Joint Environmental Management System (EMS)
The environmental management system (EMS) has two areas of focus: environmental compliance and environmental sustainability.
The environmental compliance aspect of the EMS consists of regulatory compliance and monitoring programs that implement federal, state, local, and tribal requirements, agreements and permits under the Legacy Management contract.
The environmental sustainability aspect promotes and integrates sustainability initiatives such as energy and natural resource conservation, waste minimization, green construction, and use of eco-friendly products and services into all phases of work.
The DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM) EMS was formally implemented in October 2005 and continues to evolve as new directives and guidance documents are issued and implemented. The LM EMS is a joint system between the LM employees and the contractor employees with the following Mission Statement:
LM EMS Joint Mission Statement
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) and their contractors are committed to excellence in environmental stewardship. LM’s Environmental Management System (EMS) is a comprehensive system to incorporate life-cycle environmental considerations into all aspects of the LM mission to maximize beneficial use of finite resources, minimize wastes and adverse environmental impacts, and meet or exceed compliance with applicable environmental, public health, and resource protection laws, regulations, and DOE requirements.
The LM EMS is a systematic process for reducing the environmental impacts resulting from LM work activities, products, and services that directs work to occur in a manner that protects the workers, the public, and the environment. The LM EMS is integrated with the safety management system, which follows the “Plan-Do-Check-Act” cycle to ensure continuous improvement.
DOE Order 450.1A (Environmental Protection Program) enforces environmental compliance and reinforces the need to respond to and meet the national sustainability goals through implementation of an integrated Environmental Management System (EMS) that considers environmental aspects affected by all agency activities.
Specific national goals related to improving energy, water, and fuel efficiency and using environmentally preferable products and services are stated in Executive Order 13423 (Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management) and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Order 430.2B (Departmental Energy, Renewable Energy and Transportation Management).
More information on these and other guiding policies and documents can be found on the link below: