Services
- Real-Time Answers
- Permit Applications
- Waste Vendor Background Checks/Vendor Site Audits
- Site Audits
- Process Development
- Training
- Competencies
- Notice of Registration (NOR)
- Tier II
- Notices of Violation / Notices of Enforcement / Agreed Orders
- Contracts
- New Environmental Departments
- Temporary Help
Services
Burris Environmental Solutions offers personalized service to guarantee you always understand your compliance options and you have the regulations that apply to your site.
Real-Time Answers
Do you ever wish you just had all of the answers to the environmental compliance questions that come up during your day? Burris Environmental Solutions provides what may be the most valuable compliance assistance you will ever have – real-time answers. As a small firm, we acquaint ourselves with your facility specifically, with your operations and permits, and key people. So when you have a question from your staff or operations, a phone call to us can get you the answer you need in real-time, in most situations. The answer will come with the pertinent rule cite, because we know some people do not believe an answer until they see it in black and white.
Permit Applications
Permits = Money. We can prepare Air, Water, and Waste permit applications to the most strategic advantage for your site. We will help you negotiate with the TCEQ or EPA to get a permit that fits your site, negotiating removal of overly burdensome standard conditions or non-applicable sample parameters.
Waste Vendor Background Checks/Vendor Site Audits
Did you know that choosing and disposing of waste, if done wrong, can be a criminal offense? Hazardous waste can be done with several different methods: incineration, burial, encapsulation, neutralization, or an alternate path of re-use. Do you know which method is legal, appropriate, and cost effective for your wastes? After you choose a disposal company, is it one carrying a high-liability or a low-liability that its mistakes or financial shortcomings will come back on you? If your vendor is one operating with high liability, when their operations terminate or they have a significant breach of waste containment, the clean-up costs for their site will most likely come back on you. We can assess your types of waste to choose disposal method, then through a standardized system of liability measurement, help you choose which vendor is best for you. We can even make site audits, complete with final report, to vendors you would like to have thoroughly assessed.
Site Audits
Do you know all the environmental regulations that apply to your site? Is your site compliant with all of those regulations? Are you ready for your ISO 14001 audit? Burris Environmental Solutions has subject matter experts for air, water, and waste to make site audits thorough, but expedient. During an audit, we will identify issues, provide Best Management Practice (BMP) options, then provide a written report complete with pertinent regulatory rule cites. Optionally, we can also arrange to present the findings to your site's management.
Process Development
Is your operations staff making the same mistakes over and over? Process writing and implementing is the first step in conquering the “Nobody told me…” issue. Most companies intend to put “Processes” in place, but never have the time. Burris consultants have the background knowledge on most industries to be able to start the process of customizing written processes from an enhanced position, well past the “Tell me what your company does…” point. After Processes are written and approved by you, the client, you have the option to have the Processes implemented through formal or informal training sessions.
Training – RELEVANCE, the key to worthwhile training.
Burris Environmental Solutions recognizes that there is no "one right way" to train someone, but humor is always welcome. We offer both Standard Topics required by regulation 40 CFR 265.16 and Specialized Topics. The Specialized Topics can be classes for which a curriculum is already developed, or we can develop a curriculum to fit a subject your facility wants taught. Trainings can be classroom style or personal one-on-one, typically for new managers, new employees, or new sales staff. Please see the Training tab for the complete list of training classes available.Our principal, Jill C. Burris, has received accolades for her training classes for more than two decades. While with the Texas agency, she gave multiple trainings a year to both the general public and government inspectors. At every event, she received the highest marks for presenting classes with relevance, understandable explanations, and knowledge of topic. During her tenure with one of the global companies, her environmental training class was identified amongst upper-level managers as a "class worth taking," resulting in the first classes having 5 attendees and later classes having closer to 50. She was also told by an employee of 27-years with the company, that hers was the "best class ever given" at that company, with the employee emphasizing, "Not (only) the best environmental class, the best class, period!" While substitute teaching a class at another organization, a student interrupted saying, "I've been coming to these classes for five years and this is the first class I've gotten useful information from!"
Her secret to training well is humor, non-stop class participation, and the answer to "Why do I need to learn this?". All classes are interactive, fun, and humorous which keeps attendees tuned in. All material taught is relative to their jobs. You will never find Jill reading off a slideshow - too boring and serves no purpose!
Competencies
Raise your company’s standards by implementing environmental “Competencies.” Environmental Competencies define the job(s), train specifically for the job(s), then measure the proficiency of job performance. They also establish who can measure the proficiency. Burris Environmental can develop the whole program for you. Besides including all pertinent regulations and permit conditions into the environmental competencies, we can also include your Corporate Standards. We start by identifying each environmental employee’s job responsibilities, identifying the consistent content necessary for training, then establishing written tests to prove your staff is properly trained or periodic on-site assessments. If your Competency programs are computer-based, we can either write the slide text and provide it to your CBT developer, or we can provide the entire text in the CBT format using our sub-contracted vendor.*CBT - Computer-Based Training.
Notice of Registration (NOR)
Texas facilities generating/storing waste at Small Quantity Generator levels or higher, must maintain an NOR. The NOR is the first place facilities acquire violations during a TCEQ inspection. It must be kept up-to-date and accurate at all times. We can help you establish an NOR, maintain accuracy for your NOR, update your NOR, or train the person at your site how to use the TCEQ STEERS software to update the NOR.
Tier II
If your facility is subject to Tier II submittals, Burris Environmental Solutions can assist in completing and submitting this report on time. If your company has multiple facilities in Texas, we can save you money by submitting the reports in bulk.
Notices of Violation / Notices of Enforcement / Agreed Orders
If your facility has received an NOV, NOE, or an AO, call Burris Environmental Solutions to help you correct the issues and respond, then assist in representing you to the TCEQ or EPA. Please check out the "Did You Know...?" tab for a story of when a facility received an inspection and responded with their attorneys first, instead of their technical environmental staff. Spoiler Alert! - It does not go well. Always try to respond with your technical staff first. Immediately after an inspection, there is still room to negotiate violations and enforcement issues with the agency, if attorneys are not yet involved. Because our principal, Jill C. Burris, spent 14 years as an agency inspector, she knows how to dispute violations (if just cause), or how to minimize the enforcement actions being proposed against you. We would prefer to assist your site with compliance before an inspection, but we can still help minimize the actions afterward. Just call us quickly!
Contracts
Legal contracts are the basis for limiting your facility's liability when dealing with waste vendors, water/wastewater operations contractors, asbestos removal contractors, environmental compliance labs, etc. If the correct and specific language is omitted, your facility could be open to dumped waste, illegal or non-licensed sub-contractors, or loss of confidential information. Attorneys will usually draw-up the main body of the contract, however, they typically do not know the specific liabilities environmental operations and vendors can bring to a facility. Burris Environmental Solutions can consult with you to ensure ALL of your vendors are contracted with the correct language to minimize liabilities and contractor confrontation during and after projects. This one issue could save you thousands or millions of dollars if done correctly. Don't wait until you are being sued or challenged by an environmental vendor or contractor!
New Environmental Departments
Burris Environmental Solutions specializes in opening first-time environmental departments, both for new companies and established companies newly seeing the need. From filings required with the governmental agencies, to files required by Sarbanes-Oxley, we can set up the permits, record requirements, training, contracts, site lay-outs, and HR job descriptions. All aspects of laying the groundwork for your new environmental staff or designated person can be established.