General Environmental Management Systems Awareness Training U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance Washington, D.C. August 2007

U.S. Department of the Interior The Mission of the Department of the Interior (DOI) is to protect and provide access to our Nation's natural and cultural heritage and honor our trust responsibilities to Indian Tribes and our commitments to island communities. DOI manages 500 million acres of surface land, or about one-fifth of the land in the United States and has jurisdiction over approximately 1.76 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf.   DOI is a large, decentralized agency with over 73,000 employees and 200,000 volunteers located at approximately 2,400 operating locations across the United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. territories, and freely associated states.

Some Examples of DOI’s Many Missions

As DOI Employees, We Must Understand How Our Day-to-Day Activities Impact the Environment

Objectives After this awareness training, you should know: About Executive Order (EO) 13423. What an environmental management system (EMS) is. The benefits of an EMS. Why an EMS is important to what you do.

Executive Order (EO) 13423, “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management” Signed by President Bush on January 26, 2007. Consolidated five previous executive orders and two Memoranda of Understanding into one order, 85 pages down to 7 plus instructions. Provides a holistic approach to integrating energy, environment, human health considerations into mission implementation. Updated and set more aggressive goals for energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, acquisition, pollution prevention/recycling, high performance buildings, fleet management, and electronics stewardship.

Clarifies roles of Heads of Agencies and senior management officials. Executive Order (EO) 13423, “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management” Clarifies roles of Heads of Agencies and senior management officials. More closely aligns environmental and energy requirements with the Office of Management and Budget performance scorecards approach. Clarifies and strengthens role of Environmental Management Systems as the foundation management framework to meet the goals of the order (including compliance management).

DOI Policy Secretarial Memorandum of April 4, 2007, directs DOI to lead by example on the implementation of E.O. 13423. Directs DOI to achieve results and make progress toward E.O. 13423 goals.

Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Requirements in EO 13423 Section 3(b) states, “…implement within the agency environmental management systems (EMS) at all appropriate organizational levels to ensure (i) use of EMS as the primary management approach for addressing environmental aspects of internal agency operations and activities, including environmental aspects of energy and transportation functions, (ii) establishment of agency objectives and targets to ensure implementation of this order, and (iii) collection, analysis, and reporting of information to measure performance in the implementation of this order.”

What Is an Environmental Management System (EMS)? An EMS is simply a set of procedures to reduce our environmental footprint in our day-to-day activities. An EMS is the combination of people, policies, procedures, review, and plans to help address environmental issues. An EMS is that part of an overall management system which includes organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes, and resources for...achieving environmental policy. Important EMS elements include continual improvement, management commitment, formalization, and awareness of a systems based approach.

Purpose of an EMS An EMS brings together the people, policies, plans, review mechanisms, and procedures used to manage environmental issues at a facility or in an organization.

Benefits of an EMS Helps maintain compliance Reduce operating costs Integrate environmental programs into mission Increase employee involvement Reduce environmental impacts

Things About EMS You May Not Know Your organization may already have an have EMS established or have elements of an EMS in place. You may be able to contribute to implementing and improving your organization’s EMS.

DOI Policy DOI’s existing EMS Policy (515 DM 4) issued in 2002, requires EMS implementation by Bureaus and Offices. The policy is currently undergoing revision to reflect the new E.O. 13423 requirements. Furthermore, DOI committed to fully implement EMS by the end of FY 2009 in the 2007-2012 Strategic Plan.

EMS Frameworks The International Standard ISO 14001 is the most widely used and respected. Organizations, however, use many EMS frameworks and models. The EO 13423 Implementing Instructions directs Federal agencies to align their EMS programs with ISO 14001.

Questions What does an EMS look like? How is it structured?

A Basic EMS Framework Plan, Do, Check, Act

The Continuous Cycle Plan Planning, identifying environmental aspects and establishing goals Do Implementing, includes training and operational controls Check Checking, includes monitoring and corrective action Act Reviewing, includes progress reviews and acting to make needed changes

EMS Components (e.g., ISO 14001) Environmental Policy Planning Implementation and Operation Checking and Corrective Action Management Review

Environmental Policy Issue a policy statement signed by facility manager At a minimum, commit to Continual improvement Pollution prevention Environmental compliance Identifies EMS framework Publicly available

Planning Identify aspects and impacts from facility activities, products, and services Review legal requirements Set objectives and targets Establish formal EMS program

Implementation and Operation Define roles and responsibilities Provide EMS training Establish internal and external communication mechanisms Establish document control system Establish operational controls Integrate with or establish emergency preparedness procedures

Checking and Corrective Action Conduct periodic monitoring of environmental performance Identify root causes of findings and conduct corrective and preventive actions Maintain environmental records Conduct periodic EMS audit

Management Review Conduct periodic senior management review of EMS Revise policies as needed

The EMS Plan, Do, Check, Act Cycle (e.g., ISO 14001) Management Review Environmental Policy Continuous Improvement Checking/ Corrective Actions Measurement and Monitoring EMS Nonconformance and Corrective Actions Records EMS Audits Planning Environmental Aspects Compliance Objectives and Targets Environmental Mgmt. Programs Implementation Roles and Responsibilities Training and Communication EMS Document Control Emergency Preparedness and Response

Bottom Line EMS Requirements Must have commitment of top managers. An EMS doesn’t exist in isolation. Must be consistent with other management systems (e.g., IT) in your organization. An EMS must be owned by everyone in your organization.

Some Basic EMS Definitions Environmental Aspect (Cause) – The elements of an organization’s activities, products, or services which can interact with the environment. It is important to establish, implement and maintain a procedure to identify the environmental aspects of activities products and services that you “can control and …can influence.” After identifying environmental aspects you must determine those which have or can have significant impacts on the environment. Examples include: air emissions, water discharges, , use of raw materials, energy use, use of natural resources, use of volatile organic compounds. Environmental Impact (Effect) – Any change to the environment whether adverse or beneficial, wholly or partially resulting from an organizations activities, products, or services. Examples include: depletion of natural resources, air pollution, hazardous waste generation, soil and water contamination.

Examples of Aspects and Impacts Facility Operations Aspect: Office use of electronic equipment Impact: Generation of recyclable waste (paper, batteries, toner cartridges) Aspect: Use of solvents, oil, fluorescent lamps, and excess furniture Impact: Land contamination (landfill) Aspect: Air emissions from buildings Impact: Air pollution, global warming

Examples of Aspects and Impacts Facility Operations (continued) Aspect: Motor vehicle operations (Use of oil, rags, antifreeze, tires, and batteries) Impact: Hazardous waste generation and air pollution Aspect: Custodial Operations (Use of cleaning products, paper, water, energy) Impact: Depletion of natural resources and contamination of land Aspect: Grounds Maintenance Impact: Depletion of natural resources (pesticides, fertilizer, water use, fossil fuels)

Examples of Significant Environmental Aspects Purchasing chemicals Use of chemicals Application of pesticides Office products/paper consumption Use of electronic equipment Building temperature control Grounds and custodial operations Motor vehicle operations

Objectives and Targets Compliance with Regulations Reduce Waste Streams Hazardous, Solid, and Universal Reduce Energy Consumption Recycle Green Purchasing Pollution Prevention

Definitions An EMS objective is an overall goal arising from the environmental policy statement set by the organization. An EMS target is a detailed measurable performance requirement related to the objective.

Examples Objective: Increase solid waste diversion Target: Achieve a 60% diversion rate for all solid waste by the year 2008.

Examples Objective: Improve environmental compliance Target: Reduce the number of external environmental compliance audit findings by 50% on an audit-to-audit basis.

Examples Objective: Reduce transportation congestion Target: Increase the number of employee-days of mass transit use by 50% by the year 2007 based on a 2002 calendar year baseline. Target: Purchase 25 bicycles for use within the facility by the year 2004.

An objective of EMS is to reduce environmental impacts An objective of EMS is to reduce environmental impacts. Below are ways you can support this objective: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Reduce your use of resources such as water. Reuse resources such as office supplies Recycle all batteries, paper, electronics, toner cartridges, metal scraps, metal cans, glass and plastic containers, and fluorescent light bulbs, etc. Purchasing Requirements – Government purchasing agents, including credit card holders, are required to follow the Affirmative (Green) Procurement Plan. Carpool – Conserve fuel by carpooling to field sites or other work related destinations.

What Managers and Supervisors Need to Do Provide support to change habits Old habits die hard. Employees need support through both motivational and technical hurdles. Initial training and periodic refreshers are essential to continuing pollution prevention success.

Top Ten Pollution Prevention Techniques 1. Good housekeeping and maintenance practices 2. Spill prevention and preparedness 3. Inventory management 4. Prudent purchasing 5. Waste exchange programs 6. Alternate cleaning processes 7. Reduce/reuse process wastes 8. Process modifications 9. Changes in equipment or technology 10.Environmentally preferable purchasing

An Example: Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Definition: Products or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Environmentally preferable purchasing means examining the pollution prevention practices of your vendors and subcontractors

Summary An EMS is the combination of people, policies, procedures, review, and plans to help address environmental issues. Important EMS elements include continual improvement, management commitment, formalization, and awareness of system approach.

Summary Being a good environmental steward is every DOI employee’s business. Performing your job in an environmentally safe and sound manner benefits us all by protecting the health of the surrounding ecosystem, preserving resources for future generations, being good neighbors, minimizing mission impact due to non-compliance issues, and saving money by decreasing wasted resources.

Your Participation The commitments of the Environmental Policy. All personnel have roles and responsibilities at the location for EMS. Your level of participation will vary according to the work you perform. At a minimum, you are responsible for knowing: The commitments of the Environmental Policy. How your job impacts the environment. The procedures/protocols of your job and adhering to them. The potential environmental impacts of departing from the procedures of your job. The legal and other requirements of your job.

Congratulations and Thank You! You have completed general EMS Awareness Training. Your feedback allows us to continually improve EMS implementation. For more information or to actively participate in EMS implementation, please contact your Bureau or Office EMS Coordinator.