21-O:19 Small Business Technical Assistance. –
I. To exercise practical pollution prevention in the field and provide environmental technical assistance to small regulated sources, the department shall:
(a) Develop a comprehensive small business technical assistance program with the following goals:
(1) Identify all existing technical assistance programs relating to energy and environmental assistance to small business.
(2) Develop outreach programs to assist small business identified under subparagraph II(b), to comply with current and proposed environmental regulations.
(3) Develop and co-develop technical assistance programs for cost effective and environmentally sound pollution prevention and regulatory compliance programs, in conjunction with private initiatives when appropriate.
(4) Prepare literature on rights and responsibilities pertaining to environmental rules and regulations under state and federal law.
(5) Provide direction and guidance, in consultation with the department's public information and permitting office, on preparing environmental permit applications.
(6) Review and evaluate all department recordkeeping and reporting requirements imposed on small businesses in order to eliminate duplication where possible, and to streamline duplicative reporting requirements.
(7) Create and make available a technical resource library for pollution control equipment, pollution prevention techniques and equipment, energy conservation material, and financial assistance.
(b) Work with appropriate private and public organizations, including, but not limited to, the university system of New Hampshire, the department of business and economic affairs, the public utilities commission, and the governor's office of energy and community services, to:
(1) Identify and categorize the technical and financial resources available to small business.
(2) Identify, prioritize, and target small businesses needing assistance from a state-supported program.
(3) Develop technical assistance programs for cost-effective energy reduction.
(4) Identify all financial assistance programs available for implementing energy and environmental process improvements.
(c) Consolidate appropriate technical assistance functions into a cohesive whole, utilizing available employee skills as needed to accomplish the goals stated in paragraph I.
(d) Employ a classified pollution prevention specialist who shall be qualified by reason of education and experience to advance pollution prevention through outreach and assistance.
(e) Provide small business advocacy and representation on environmentally related activities within the department.
(f) Provide for the review of department outreach, education, and technical assistance activities for small businesses.
II. The following provisions shall apply in any instance where a small business subject to regulation under any program implemented by the department voluntarily requests any technical assistance available under this section, provided the small business making the request is not the subject of an active enforcement action and has not been notified of an impending regulatory inspection at the time the request is made:
(a) Department employees or agents providing such technical assistance shall not make available to any department regulatory program or any other regulatory or enforcement agency, information obtained in the course of providing such technical assistance unless:
(1) The person requesting such technical assistance agrees that such information may be made available to department or other regulatory or enforcement programs;
(2) The information is public record under RSA 91-A;
(3) The information pertains to an imminent threat to human life, or to the environment;
(4) The information reveals evidence of a knowing criminal violation; or
(5) The information is presented in aggregate form with no identification of individual entities in order to develop pollution prevention and technical assistance activities.
(b) Nothing in this paragraph shall relieve any person of any obligation to provide notice, information, or a report required by any statute, rule, permit, or order.
(c) The department shall notify any person requesting technical assistance of the provisions of this paragraph.
Source. 1996, 8:3. 2005, 254:1-3, eff. Sept. 12, 2005. 2017, 156:14, II, eff. July 1, 2017.