2008 Environmental Achievement Awards
Due August 27, 2008

Submit Nominations NOW
Call for Nominations Signed by James E. Cason
Award Types
Award Scope
Environmental Compliance
Award Categories
Award Process
Tips for Writing a Good Nomination
Evaluation Criteria
Questions and Off-Internet Submissions
Bureau Award Coordinators

AWARD TYPES

Individual - a Department employee
Team - Department employee or a combination of Department and non-Department employees
Cooperator - a Department partner organization, which may be a contractor, a Federal/State agency, tribal nations or organizations, or non-profit entities.

AWARD SCOPE

The Department Environmental Achievement Awards recognize Department individual employees and teams as well as Department cooperators who have attained exceptional environmental achievements in accordance with the following policies:

Executive Order 13423 - Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management,
Departmental Manual - Compliance with Waste Management Requirements (518 DM 2),
Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-58),
Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-140),
Strategic Plan for Greening the Department of the Interior Through Waste Prevention, Recycling and Federal Acquisition, and
Additionally, the Environmental Stewardship category recognizes efforts to prevent and remediate contaminated sites on Department land.

The Department Environmental Achievement Awards provide recognition for Department employees and cooperators for exceptional work done on Department projects.

ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE

These Awards recognize recipients and projects worthy of replication across the Department. Compliance with applicable laws and regulations is a requirement for receiving an Award. There must be no environmental compliance problems (e.g., Environmental Protection Agency or State fines and penalties levied against a facility or open environmental audit findings) associated with a nomination. Therefore, bureau/office heads are required to verify that all recommended award recipients are in compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations or that all compliance-related problems have been addressed. By signing the Memorandum of Nomination, bureau/office heads are certifying that environmental compliance findings associated with the submitted nominations are closed or that all compliance-related problems have been sufficiently addressed to their satisfaction. The Department reserves the right to withhold recognition from any recommended recipient in violation of any environmental Federal, State or local rules, laws, or regulations of any kind.

AWARD CATEGORIES

Waste/Pollution Prevention and Recycling

This category recognizes source reduction practices related to the generation of non-hazardous solid wastes, hazardous wastes, or pollution from a site, facility, or operation through any change in the design, manufacturing, or use/reuse of materials or products; and/or the amount of toxicity in waste materials before recycling, reuse, treatment or disposal. This category also recognizes recycling activities - including collection, separation, and processing - by which products or other materials are recovered from the waste stream for use in the manufacture of new products (other than use as fuel for producing heat or power by combustion) at a Federal site, facility, or operation. This category also recognizes electronics life-cycle management programs, including electronics recycling. Preference is given to nominations that include outreach programs/projects or educational efforts designed to promote pollution prevention and waste prevention goals and objectives of E.O. 13423; promote recycling at the site, facility, or operation; and promote partnerships with the surrounding community to promote recycling.

Green Purchasing

This category recognizes the most effective and innovative programs implemented for purchase and use of recycled content, environmentally preferable, or biobased products at a Federal site, facility, or operation. Preference is given to nominations that include both purchase of recycled content products and purchase of either environmentally preferable or biobased products. For recycled content products, this award category focuses on, but is not limited to, those products designated in the Environmental Protection Agency's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines. For environmentally preferable products, this Award category recognizes the best examples of acquiring, using, or validating products or services that have a reduced impact on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose; an outstanding improvement to a process that resulted in significant monetary savings and benefit to the environment; or product testing that led to the approval and use of environmentally preferable products or services. Preference also is given for outreach programs/projects or educational efforts designed to promote the green purchasing objectives of E.O. 13423.

Sustainable Buildings

This category recognizes the most innovative Federal Government sustainable design and green building projects, the conservation and efficient use of energy and water, and the use of renewable energy sources. Nominations are limited to completed projects. Nominations should address all facets of a structure/project's life cycle (i.e. encompass project design, energy efficiency, water conservation, renewable energy use, materials usage, and building operations). For Sustainable Design/Green Buildings, each nomination should highlight the cost effective use of innovative techniques and solutions that utilize sustainable design principles in the planning, construction, and operation of Federal facilities. For energy and water conservation projects, each nomination should include the amount of energy and or water saved as a result of the project, in terms of both the absolute quantity and percentage when compared to the previous fiscal year. For renewable energy projects, each nomination should include the amount of renewable energy produced or purchased as a result of the project, in terms of both absolute quantity and percentage when compared to the previous fiscal year. Each nomination should include the magnitude of environmental and/or non-energy benefits derived from the project, such as metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions averted. Preference is given to projects that include outreach programs/projects or educational efforts designed to promote sustainable buildings, energy and water conservation and renewable energy use.

Alternative Fuel and Fuel Conservation in Transportation

This category recognizes programs, practices, and procedures implemented in a Federal fleet that result in significant alternative fuel use and fuel conservation measures in transportation. This includes establishment of new fuel infrastructure; methods for encouraging the use of alternative fuels; ride sharing programs; increased vehicle usage efficiency programs; hybrid vehicle or neighborhood electric vehicle acquisition and use; or any other methods your fleet uses to decrease petroleum consumption. Preference is given to nominations that demonstrate innovation in response to technical, logistical, financial, and other hurdles and support the goals of the Energy Policy Act of 2007, Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, and E.O.13423.

Environmental Management Systems

This category recognizes the most effective and innovative programs to implement environmental management systems at the Department facilities in accordance with E.O. 13423. Implementation of organizational/facility-level environmental management systems shall include measurable environmental goals, objectives, and targets that are reviewed and updated as appropriate. The systems should include a compliance component. This category also recognizes the use of quantitative or qualitative consideration of the full range (cradle to grave) of environmental costs and impacts of certain activities or procurement. The effort should include environmental consideration in either descriptive or accounting format of raw material derivations, use and disposal of final products services; material and energy usage and waste; environmental, health and safety management costs; or the use of environmental accounting and life cycle assessment in multiple types of decision making. Preference is given to Environmental Management Systems programs that go beyond the basic compliance under E.O. 13423 and include greening goals consistent with E.O. 13423 and the Federal Electronics Challenge.

Environmental Stewardship

This category recognizes efforts to prevent and remediate contaminated sites on Department land. Examples of such improvements or initiatives are in areas such as bureau operations, land management practices, technology enhancement/transfer, environmental education/training, policy making, program infrastructure development, and research. Note: this category changed in 2007. It no longer covers far-reaching ecosystem protection accomplishments, which are recognized through the Department Cooperative Conservation Awards. If you have any questions about whether or not your project will fit this category, please contact Ms. Catherine Cesnik, Awards Coordinator, at 202-208-7554 who will review questions on a case-by-case basis.

AWARD PROCESS

Step 1: SUBMIT NOMINATIONS ON-LINE at: www.doi.gov/greening/awards.

Step 2: BUREAU or OFFICE SCREENING.

Step 3: MEMORANDUM FROM HEAD OF BUREAU or OFFICE.

Step 4: EVALUATION OF NOMINATIONS BY AWARDS PANEL.

Step 5: ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE SCREENING.

Step 6: RECOMMENDATIONS FINALIZED, ANNOUNCEMENT MADE.

Step 7: RECOGNITION CEREMONY.

TIPS FOR WRITING A GOOD NOMINATION

The following are tips suggested by past judges.

Tip 1: Review the summaries of the past award recipients at www.doi.gov/greening/awards.

Tip 2: Use headings and bullets to separate important components of your narrative. Click here to see sample format.

Tip 3: If your project was a team effort, don't nominate a single individual. In the past, judges have raised questions about nominations that single out an individual, without a clear justification why that individual deserves sole recognition.

Tip 4: If your project falls in more than one award category, write only one nomination that demonstrates the full scope of your program, and select the closest award category.

Tip 5: If your project encompasses more than one bureau/office, write one joint nomination that demonstrates the full scope of the program. Select a lead bureau/office to write and submit the nomination. Please list all member bureaus, offices, or agencies in your nomination narrative.

Tip 6: Use quantitative data whenever possible (e.g., square feet of recycled-content carpet, pounds of waste diverted from the landfill, dollar values of green contracts, etc.).

Tip 7: Submit a very succinct and very informative abstract of the achievement to show judges your program's key components. Your abstract helps judges quickly reference salient points of your project's merits during discussions around the selection committee table. Tip 8: Closely read the evaluation criteria that will be used by judges to score your nomination. Tip 9 (For Cooperators): Clearly show your organization's relationship to the Department project and to Department as a whole. Explain your organization's role in the project.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

A panel of bureau/office representatives convened by the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance will review and recommend Award recipients using the following four criteria.

For projects that won an Environmental Achievement Award in years past, the nomination submitted this year must demonstrate significant new developments or improvements over past achievements.

Criteria 1: Need & Implementation

A clear, compelling environmental need for the project
Challenges overcome to complete the project or action
Support for Federal/Department/bureau/office initiatives, such as: environmental initiatives, streamlined procedures, sound life-cycle cost accounting, and performance measures
Department and third-party audits to improve project performance
Applicable Federal, State, and local laws, Executive Orders, tribal codes and ordinances, and departmental and bureau policies were followed
Achievement of a recognized benchmark of environmental performance may have been demonstrated by third party certification, for example: the International Standards Organization 14000 series, National Environmental Performance Track, or Green Seal product or service standards.

Criteria 2: Innovation

Extent to which the project incorporates innovative and emerging techniques or technologies
Project finds solutions to a common problem(s) faced across the Department

Criteria 3: Partnering and Cooperative Conservation

Project is exemplary in applying the E.O. 13352, "Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation." For example, project leaders succeeded in bringing together parties with differing resources and perspectives to share cooperatively in the work of the project and/or created sustaining relationships with your bureau/office that will further the parties' involvement in stewardship of public lands.
Critical project information, including rationale and results, were communicated in a variety of ways to multiple communities or stakeholders affected by or interested in the project or action, such as tribal communities, citizen organizations, townships, etc. (e.g. informative publications may have been translated into other languages for use by the public).

Criteria 4: Scope of Project Impact

Completed project contributed significantly to the improvement of the environment
Other Department sites or Federal entities could replicate the strategies and techniques proven successful by this project
The project is institutionalized into business practices to provide continuing and accruing benefits to your bureau/office
Quantitative data shows improved performance over past years
The project must be complete or show several years of data/results.

QUESTIONS AND OFF-INTERNET SUBMISSIONS

If you have any questions that cannot be answered by your bureau/office environmental award coordinator, please contact Ms. Catherine Cesnik, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, at 202-208-7554 or Catherine_Cesnik@ios.doi.gov.

If you do not have internet access, you may submit your nomination on a compact disk. Contact your award coordinator or Ms. Catherine Cesnik for more information.

2008 Environmental Achievement Awards Due August 27, 2008