EPA scraps Bush's Performance Track scheme

The Environmental Protection Agency has got rid of a controversial Bush-era environmental programme designed to reward companies that signed up to voluntary pollution reduction with a less-rigorous inspection regime.

Lisa Jackson, the Obama-appointed administrator of the EPA, published a statement this week on the web site for the Performance Track programme, confirming it was to be halted.

"Performance Track was developed in a different era and may not speak to today's challenges," she said. "Members of Congress and stakeholders had also asked us to pause and consider what approaches might be best for the future. Therefore, I have decided to halt the current Performance Track programme with the intention of refining those concepts that can lead us to a stronger system of environmental protection as we go forward."

The controversial scheme, which was introduced by the EPA in 2000, gave participating companies a selection of benefits, including making them a low priority for routine inspections, and expedited permit renewals. Companies were also required to report less frequently under the Maximum Achievable Control Technology provisions of the Clean Air Act.

In return for the reduced regulatory burden and enforcement procedures, firms were required to voluntarily commit to reductions in their environmental impact.

However, critics said that in practice these voluntary commitments were poorly policed, enabling some organisations to continue with their current levels of pollution, or in some cases to pollute even more, while still benefiting from reduced numbers of environmental inspections.

The EPA rejected accusations that the scheme had failed, though, releasing figures that showed it had saved 3.6bn gallons of water between 2000 and 2006, along with 1.21m tonnes of non-hazardous waste.