Small Business Clean Air Assistance Program

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Wisconsin's Small Business Clean Air Assistance Program (SBCAAP) helps small businesses understand and comply with state and federal air pollution regulations. Section 507 of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments requires each state to operate a small business assistance program.

How can we help?

• Are you starting or expanding a business?
• Does the business include operations that will have emissions of air pollution?
• Will starting or expanding your business involve construction that includes new buildings or installation of new equipment in an existing building?

Permits may be required under the different environmental regulations in Wisconsin. Some permits must be issued before you begin construction. We can help you figure out how your business is affected by the environmental regulations.

What we do

The SBCAAP serves as a free, confidential, and non-regulatory resource to small business owners throughout the state. Through the program, Clean Air specialists work as liaisons between small businesses and state (WI Department of Natural Resources or DNR) and federal (US Environmental Protection Agency or EPA) regulators. The staff creates "plain language" publications, answers compliance questions, conducts on-site consultations, responds to written and verbal regulatory inquiries, coordinates environmental compliance workshops, and directs businesses to other pertinent technical assistance providers. See our Annual Reports for 2007-2008 and 2009 to learn more about how our services are utilized.

SBCAAP projects have included outreach efforts to small industries and businesses employing 100 or fewer employees engaged in activities like:

• Chromium Electroplating
• Fiberglass Reinforced Plastics
• Dry Cleaning
• Industrial Adhesives
• Lithographic Printing
• Motor Vehicle Refinishing
• Solvent Degreasing
• Spray Painting and Coating
• Wood Finishing
• Wood Furniture Manufacturing

The SBCAAP reaches thousands of businesses each year through meetings, speaking engagements, workshops, and publications. The program currently offers more than 70 different fact sheets, rule summaries, record keeping and reporting forms, and other documents designed to make environmental compliance easier for Wisconsin businesses. The majority of this information is always available on the SBCAAP web pages.

Here are a few key resources you can use to figure out which environmental regulations might apply to your business:

• Go through DNR's Permit Primer to find out which of their environmental permits might be required. This is a detailed series of questions and answers that walk you through each of their permit programs. Be prepared to spend a good deal of time to go through all sections of the Primer.
• Complete the New Business or Existing Business Surveys, to give us the details necessary about your operations to check on what regulations might affect you. The facility contact information is for our purposes only, so we can send a report back to you on what your environmental obligations are and how you can go about complying with the requirements that apply.
• Review the Environmental Information Summary which provides a brief summary of a range of environmental requirements managed by DNR, Commerce, EPA, OSHA and others.

Are you looking for information on diesel truck idling reduction? Visit the Diesel Truck Idling Reduction Grant Program [exit DNR] web site.

Contact Information

For more information on the program, please contact:

Our program's location and mailing address are:

WI Department of Natural Resources
Bureau of Air Management AM/7
101 S Webster St, PO Box 7921
Madison, WI 53707-7921

Questions?

If you have questions or comments about the SBCAAP webpages, call us at 1.855.889.3021 or send an email to DNRCleanAir@wisconsin.gov.