds the development and marketing of promising new hazardous-waste technologies through the cooperation of the state regulatory authority and private industry.

Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) (Riverside County, California) - emphasizes placing welfare recipients in jobs as quickly as possible. This large-scale welfare-to-work initiative found jobs for 9,400 people in 1994-95, saving an estimated $25 million in welfare costs.

Ecosystem Management (State of Florida) - addresses growing pressures on the state's natural environment through common-sense regulation, planning, land acquisition, and public participation in 24 defined "ecosystem management areas."

Florida's Healthy Kids Corporation (State of Florida) - provides broad private health insurance coverage to thousands of previously uninsured children by using school districts to create large insurance risk pools.

"Life Goes On" Organ/Tissue Donor Public Awareness Program (State of Illinois) - establishes an organ and tissue donor registry that has increased the number of potential donors, notably among minorities, in the nation's first state-funded organ-donor awareness program.

Patch Project (Linn County, Iowa) - helps children at risk of abuse by deploying protective service workers (the "Patch" team) in well-defined neighborhoods, by pooling various funding sources, and by offering social services at community centers.

Child Witness to Violence Program (Boston, Massachusetts) - assures that young children who have witnessed community or domestic violence receive timely and sensitive intervention and counseling by specially trained police officers and mental health professionals.

Juvenile Justice Alternative--Police Conferencing (Anoka, Minnesota) - brings juveniles charged with low-level offenses face-to-face with their victims where together they determine and sign formal agreements of restitution. This alternative to juvenile court acts as a deterrence to repeat offenses.

Mercury Management Plan (Hennepin County, Minnesota) - greatly reduces the amounts of mercury released into the waste stream through the comprehensive collection and recycling of such common household items as batteries, thermostats, appliances, and electronics.

Santa Fe Affordable Housing Roundtable (Santa Fe, New Mexico) - is building affordable housing for low-income families through a partnership of local governments, nonprofit agencies, foundations, builders, and lenders.

America Works (State of New York) - the state contracts with a for-profit organization, placing 1,600 welfare recipients in private-sector jobs with pay averaging $8.54 an hour, plus health benefits.

Compstat: A Crime Reduction Management Tool (New York City) - a new style of police management designed to prevent and control crime by holding precinct commanders and their counterparts in the detective bureau accountable for reducing crime rates.

Ergonomics Resource Center (State of North Carolina) - provides training, engineering, and applied research to help employees overcome painful occupational disorders, such as carpal tunnel syndrome and back strain, and to reduce workers' compensation costs.

RECLAIM Ohio (State of Ohio) - gives county judges more choices in sentencing young delinquents, including the option to purchase jail space in state facilities or to develop cost-effective local services.

Oregon Health Plan (State of Oregon) - in the context of rising health-care costs and competing demands, sets explicit priorities and allocates public resources through insurance reform, the expansion of Medicaid, the establishment of small employer purchasing pools, and a high-risk insurance pool for residents denied coverage in the open market.

Arts Incubator (Arlington County, Virginia) - combines traditional support with free theater, exhibition, and rehearsal spaces, and intensive management and administrative assistance helping artists and arts organizations develop into self-sufficient, vital community resources.

Urban Rural Greenway: King County 4 to 1 Program (Washington) - balances environmental protection with growth by using market incentives. For every acre that is developed, four must be dedicated as public open space.

Eugene P. Tone School (Tacoma, Washington) - offers education in a safe, supportive environment for homeless children in a stand-alone school.

Federal Government Program

U.S. Export Assistance Centers (U.S. Department of Commerce) - increases trade opportunities abroad for U.S. firms by consolidating the export promotion and trade finance services of the Commerce Department and 18 other trade-related government agencies linking small and medium-size firms with information about countries and specific distributors.

Federal Direct Student Loan Program (U.S. Department of Education) - simplifies federal student loan delivery and provides flexible repayment options with a single loan holder, the federal government. Auditors found the program has saved taxpayers over $4 billion while providing more than $8.3 billion in loans to 1.4 million students.

Consolidated Planning/Community Connections (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) - replaces cumbersome reporting requirements for communities involved in planning and development with a consolidated plan that eliminates over 1,000 pages of paperwork. An on-line computer mapping system facilitates citizen participation.

Eradicating Sweatshops (U.S. Department of Labor) - creates a constructive role for industry leaders, maximizes Labor Department enforcement efforts, and raises public awareness to help prevent the exploitation of workers in the garment industry.

Evaluating Oral Proposals in Major Government Procurements (U.S. Department of Transportation) - streamlines the procurement process of the Federal Aviation Administration, including the use of videotaped oral proposals, to lower significantly the costs, time, and resources required to prepare technical proposals.

Consequence Assessment Tool Set and Operations Concept (Federal Emergency Management Agency) - gives federal, state, and local emergency management personnel timely and relevant data to respond more quickly and effectively to natural or technological disasters.

Disability Services Team (Social Security Administration) - offers technical assistance, training, and advocacy, particularly with regard to computer-based adaptive services, to the 4,800 Social Security Administration employees with disabilities.

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