The Fort Bliss environmental program consist of 45 full-time civilian employees, and 59 in-house contractors. Contractor personnel include the Hazardous Waste Curbside Service, Recycling program, asbestos/lead-based paint management, IT and GIS projects.

• Cultural Resources
• Natural Resources
• National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
• Army Compatible Use Buffer Program (ACUB)
• Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
• Hazardous Waste
• Fuel Storage Tanks
• Spill Prevention
• New Corrective Action Sites
• Noise
• Recycling
• Solid Waste
• Wastewater and Stormwater
• Boards and Advisory Councils Served by Staff

In 2012, DPW-E will be updating their Programmatic Agreement among the Ft Bliss Command, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, the New Mexico and Texas State Historic Preservation Officers and other interested parties on how it will meet its Section 106 obligations under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (as amended). Most importantly, this PA streamlines the Section 106 process and allows faster in-house review of the hundreds of proposed projects and training requests received each year by Environment. The PA also standardizes and provides guidance for a variety of routine and unusual procedures. DPW-E will also be revising their Integrated Cultural Resources Management Plan in 2012 The ICRMP is a 5-year planning document the Installation uses to make decisions about cultural resources management activities and compliance procedures. The ICRMP makes the management of cultural resources relevant to the mission.

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   1. DPW-E contracts most of the archeological work conducted on the Installation through an IDIQ contract, receiving bids from contractors on a variety of tasks, including survey, site evaluation, and data recovery. Smaller surveys and site evaluation projects are conducted in-house by the staff.
   
   2. DPW-E has an active relationship with local and interested Indian tribes: the Comanche Nation, the Fort Sill Apache, the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, the Mescalero Apache, the Pueblo of Isleta, and Ysleta del Sur Pueblo. Fort Bliss anticipates a signed Cooperative Agreement with these groups in 2012, designed to strengthen and prescribe the Government-to-Government relations between them.
   
   3. DPW-E also has one of the largest curatorial facilities in the Army, housing over 2,690.626 cubic feet of cultural materials, in 8,095 square feet of storage space. That facility also houses collections from White Sands Missile Range, Holloman Air Force Base, and the Lincoln National Forest.

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   1. The Department of Defense, the Fort Worth District of the Corps of Engineers and Fort Bliss Garrison executed a 50-year lease for the Enhanced Use Lease of the William Beaumont General Hospital Historic District (lower Beaumont) area. Plans include restoration of 20 historic properties and new, architecturally compatible construction to accommodate retail, office and multi-family housing needs of Fort Bliss.
   
   2. Biggs Army Airfield was surveyed to determine eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places of buildings under the Strategic Air Command historic context covering the years when it was under SAC command (1947-1962). Only building 11108 was determined eligible for its architecture/engineering as only one of seven large SAC cantilever hangars constructed.
   
   3. One hundred fifty buildings on the Main Post constructed between 1951 and 1963 were surveyed and evaluated for eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places under the Cold War BASOPS historic context. Twenty buildings in the 700 area were determined eligible under the Early Cold war Guided Missile Instruction Hawk context, 13 buildings determined eligible in the 1000 area under the Safeguard Missile Training context, 16 buildings in the 5800 area determined eligible under the Early Cold War Guided Missile Instruction context, Building 3672 and associated hard stands and seven buildings and associated hard stands in the 3700 area both determined eligible under the Early Cold War Guided Missile Instruction context.
   
   4. The present location of Fort Bliss on La Noria Mesa is the sixth site of the US Army's fort in El Paso. The present site of Fort Bliss was donated by the "El Paso Progressive Association" to insure a continued Army presence in El Paso. Quartermaster Captain George Ruhlin designed the layout of Fort Bliss with the parade ground as its central features with the earliest surviving structures of Buildings 13, 21 and 111 and the large "Queen Anne" style houses around its perimeter.
   
   5. The architecture services provided by the DPW Environmental Branch ensure the historic resources of Fort Bliss are managed for both their historic qualities and fulfill their dual role as vital facilities for the installation.
   
   6. To ensure our historic properties are effectively utilized, the Division provides the following services:
   • Review submitted work and service orders to propose effective solutions for any proposed repair or upgrade to a historic structure.
   • Provide design guidance for historic properties receiving upgrades and rehabilitation that meet Federal historic preservation laws.
   • Provide technical assistance to occupants of historic buildings on care and proper treatments for the historic materials and spaces that make-up the defining features of the historic properties.
   • Develop landscape planning planting and design documents to enhance the beauty of the Fort Bliss Parade Field and the historic cantonment.
   • Develop informational and educational history brochures, pamphlets, and multi-media materials to convey the rich history of Fort Bliss.

1. The Natural Resources staff manages the pesticide application program, survey areas for wildlife and plants, especially rare or sensitive species. They manage the urban wildlife program at Fort Bliss; assist with the range fire control program, study impacts of training on the ecosystems and track via GIS and ground-truth surveys, erosion, plant cover reductions, and other changes due to climate change and training effects on the ranges.
   
   Natural Resources staff coordinates the hunting program for Fort Bliss. Working with the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish (NMDGF), licenses for military members are available to hunt pronghorn antelope and oryx on McGregor Range. Staff also coordinates wild land fire hazard reduction with BLM and Forest Service on Fort Bliss lands in the Sacramento Foothills. These projects reduce fire hazard to lands adjoining Fort Bliss and improve wild life habitat. Staff are currently developing an in-house Wild land Fire Management Plan in coordination with FESD.
   
   Natural resource staff updates vegetation maps and redefine riparian and wetland areas. These data supported the recently completed SEIS, GFS EIS, and Integrated Natural Resource Management Plan.

The NEPA Section of the DPW-E Conservation Branch reviews every work order and service order generated at Fort Bliss. All training requests and range activities are reviewed as well real estate actions, contracts, MOAs, and service agreements to assure compliance with environmental regulations and for impacts to the environment. These reviews are tracked in the CXLOG system as well as the engineering Work Order Tracking System (WOTS) where appropriate. Access to these database systems isopen to the appropriate personnel.

Fort Bliss DPW-E, through Headquarters, Installation Management Command (IMCOM) and Army Environmental Command (AEC), published the final Record of Decision for the Fort Bliss Army Growth and Force Structure Realignment EIS (GFS EIS) for which a Record of Decision was published in June of 2010. This document analyzed land use changes, proposed range and cantonment construction, and training impacts associated with the stationing of the Infantry Brigade Combat Teams and Stryker units to Fort Bliss. The GFS EIS built upon the analyses presented by the 2007 SEIS which analyzed the impacts from Army Transformation, Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC), and Integrated Global Presence Basing Strategy (IGPBS) (aka Global Defense Posture Realignment) stationing decisions on Fort Bliss.

The NEPA Section is presently working the Net-Zero EIS which will bring initiatives to have Net-Zero use of water, energy and waste generation to the installation.

All current NEPA documents can be found on the Fort Bliss website by clicking the Environmental Documents button on the home page.

Staff negotiated a 75 year easement restricting specified land uses on approximately 8 sections (5,200 acres) of land from the New Mexico State Land Office along the southern boundary of Dona Ana range protecting the range from development that could result in noise complaints/mission impact. Work is being conducted to acquire land in the southern (Division) Training Area to prevent encroachment and provide access to the area by tactical vehicles.

Fort Bliss declared conformance to the Army EMS and ISO14001 Environmental Management System for the calendar year 2011. Conformance is declared annually after a thorough audit of the Fort Bliss EMS system each year. During CY2011 a reanalysis of the installation activities and operations was completed to determine which activities remained significant. The analysis determines "heavy vehicle maneuvers" and "new construction" are significant. Environmental management programs are in placed to minimize the impacts of these two activities. The EMS manual and associated procedures and programs are available through the Team Bliss SharePoint site.

The Hazardous Waste Management Plan (HWMP) is prepared in accordance with the requirements of Army Regulations 200-1. The purpose of the plan is to ensure management of wastes in a safe and environmentally sound manner. The plan provides guidance to Commands, Tenants, Contractors, and all other activities supported by Fort Bliss on issues related to hazardous and non-hazardous waste management. In addition, the plan helps waste generators at Fort Bliss to :

• Protect the environment and maintain compliance with regulations
• Reduce hazardous waste generation and associated disposal costs
• Minimize spills and resulting cleanup/disposal costs
• Minimize/eliminate regulatory penalties.

  The HWMP establishes Fort Bliss procedures for management of hazardous wastes. These include:
 Specific responsibilities for organizations that generate or manage hazardous waste.
 Procedures for handling waste at the point of generation and requirements for Satellite Accumulation Points (SAP).
 Training requirements for personnel at Satellite Accumulation Points and the permitted storage facility.
 Operating procedures for the permitted storage facility.

Presently Fort Bliss Texas is a Large Quantity Generator and Fort Bliss New Mexico is a Small Quantity Generator.

Underground Storage Tanks (UST's) and Aboveground Storage Tanks (AST's) at Fort Bliss are subject to Texas or New Mexico state environmental regulations as well as federal (EPA) regulations. Fort Bliss currently has 41 UST's and approximately 350 AST's. DPW-E's task is to keep these fuel tanks in compliance with environmental laws and prevent fuel spills.

DPW-E Compliance Branch personnel accompany regulatory inspectors when they visit the installation, keep up with the changes in regulations, pay registration fees, maintain legally required tank monitoring and spill prevention equipment, collect & review monthly fuel inventories, inspections and tank tests, perform internal compliance inspections, review construction projects for fuel tank issues, and write SOP's to address environmental issues.

In December of 2006 the EPA finalized their SPCC rules (40 CFR 112) following years of discussion over just what they meant when they changed the rules in 2002. The changes which were relevant to Fort Bliss are as follows:

• • Alternatives for secondary containment of oil-filled equipment.
• • Exemption from the secondary containment requirement for "motive power containers.
• • Exemption from "specific-sized" secondary containment for mobile refuelers.

The Old Rod and Gun Club small arms firing range (SAFR) is in the footprint of the construction plan for BCT expansion at Biggs Air Field. This was the number one priority for Fort Bliss as a result of BRAC 05. The SAFR includes several range floors, berms and backstops which will need some removal of spent munitions (i.e. bullets with soil). This soil will be reused to build another firing range. A contractor for Fort Bliss has performed two studies to determine the amount of spent munitions which will be removed.

USACHPPM (currently US Army Public Health Command) updated the Installation Operational Noise Management Plan to quantify the noise environment using the most up-to-date information available for increased training and mobilization activities at Fort Bliss. The Plan includes peak noise contours for large caliber weapons training, as well as updated contours based on day-night average sound levels for large caliber weapons and military aircraft.

Fort Bliss operates a Municipal Landfill however the landfill is nearly full. Fort Bliss is presently working with the Corps of Engineers to close the landfill in the near future.

The Fort Bliss Municipal Solid Waste Facility (landfill) will soon reach maximum capacity and close. Currently there is very little space remaining in the Type I cell (refuse cell) and about 2 remaining years of life in the Type IV cell or Rubble Cell. Fort Bliss has submitted an Evapotranspiration final Cover permit amendment to the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) for review and approval.

Fort Bliss was selected as a pilot installation to reach Net Zero Waste by 2020. The Net Zero Waste goal requires considering the waste stream when purchasing items, reducing the volume of packaging, reusing as much as possible, and recycling the rest. Fort Bliss' diversion rate as of FY11 is 25%.

Storm Water Regulation Effects Fort Bliss in 3 Ways:

Industrial Activities
. Texas permit requires specific facilities on post to be managed and regularly inspected to ensure that polluting materials are stored and managed properly. Each facility has a designated Environmental Officer.

Construction Sites
. Projects with earth disturbance greater than 1 acre must be reviewed and often require Texas permits and pre-approved erosion control Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans.

Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4)
. Texas permit requires the maintenance and operation of the storm water infrastructure (drains, channels and basins) to be accomplished according to a management plan that stresses pollution prevention education for the worker and resident populations."