NIH's excellence in environmental stewardship continues to be recognized by many organizations including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the State of Maryland, and the White House. Here are just a few of the NIH's recent environmental successes and awards.

Featured Award
EPA Recognizes the National Institutes of Health for Its Environmental Leadership
"EPA commends NIH for being the first federal facility in Maryland to enroll in the National Partnership for Environmental Priorities program," said Maria Vickers, EPA Deputy Director for the Office of Solid Waste. "They're not only a leader in medical research, but now a leader in demonstrating how facilities can make changes in carrying out their work in a more environmentally-protective way."   Read on

Success Story
NIH WINS EPA NPEP AWARD BY REDUCING MERCURY THROUGH SUSTAINABLE LAB DECOMMISSIONING

NIH was the first federal facility in Maryland to enroll in the National Partnership for Environmental Priorities or NPEP. NPEP is EPA’s voluntary program in which private and public organizations work with EPA to reduce the use or release of 31 priority chemicals, including mercury, beyond regulatory requirements. In becoming a partner, NIH committed to establishing an organization-wide education and awareness program to eliminate mercury use where alternatives are available, and to prevent future installation of mercury switches and other devices in all new NIH facility construction.   Read on

Other Awards

• MAD AS A HATTER MERCURY REDUCTION CAMPAIGN WINS HOWARD FAWCETT AWARD
  
  NIH employees have taken our campus very close to being mercury free through the NIH’s Mad as a Hatter mercury reduction campaign. We’ve used promotional materials and developed approaches for improving awareness of mercury hazards and pollution prevention on NIH facilities. Much of this material is now widely used by other organizations and for public outreach. This campaign won the American Chemical Society’s prestigious Howard Fawcett award for outstanding contributions to the science, technology, education, and communication of chemical health and safety.




• URBAN FOREST CONSERVATION PLAN WINS AWARDS
  
  NIH’s longstanding proactive landscape practices were formalized as the “NIH Urban Forest Conservation Plan”. This plan received the “2005 White Oak Award for Excellence in Forest Conservation and Land Development” from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the “2006 Gold Leaf Award for Outstanding Landscape Beautification Activities” from the International Society of Arboriculture. This plan was further enhanced over the last 4 years as NIH converted over 21 acres of campus space to vegetated and natural woodland habitat. This includes the removal of over 5 acres of asphalt parking lots and the conversion of over 16 acres of previously manicured lawns to reforested ‘no mow zones’ (including 6 acres along the NIH stream and 10 acres of woodland just west of the Children’s Inn on Cedar Lane).




• ELECTRONICS REUSE AND RECYCLING WINS WHITE HOUSE AWARD
  
  The NIH was selected by the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE) as a winner of the 2007 Federal Electronics Reuse and Recycling Campaign as a result of NIH’s emphasis on recycling and reuse. Federal agencies were encouraged to compete in this campaign which began on November 15, 2006 and ended on March 19, 2007. The NIH won in the large civilian agency category based on the quantities of used electronic equipment that was reused or recycled. Last year the total for NIH was over 260 tons! The NIH received the award on Tuesday April 17, 2007, at an awards ceremony held at the White House.