Compliance & Enforcement at Federal Facilities

Information presented here is aimed toward helping federal agencies comply with environmental laws, regulations, and Executive Orders. Part of EPA's mission is to provide compliance assistance to federal agencies and their facilities. This page contains links to specific compliance assistance information directed to federal facilities.

 

Environmental Compliance Center for Federal Agencies

In 2004, EPA and several other federal agencies joined to create FedCenter, an environmental compliance and stewardship center just for federal agencies.  FedCenter was specifically created to help federal agencies comply with environmental laws and Presidential directives as well as to help them move beyond compliance and become models for environmental stewardship.  FedCenter collects the best information and resources from across the federal government and organizes it in ways to make it easy to find and use.  More than a dozen federal agencies support FedCenter.   

 

Partnerships to Improve Compliance

EPA partners with other federal agencies to improve their environmental performance. In 2002, EPA and the Veterans Health Administration (part of the Department of Veterans Affairs) launched a collaborative project by signing a commitment statement committing their organizations to work together on a program (PDF) (2 pp, 768K About PDF) to improve compliance at VHA facilities. 

• Teams of EPA and VHA staff conducted on-site environmental management reviews at 17 VHA facilities in 2003 and 2004.  The reviews recommended improvements at the facilities.
• Information learned in the reviews helped VHA develop its own environmental management system (EMS), called Green Environmental Management System (GEMS), which is being implemented at 140 VA medical centers. 
• VHA conducted comprehensive compliance audits at its facilities in New York and New Jersey. 
• VHA developed computerized tools for use in conducting environmental compliance and GEMS audits of its facilities. 
• VHA and EPA staff collaborated on training courses for VHA staff and managers. 

EPA’s mid-Atlantic office (Philadelphia) and the Bureau of Prisons (part of the US Department of Justice) signed an agreement in 2007 under which the Bureau agreed to conduct comprehensive environmental audits of seventeen facilities, disclose to EPA all violations found during the audits, take actions to correct such violations, and take steps to prevent recurrences. EPA agreed not to impose gravity-based monetary penalties for any disclosed violations provided that the Bureau complies with the agreement and with EPA’s Audit Policy.

 

Other Compliance Assistance Information

Much of EPA's direct assistance to federal facilities is provided through staff in EPA's regional offices. To contact these staff members, check on EPA's Regional Federal Facilities Program Managers.

EPA's regional web pages can be found on the page Where You Live under EPA Regional Offices.

EPA assists federal agencies by providing detailed analysis and information about compliance and enforcement at federal facilities across the nation.  See EPA’s Federal Facilities Compliance Monitoring page for more information. 

EPA's Federal Facilities Sector Notebook is a general summary of the various operations conducted by federal agencies and how those operations can impact the environment.

For additional information, EPA annually publishes the results of its enforcement and compliance programs, including results impacting federal facilities.