Document ID: EPA-HQ-OECA-2003-0154-0013
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2003-12-10T05:00Z

The
background
papers
on
the
candidate
national
program
priorities
are
intended
to
initiate
further
discussion.
When
priorities
are
selected,
more
detailed
strategies
with
in­
depth
background
information,
numerical
targets,
schedules,
milestones
and
performance
measures
will
be
developed.

_____________________________________________________________________________

December,
2003
Page
1
of
3
Proposed
Priority:
Environmental
Management
Systems
at
Federal
Facilities
Universe
and
Types
of
Facilities
Federal
facilities,
like
all
other
regulated
facilities,
are
responsible
for
complying
with
environmental
regulations
and
requirements.
Federal
agencies
and
facilities
are
likewise
accountable
to
the
public
for
general
environmental
stewardship.
In
addition,
Federal
agencies
are
responsible
for
implementation
of
a
variety
of
environmental
Executive
Orders
designed
to
promote
environmental
leadership,
stewardship
and
sustainability
across
the
Federal
government.

The
Federal
government
owns
and
leases
vast
amounts
of
property
in
the
United
States.
According
to
the
General
Services
Administration,
as
of
September
30,
2002,
the
total
amount
of
Federally
owned
or
leased
property
is
approximately
670
million
acres.
This
represents
approximately
30
percent
of
all
land
in
the
United
States.
The
total
area
of
Federally­
owned
or
leased
buildings
amounts
to
approximately
3
billion
square
feet.

According
to
EPA,
there
are
approximately
8,000
Federal
facilities
across
the
United
States
that
engage
in
some
type
of
activity
where
the
Federal
government
is
formally
accountable
under
environmental
regulation.
The
Federal
government
covers
a
broad
array
of
unique
facility
types
from
industrial
facilities
occupied
by
Department
of
Defense,
Department
of
Energy
and
NASA
operations
to
land
management
"
facilities"
that
are
managed
by
agencies
such
as
the
Forest
Service
and
National
Park
Service
and
cover
thousands
of
acres.
Federal
facilities
also
include
operations
such
as
hospitals
and
laboratories
as
well
as
administrative
offices.
In
addition,
Federal
facilities
may
be
operated
by
contractors
or
may
include
concessioners
or
other
entities
where
activities
are
not
directly
managed
by
the
Federal
facility
operators.

Environmental
Risks
Federal
facilities
are
responsible
for
a
number
of
environmental
challenges,
including
compliance
with
various
environmental
statutes
and
implementing
regulations
established
under
those
statutes
as
well
as
basic
operational
stewardship
and
management
of
lands
where
contractors,
concessioners
and
permit
holders
operate.
In
addition,
as
previously
mentioned,
there
are
a
number
of
Executive
Orders
from
current
and
previous
Administrations
that
call
for
enhanced
environmental
stewardship
across
the
Federal
government.
These
initiatives
cover
a
range
of
operational,
procurement
and
management
policy
directives
that
are
required
of
the
Federal
community.
Below
is
a
brief
summary
of
environmental
challenges
faced
by
some
types
of
Federal
Facilities:

DOD
is
charged
with
defending
the
interests
of
the
United
States
anywhere
in
the
world.
As
such,
DOD
maintains
thousands
of
installations
in
the
United
States
to
provide
the
necessary
The
background
papers
on
the
candidate
national
program
priorities
are
intended
to
initiate
further
discussion.
When
priorities
are
selected,
more
detailed
strategies
with
in­
depth
background
information,
numerical
targets,
schedules,
milestones
and
performance
measures
will
be
developed.

_____________________________________________________________________________

December,
2003
Page
2
of
3
infrastructure
for
the
armed
services
to
meet
this
mission.
Installations
range
in
size
from
a
few
acres
to
thousands
of
square
miles;
their
missions
range
from
logistics
and
training
to
manufacturing
and
rebuilding
aircraft
and
ships.
Many
of
these
installations
are
the
equivalent
of
small
cities,
and
thus
they
possess
all
of
the
infrastructure
(
e.
g.,
hospitals,
sewage
treatment
plants,
roads,
airports)
associated
with
city
environments.
Much
of
the
support
activity
associated
with
DOD's
mission
is
industrial
involving
maintenance
and
repair
of
complex
and
frequently
large
systems
and
equipment.
As
such,
facilities
use
a
broad
array
of
processes
involving
chemicals
such
as
paints
and
solvents.
Therefore,
DOD
installations
face
compliance
issues
relating
to
air
and
water
pollution
and
solid/
hazardous
waste
generation.

DOE
is
involved
in
electric
power
generation
and
transmission,
fuel
research,
petroleum
storage,
and
nuclear
weapons
research
and
production.
Many
of
DOE's
approximately
350
installations
are
dedicated
to
laboratory
research.
DOE
laboratories
work
on
a
variety
of
issues
including
solar
energy,
battery
development,
energy
transmission
methods,
atomic
energy,
fossil
fuels,
and
nuclear
weapons.
Some
laboratories
are
located
on
large
compounds
such
as
Savannah
River,
SC,
Los
Alamos,
NM,
and
Oak
Ridge,
TN,
while
others
are
part
of
university
systems
such
as
the
Fermi
Lab
in
Chicago.
Like
DOD,
the
large­
scale
manufacturing
and
industrial
nature
of
many
DOE
activities
presents
DOE
with
a
broad
range
of
environmental
compliance
issues.

Civilian
Federal
Agency
(
CFA)
facilities
range
in
size
and
scope
from
single­
purpose
buildings
to
extensive
multipurpose
compounds.
Regulated
activities
may
include
vehicle
fleet
management,
construction,
facility
operation,
scientific
and
medical
research,
materials
storage
and
shipment,
and
many
others.
Because
of
the
diversity
of
CFA
activities,
as
a
group,
they
face
environmental
compliance
issues
as
extensive
as
those
faced
by
many
industrial
Federal
facilities.
In
addition,
in
the
case
of
land
management
agencies,
facilities
must
understand
and
respond
to
environmental
management
issues
such
as
natural
resource
protection
and
preservation
as
well
as
potential
impacts
from
operations
such
as
mining
and
timber
harvesting
and
visitors
using
the
facility
for
recreation.

For
more
information
on
environmental
regulations
associated
with
common
activities
at
Federal
facilities
go
to
www.
epa.
gov/
fedsite/.

Noncompliance
Information
In
recent
years,
the
Federal
facility
compliance
rate
with
the
Resource
Conservation
and
Recovery
Act
(
RCRA)
has
increased
steadily.
In
contrast,
the
compliance
rate
for
Clean
Water
Act,
National
Pollutant
Discharge
Elimination
System
(
CWA/
NPDES)
has
decreased
overall
with
a
slight
increase
in
compliance
in
the
most
recent
reporting
year.
The
compliance
rates
for
The
background
papers
on
the
candidate
national
program
priorities
are
intended
to
initiate
further
discussion.
When
priorities
are
selected,
more
detailed
strategies
with
in­
depth
background
information,
numerical
targets,
schedules,
milestones
and
performance
measures
will
be
developed.

_____________________________________________________________________________

December,
2003
Page
3
of
3
the
Clean
Air
Act
(
CAA)
fluctuated
in
recent
years,
increasing
slightly
during
the
last
reporting
year.
The
compliance
rate
for
Safe
Drinking
Water
Act
(
SDWA)
has
declined
slightly
in
recent
years.

To
enhance
and
better
maintain
regulatory
compliance
and
environmental
stewardship,
EPA
plans
to
foster
a
more
effective
implementation
of
environmental
management
systems
(
EMS)
by
Federal
facilities.
An
EMS
is
a
tool
that
can
accomplish
or
facilitate
the
implementation
of
many
environmental
requirements
and
expectations
facing
Federal
agencies.
An
EMS
is
a
process
and
framework
used
by
an
organization
to
manage
its
environmental
affairs
and
issues,
most
notably
those
areas
where
the
entity
interacts
with
or
affects
the
environment,
as
well
as
where
legal
requirements
exist.
The
key
to
success
is
understanding
the
relationships
and
linkages
among
the
various
issues
and
requirements,
and
being
cognizant
of
how
they
all
fit
into
the
EMS
framework.
The
type
of
EMS
currently
being
envisioned
by
most
Federal
agencies
is
generally
modeled
using
the
Plan,
Do,
Check,
Act
management
concept.
The
private
sector
experience
in
applying
management
system
principles
to
environment
regulatory
and
stewardship
issues
has
shown
that
this
organized
approach
is
both
prudent
and
effective
and
can
improve
efficiency
as
well
as
regulatory
compliance.

In
the
past
Federal
environmental
programs
have
focused
on
regulatory
compliance
as
the
goal
and
accepted
standard
for
environmental
management.
This
reactive
approach
has
limited
the
ability
of
organizations
to
implement
a
process
or
plan
to
address
and
prevent
environmental
impacts.
The
EMS
concept
represents
a
fundamental
change
from
a
traditional,
reactive,
compliance­
based,
stand­
alone
environmental
management
programs
to
a
proactive,
impactpredicting
management
system
that
is
focused
on
the
mission
and
embedded
in
everyday
business
processes
and
mission
activities.
The
EMS
approach
suggests
that
"
stovepiped"
environmental
programs
do
not
sufficiently
integrate
mission
activities
and
business
processes
to
identify
and
mitigate
potential
environmental
impacts
during
the
planning
stages
and
to
ensure
environmental
excellence.