By Eileen Buckley
Albany, NY – The Environmental Protection Agency and State University of New York signed an historic agreement Monday.
The EPA will allow SUNY to review, report and remedy any environmental hazards on its campuses. In exchange for compliance, the EPA will also wave all fines and penalties.
EPA spokesperson Teresa Ippolito said the EPA monitors the use and disposal of chemicals and pesticides on SUNY campuses.
"And this gives not only the EPA a greater array of information from SUNY, it also allows SUNY to have the process take place in a manner and schedule they are comfortable with."
Under the environmental self-audit agreement, if SUNY finds violations, it will report them to the EPA. It is a five-year agreement.
The EPA earlier entered into a similar arrangement with Rutgers University. Ippolito said the goal is to eventually have self-audit agreements with all major university systems.