The purpose of the Facility of the Year (FOTY) Award is to create incentive on the part of industrial users taking proactive steps to meet current environmental pollution control standards. The FOTY Award gives an opportunity for CWEA members to provide positive publicity and recognition of the industrial user’s efforts and successes with protecting the water environment.

The following criteria were approved by the CWEA Board of Directors and may be used for the selection of nominees:

• Must be permitted by a control authority (CA) or otherwise regulated for water-quality.


• Implementation of pollution prevention, waste minimization, water recycling, material recycling, or other source reduction measures.


• Implementation of innovative solutions or technical advances in waste management.


• Implementation of operation and preventative maintenance practices to   improve environmental performance.


• Consistent compliance with applicable permit requirements (i.e., operating without violations and/or “citation free” for the past 12 months).


• Demonstration of active community involvement to develop public awareness for environmental protection.

Members of the Northern and Southern California Awards Subcommittees review the nominations and may select the semi-finalists. The Subcommittees may conduct a site visit of each of the semi-finalists. The semi- finalists are selected to represent a variety of types of industries located in a variety of control authorities throughout the state that best satisfy the FOTY Award’s criteria.

A total of four FOTY Awards may be given each year. The FOTY Award categories are “Large Industry” and “Small Industry” from both Northern and Southern California. An engraved plaque will be presented to the winning industries. Runners-up in each of the categories may be presented with a Certificate of Merit (COM).

Nominations for the FOTY Awards may be submitted by sanitation districts, publicly owned treatment works, municipalities, consultants, trade associations, or industries.  

Nominations for FOTY Awards are requested to be submitted by November 10, 2023 in order to be eligible for the selection process. The subcommittee chairs may grant extensions to this deadline.

For most CWEA awards, you must apply at your Local Section level first. Direct your questions to the Local Section Awards Chair. If you need additional assistance, contact Megan Barillo at [email protected].