JAILCD2026-027: What Illinois Small Business Environmental Assistance Program (SBEAP) Can Learn from Other States Website

Abstract

The Small Business Environmental Assistance Program (SBEAP) is a part of the National Small Business Environmental Program (NSBEP) in the United States. The program’s goal is to compile environmental resource websites from the states. The report is searching for other states’ small business environmental association websites of and make comparison to analyze what fields of improvement should be made in Illinois’ SBEAP website. Make future and give changes to the website. The goal is to help Illinois build a better Small Business Environmental Association website, which will provide better information to help small businesses more easily understand relevant environmental policies and permit guidance. Because most small business owners do not have a background in relevant environmental regulations, they will feel difficult to deal with policy issues related to environment. State government should provide more intuitive and convenient guidance to help them deal with environmental regulation issues. Illinois’ current Small Business Environmental Assistance Program website leaves a lot to be desired, which is too old and lacks updates and maintenance, causing many links to become invalid. Illinois currently lacks some industry specific guidance documents, and relevant businesses cannot find the information they need to know on the website, which will cause a lot of trouble for small businesses. To help small business owners understand relevant environmental regulations, the paper will analyze how the website needs to change from several aspects.