The Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™

Aarcher Institute’s Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp provides you with the critical regulatory and technical knowledge needed to manage environmental risks for your organization.

Gain New Perspectives on the Full Range of Environmental Compliance Requirements

The Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™ is our most popular course among experienced professionals and those new to the environmental field. Thousands of students have attended this course, and referred their colleagues. Join fellow environmental professionals and our team of instructors to study environmental requirements and learn from real-life regulatory challenges and innovative compliance strategies.

Offered across the country, The Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™ course has delivered proven value, year after year, to environmental managers with recently expanded responsibilities, and seasoned EH&S professionals in need of a refresher. This course establishes a foundation of core technical issues and breaks down the environmental legislative and rulemaking processes, before providing a clear and complete presentation of principle environmental regulations applicable to most facilities and organizations.

Who should attend The Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™?

While many of the Aarcher Institute advanced courses focus on specific environmental laws, requirements, or management strategies, providing detailed/expert instruction on those topics, the Bootcamp course provides broad coverage of environmental challenges and regulations.

This course is valuable for a wide range of professionals, including EH&S managers, environmental compliance specialists, other facility and site personnel with environmental and supply chain responsibilities, environmental consultants and engineers, as well as other professional office staff. Whether you need to revisit all environmental requirements to verify you are not missing anything, get introduced to the full range of environmental requirements, or take a fresh look at the current status of the regulations, this course is perfect.

What is the Bootcamp format?

The Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™ covers a wide range of technical and regulatory information and is a rigorous 4 days. This course is primarily presented material, but to keep the course interesting and enjoyable, the Aarcher Institute uses multiple instructors, includes  a video facility tour, encourages open discussion, and offers frequent breaks. Courses are held in pleasant and easily accessible locations, and training venues are selected to allow you to escape distractions and focus on the presented material in a professional setting. All locations offer wireless service and Internet access so you can stay connected. Because our instructors teach exclusively for the Aarcher Institute, using our exclusive content, course modules are presented in logical sequences and information is not fragmented and does not overlap. Discussions among instructors and participants explore unique environmental management challenges and proven compliance strategies. All participants are encouraged to ask questions throughout the course.

Aarcher Institute instructors cover a wide range of topics in separate training modules, each focusing on the intent of the environmental requirement, applicability, and specific physical, administrative, planning, preparedness, and training requirements. Each training module includes practical compliance strategies and open discussion.

What does the Bootcamp deliver?

The Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™ provides participants with a foundation for identifying and understanding environmental requirements applicable to your organization. You will leave with a more complete understanding of the environmental regulatory framework, and with improved awareness and knowledge to prevent mistakes and minimize risks to your organization. We believe in the value of lifelong learning, and this course provides a core of environmental regulatory knowledge to prepare you for career success.

More than 6,000 students have gained a stronger understanding of environmental laws, regulations, and programs that affect your organization, how they relate to one another, and how they can be more effectively managed by completing this course by the Aarcher Institute.

You will return from this course with a course binder; useful references; example documents and other tools for your use when you return from the course; instructor contact information; and your notes from the presentations and discussions.

At completion of the course, you will receive a certificate for your records. If you maintain professional credentials requiring continuing education credits, The Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™ has been approved by all environmental, safety, legal, and engineering certifying bodies.

Why choose Aarcher’s Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™?

We understand that you have a choice of environmental regulatory training options, including self-paced on-line slide sets, webinars, conferences, update bulletins, and instructor-led, live courses. We believe the most effective learning experience is created from live courses, where participants are able to spend a few days focusing on a topic, guided by expert instructors presenting material in a personal and engaging manner, responding to questions, and encouraging participants to share personal perspectives and experiences with one another.

This course was developed and is continually refined to adjust the topics presented and amount of time committed based on the challenges faced by todays environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) managers. Each topic includes compliance recommendations and insights created by our instructor team. The training materials in this course are owned by the Aarcher Institute and not available through any other source.

As we evolve and improve our team, we select our instructors very carefully, just as we do our course materials. Our instructors are highly qualified, practicing EHS professionals and compliance experts who have been selected based on their regulatory knowledge, relevant perspectives, professionalism, and demonstrated training ability. We are proud of our instructor team.

State supplemental training now available ($295/state)

This course focuses on US environmental law and implementing regulations applicable nationwide, with references to common state regulatory differences. This information has consistently provided attendees with an understand of core requirements and a basis for accumulating any additional requirements from their state. To further support course participants, state-specific training is also available for most states, as a supplement to the live course. This state regulatory information is organized and presented in a format to compliment the material presented in The Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™.

Our state supplement training is delivered as an online, self-paced presentation that takes 1-3 hours to complete. You will find the option to add state training as an “add-on” during registration, at an additional cost. State supplemental training is currently available for AL, AK, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, ME, MD, MA, MI, MN, MS, MO, MT, NE, NH, NJ, NM, NY, NH, NC, OH, OK, OR, PA, RI, SC, TN, TX, UT, VT, VA, WA, WI, and WY.

This state-specific training is only available to those registered for The Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™ course.

What’s covered in the course?

The Original Environmental Compliance BootcampTM focuses on foundational skills and knowledge of environmental professionals, current environmental laws and requirements, proven compliance strategies, and emerging environmental management approaches:

  • Environmental Compliance and Management Perspectives
    • Evolution of US environmental laws
    • Applicability and interrelationship of environmental requirements
    • Enforcement principles and current trends
  • Hazardous and Solid Wastes
    • Solid waste management
    • Hazardous waste accumulation, transportation, treatment, and disposal
    • Used oil management
    • Universal hazardous wastes
  • Lead, Asbestos, and PCB Management
  • Water Quality Regulations and Permits
    • National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting
    • Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
    • Safe Drinking Water Act
    • Stormwater Discharge Permitting
    • Stormwater Pollution Prevention (SWPP) Plans
    • Spill Prevention Controls and Countermeasures (SPCC) Requirements and Plans
  • Aboveground Storage Tank Requirements
  • Underground Storage Tank Requirements
  • Air Emissions Permitting/Clean Air Act Compliance
  • Environmental Management Strategies
    • Pollution prevention assessments and strategies
    • Environmental Management Systems / ISO 14000
    • Voluntary environmental reporting systems
    • Internal compliance auditing
  • Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA)
    • Release reporting
    • Site identification, characterization, and corrective action
    • Property transfer and the All Appropriate Inquiry Standard
  • Hazardous Materials Management
    • Chemical Classes and Characteristics
    • Container and facility design
    • Storage requirements (EPA, OSHA, NFPA, Industry Codes)
  • Hazard Communication and Reporting
    • EPCRA (Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act) Compliance
      • Release Notification
      • Annual Reports
    • Hazard Communication Standard 2012 / GHS
    • Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS)
  • Natural and Cultural Resource Protection Laws
    • Wetlands and Endangered Species Regulations
    • NHPA Section 106 requirements
    • Effects on site development and proposed projects
    • Public and private sector impacts
  • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
    • Applicability to private sector activities
    • Federal proposed actions
  • Environmental Regulatory Horizon

Course Agendas are subject to change

The Original Environmental Compliance BootcampTM focuses on foundational skills and knowledge of EH&S professionals, current environmental laws and requirements, proven compliance strategies, and emerging management approaches:

Day One: 8:15 AM – 4:15 PM

  • Introduction and Course Overview
  • Environmental Perspectives and Legal Structure
  • CERCLA
  • Solid and Hazardous Waste Management

Day Two: 8:15 AM – 4:15 PM

  • Water Quality Regulations and Permits
  • Stormwater Discharge Permitting/Stormwater Pollution Prevention (SWPP) Plans
  • Spill Prevention Controls and Countermeasures (SPCC) Requirements and Plans

Day Three: 8:15 AM – 4:15 PM

  • Air Quality Regulations and Permits
  • Hazardous Materials Management
  • Hazard Communication and Reporting
  • Lead, Asbestos, and PCBs

Day Four: 8:15 AM – 3:00 PM

  • Natural and Cultural Resource Protection Laws
  • National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
  • Storage Tanks (AST/UST)
  • Compliance and Management Strategies
  • Environmental Regulatory Horizon
  • Regulatory Review and Discussion

The Original Environmental Compliance Bootcamp™ utilizes a multi-instructor format to keep the instruction engaging and align instructor personal experience with course subject matter. The Aarcher Institute adheres to strict instructor selection and approval procedures, based on individual instructor’s ability to meet training objectives and offer current experience and fresh perspectives. The Aarcher Institute selects instructors for each open enrollment and onsite Bootcamp training course from its pool of approved instructors, including:

Craig J. Schwartz, CHMM, CPEA, CIT, is an environmental regulatory compliance expert, with more than 25 years hands on experience assisting clients achieve and maintain compliance nationwide. He is a Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) and a Certified Professional Environmental Auditor (CPEA) who formerly served as technical manager for the (contractor operated) US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Wetlands Information Hotline, led an EPA CERCLA Enforcement contract, served as project manager for the development of comprehensive environmental compliance audit protocols, and directed hundreds of facility environmental plans and permit applications. Craig maintains strong working knowledge and understanding of applied compliance strategies for nearly all environmental laws and regulations, including CERCLA, RCRA, Clean Water Act, NDPES permitting, stormwater  discharges, underground tanks, Safe Drinking Water Act, NEPA, wetlands regulations, and more. He has provided environmental compliance support to more than 400 private companies and Federal agencies, ranging from steel mills to the US Army, and has led environmental compliance assistance audits for more than 350 facilities in 42 states, and has been approved by multiple EPA regions, the Department of Justice, and several state environmental departments as a third-party compliance evaluator. Craig has served as Aarcher Institute instructor since 2005 and has delivered training to more than 900 students. He has been awarded a Certified Instructional Trainer for Environmental, Health, and Safety (CIT) certification based on this experience and knowledge of adult education methods.


Bill Decker, PE, is a registered professional engineer in 32 States and has extensive environmental regulatory compliance experience related to water and waste issues. He has more than 25 years experience preparing permit applications, solving client environmental challenges, and developing SPCC Plans, Facility Response Plans, Storm Water permitting, Storm Water Pollution Prevention Planning, Hazardous Material & Waste Management Plans, Pollution Prevention Plans, and Waste Analysis Plans.


Amber Moore, CEA, CESCO, REP, CCR, is an environmental professional with more than 20 years of experience in NPDES stormwater/wastewater permitting, compliance auditing and air permitting. She has a wealth of experience primarily focused on environmental compliance, for a wide array of industrial sectors, including petroleum and chemical industries, asphalt manufacturers, concrete manufacturers, poultry processing, automotive salvage, scrap recyclers, and railroad and trucking transportation, and others. Ms. Moore's experience includes performing audits, preparing compliance plans, and developing environmental training programs. More recently, she has focused on developing and implementing programs as required by NPDES MS4 permitting programs. Ms. Moore is knowledgeable in a number of federal (EPA, DOT) and state regulations. In particular, she has demonstrated proficiency with the following programs: SDWA, CWA, OPA90, CAA, SPCC, RCRA, TSCA, NPDES, Hazardous Waste, and Storage Tank regulations.