The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality announced that the City of Willcox in Cochise County & the City of Safford in Graham County have become the first small municipalities in Arizona to participate in ADEQ’s statewide program to help communities comply with state and federal environmental regulations.
ADEQ unveiled its Small Communities Environmental Compliance Assistance project in 2007 for small towns & special water and wastewater districts to sustain compliance with state & federal environmental laws & reduce the number of violations & enforcement actions.
The project was funded by a $12,000 grant from the Environmental Council of States (ECOS) for the communities to develop Small Community Environmental Protection Plans (SCEPP) to improve compliance. Guidance materials, including a comprehensive manual, have been prepared to train small communities on environmental requirements & help with SCEPP development.