Environmental Performance Assessment System (EPAS)

What has the Army done? What does the Army have planned? Why is this important? Read more about it.

What is it?

EPAS is a tool that provides Army Commanders a comprehensive look at environmental risks associated with their facilities and missions. It was originated and implemented in 1991 in response to recommendations by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPAS program incorporates both internal and external assessments. Internal EPAS assessments are conducted by installation personnel if feasible, and installations are required to maintain an internal assessment procedure. Installations conduct annual internal EPAS assessments that evaluate all applicable media areas and conformance to ISO 14001. External EPAS assessments are conducted by a team of subject matter experts who are external to the installation being assessed. EPAS findings generally correlate to notices of violations and enforcement actions. To minimize potential liability, garrison leadership must maintain the visibility of Class I EPAS findings until they are closed. USAEC conducts risk-based scheduling to assess installations with greater environmental risk more frequently, while maintaining an assessment standard for installations with less environmental risk.

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What has the Army done?

The U.S. Army Environmental Command (USAEC) executes the EPAS program at all active Army installations worldwide on a three-year cycle. The EPAS assesses both the Environmental Management System (EMS) and compliance aspects of the installation’s environmental program. The EMS audit is designed to evaluate the installation’s ability to effectively manage its environmental program and to comply with current and future legal and other requirements. External EPAS are conducted on-site by a team of personnel with expertise in multiple environmental disciplines. The EPAS team follows the guidelines included in the Environmental Assessment and Management (TEAM) Guide, state, local, and Army regulations. In the case of overseas installations, applicable rules from the Final Governing Standards are applied. In years where no external assessment takes place installations are required to conduct an internal EPAS.

After EPAS findings are reviewed and validated, installations develop a corrective action plan to correct and track findings until closure. Installations should program the resources necessary to resolve findings. Active Army installations are assessed for compliance performance approximately every three years. In FY12, USAEC assessed 29 installations. Due to budget cuts, in FY13, only seven installations were assessed.

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What does the Army have planned?

In FY 14, a total of 34 installations are scheduled for an external assessment by a USAEC EPAS team. The EPAS team evaluates air quality, Environmental Management Systems, hazardous wastes, solid wastes, storage tanks, petroleum, oil, and lubricants (POL), water quality and waste water. Working with the Commands, we then identify other media areas of concern and can flex the team to support specific installation issues or Command requirements.

After completion of the on-site portion of the assessment and findings are validated, USAEC will track negative findings related to Federal, State, and local environmental violations until properly closed.

If installations are having difficulty in closing findings, USAEC can provide subject matter experts, legal staff, and contracting mechanisms to help installations obtain the resources needed to actively support finding closure. Information collected during the EPAS assessment is maintained in the EPAS software and Army Knowledge Online (AKO) websites. This information is periodically analyzed to uncover environmental trends and to modify environmental compliance programs, as necessary.

The EPAS software will soon be replaced by the Headquarters Army Environmental System (HQAES). More information on the system, including an implementation timeline can be found on the ACSIM HQAEC webpage.

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Why is this important?

The EPAS program assists all Army commanders in attaining, sustaining, and monitoring compliance with federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations, as well as Department of Defense and Army compliance and performance requirements. It is designed to identify potential environmental regulatory issues and solutions before they are found by Federal and/or State regulators. In some cases, these deficiencies could result in negative financial and operational impacts to the Army. The EPAS program provides Commanders the tools necessary to identify and mitigate risks, sustaining key training and operational capability, and greatly reducing the potential for regulatory enforcement.

During a time of fiscal constraints, it is very important to save our limited resources to focus on mission execution while greatly reducing the potential for regulatory enforcement. The EPAS program supports that requirement.

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Environmental Performance Assessment System (EPAS)