FedCenter
Capability
Federal facilities, like all other regulated facilities, are responsible for complying with environmental requirements, and federal agencies, like private organizations, are accountable to the public for their environmental stewardship. The Federal Facilities Enforcement Office (FFEO) of the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the Office of the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), and the ten (10) EPA Regional offices work with the federal agencies to help them comply with environmental requirements and take all necessary actions to prevent, control and abate environmental pollution.
In 2004, EPA devised a comprehensive plan to assist federal facilities with compliance by creating the Federal Facilities Environmental Stewardship & Compliance Assistance Center (FedCenter), which was envisioned to be an independent, full service compliance assistance center, self-governed by the agencies it served. The Army Corps of Engineers' Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) was selected to develop and manage the Center based on its track record in regulatory expertise and information systems management.
FedCenter, located at https://www.fedcenter.gov, is a partnership between 17 federal agencies pooling their resources and expertise to help meet their environmental challenges. The site hosts public and private information, and has more than 10,000 registered members.
Applications
FedCenter.gov hosts various types of environmental information/tools:
- Program development information
- Legislation and regulations
- Compliance assistance tools
- Training courses
- Collaborative workspace
- Reporting and tracking tools
- Subscription-based notification
- Forms and templates
- Environmental award programs
Features
FedCenter offers several features:
- Content. Program Area information assists with the development and management of environmental programs such as green procurement, electronic stewardship, energy management and water efficiency. A Regulatory Watch tracks draft and final regulatory information. A Facility Regulatory Tour summarizes federal and state regulatory requirements across 85 different environmental focus areas. Pollution prevention opportunities, green product compilations, case studies and best practices provide valuable support to environmental planning and stewardship efforts. A Training Directory lists available on-site and on-line training opportunities across 25 different topic areas. The site is approved for unclassified, For-Official-Use-Only (FOUO) information.
- Collaboration. FedCenter offers various forms of online discussion and user collaboration to promote information sharing and lessons learned. The site supports document management with version control, file libraries, private calendars and listservs. Online discussion forums may be setup for various topics. Users that subscribe to forum topics receive instant email messages when new entries are posted to the discussion.
- Reporting & Tracking. FedCenter offers an online data reporting and tracking tool that can be customized to support any environmental reporting need. The tool is currently supporting federal agency efforts to monitor underground storage tank inventories and track agency environmental management systems, among other datasets.
- Subscription Service. Users can subscribed to topic areas of interest and receive daily, weekly or monthly email notification when new content is added, or existing content is modified
Contact
Stephen.T.Luzzi@usace.army.mil, 217-373-5894
Engineering Processes Branch (CEERD-CFN)
US Army Engineer Research and Development Center | Construction Engineering Research Laboratory