The Bureau of Land Management's Environmental Management Systems Implementation Schedule
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20240
http://www.blm.gov
March 27, 2012
In Reply Refer To:
1700/1680 (280/800) P
EMS TRANSMISSION 04/24/2012
Instruction Memorandum No. 2012-104
Expires: 12/31/2013
To: All Field Officials
From: Assistant Director, Business and Fiscal Resources
Subject: The Bureau of Land Management’s Environmental Management Systems Implementation Schedule DD: 04/30/2012
Program Area: Environmental Management
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides the Environmental Management Systems (EMS) execution schedule for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) States, Centers, and the Washington Office (WO) (Attachment 1).
Policy/Action: All States, Centers, and the WO are required to implement and maintain an active EMS in accordance with established directives, and are required to meet the schedule in Attachment 1 for full implementation of their EMS. Full implementation of an EMS marks the beginning of the continuous improvement process. Attachment 2 identifies all of the actions that States, Centers, and the WO are expected to take in developing, maintaining and improving their EMS. Attachment 2 has four tabs: 1) EMS Overall Process; 2) EMS Development; 3) EMS Initial Implementation; and 4) EMS Continued Implementation.
States, Centers, and the WO are to enter data in the spreadsheet column labeled with their name, and the date each action has been or will be completed in order to meet the deadlines identified in Attachment 1. The two States with fully implemented EMS only need to complete the fourth tab listing the date. The five States and one Center with developed and implemented EMS are to complete the third and fourth tabs listing the date the identified actions in those tabs have been or will be completed. The remaining eight organizational units are to complete the second, third, and fourth tabs.
During recent conversations with the Field Committee, two States (Oregon and Nevada) offered to provide support to any States requiring advice and assistance in completing their EMS. Additionally the National Operations Center has a contract for use by the States and Centers. Under the contract, the contractor shall facilitate development of an organization’s EMS, assist with the preparation of the documentation necessary to properly implement an EMS, and deliver an EMS Implementation Plan tailored to an organization’s specific mission. This contract has already been funded by WO-280.
Timeframe: This IM is effective immediately. The completed detailed EMS schedules are to be emailed to WO-280 and the CASHE Program Lead by April 30, 2012. EMS implementation has been identified as a BLM priority. State Directors are urged to make every effort to meet the EMS implementation schedule.
Budget Impact: Staff time involvement in the development of an organization’s EMS is estimated at an average of 2 days a month, and 1 day a month during the implementation phase.
Background: The requirements relating to implementation of EMS can be found in Departmental Manual 515 DM 4 (Attachment 3), Section 6 of Secretarial Order 3226 (Attachment 4), and Executive Order (EO) 13423 (Attachment 5). The EO specifies EMS as the primary management approach for addressing environmental aspects of the internal operations and activities of Federal agencies.
To date, Nevada and Oregon have fully implemented and maintained their EMS as defined in Attachment 3. Wyoming, New Mexico, Eastern States, Utah, the National Training Center, Montana and Idaho have implemented their EMS plans and are proceeding towards full implementation. Arizona and the National Interagency Fire Center are developing their EMS and will begin implementation of their EMS in Fiscal Year 2012.
In May 2006, the BLM Director issued IM No. 2006-148 requiring implementation of the EMS throughout the BLM. In June 2006, IM No. 2006-170 commissioned a pilot implementation of the EMS in the WO and in the Wyoming State Office. The results and lessons learned from those pilots were compiled and distributed to Deputy State Directors in December 2008 in the BLM Environmental Management System and Core Aspect Guidance (Attachment 6). IM No. 2009-148 provided a schedule for States and Centers to initiate development of an EMS. The failure to meet the schedule in IM No. 2009-148 necessitated the issuance of this IM and the assignment of dates for full implementation of EMS within the BLM.
Manual/Handbook Sections Affected: None.
Coordination: This IM has been coordinated with the Field Committee, State Hazardous Material Management program leads and the Division of Renewable Resources and Planning.
Contact: Dan McGoldrick, HMRR Program Lead, Division of Environmental Quality and Protection (WO-280), at (202) 912-7452; or Ken Morin, CASHE Program Lead, at (303) 236-6418, National Operations Center.
Signed by: Authenticated by:
Janine Velasco Robert M. Williams
Assistant Director Division of IRM Governance,WO-560
Business and Fiscal Resources
6 Attachments