GENERAL PURPOSE AND CONTEXT. The purpose of this Federal Fiscal Year 2006/2007 (FY06/07) Performance Partnership Agreement ("the Agreement") is to set forth the mutual understandings reached regarding our state/federal relationship, the joint environmental priorities and, the desirable environmental outcomes, the performance expectations for the participating programs, and the oversight arrangements between the parties. The parties to this agreement are the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (Illinois EPA) and Region 5 of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (Region 5).
A. State/Federal Environmental Partnership
GENERAL PURPOSE AND CONTEXT. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) is entering its fourth year with the National Environmental Performance Partnership System, or NEPPS. This system was created on May 17, 1995, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) Administrator Xxxxx Xxxxxxx and state representatives signed a "Joint Commitment to Reform Oversight and Create a National Environmental Performance Partnership System." This system recognizes two decades of environmental progress in the United States, but acknowledges that we must modify existing policies and management approaches to address our most pervasive and difficult to solve problems. Through NEPPS, US EPA and states work together to monitor environmental conditions and to develop innovative approaches to improve the quality of our nation's air, water and land. NEPPS also provides states with greater flexibility to achieve results while maintaining accountability for meeting national standards. NEPPS consists of: • Increased use of environmental goals and indicators, • Self assessment by states of program accomplishments and barriers, • Environmental Performance Partnership Agreements (EnPPA) between states and US EPA Regions, • Reduced oversight and increased flexibility for states that demonstrate strong performance, • Public outreach to increase awareness of environmental conditions and public involvement in setting goals and objectives, • Joint US EPA and state evaluation of the new system. This Environmental Performance Partnership Agreement (EnPPA) was created through a joint planning and priority setting dialogue between IDEM and US EPA Region 5, informed both by feedback from Indiana citizens and directions set by US EPA national, regional and state program managers. Through this agreement, we hope to continuously improve the US EPA IDEM relationship and our systems for managing environmental programs. The agreement is based on several underlying assumptions: • US EPA should rely on the states to manage environmental programs delegated to the states. • States and US EPA should incorporate the public's ideas and concerns into our priority setting and planning. • We should strive continuously to improve the products and services we provide. • We must be accountable to stakeholders and communities who have a right to expect timeliness, efficiency, professionalism, and progress toward improved environmental conditions. • We should maximize each other's strengths and eliminate duplication of e...
