|
Federal Executive Order 13101 of September 14, 1998:
Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition
Federal Executive Order 13101 strengthens and expands the Federal government's commitment to recycling and buying recycled-content and environmentally preferable products. Among other things, it:
- Defines key terms;
- Elevates implementation of waste prevention and recycling activities to a new, White House-level Steering committee;
- Discontinues all government purchases of printing and writing paper not containing 30 percent postconsumer fiber by the end of 1998;
- Provides new ways for the Federal government to build markets for environmentally preferable products and services;
- Increases government purchases of bio-based products to develop markets for these items;
- Requires all Federal facilities to comply with recycling and recycled content purchasing requirements under the Federal Facility Compliance Act;
- Requires agencies to establish long-term goals both for waste prevention and recycling and for buying recycled and environmentally preferable products. [45]
- Directs federal agencies to track and measure results and to report progress. [46]
EPP Practitioners at the Federal Level
Guidance for Integrating EPP Commitment into an Organization's Existing Management System
The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) is implementing its EPP program through an Environmental Management System (EMS) at its Sacramento headquarters-the first State agency in California government to do so. More information can be found on Cal/EPA's EMS Web site.
More and more leaders in government organizations at all levels--local, state, and federal--understand that improving procurement decisions is an important area of environmental stewardship and a key strategy in pollution prevention. Greening the government's supply chain is proving to be a powerful strategy in making real and lasting environmental improvements, reducing health and safety risks, and strengthening businesses who are leading the transition to an environmentally sustainable economy.
Increasingly recognized as a best practice, government organizations are making the transition from managing EPP initiatives as special pilot projects to standard operations, integrating their EPP policy goals and implementation activities into the organization's existing management system.
Understanding the necessary elements of an effective EMS is needed to assure EPP commitments are not neglected after the transition from a special initiative (with management attention) to more routine operations. Voluntary requirements, as well as guidance, for effective environmental management systems are covered in International Standards. A widely accepted model for an EMS is the ISO 14001 Standard adopted by the International Organization for Standardization.
EMS implementation is recognized by leaders in all levels of government and by many successful private sector businesses as an important management tool. An EMS is an integrated set of management processes designed to continually improve the ability of an organization to achieve its environmental and related business goals. The EMS approach reflects the "plan-do-check-advance" cycle of continual improvement.
Leaders in governmental organizations have observed the following benefits:
- Increased efficiency, reduced costs, and greater operational consistency.
- Improved ability to meet compliance requirements.
- Improved environmental awareness, involvement, and competency throughout the organization.
- Better communication about environmental issues inside and outside the organization.
- Better relationships with stakeholders.
The U.S. EPA has developed guidance for organizations on how to integrate their EPP efforts into existing management practices and processes, including an Environmental Management System. Much of the information is applicable to all types of organizations, not only federal facilities, and includes case studies, practical guidance, potential language for, and Federal facility examples of integrating green purchasing into each element of the ISO 14001 International EMS Standard.
Sustaining long term EPP commitment positions an organization to reap the benefits as the marketplace continues to respond with more environmentally preferable alternatives. Longer term sustainability of an EPP program is enhanced by integrating EPP into existing management processes and further enhanced by including systematic management of other environmental impacts which may be significant to the organization, such as energy conservation, fleet management, waste reduction, and sustainable building operations and maintenance. Organizations may choose from a variety of paths to improve their ability to reach their environmental and business goals:
- Implement a sustainable EPP program by verifying that the important elements of an effective management system, as described in ISO 14001, are in place.
- Begin with an EPP program and then consider implementing a full EMS to manage EPP as well as other significant environmental impacts in a systematic manner.
- Begin with implementing an EMS in order to better manage EPP along with other environmental impacts significant to the organization.
To reduce the Federal government's environmental footprint and improve the implementation of green purchasing and other greening the government initiatives, the President mandated that all appropriate Federal facilities implement EMSs by December 2005. More information is available from the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive.
|
