Exhibit 2, 565 FW 1
Key Programmatic Practices that Promote the Service’s Sustainability Goals

Date:  April 28, 2010

Series: Sustainability

Part 565: Sustainable Practices

Originating Office: Division of Engineering

 

 

PDF Version

 

 

Sustainable Practices in Resource Management

Program Area

Policies and Plans

A.  Acquisition Management
  • Procure and acquire products in accordance with Service procurement policies and Federal preferences in 303 FW 1 – 7 Acquisition Policies and A Practical Greening Manual at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including:

 

• Recycled content products designated in the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines.

• Energy Star® products identified by EPA, as well as the Department of Energy's (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP)-designated energy-efficient products.

• Water-efficient products, including those meeting EPA’s WaterSense standards.

• Energy from renewable sources.

• Biobased products designated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the BioPreferred program.

• Environmentally preferable products and services, including Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT)-registered electronic products.

• Alternative fuel vehicles and alternative fuels required by the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005.

• Products with low or no toxic or hazardous constituents.

• Non-ozone depleting substances, as identified in EPA’s Significant New Alternatives Program.

 

B. Awards

·        Recognize individual, office, and contractor performance and achievements through participation in or management of annual awards programs including:

• The Federal Energy and Water Management Awards Program, managed by the Department of Energy.

• The Service’s Environmental Leadership Award (ELA) for achievements in sustainability, EMS, recycling/pollution prevention, sustainable design, acquisition, transportation management, and cleanup/restoration.  The Division of Engineering manages this awards program.

• The Department’s Environmental Achievement Award.  To be eligible, you must have received the Service’s ELA award.  The ELA panel makes recommendations to the Department.

• The White House Closing the Circle Award.  To be eligible, you must have received the Department’s Environmental Achievement Award.  The Environmental Achievement Award panel makes recommendations to the White House.

• Regional awards, including those administered outside the Service (e.g., the EPA’s Region 10 Champions for Environmental Leadership and Green Government Recognition Program).  Eligibility is limited to facilities in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington that participate in the Federal Green Challenge.

• Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC) Award Program.  Eligibility requires participation as a FEC Facility Partner.

 

C.  Concessions

·        Incorporate sustainable performance criteria into agreements or contract language.

·        Provide guidance to concession and commercial visitor service operators to demonstrate sound environmental management and a commitment to superior environmental performance, which enhances the protection, conservation, and preservation of resources.

·        Include concessionaires in conducting environmental audits to ensure compliance, minimize environmental liability, promote environmental management awareness, or identify potential opportunities to incorporate best management practices, sustainability, and pollution prevention.

D.  Energy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lighting

·        Investigate the feasibility of increasing daylight in buildings (e.g., skylights and clerestories).

·        Install lighting occupancy sensors in spaces used intermittently during business hours.

Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC)

·        Change air filters regularly and tune up HVAC systems, following manufacturers’ suggested guidelines to optimize performance.

·        Check exhaust systems to ensure proper operation, as part of annual system check-ups.

·        Seal leaky ducts for maximum efficiency.

·        Install controls on restroom fans so they will not run continuously.

·        Use outside air for cooling during changeover seasons (spring and fall).

·        Use water chillers at night during off-peak hours.

·        If boilers are used, calibrate gauges, optimize air-to-fuel mixture, treat feed water appropriately, and install boiler set point resets for outside air.

Utilities

·        Review “Demand Side Energy Management Guidelines.”

·        Call local utilities to arrange a free energy audit.

·        Determine if rebates are available.

Service Asset Maintenance Management System (SAMMS)

·        Ensure that energy-related deferred maintenance activities (such as lighting replacement, insulation, air infiltration control, window replacement) are included in the work orders in SAMMS and are identified with the work category “energy efficiency.”

·        Ensure that energy-related capital improvements such as solar PV, hot water, ground source geothermal, and wind generation are included as capital improvement work orders and identified with the work category “renewable energy systems.”

Sustainable Design/Renewable Energy

  • Replace conventional heat pumps or forced air electric heat with geothermal (ground-source) heat pumps.
  • Install solar outdoor lighting or photovoltaic panels in remote areas or for remote applications.
  • Certify that all engineering designs comply with Federal Energy Regulations and applicable building codes by running appropriate models to ensure that new facilities are energy efficient.
  • Include energy conservation efficiency standards as an integral part of all engineering design and construction project technical specifications.
  • Include passive solar design and energy efficiency in all new facilities.
  • Ensure that life-cycle costs analyses of the energy efficiency components of large and complex projects are included in Value Engineering reviews.
  • Evaluate the feasibility of using solar mats to heat water.

 

E.  Environmental Education, Communication and Leadership

·        Incorporate sustainability into our communications, environmental education, and interpretation programs.  We lead by example and encourage others to adopt environmentally friendly practices.

·        Pursue partnerships with external stakeholders and communities to promote environmental awareness and stewardship by reducing or mitigating negative impacts to lands and waters resulting from activities outside our boundaries.

·        Collaborate on community-planning efforts, when possible, and provide technical assistance to communities for community and regional planning.

·        Emphasize the best-proven sustainable technologies which may include energy efficiency, water conservation, and renewable energy.  Encourage and reward innovative measures that further the objectives of environmental leadership.

·        Provide opportunities for visitors to learn about the principles of environmental leadership and sustainability by example and through our practices, including energy conservation, recycling/pollution prevention, green procurement, and sustainable design and construction.

·        Promote environmental leadership as part of school curricula, and provide technical assistance and advice to communities in their efforts to become more environmentally sustainable. Work with communities to develop comprehensive greening plans where appropriate.

F. Facility Management
  •  Include provisions and incentives for facility agreements and leases that promote conservation of energy and water.
  • Use the Service’s standard design guides to the fullest extent possible.

G. Financial Assistance
  • Include provisions in financial assistance documents and partnering agreements to guide and encourage States, communities, nonprofit organizations, and individuals to adopt environmental stewardship and sustainability concepts.

H. Fleet Vehicle Management
  • Manage our fleet through life cycle planning, consistent with the Service Manual Chapters found in Part 320.
  • Promote the procurement of Alternative Fueled Vehicles and fuel efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles including diesel and hybrid-electric vehicles consistent with economic objectives.
  • Dispose of vehicles responsibly.
  • Pool and reallocate vehicles.
  • Maintain vehicles properly (e.g., maintain tire inflation, change air filters, and observe appropriate speeds). 
  • Procure bio-based products; recycle waste oil, anti-freeze, and other fluids; and provide proper materials storage.
  • Evaluate opportunities to reduce fuel consumption.
  • Seek alternative transportation systems that transport people to and through our lands by conducting regional transportation planning with jurisdictions surrounding our Regional Offices and field stations.

I.  Land Management

·        Take management actions to maintain the biological integrity, diversity, and environmental health of our lands and waters as described in 601 FW 3.

·        Cooperate with outside partners in restoring habitat for the benefit of fish and wildlife, and promoting secondary benefits when appropriate (e.g., flood control and water quality improvements).  Work with outside partners in efforts such as restoring vegetative habitats to increase carbon sequestration capabilities on our lands.

·        Actively manage use of our lands and waters to assure consistency with our conservation goals.

·        Conserve water to the extent practicable, consistent with fish and wildlife management goals.

·        Apply Integrated Pest Management strategies to minimize use of chemical applications in the control of pest or invasive species.  Where chemical control is determined to be the only practical solution, use the least toxic product available and strictly follow safety and environmental guidelines.

·        Manage visitor programs in a manner that conserves resources, minimizes waste, and applies environmentally friendly waste management and recycling.

·        Practice Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) planning to control the introduction of non-target species, to avoid biological contamination, and to prevent the spread of invasive species.

J. Landscape Management
  • Apply minimalist landscaping and minimize lawn areas to conserve energy and water and to maximize areas available as natural habitat for fish, wildlife, and plants.
  • Use native plants, permeable cover, and xeriscaping whenever possible,
  • Use mechanical maintenance options such as mowing or other natural features instead of pesticides, whenever possible.

K. Planning

·        Conserve undeveloped land, open space, and agricultural land.

·        Protect water quality and minimize or eliminate the disruption of natural ecosystems and flood plains.

·        Emphasize equitable protection of public health, safety, and welfare, specifically that of disadvantaged individuals and communities.

·        Involve local communities in setting the vision for and developing plans and actions that influence communities and regions.

·        Use NEPA and EMS collaboratively when possible to support analysis, measurement, and monitoring.

L.  Pollution Prevention, Management of Toxic and Hazardous Materials, and Waste, and Hazardous Waste

 
  • Reduce the amount of waste generated and prevent pollution from occurring at its source by evaluating and minimizing the quantity of materials brought onto our lands that are not durable, biodegradable, or recyclable.  We must accomplish this goal, and achieve the measures described in Executive Order 13423 including:

 

• Pursue solid waste reduction goals in accordance with the Strategic Plan for Greening the Department of the Interior Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition.

• Reuse onsite or recycle materials and divert waste from landfills.

• Reduce or eliminate the use of toxic chemicals.

• Identify and reduce the use and release of toxic and hazardous chemicals and materials, including toxic chemicals, hazardous substances, ozone-depleting substances, and other pollutants that may result in significant harm to human health or the environment.

• Maximize the use of safe alternatives to ozone-depleting substances as approved by EPA programs.

• Phase out existing equipment containing ozone-depleting substances consistent with its normal life and dispose of ozone-depleting substances removed or reclaimed from facilities or equipment, including disposal as part of a contract, trade, or donation, in coordination with the Department of Defense.

• Restore disturbed and contaminated lands and waters to healthy conditions.

 

M. Property Management and Electronic Equipment
  • Validate requirements to ensure appropriate acquisition.
  • Redistribute assets within the Service.
  • Extend the useful lifetime of electronics equipment.
  • Manage property efficiently, including adopting energy efficient practices, and procuring energy efficient products, such as Energy Star rated appliances and products and recycled products.
  • Use exchange/sale programs.
  • Dispose of electronic equipment through recycle/reuse programs such as is available through UNICOR.
  • Excess through the General Services Administration (GSA) any property that cannot be reused or recycled.
  • Partner in the Federal Electronics Challenge.

N.  Recycling

 

 

 

 

 

·        Meet the goals in Strategic Plan for Greening the Department of the Interior through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition.

·        Maintain waste prevention and recycling programs in Service-owned, and GSA-managed facilities in the most cost-effective manner possible, and consistent with 561 FW 15.

·        Use recycling revenues in accordance with P.L. 103-329, section 608, and Executive Order 13423 for:

• Acquisition, waste prevention, and recycling programs, including any programs using the proceeds that were already in place prior to October 3, 1993.

• Environmental management programs including, but not limited to, those for developing and implementing hazardous waste management and pollution prevention.

• Other employee programs as authorized by law or as deemed appropriate by the head of the Federal agency (e.g., Federal building/agency day-care programs).

 

O.  Training

·        For Service employees, contractors, and volunteers, complete training as determined by role and responsibility, to include awareness and refresher training.  Examples of available training include:

• DOI University Course – Greening the Procurement Cycle:  The Benefits & Requirements of Greening for Government Procurement Officers

• DOI University Course – Federal Facility Energy Management:  The Energy Policy Act, Executive Order 13423, & the Energy Independence & Security Act

• DOI University Service Asset Maintenance Management System (SAMMS) Training

• DOI University Course – How to Be An Effective Collateral Duty Environmental Manager

• Service EMS Awareness Training – Division of Engineering Intranet

• Annual meeting training with the Service Transportation Review Board (STRB)

• Training at annual GSA-sponsored FEDFleet conference and workshop

 

P.  Water Consumption

 

 

 

 

 

·        Identify, promote, and implement water re-use strategies to reduce potable water consumption (consistent with State laws).

·        Switch to water-conserving faucets (using flow-restrictors) and showerheads.

·        Use water-efficient designs and native plants suited to local conditions to reduce irrigation needs.

·        Find and repair water leaks.

·        Replace or repair inefficient pumps and motors. Determine the feasibility of replacing existing motors with variable speed motors.

·        Monitor and adjust water flows regularly to ensure a proper minimum flow index while minimizing waste of pumped water.

·        Institute regular maintenance on all water heating systems for fish rearing water.

 

 

For information on the content of this exhibit, contact the Division of Engineering. For more information about this Web site, contact Krista Holloway of the Division of Policy and Directives Management. 

 

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