By Naomi Hatch Byron James of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality presented Snowflake Mayor Kelly Willis with a certificate accepting the town into the ADEQ Small Communities Environmental Compliance Assistance program at the Nov. 27 town council meeting. This program is one of ADEQ’s key rural programs to improve the state’s environment, because it recognizes the limited resources of small communities with under 10,000 population. As part of the policy, ADEQ offers a waiver of future violations if the town commits to show good faith for environmental compliance. James noted that Snowflake is the seventh town in the state to participate in the program. Under the program, Snowflake agrees to develop a Small Community Environmental Protection Plan (SCEPP). In addition to developing and implementing a SCEPP, Snowflake agrees to disclose known environmental violations, request compliance assistance before enforcement actions begin, participate in a compliance evaluation to identify violations and promptly correct known violations. After satisfying those conditions, the town will be eligible for up to a 100 percent penalty reduction if it has future environmental violations. “I think any time you can take a positive step…to work with an agency and make sure your environmental policies are in line with laws that state and federal agencies have (is good). I’m very supportive of the town joining this environmental program,” said Town Manager Paul Watson.