Like EMSs, regulators also have expressed interest in GSCM practices by encouraging their more
widespread use. For example, in 2000, the US EPA’s Design for the Environment (DfE) program funded
a partnership between EPA, the University of Tennessee and Saturn Corporation to explore different
methods of promoting environmental improvement throughout Saturn’s supply chain (Loveday, 2000).
Building on this effort, in 2001, EPA established a pilot program with General Motors Corporation (GM)
to develop a multimedia technical assistance program aimed at pollution prevention in GM’s supply
chain (USEPA, 2003). More comprehensive collaborations within the automobile industry include a
partnership between EPA and automobile suppliers to create The Suppliers Partnership for the Environment,
a trade association comprised of automotive and vehicle suppliers seeking to create new and
innovative business-centered approaches to environmental protection. The partnership provides a forum
for automobile producers and suppliers to share environmental best management practices and to
promote GSCM practices (Jusko, 2003). Like their interest in EMSs, regulators are encouraging organizations
to adopt GSCM practices because they believe that organizations that implement them will
reduce their impact on the natural environment and therefore benefit society as a whole.