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Small Business Clean Air Assistance Program

Wisconsin's Small Business Clean Air Assistance Program (SBCAAP) helps small businesses understand and comply with state and federal air pollution regulations. Section 507 of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments requires each state to operate a small business assistance program.


Are you starting or expanding a business?

Does the business include operations that will have emissions of air pollution?

Will starting or expanding your business involve construction that includes new buildings or installation of new equipment in an existing building?

Permits may be required under the different environmental regulations in Wisconsin. Some permits must be issued BEFORE you begin construction.

We can help you figure out how your business is
affected by the environmental regulations.

 
There are many new rules coming out of USEPA
affecting many small businesses.

  If you refinish motor vehicles, paint plastic and/or metal parts, have a gasoline station, and perform plating, polishing or metal fabrication (including welding) then you may be affected by these rules.  

Go to our Air Toxics page, and look under "Area Source Standards" for more details.  Click here...

The SBCAAP serves as a free, confidential, and non-regulatory resource to small business owners throughout the state. Through the program, Clean Air Specialists work as a liaison between small businesses and state (Department of Natural Resources or DNR) and federal (US Environmental Protection Agency or EPA) regulators. The staff creates "plain language" publications, answers compliance questions, conducts on-site consultations, responds to written and verbal regulatory inquiries, coordinates environmental compliance workshops and directs businesses to other pertinent technical assistance providers.  Read our Annual Report to see how our services are utilized.

Projects have included outreach efforts to small industries and businesses employing 100 or fewer employees involved in such activities as:

  • Chromium Electroplating
  • Fiberglass Reinforced Plastics
  • Dry Cleaning
  • Industrial Adhesives
  • Lithographic Printing
  • Motor Vehicle Refinishing
  • Solvent Degreasing
  • Spray Painting and Coating
  • Wood Finishing
  • Wood Furniture Manufacturing

The SBCAAP reaches thousands of businesses each year through meetings, speaking engagements, workshops, and publications. The program currently offers more than 70 different fact sheets, rule summaries, record keeping and reporting forms and other documents designed to make environmental compliance easier for Wisconsin businesses. The majority of this information is available on the SBCAAP web pages, which you can get to by using the navigation menu on the left side of this page.

Here are a few key resources you can use to figure out if environmental regulations apply to your business:

  • Go through DNR's Permit Primer to find out which of their environmental permits might be required. This is a detailed series of questions and answers that walk you through each of their permit programs. Be prepared to spend a good deal of time to go through all sections of the Primer.
  • Complete the New Business or Existing Business Surveys, to give us the details necessary about your operations to check on what regulations might affect you. The facility contact information is for our purposes only, so we can send a report back to you on what your environmental obligations are and how you can go about complying with the requirements that apply.
  • Review the Environmental Information Summary which provides a brief summary of a range of environmental requirements managed by DNR, Commerce, EPA, OSHA and others.  

If you're looking for training or workshops on air pollution or other environmental issues, check out the Events page for the Business Development Division.  

For information on new regulations or programs that may impact your operations, check our Announcements page.  


  Staff Contact Information

For more information on the program, please contact:

Renee Lesjak Bashel Tom Coogan Jean Beckwith
Clean Air Specialist/
Clean Air Ombudsman		 Clean Air Specialist/
Diesel Program Specialist		 Diesel Grants Specialist/
Clean Air Specialist
608-264-6153 608-267-9214 608-261-2517

Some SBCAAP staff also support Department of Commerce's new grant program for diesel trucks installing idling reduction equipment.  For more information, visit our Diesel Truck Idling Reduction Grant Program page.

The SBCAAP has developed a Public Service Announcement (PSA) that discusses the services offered by the program.  The time the PSA takes to load will vary, depending on your connection speed (dial up, cable, etc).  To view the PSA, click below.

LINKS TO PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT (PSA) VIDEO BY MEDIA TYPE
Length of Video
 Media Type
15 Second PSA
 Flash
QuickTime
30 Second PSA
 Flash
QuickTime
60 Second PSA
 Flash
QuickTime

Send an email to COMCleanAir@Wisconsin.gov with questions or comments about the SBCAAP web pages.