NASR, EPA Agreement Allows Shooting Ranges
Anonymity in Environmental Certification Process

A new agreement between the National Association of Shooting Ranges (NASR) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) allows shooting ranges to submit Environmental Stewardship Plans anonymously.

The process is one both NASR and EPA agree will encourage more ranges to develop an Environmental Stewardship Plan, a written document for planning, implementing and monitoring the progress of environmental management and improvements at a shooting range.

Through the NASR-EPA agreement, a range will be able to submit its Environmental Stewardship Plan anonymously to EPA through NASR. Each range will be assigned a unique tracking number before its plan is submitted to EPA, protecting its identity.

"Many ranges often refrain from submitting an Environmental Stewardship Plan to EPA for fear of it not being approved," said Rick Patterson, executive director of NASR. "Through this process, if a range's plan does not meet EPA expectations, it will be able to find out anonymously what improvements need to be made―without fear of an unwanted follow-up visit from an EPA inspector. In fact, under the terms of the agreement EPA cannot request any identifying information from us."

After EPA receives each plan from NASR, it will then either issue an approval or provide comments on what needs to be improved before certification can be granted, referencing the tracking number.

In a breakthrough development three years ago, NASR and EPA signed a Memorandum of Understanding that gave EPA certification to ranges with Environmental Stewardship Plans.

By developing and implementing an Environmental Stewardship Plan—something that is highly encouraged by both EPA and NASR―ranges document their commitment to the environment and community. At the same time ranges are working to protect themselves from potential lawsuits down the road.

HOW TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS PROGRAM

Participation in this program is simple!  Send a complete copy of your Environmental Stewardship Plan to:

ATTN: Environmental Certificate Program
National Association of Shooting Ranges
11 Mile Hill Road
Newtown, CT  06470-2359

Make sure we have your mailing address and contact information on a separate cover sheet.  We will keep the cover sheet for our information, redact identifying information from the plan, assign your plan a unique identifying number, and then send it to US EPA.  When we get a certificate from EPA we will fill in your range’s name and send it to you.

It’s that easy.  Of course, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions!