History
In 1993, representatives from Westinghouse Savannah River Company and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) expressed a desire to establish a dialogue with officials from the States of Georgia and South Carolina on collaborative efforts to address the environmental management needs of small- and mid-sized companies. The dialogue was intended to highlight methods for the transfer of technologies and expertise developed at the Savannah River Site to commercial applications in Georgia and South Carolina.
Proposals were submitted to DOE and the Technology Reinvestment Program (TRP) to fund establishment of the Southeastern Environmental Resources Alliance (SERA). SERA’s stated goal was to increase the competitiveness of small- and medium-sized companies by helping them identify and reduce environmental management costs. To that end, SERA sought to establish a problem-solving network employing the existing environmental extension/deployment and technical assistance expertise at Savannah River Site, the region’s major research universities and appropriate agencies of government. SERA staff, working in conjunction with these organizations, would help companies to identify environmental problems and their costs, find environmentally sound and cost-effective solutions, and assist in the implementation of those solutions.
In May 1995, SERA was awarded $2.8 million from TRP and $1 million from DOE. The initial proposals provided for a contribution of $1 million, in cash, from the states of Georgia and South Carolina. This funding was intended to establish SERA as a non-profit corporation in the State of South Carolina. SERA was governed by a Board of Directors comprised of 5 members each from the states of South Carolina and Georgia, appointed by their respective Governors and one non-voting member from DOE.
The Pollution Prevention Assistance Division (P 2AD), Georgia Department of Natural Resources was designated by the Office of the Governor as lead state agency for Georgia’s participation in SERA. Georgia’s involvement in SERA was secured by a contractual agreement with P 2AD. In the course of negotiating this agreement, it was determined that Georgia’s contribution to the SERA initiative would be in the form of in-kind services rather than direct cash payments. P 2AD, in turn, entered into sub-agreements with the state’s other environmental technical assistance organizations at Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia. This unofficial collaboration has come to be known as the Georgia Environmental Partnership (GEP).
GEP was established to coordinate the delivery of technical assistance services to Georgia industry. GEP seeks to leverage the financial and human resources of its members to promote the adoption of pollution prevention, energy efficiency and environmental compliance among companies throughout the state.
GEP’s work scope included six core activities: awareness events, on-site assessments, regional seminars, sector-specific workshops, database development, and technology transfer under its SERA contract. Each of these activities is designed to provide businesses and industries with the information and technical support necessary to address environmental management problems affecting their operations.
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