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Dallas first major city to join EPA’s Performance Track

Release Date: 09/19/2008
Contact Information: Dave Bary or Tressa Tillman at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

42 new members from across country set goals that go above and beyond legal requirements

(Dallas, Texas – September 19, 2008) The City of Dallas is the first major city to set goals to go above and beyond environmental requirements as part of EPA's National Environmental Performance Track.

Dallas joins the Performance Track program with 42 other new members that include facilities from across the country.

“Performance Track members are raising the bar when it comes to environmental stewardship,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “By setting high goals that go beyond compliance with regulations, members are delivering real results that will preserve and protect our natural resources.”

Dallas, for example, the first large city government to become a member of the program, intends to reduce water use at all city sites by five percent over a three-year period, a reduction of 49 million gallons of water used.

Other new Performance Track members from Texas include Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Goss International Americas Inc. – Fort Worth, Rio Grande Village Store & RV Park in Big Bend National Park, Rough Canyon Marina, LLC in Del Rio, and Southfork Ranch in Parker.

Both public and private individual facilities may apply for Performance Track membership, with some companies having multiple facilities in the program. Performance Track members represent a wide range of industries, including government, electronics, chemical products, pharmaceuticals, and rubber and plastics.

This latest group of Performance Track members was accepted from applications submitted in Spring 2008. To earn membership, applicants must demonstrate and commit to maintaining a strong record of environmental compliance, set three-year goals for continuous improvements in environmental performance beyond their legal requirements, have internal systems in place to manage environmental impacts, engage in community outreach and consistently report results.

Since the launch of the program in 2000, Performance Track members have set more than 4,000 goals to benefit the environment. As a result, they have reported greenhouse gas reductions of 310,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, reductions in nitrogen oxides of 13,000 tons, and reductions of hazardous waste of 52,000 tons.

Additional information on the Performance Track program and its new members is available at http://epa.gov/performancetrack/.

To learn more about activities in EPA Region 6, please visit https://www.epa.gov/region6.