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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
Purpose of the Environmental Management System (EMS)
NASA is committed to operating with the environment in mind. The EMS
provides a tool for assisting NASA to achieve environmental
accountability and sustainability. An EMS is a system that:
- Incorporates people, procedures, and work practices in a formal
structure to ensure that the important environmental impacts of the
organization are identified and addressed,
- Promotes continual improvement including periodically evaluating
environmental performance,
- Involves all members of the organization as appropriate, and
- Actively involves Senior Management in support of the environmental
management program.
To summarize, the purpose of the NASA EMS is to have a single overall
Agency approach to managing environmental activities that allows for
efficient, prioritized program execution.
How the EMS Supports NASA's Mission
The NASA EMS is built on the “Plan, Do, Check, Act” model, which leads
to continual improvement of the process and actions that NASA undertakes
to meet its organizational and environmental goals.
- Plan - Identify environmental aspects and impact and establish
goals and objectives to address those impacts.
- Do - Implement programs and operational controls to meet
established goals and objectives.
- Check - Monitor and perform corrective action to determine success
of implementation
- Act - Review progress and take action to make needed changes to the
EMS and return to the planning process
The EMS evaluates the potential impacts and benefits of NASA's
environmental aspects by assessing risks to safety and health, costs to
NASA, mission impacts, natural and cultural resources, stakeholder
relationships, and regulatory requirements. Through this process, NASA
Centers identify their "high priority" environmental aspects that pose
the greatest risk to the NASA mission, its employees, and the
environment, and establish environmental management programs to manage
or mitigate those risks.
EMS Regulatory Drivers
Executive Order 13148, "Greening the Government Through Leadership in
Environmental Management," dated April 21, 2000, established a
requirement for Federal facilities to implement an EMS by December 31,
2005. NASA's internal EMS requirements are established by NASA
Procedural Requirements (NPR) 8553.1, NASA Environmental Management
System (EMS).
Recent Accomplishments & Ongoing Activities
NASA implemented an EMS at its 16 Centers by the December 31, 2005,
deadline established by Executive Order 13148.
- Ames Research Center
- Dryden Flight Research Center
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Jet Propulsion Laboratory - Goldstone Deep Space Complex
- Johnson Space Center
- Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field
- Glenn Research Center at Plum Brook Station
- Goddard Space Flight Center
- Kennedy Space Center
- Langley Research Center
- Marshall Space Flight Center
- Michoud Assembly Facility
- Stennis Space Center
- Goddard Space Flight Center, Wallops Flight Facility
- Johnson Space Center, White Sands Test Facility
- NASA Headquarters
The Federal Environmental Executive has recognized NASA as a leader in
EMS implementation since it was one of the few Federal agencies to
implement all of the EMS requirements of Executive Order 13148 at all of
its facilities. NASA continues to use the EMS to update its
environmental aspects and impacts and benefits annually and to identify
areas for continual improvement.
Additional Program Information
Program Specific Headings
Formatting and text to be provided by Program Manager
Program Metrics
Describe how program is measured, progress is tracked, etc.
Links to other Important Information
+ Why EMS
+ NASA's EMS
+ Headquarters EMS
+ Useful Links
EMD EMS Points of Contact(s)
+ Program Manager Name, linked to email
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