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5/1/09
DOE Requests Comments on Proposed Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases

On April 10, 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a proposed rule that would require the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors of the economy. The rule would apply to fossil fuel suppliers and industrial gas suppliers, as well as to direct greenhouse gas emitters. The proposed rule does not require control of greenhouse gases, rather it requires only that sources above certain threshold levels monitor and report emissions. The rule would affect any DOE site that meets the reporting threshold, and the Office of Environmental Policy and Assistance (HS-22) has issued an Information Notice to discuss the proposed rule and request comments. Field and Program Offices should review the proposed rule and submit comments by May 11, 2009, to Josh Silverman, HS-22, at josh.silverman@hq.doe.gov or 202-586-6535. In developing comments, please indicate the specific pages and section of the Federal Register notice to which each comment pertains. Please use the link below to access PDF files of the DOE Information Notice and the EPA proposed rule.

DOE Information Notice (192,404 bytes, 8 pp.)

74 FR 16448 (1,506,575 bytes, 285 pp.)

4/29/09
EMS Status Report Update Available

On January 15, 2009, the Office of Environmental Policy and Assistance (HS-22) transmitted an status report to the Federal Environmental Executive concerning the status of "fully implemented" environmental management systems (EMSs) at DOE. A final update will be issued on July 15, 2009, following the Department's June 30 deadline for "fully implemented" EMSs. Please use the link below to access a PDF file of the EMS Status Report.

EMS Status Report (27,701 bytes, 4 pp.)

4/29/09
DOE Responds to NPS Survey

On March 3, 2009, the Office of Nuclear Safety and Environment (HS-20) transmitted information to the National Park Service (NPS) on DOE's archeological programs and projects for FY 2008. This report was prepared in response to a request from NPS for information that it could use to help prepare the Secretary of Interior's Report to Congress on Federal Archeology. For more information on DOE's archeological programs and projects in specific or cultural resource management in general, contact Beverly Whitehead (HS-22) at beverly.whitehead@hq.doe.gov or (202) 586-6073. Please use the link below to access a PDF file of the DOE response to the FY 2008 archeological programs and projects survey.

DOE Response (165,481 bytes, 42 pp.)

4/9/09
DOE Celebrates Earth Week 2009

The Department of Energy will celebrate the 39^th anniversary of Earth Day during the week of April 20^th in Forrestal and the week of April 27^th in Germantown. DOE will showcase numerous exhibits from DOE Program Offices as well as outside vendors to further educate its employees on leading more environmentally-friendly lives. The DOE Environmental Sustainability Awards (EStar) will be presented on April 22 at 10:30 a.m. at Forrestal in Room 1E-245. Through the EStar awards, DOE recognizes exemplary environmental sustainability practices across the complex. This year eight EStar Award winners and three EStar Honorable Mention winners were selected from 35 "Best in Class" environmental sustainability initiatives covering eight DOE sites across the complex. For more information on the 2009 DOE Earth Day activities, look for more information in an upcoming DOE Cast or contact Beverly Whitehead (HS-22) at beverly.whitehead@hq.doe.gov or (202) 586-6073. Please use the link below to access a PDF file of the DOE Earth Week 2009 article.

DOE Earth Week 2009 article (133,122 bytes, 29 pp.)

4/9/09
EMS Status Report for FY 2008 Available

On April 9, 2009, the DOE Office of Environmental Policy and Assistance (HS-22) transmitted a preliminary report, "U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management System Status Report for Fiscal Year 08 Pursuant to Executive Order 13423 Strengthening Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management," to the EPA. The preliminary report contains tabulations of the number of DOE EMS facilities and organizations, EMS scorecard metrics used, EMS effectiveness questions posed, and responses to questions on the benefits of EMS on the environment and on environmental issues. A final report will include an extensive summary of responses to the narrative questions on DOE experiences with EMS implementation. Please use the link below to access a PDF file of the DOE memorandum.

DOE Status Report (133,122 bytes, 29 pp.)

3/26/09
Reminder: EMS "Full Implementation" Deadline Is June 30, 2009

In a March 23, 2009, memorandum the DOE Office of Environmental Policy and Assistance (HS-22) issued a reminder of the June 30, 2009, deadline for full implementation of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) at DOE sites as required by DOE Order 450.1A, Environmental Protection Program. All DOE sites that have previously declared as "fully implemented" need to be "re-declared" under the new requirements of Order 450.1A. A template that can be used for the declaration by a field office manager to his/her cognizant program office is included with the memorandum. Please use the link below to access a PDF file of the DOE memorandum.

DOE Memorandum (89,938 bytes, 4 pp.)

3/17/09
Operational Guidelines Report and Assistance Tool Available

In March 2009 the Office of Nuclear Safety Policy and Assistance (HS-21) made available two products to support the development of Operational Guidelines for protection and recovery following Radiological Dispersal Device (RDD) and Improvised Nuclear Device (IND) incidents. Operational Guidelines are derived levels of radiation or radionuclides that can be measured in the field and compared to Protective Action Guides (PAGs) to quickly determine if protective actions are needed. The Preliminary Report on Operational Guidelines Developed for Use in Emergency Preparedness and Response to a Radiological Dispersal Device Incident (February 2009;DOE/HS-0001;ANL/EVS/TM/09-1) presents preliminary operational guidelines and supporting work products. A companion software tool, RESRAD-RDD, is intended for use and comment by Federal agencies, State and local governments, and emergency planning and response subject matter experts. For more information on these products, including download links, please visit DOE's Operational Guidelines Web site.

3/17/09
DOE Achieves "Green" Status on OMB Environmental Stewardship Scorecard

The Environmental Stewardship Scorecard is one of three scorecards used by OMB to track the performance of DOE and other Federal agencies in achieving the sustainable goals of Executive Order (EO) 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management. DOE met or exceeded all the "Criteria for Success" in the OMB FY 08 Environmental Stewardship Scorecard. This is the first time OMB has awarded a Federal agency a green score in Environmental Stewardship. For more information on this achievement, please click on the link below.

Notice (126,054 bytes, 2 pp.)

2/20/09
FY 2008 Report on DOE Sustainable Practices Available

In February 2009 the DOE Office of Environmental Policy and Assistance (HS-22) issued a report entitled, Sustainable Acquisition, Recycling, and Pollution Prevention Practices - Fiscal Year 2008 Report. The report summarizes DOE's FY 2008 purchases of designated, qualified, or registered green (environmentally preferable, energy- and water-efficient) products, as well as Departmental activities related to electronics stewardship, environmental management systems, sustainable building design, solid waste diversion (recycling), toxic chemical reduction, and other sustainable acquisition and pollution prevention practices under Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management. Please use the link below to access a PDF file of the DOE report.

DOE Report (599,081 bytes, 29 pp.)

2/20/09
DOE Environmental Stewardship Scorecard Available

In January 2009 the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Office of the Federal Environmental Executive issued an Environmental Stewardship Scorecard for DOE's for performance as of January 1, 2009, in environmentally preferable purchasing, environmental management system implementation, electronics stewardship, high performance sustainable building, and environmental compliance management improvement. Please use the link below to access a PDF file of the DOE scorecard.

DOE Scorecard (54,367 bytes, 2 pp.)

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