TOWN OF TONAWANDA — The town is now one of just a few municipalities nationwide to partner with local, state and federal environmental interests in a cooperative effort to simultaneously reduce pollution and bolster local manufacturing.

The town is one of just 10 locations across the country to participate in the program overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Dubbed the E3 Sustainability Initiative, which stands for economy energy and environment, the program’s name represents its stated focal points.

Saying it’s a “misconception” that being pro-manufacturing is synonymous with being “anti-environment,” Empire Development Corp. Vice President for Regional Economic Development Sam Hoyt joined state and federal environmental agencies Friday as the town officially signed on to the program.

Hoyt joined others from the locally based Clean Air Coalition of Western New York, EPA, Small Business Administration, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation and Town Supervisor Anthony Caruana with at least half a dozen other environmental interests at the Sheridan Parkside Community Center, where representatives of each group spoke before breaking to sign a charter to launch the program, the first of its kind in Western New York.

Charles Harewood, an EPA environmental engineer, said what’s unique about the E3 program is the involvement of local coalitions as well as state and federal partners. Clean Air Coalition of Western New York Executive Director Erin Heaney attended the gathering, and was credited with helping organize the town’s participation in E3.

“The E3 initiative looks for ways to increase environmental benefits  while reducing business costs. Every dollar saved on energy, materials and cleaning up pollution means there’s more money to improve the quality of life for workers and surrounding communities,” EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said.

While the voluntary program brings together officials on all levels of government with access to grants and other incentives to encourage reducing the sometimes harmful impact of industry, participation by the region’s companies is the hope, not the guarantee.

“We have a specific list of companies we would like to start partnering with to introduce them to the opportunities the program provides,” Town Engineer Jim Jones said.

He said in the program’s early phase, the town hopes to start a dialogue with about eight to 10 such companies, though he didn’t list them by name.

In short, the program brings to the table experts like the New York State Pollution Prevention Institute (based at the Rochester Institute of Technology) and consultants Insyte of Buffalo to assess and implement strategies to reduce pollution while at the same time increasing efficiency reflected on the bottom line.

Anahita Williamson, director of the Pollution Prevention Institute, told those gathered that specific plans are custom generated in accordance with individual companies’ profit interests, and include proven methods of reducing environmental impact while benefiting manufacturers directly.

Her organization, as just one example, focuses on helping dry cleaners throughout the state eliminate the use of toxic chemicals by providing economically viable substitutes that are better for the environment.

For the town’s part, participation in E3 also ties manufacturers that choose to take part to a full range of available aid like the state’s job retention/creation incentive, tax breaks through the Excelsior Jobs Program, NYSERDA grants for cutting electricity usage, a slew of annual private grants and more, all while also helping companies better compete for federal dollars that favor members of the program.

Sponsors include National Fuel and National Grid, which in turn offer incentives in line with the state’s goal of reducing electricity consumption by 15 percent by 2015.

The list goes on.

The town’s commitment to E3 began in November of last year but is only now coming to involve outreach initiatives  to recruit local manufacturers to take part. The Town of Tonawanda joins only a short list of other municipalities to do so, with just 10 others in places like Wisconsin, Texas, the Carolinas, Michigan and West Virginia.

“The Town of Tonawanda is excited to be at the forefront of these efforts to encourage sustainability. The (program) is an opportunity to address the needs of our residents and workforce by providing opportunities for businesses to grow through sustainability efforts and the use of green technology. It helps our environment and our economy,” Caruana said.

More  information on the program can be found at www.epa.gov/region02/p2