Tennessee Valley Authority
Development of TVA’s EMS
TVA was the first federal agency to have all of its facilities covered by an EMS. In less than two years, TVA transformed its previous, fragmented Environmental Management System into a dynamic financial and risk-management tool that integrates environmental considerations into business decisions.
For the first time in its history, TVA established agency-wide environmental objectives and targets. They include:
- Twenty-three performance indicators by which beneficial and detrimental impacts on the air, land, water quality, waste production, and energy consumption are measured
- Quarterly assessments that allow employees and managers companywide to gauge the success or failure of their performance.
This process of measuring and reporting creates a better understanding and management of risk, thereby improving TVA’s financial performance.
How information is shared
The EMS provides a standardized method of managing TVA’s environmental impacts through an internal, web-based Environmental Information Center. Flexible in design and updated continuously, this center:
- Provides key environmental information to TVA employees
- Provides a line of sight to corporate objectives by defining individual roles and responsibilities
- Standardizes environmental training for over 12,000 employees using web-based training technology
- Shares organizational best practices
- Supports an environmental recognition program
- Includes an extensive database for collecting and reporting data on the agency’s environmental performance.
Additional features of TVA’s EMS
- A web-based National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) system devised for the documentation of Categorical Exclusions and the tracking of NEPA commitments
- A standardized NEPA review process
- Documentation of TVA’s net environmental expenses
- An auditing program to determine adherence to and effectiveness of the EMS
- Self-assessments for EMS activities
- Teams of technical experts to review and provide environmental regulatory guidance
- Restrictions and guidance for the disposal of high-risk wastes by TVA-evaluated and approved disposal companies
- Standardized environmental emergency preparedness, response, and notification procedures
- Formalized environmental communications and stakeholder-involvement activities.
Employees’ commitment to the EMS has shown itself in continuous environmental improvement. Thanks to this active participation in TVA’s environmental performance, TVA is recognized as a national and world model for integrated resource management.
