Mission and Location
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment. EPA's Region 9 office is located in San Francisco, California. Region 9's office occupies 220,000 square feet of leased space at 75 & 95 Hawthorne Street in San Francisco (co-joined buildings). EPA Region 9 occupies floors 7-19 and a portion of the1st floor at 75 Hawthorne. The Agency also occupies space at 95 Hawthorne, a portion of the 2nd and 4th floors. There are approximately 1200 occupants including EPA personnel, senior environmental employees, interns, students and contractors.
Major activities
EPA leads the nation's environmental science, research, education and assessment efforts. EPA works to develop and enforce regulations that implement environmental laws enacted by Congress. EPA also is responsible for researching and setting national standards for a variety of environmental programs, and delegates to states and tribes the responsibility for issuing permits and for monitoring and enforcing compliance. In addition, EPA offers financial assistance (e.g., through grants to states), performs environmental research, sponsors voluntary partnerships and programs, and advances environmental education efforts.
Driver(s) for establishing the EMS
Executive Order 13148 is the key driver for establishing the EMS. The EMS also provides EPA Region 9 with a tool to systematically reduce its environmental footprint, and presents an opportunity for EPA Region 9 to lead by example.
Fenceline for EMS Program Activities
EPA Region 9's Year 1 EMS is focused on internal operations, and includes the following:
The initial program is narrow in scope with a focus on system development. In future years, the scope of the program will potentially expand to include other internal operations (e.g., satellite offices, on-site child care facility etc.) and external operations (e.g., permits, grants).
Management Support
The EMS Coordinator created an EMS Implementation Team (Team) and an EMS Advisory Committee (Committee). Management support comes from the Committee. The Committee is composed of managers from each division and office, and provides management perspective. For example, the Committee reviewed the objectives and targets set by the EMS Team and suggested changes prior to providing the approval to move the EMS Program forward. The Committee also identifies opportunities to support the EMS when they arise.
Budget, Staffing and Timeframe for EMS Implementation
The EMS Coordinator is responsible for leading the EMS implementation and heads the EMS Team (Team) and the EMS Advisory Committee (Committee). The Team is comprised of staff from all divisions and offices. The members of the Team design, implement, and maintain the EMS program. The effort requires approximately 8-12 hours per month of staff time. The time commitment for the Committee members is approximately 1.5 - 2 hours once every two to three months. The EMS Coordinator position requires approximately 20 hours per week.
In addition, $20,000 is budgeted for consulting services to support the design and implementation of the EMS Program.
Budget, Staffing for EMS Maintenance
EPA Region 9 does not anticipate requiring the services of a consultant after the completion of the Year 1 EMS. The level-of-effort to maintain the EMS Program for Year Two and beyond may include the following:
Significant Impacts Identified
For the Year 1 EMS, EPA Region 9 identified the following four significant aspects:
Current Objectives and Targets
For our Year 1 EMS, we identified the following Objectives and Targets:
Air Emissions:
Objective: Study how best to reduce air emissions
Target: Complete plan by December 31, 2003.
Energy Use:
Objective: Decrease energy use
Target: 5% by December 31, 2003
Material Use:
Objective: Reduce paper use
Target: 20% by December 31, 2003 from 2002 baseline
Objective: Study how best to reduce chemical use
Target: Complete plan by December 31, 2003
Waste:
Objective: Increase office recycling (Note: The idea here is to improve sorting)
Target: Increase paper recycling 5% (of total by wt.) by December 31, 2003 (2001 baseline)
Target: Increase recycling revenues 5% by December 31, 2003 (2001 baseline)
Target: Recycle 50 pounds by December 31, 2003 (new program baseline is 0)
Objective: Study environmentally preferable products (EPP) priorities for FY04
Objective: Study best approach for inclusion of a green meeting clause in all Region 9 contracts
Target: Complete studies by December 31, 2003
Objective: Study the feasibility of composting at Region 9
Target: Complete study by December 31, 2003
Ecological Footprint (EF):
Objective: Study rationale, scope, and feasibility of incorporating EF accounting into Region 9's EMS Program
Target: Complete study by December 31, 2003
Training
EPA Region 9 trains the EMS Team on each element of the EMS Program. This usually occurs monthly or every other month. Personnel (e.g., EPA management and staff) and non-EPA staff (e.g., on-site grantees and contractors) receive an annual awareness training that is conducted by the EMS Team members at section meetings, All-Hands meetings, etc.
Metrics
Metrics are specific to each EMP. Progress is being measured and tracked and ultimately, the metrics and all EMS documentation will be available on EPA Region 9's EMS web site.
Cost Savings
We haven't completed our Year 1 EMS yet. But, if the 20 % paper reduction goal is met, EPA will recognize savings of 2,480,000 sheets of paper and $14,600.
Significant Challenges
One of the most significant challenges is gaining the support and participation of all EMS Team members to work on the EMS Program. The EMS Coordinator can not do all of the work without the Team's support. Gaining and maintaining the unwavering commitment of EMS Committee management, as well as, the universal support of EPA Region 9 management is critical. One of the other challenges is to convince EPA Region 9 staff that EMS is not the "flavor of the month".
Successes
EPA Region 9 continues to implement the Year 1 EMS Program. A result of the Team's ability to articulate the importance and benefits of a strong EMS Program - EMS staff were successful in obtaining $20,000 in funding to provide for expert assistance in the design and implementation of the EPA Region 9 EMS Program.
The awareness training sessions have been well received. The sessions are brief and concise. The training sessions are used to solicit ideas for all EPA Region 9 staff and to encourage Agency-wide participation in moving the EMS Program forward.
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