HHS General Administration Manual Part 30 Environmental Protection

(as of February 25, 2000)

SUBJECT: Department of Health and Human Services Environmental Policy

30-10-00-- Policy Statement
30-10-10-- Vision Statement
30-10-20-- Goals and Objectives
30-10-30-- Strategy

30-10-00 -- Policy Statement

The Department of Health and Human Services is committed to complying with all applicable Federal, state and local environmental laws, statutes and regulations, protecting the environment, and conserving our environmental resources by being proactive and cost effective in our environmental stewardship. It is HHS policy that pollution be prevented or reduced at the source. All HHS organizations shall give first priority to avoiding or reducing the generation of hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants at the source. Pollution that cannot be prevented or recycled must be treated in an environmentally safe manner to reduce volume, toxicity, and/or mobility. Only as a last resort should disposal or other release into the environment be employed, and such disposal or release must be conducted in accordance with all applicable authorities and in an environmentally safe manner. Managers and employees are expected to execute their responsibilities in a way that is proactive and cost effective in the protection and conservation of our environmental resources and in a manner that complies with all applicable Federal, state, and local environmental laws, statutes and regulations.

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30-10-10 -- Vision Statement

All HHS managers and employees are guardians of the environment when carrying out their responsibilities. Proactive efforts at all organizational levels must be focused on managing environmental risks to ensure that the environment is always protected and our environmental resources are conserved.

OPDIVs/STAFFDIVs must give weight to preservation of the environment and protection of historic or cultural assets in reaching substantive program decisions. All HHS organizations shall assess environmental costs and benefits as well as program goals and objectives in determining a particular course of action. In conducting this assessment, OPDIVs/STAFFDIVs should devote reasonable time, effort, and resources to consideration of environmental risks associated with a program-related course of action.

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30-10-20 -- Goals and Objectives

The goals of our environmental efforts are to prevent harm to the environment, and enhance the quality of human health by conserving our environmental resources.

This goals are satisfied by meeting the following objectives:

1. Compliance -- To comply with all applicable Federal, State, and local environmental laws, statutes and regulations;

2. Conservation -- To protect and conserve our environmental resources through pollution prevention, waste reduction and recycling;

3. Pollution Prevention -- To protect and conserve our environmental resources through source reduction in facility management and acquisition, where practicable, as the primary means of achieving and maintaining compliance with applicable Federal, State and local environmental laws, statutes and regulations; and

4. Restoration -- To restore, when possible, facilities, land, and waters damaged through past practices.

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30-10-30 -- Strategy

HHS has adopted and will adhere to a Code of Environmental Management Principles (CEMP) to help achieve the goals of the HHS environmental protection program. As part of the effort to implement these principles throughout HHS, all OPDIVS/STAFFDIVS will integrate the following principles into their environmental protection programs:

1. Management Commitment -- Written top management commitment to improved environmental performance by establishing policies which emphasize pollution prevention and the need to ensure compliance with environmental requirements.

2. Compliance Assurance and Pollution Prevention -- Proactive programs that aggressively identify and address potential compliance problem areas and utilize pollution prevention approaches to correct deficiencies and improve environmental performance.

3. Enabling Systems -- Necessary systems to enable personnel to perform their functions consistent with regulatory requirements, HHS environmental policies, and the HHS overall mission.

4. Performance and Accountability -- Measures to address employee environmental performance and ensure full accountability of environmental functions.

5. Measurement and Improvement -- A program to assess progress toward meeting organization environmental goals, and which uses the results of that assessment to improve environmental performance.

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Last Revised: October 17, 2003