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ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING OFFERED FOR AUTOMOTIVE INSTRUCTORS

Release Date: 5/5/1999
Contact Information: Janet Viniski (215) 814-5543

PHILADELPHIA - "Why bother with environmental issues?" will be one of the first topics of the training offered for automotive instructors by the Coordinating Committee For Automotive Repair (CCAR®), in June 1999. Enrollment in this training is going on right now for two locations in Pennsylvania. On June 1 and 2, the free, two-day course will be offered at Harrisburg Area Community College; and on June 3 and 4, at ASPIRE, Inc., at 925 Lincoln Highway, in Morrisville, Bucks County.

"Many automotive shops think that they are too small to cause an environmental problem," said CCAR® instructor and former shop owner, Jessica Levy. "They don’t realize that although leaving the lid off one drum of solvent generally won’t harm the environment by itself, thousands of businesses doing the same thing contribute significantly to smog. Shops that don’t follow air conditioning repair regulations contribute to the hole in the protective stratospheric ozone layer, and closer to home, face thousands of dollars in penalties. Stations with faulty underground gasoline tanks can face thousands of dollars in penalties and risk millions of dollars in clean-up costs."

The course is designed to help vo-tech instructors and others, teach shops how to use a non-technical compliance checklist to avoid these costly problems. For example, instructors will learn how to teach proper handling, storage and disposal of used materials such as antifreeze, batteries, and absorbents.

The CCAR-GreenLink® course, "Go Green Link - How to Save Money and Avoid Environmental Fines" developed by ASPIRE, is used to show how shops and students can learn at their own pace. A self-study, leader-led version is available.

The training is designed so that an instructor offering a specific session such as air-conditioning repair, can insert the module on related environmental regulations into an existing curriculum or offer separate courses on compliance.

"I’ve been to training where overwhelming amounts of information are thrown at you in an hour or two," said Levy. "This program is designed to help the instructor and trainee." She also pointed out that automotive instructors have the opportunity to help their students learn how to incorporate environmental compliance as a part of doing business. As a result, they also are helping to protect the environment.

Anyone interested in the training should contact CCAR® at 1-888-686-4445, e-mail at ccarinfo@ccar-greenlink.org or Fax at 913-498-1770. The training is funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region III through an environmental education grant.


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