Corps transforming environmental programs  

Jun. 30, 2008

By Candice Walters
Headquarters, USACE

Army Transformation is continuing within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. First the Corps transformed its military construction program.  Now the Corps is looking at its environmental programs.

USACE is transforming its reimbursable programs to ensure "we are providing our customers with the consistent, efficient and effective products and services they expect, and deserve," said Maj. Gen. Merdith W.B. (Bo) Temple, deputy commanding general for military and international operations.

"Our goal is to align ourselves to execute our environmental mission by taking advantage of the assets, work force capabilities and resources found within our Environmental Community of Practice to focus on national program initiatives while strengthening the Corps' environmental programs," Temple said, adding that the transformation message has been coordinated with the Corps' environmental customers, including the Army Secretariat, to ensure expectations are being met.

The USACE Environmental Transformation efforts began with a January "Environmental Summit" that brought together people from throughout the Corps to set the direction for ensuring that the Corps' reimbursable environmental programs exceed their customers' expectations.

During the summit participants merged 12 different subject areas into four overarching topics:  People, Program Management and Opportunities, Relationships, and Thinking Corporately.  These were further refined into four themes:  Transforming Customer Care; Transforming Management of Programs; Transforming Environmental Capabilities; and Transforming HQUSACE Management.

"We knew that we must transform if we are to keep our reputation as the 'Environmental Corps,'" said Stacey Hirata, acting director of the Corps' Environmental Community of Practice.  "There are others competing for the reimbursable work we do. Thus, we have to do whats necessary to ensure that we are the 'service provider of choice,' and that means doing it better, faster, less expensive, greener and safer."

Temple endorsed nine recommendations.  The nine include:  
- Standardize customer communications;
- Utilize a corporate environmental communications and outreach plan;
- Align portfolio management to USACE vision;
- Increase regional use of virtual teams/move to optimization as acceptable to the customer, between one to two years;
- Develop a five-year corporate environmental resource plan;
- Improve technology information dissemination and infusion;
- Improve technology access and management process;
- Revitalize the eCoP Steering Committee; and
- Align National/Regional Environmental Listening and Exchange Workshops.

"Because the Corps' environmental programs are diverse, we feel that to be more consistent, effective and efficient, we need to look at managing these programs regionally," Hirata said. "This approach will leverage our districts' talents better and enhance the environmental services our nation expects during disasters and in support of warfighters."

Environmental Transformation is not new.  In fact, it has been going on since 2004 with the completion of a functional area analysis on the environment that produced several recommendations.  One of the recommendations resulted in the creation of a Contract Acquisition Working Group to review environmental contract requirements and facilitate collaboration between districts/regions to reduce contracting costs and ensure contract availability and capability worldwide.

Also in 2006, the Corps transformed the Formerly Used Defense Sites program to regionalize the program management and execution, reduce the number of districts involved in the program, and secure efficiencies and increased effectiveness.  That same year, a Military Munitions Support Services strategy was established to take a comprehensive look at the various munitions services the Corps was providing and establish governance that is enhancing efficiencies and effectiveness.

In 2007, the Hazardous, Toxic and Radioactive Waste and Military Munitions Centers of Expertise merged into the Environmental and Munitions Center of Expertise under the operational control of the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, creating a synergy between Huntsville and Omaha District, which better serves military and civil customers on environmental and munitions remediation and responses.

The Environmental Quality (EQ) program, with its compliance, conservation and pollution prevention services, is the next function to transform. Its moving from a compliance-based approach to a more performance-based, sustainability paradigm. The program includes new supporting business practices, such as strategic sourcing, to leverage the buying power of the Army to maximize available funding. The EQ transformation concept represents the maturation of the environmental management of the Army's air, water and land assets. It's moving away from the traditional environmental mission area of compliance into the holistic, integrated planning approach embodied in the Army Strategy for the Environment with its focus on sustainability.

The Corps' efforts are designed to support the Army Environmental Command's (AEC) efforts in this regard and to ensure that capabilities found within the Corps can supplement those found throughout the Army.

To that end, the Corps and AEC synchronized efforts and updated a partnering agreement that better reflects an enhanced working relationship and allowed them to transform programs together. The updated agreement, signed April 18, calls for conducting formal semi-annual meetings and establishing an executive liaison to maintain overall communications and coordination.  This will enhance the Corps' support to installation cleanup and restoration, base closure, unexploded ordnance and range sustainment, research and development, pollution prevention, conservation and compliance activities. 

Plans call for transforming the EQ program by October with initial operating capability in early fiscal year 2009, and then continuing to transform other reimbursable environmental services that the Corps provides such as the Defense Environmental Restoration Program and Superfund.