Release052901

May 29, 2001: Waste Information & Management Services, Inc. (WIMS), the owner and operator of the environmental portal EcoBizPort.com has announced a new, free Email service -- Final Rule Notifier (FRN).

FRN provides users with an Email message when a nationally applicable Final Rule of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is published in the Federal Register. Some other U.S. Federal Department and Agency announcements are also included if they are deemed directly related to environmental management activities. FRN generally does not include Final Rules that are applicable to a specific state or specific facility; however, some facility-specific or state-specific announcements may be included if they are deemed to represent possible models that may be applicable to other facilities or states.

Usually users will receive Email notification within hours after the Final Rule is published. Announcements are coded within subject categories for easy identification. At minimum, FRN provides a summary of the announcement, the Federal Register citation (date, page numbers, etc.), important dates (e.g. effective date or comment deadlines), and the contacts for follow-up information; including names, addresses, phones, and Email and Internet hyperlinks if they are provided. Notices also include the direct links to the HTML format & the PDF format for the complete announcements so users can view or print the full-text announcement exactly as it is printed in the Federal Register.

The service is useful for the busy executive or smaller business that only needs to know when new and final environmental regulations are promulgated; as a reminder service for the seasoned environmental professional, consultant or attorney; or as a great companion to a company's ISO 14000 Environmental Management System keeping you up to date on final environmental regulations.

The new service, which is offered free to registered subscribers, is a spin-off of the WIMS RegTrak service which has been providing paid subscribers daily notification of all environmental Federal Register announcements since 1995.

Complete information on FRN service and on-line ordering are available on the EcoBizPort website at: http://www.ecobizport.com/EmailServicesFREE.html. Information on RegTrak and other WIMS environmental information services are available at: http://www.ecobizport.com/EmailServices.html.

EcoBizPort.com, which was officially launched on April 20, 2001, is a comprehensive, homepage linking businesses, professionals and individuals to the vast array of environmental information on the Internet. The site utilizes a unique organization methodology that delivers information at different levels including: a national basis, state-specific (Michigan only at this time), by professional specialties (air, water, hazardous waste, etc.), and by industry sectors (automotive, agriculture, pulp & paper, etc). While most of the specialty and sector portions of the site are still under development, the site includes information "resource centers" including: Environmental News & Media; Search, Portals & Utilities; Local Area Data; e-Biz; Projects, RFPs, RFQs, etc.; Products & Services; Politics; Legal Resources; Education & Training; Trade Shows & Meetings; Associations & Organizations; Research & Publications; Maps, Weather & Geo-Info; Employment & Careers; and Other Biz. The site also includes gateways to U.S. EPA, Courts, Congress, Federal Regulations, the White House, and many Michigan agencies and organizations.