Home News LMOP accepting awards applications

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Landfill Methane Outreach Program (LMOP) is accepting nominations for the 2014 Partner and Project of the Year awards in the following categories:

• Project of the Year
• Industry Partner
• Energy Partner
• State Partner
• Community Partner
• Endorser

LMOP recognizes select Partners for excellence in innovation and creativity, success in promoting project development, and achievement of environmental and economic benefits through successful landfill gas (LFG) energy projects.

All applicants will be considered for the Project of the Year category and each of the Partner award categories. Nominations are due by Oct. 3, 2014. Evaluation, compliance screening and selection are expected to take approximately three to four months. All applicants will be notified by email of their selection status.
Award winners will receive a plaque and be recognized during an LMOP event in 2015 (date and location to be announced).

The following criteria must be met for an application to be eligible:

• Nominees and key project partners must be current LMOP Partners at the time of application submission.
• The project(s) must have become operational between Sept. 3, 2013, and Sept. 4, 2014.

Applications will be evaluated based on responses to each of three equally weighted factors:

• Innovation and creativity - Discuss if this type of project has been done before, if the project involved a unique project structure or partnership, or if the project was conducted voluntarily. In addition, describe whether innovative technologies were used and if any unique strategies were used for overcoming barriers. Applicants should also highlight if the project is in addition to an existing project at the same landfill.
• Success in promoting LFG energy projects locally, nationally or globally - Describe community involvement efforts; groundbreaking/ribbon-cutting ceremonies; green power, media, or public education/awareness campaigns; press releases; and corporate sustainability goals.
• Environmental and economic benefits achieved - Quantify the greenhouse gas and other environmental benefits and cost-effectiveness of the project.

Application submissions will initially be screened for completeness before judging. Only complete applications will be reviewed by a panel of EPA staff. The panel will rank the applicants according to how well each of the three selection criteria are addressed. Top-scoring applicants and their key project partners will then undergo compliance screening to ensure award eligibility prior to any awards being made.
Applications for LMOP awards must include the following components:

• Completed application form. The form does not count toward the 10-page limit for the project summary.
• 10-page (or less) project summary that addresses the selection criteria. The project summary may include supporting documentation (for example, photographs, letters of support, etc.), but all supporting documentation is included in the 10-page limit for the project summary. The project summary should include page numbers. Pages submitted in excess of the 10-page limit will not be reviewed. In addition, EPA will not review hyperlinks to online content that are provided in the project summary or supporting documentation.

Applications may also include the following optional components:

• one-page cover page and 1-page table of contents (these are optional and do not count towards the 10-page limit for the project summary).

The completed application form and 10-page project summary (with optional cover page and table of contents) should be submitted to Kirsten Cappel, EPA LMOP, by email at [email protected] by 5:00 p.m. EDT on Oct. 3, 2014 to be eligible for consideration.