Montana Pollution Prevention Program

• EPA Improves Calculators to Measure Impact of Pollution Prevention Activities

  February 7, 2023 - Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released three improved pollution prevention (P2) calculator tools.

  These tools — the P2 Cost Calculator, the P2 Greenhouse Gas Calculator, and the P2 Calculator for Reductions in Hazardous Substances, Pollutants and Contaminants — convert information on P2 activities at a business, such as reductions in energy use, into information on cost savings and pollution reductions. They help P2 grantees, technical assistance providers, and others measure environmental outcomes and economic performance related to P2 activities.

  The updates to the Cost Calculator and the Greenhouse Gas Calculator include:

  • Streamlined design to more easily account for fuel use;
  • Instructions on how to use the calculators for grant reporting; and 
  • Newer data on prices and the environmental characteristics of power generation, incorporated into default values from sources including the U.S. Energy Information Administration and EPA’s Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database (eGRID).

  The updates to the Reductions Calculator include expanded categories of pollutants and releases — including hazardous materials used, hazardous wastes, air emissions, water pollutants, and solvent remanufacturing — that EPA tracks and measures.

  The calculators use Microsoft Excel and perform best when used with the most current Excel version.

  For help with the calculators, please visit the P2 Hub or email [email protected].

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• Sustainability in Brewing

 October 11, 2022 - The EPA official visited the Three Forks Bridger Brewing site. This new facility has already earned the Sustainable Brewery Certification (SBC). After the SBC program earned a grant from the EPA, one of thier own came to check the new state of the art water conservation systems.

The same initiative that gave the grant to MTP2 last week, was earned by the SBC program. This polution prevention program wass established in 2020 by Bridger Brewing's own director of operations.¹ Though only a few years old, they already have big plans. The provided Project Narrative states, "With no national standard or environmental sustainability scoring system that is relevant to Montana brewery needs..."¹ The SBC is setting out to provide the Big Sky Country with a custom raiting designed for smaller operations and region spesific meassures. With this tailored guide in hand SBC leaders hope to show a path to smaller local breweries on how to conserve water.

There are over a hundred breweries in Montana. The majority of those are opperating at a 5:1 water to beer ratio, with 30 million gallons of water being used to produce six million gallons of beer per year (according to the Program Narrative). In a drought prone state like Montana It's not hard to imagine the importance of water. After enduring the most intense drought of Gallitin County in atleast the last 22 years, we all could do with supporting water conservation efforts.² A residential home will rarely use 30 million gallons a year, but with the population of Bozeman increasing we are always using more water. About 80% of Bozeman's water comes from snowpack.³ However the last two yearshave resulted in lower than average snow fall and 2020 only bearly matching the average peak.² Now, we can't create more water but we can reduce the ammount we need. This is part of the MTP2's core values. We all need to do our part and MTP2 is here to help. Whether your situation is a organization or individual.

Read more!

1. EPA's Visit to Bridger Brewing

2. Gallitin Water Supply Outlook

3. City of Bozeman's Water Conservation Page