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Founded in 1967, the Arkansas Environmental Federation is a 501c(3) non-profit education association with more than 350 members, the vast majority of them businesses and industries that deal with environmental, safety, and health regulations on a day-to-day basis. The AEF focuses on practical, common-sense laws and regulations based on sound science; a teamwork approach to compliance; and waste minimization and pollution prevention. The AEF enables information to be exchanged on a daily basis between its members, government regulators, and policy makers. AEF's Position on Global Climate Change
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The Arkansas Environmental Federation Board of Directors and Government Affairs Committee have adopted a position statement on Global Climate Change. The position statement describes the overall principles that AEF believes should be applied to climate change legislation at the both the federal and state levels, and is one we believe is based on facts and sound economic justification. The full position can be downloaded or viewed as a jpeg.
AEF Membership: More Valuable Than Ever
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We recently partnered with Stephens Inc. to offer a newly formed Health Insurance Purchasing Group named BRAVO to our membership. This program allows any AEF member in good standing to become eligible for the HIPG which offers an array of plans to employers having 1 to 199 employees at reasonable rates. For more information on Bravo!, contact
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, and for information regarding a membership with the AEF, email
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.
| Charting a Sustainable Future |
I would like to welcome each of you to the Arkansas Environmental Federation which has been around for more than forty years now. The Federation has been instrumental in developing environmental policy and regulations in Arkansas and in educating our membership.
I, too, have been around for some time in the environmental field, starting with the Arkansas Department of Pollution Control and Ecology way back in 1986 as a hazardous waste inspector. Those were the hay days of RCRA when hazardous waste enforcement was an exercise in - or shall I say an experiment in - regulatory interpretation and application. Back then, the AEF went by the moniker of Arkansas Federation of Air and Water Users or abusers as some of my colleagues affectionately referred to them back then. I fondly remember the Federation’s annual hazardous waste seminar and trade shows which were very well attended back in those days and easily rivaled the organization’s annual convention and trade show. RCRA served its purpose back then by stringently regulating industry and eventually greatly reducing the overall generation of hazardous wastes.
Since leaving the Department for private industry in 1991, other areas of the environmental arena have spent their moments in the spotlight as the controversial new regulatory programs. The environmental protection field continues to mature and so to do the professionals that administer the programs in both the private and public sectors. There now is a great body of environmental knowledge in Arkansas and more specifically within the membership of the AEF that can better interpret and implement the newest of regulations. Armed with this knowledge, together we can advance Arkansas’ environmental legacy through pragmatic, concise rules and not burdensome regulations or nebulous policies.
Industries by and large have done their part to help protect the environment of this state and the regulatory agencies surely recognize this fact. I would like to see each and every proposed statue, regulation or permit limit pass one test before being proposed. And that test is what will this new law, rule or limit do to protect the environment? Does this new law or rule generate more recordkeeping than protection, more permitting than protection, or more testing than protection?
2009 will, no doubt, be a challenging year with a new president, new congress, new EPA administrator and new legislature, but the AEF is more equipped now than ever to meet these challenges.
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- Remington Arms Co., Inc.
President, AEF Board of Directors | Executive Director's Update |
 The Arkansas Environmental Federation is dedicated to promoting environmental protection within Arkansas’ manufacturing and business sectors. If you or your facility has environmental responsibilities, the AEF could be your primary source for environmental, safety and health training, professional development, regulatory review, legislative monitoring and professional networking. Our cost-effective workshops on the pressing environmental issues facing Arkansas’ manufacturers are convenient and timely and always bring together the regulators and the regulated community in a non-confrontational manner.
The AEF is committed to a balanced, effective and efficient approach to environmental protection. We understand that job creation often comes with an environmental impact. Corporate resources are not unlimited. Investments and efforts aimed at the environment must, therefore, be designed to accomplish environmental gains in an efficient manner, including Arkansas specific training for environmental professionals. AEF Members can take advantage of two members only features of our newly updated website (members see the login page for instructions on new passwords): We welcome you to the Arkansas Environmental Federation’s website and encourage you to consider partnering with us to make a positive impact on Arkansas. Randy Thurman
Executive Director - AEF
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