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US EPA Recognizes Environmental Partners; Welcomes Tustin, Calif. Company to National Performance Track

Release Date: 8/23/2002
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, (415) 947-4297

     SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today publicly recognized
the 32 companies in the Pacific Southwest region taking part in the National Performance Track
program, the EPA's premier recognition program promoting sound environmental management,
continuous environmental improvement, public outreach and sustained environmental compliance.

     During the ceremony at the Burton Federal Building in San Francisco, the EPA's regional
administrator for the Pacific Southwest region, Wayne Nastri, also welcomed Ricoh Electronics
Inc.'s Office Machine Group of Tustin, Calif. as the newest member of the Nation Performance
Track program. Ricoh -- along with 22 other companies nationwide who were named as Performance
Track companies in August -- has committed to reducing water use, solid waste, hazardous waste
and energy use.

     "The old command and control system has been very successful, but we now need innovative
partnership approaches to meet the new environmental challenges facing us," said Nastri. "The
National Performance Track program is a great example of an innovative partnership approach to
achieve superior envrionmental performance."

     Launched in June 2000, the Performance Track program recognizes companies who go
beyond compliance with environmental regulations. These companies are committed to sound
environmental management and continuous environmental improvement.

     Companies in this program consistently meet their legal requirements, have implemented
environmental management systems to monitor and improve performance, have voluntarily achieved
environmental improvements beyond compliance and publicly commit to specific environmental
improvements and report on progress. And with their membership in Performance Track, companies
receive a range of incentives such as public recognition and low inspection priority to motivate
further improvements.

     "Partnerships are critical to achieving our shared goals for the environment and enabling us
to bring the future of environmental protection to bear on the challenges we face today," the EPA's
administrator, Christie Whitman said. "That is what we are doing with Performance Track. Through
this program, the EPA recognizes and rewards top environmental performers who use creativity and
innovation to voluntarily go beyond current requirements."

     Current Performance Track companies have committed to lowering emissions of greenhouse
gases by 26 million pounds; reducing emissions of volatile organic compounds by 98,000 pounds;
reducing solid waste by 225 million pounds; and recycling or reusing more than five million pounds
of materials.

     Current List of National Environmental Performance Track Members

                                                           
                            ARIZONA
          City of Scottsdale

          Ross Products of Casa Grande


                           CALIFORNIA
          3M Dental Products of Irvine

          3M Optical Systems of Petaluma

          The Altamont Landfill in Oakland

          Anheuser-Busch Inc.'s Fairfield Brewery

          Baker Petrolite of Bakersfield

          Best Washington Uniform Supply of Long Beach

          Gilroy Foods of Gilroy and King City

          Grundfos Pump Manufacturing Corporation of Fresno

          IBM, San Jose

          Johnson and Johnson Advanced Sterilization Products of Irvine

          Johnson and Johnson BioSense-Webster of Diamond Bar

          Johnson and Johnson Cordis Corporation of Fremont

          Johnson and Johnson LifeScan of Milpitas

          Johnson and Johnson Neutrogena of Los Angeles

          Johnson and Johnson Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals of Redwood City

          Johnson and Johnson's Robert Woods Johnson Pharmaceutical Research Institute of San Diego

          Mitchell Repair Information Company of Poway

          Philips Semiconductors of Sunnyvale

          REI Ricoh Electronics, Inc. Thermal Media Group and Reprographics Supply Group of Santa Ana

          Rohm and Haas Hayward and La Mirada plants

          Simi Valley Recycling and Disposal Facility of Oakland

          Snap-On Special Products of Escondido

          TriCities Waste Managementof Oakland

          U.S. Borax, Inc. Owens Lake Operations in Lone Pine

          U.S. Borax, Inc.corporate facility in Valencia

          U.S. Borax, Inc. operations in Wilmington

          Waste Management of the Desert in Oakland


                             NEVADA
          Gilroy Foods Geothermal Plant in Fernley


For more information about Performance Track, visit:
https://www.epa.gov/performancetrack/