Over the years it has become clear that enforcement alone is not the best way to secure an environmentally healthy future. The Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program is an effective answer to this problem. This program provides incentive structures and technical assistance to help businesses meet higher standards of environmental performance. A partnership of government agencies and utilities, the program helps local businesses comply with all environmental regulations and take actions to conserve resources, prevent pollution, and prevent and reduce waste. The Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program offers motivated businesses and agencies an easy-to-use framework for improving environmental performance.
The Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program is the sister program of the effort that started in 1996 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Monterey Bay program was born in 2003 with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding. Fourteen environmental agencies pooled their resources and expertise to develop a plan specific to Santa Cruz, Monterey, and San Benito Counties. Under the umbrella Monterey Bay Area Green Business Program are many different juristictions, each of which coordinates its own programs: the Counties of San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Monterey, and the Cities of Capitola, Hollister, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, and Watsonville.
The Program started by certifying vehicle repair shops, then restaurants, offices and retail stores. Popular demand, true cost savings, and customer service led the program to expand to include many more of the region's business types. This program is now capable of servicing businesses in any of 15 business sectors.
Standards 
Currently Available for the Following Sectors:
Standards under Development for the These Sectors:
Incentives for Performance
Free Technical Assistance
All too often, environmental regulators face situations where businesses are willing to change, but lack the information to make informed decisions. This is a problem for many municipalities who face ever-increasing directives and shrinking budgets. Green Business Program staff are capable of delivering low-cost assistance with regulatory issues while motivating business to exceed legal environmental targets. Typically, staff are trained for several months prior to working individually with a business sector. This on-the-ground training allows staff to become familiar with complex regulations while observing how market-based solutions complement regulatory enforcement.