On Aug 24, 2005, the EPA announced that 71 facilities had pledged to improve their environmental performance to exceed regulatory requirements. The facilities, located in 29 states and Porto Rico, made new or renewed pledges to improve environmental performance to the National Environmental Performance Track. The program currently lists a total of 370 members who are located in 46 states and Porto Rico that have collectively reduced their combined water usage by 1.3 billion gallons, solid waste by almost 600,000 tons, increased recycled material usage by nearly 77,000 tons and reduced greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 67,000 tons.

Although there are a number of major corporations involved in the program, any size facility is eligible, providing it has a record of sustained compliance with environmental requirements. Some program highlights are:

• Ford Motor Company's Atlanta Assemble plant was the first U.S. automobile facility to join and recently committed to reduce its VOC emissions by over 24 tons and its water usage by almost 14 million gallons.
• The U.S. Army's Fort Lewis Public Works was the first military facility to join.
• Federal Mogul's Boyertown, Pa. plant plans to reduce sulfuric acid use by 50 percent.
• Coke-Cola's North America Syrup plant in Columbus, Ohio plans to reduce BOD discharges by over 1.5 million pounds and water usage by 900,000 million gallons.
• Michelin, which has 6 facilities participating, pledged to reduce water usage by 4 million gallons and energy use by over 40,000 MMBtus at its Spartanburg manufacturing site in South Carolina.

For more information about the program, visit www.epa.gov/performancetrack. More information about the third annual report is available at www.epa.gov/performancetrack/thirdannual.htm.