An environmental management system (EMS) is part of the overall installation management system that specifically addresses the potential risks to the environment from Army activities. EMS is a tool that can help ensure that our Soldiers today — and the Soldiers of the future — have the land, water, and air resources that they need to train; a healthy environment in which to live; and the support of our local communities and the American people. Army policy requires the installation EMS to focus on mission requirements, be installation-wide in scope, and to conform to the ISO 14001 standard for Environmental Management Systems. In October 2009, The President signed Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, which reaffirmed support for EMS first required by Executive Order 13148 of April 21, 2000 Greening the Government Through Leadership in Environmental Management. Executive Order 13423 of January 2007, Strengthening Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management, expanded the requirement to at all appropriate organizational levels, expanding the scope of the EMS, and imposing new EMS auditing requirements.
Army installations already have mature environmental programs with many elements of conformant EMS in place. The next step is to leverage existing capabilities into a systematic approach aligned with mission priorities. USAEC is working with the Army Environmental Division, Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Installation Management (OACSIM); Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health; the Army Engineer School and the Army Public Health Command to mature existing EMS. The goal will be to promote mission readiness and environmental stewardship taking into consideration all environmental compliance programs and the principles of sustainability. The U.S. Army is committed to reducing risk and pollution, sustaining compliance, and enhancing mission readiness across the Service, and USAEC's support in the maturing of EMS is a key factor in this effort (EMS fact sheet).
The USAEC EMS program directly assists in the development and review of Army EMS policy and guidance, and in identifying and leveraging resources, best practices, and lessons learned from other federal and non-federal EMS programs. USAEC seeks out implementation lessons learned and develops materials to support installation implementation efforts, reduce implementation costs, and assure support for mission priorities. The following documents are valuable tools to aid the implementation process:
Additional EMS information and products are available in the following locations: