Planning - EMS Elements 2 - 4

Element Purpose & Overview

MCAS Miramar maintains procedures to inventory and categorize practices and their associated environmental aspects and impacts. The goal is to identify key environmental resources and assess their vulnerability to aspects of existing and planned practices by:

• Calculating risk to mission at the aspect level. 
• Prioritizing practices and aspects based on the calculated risk to mission.
• Determine environmentally significant practices and significant aspects based on highest scoring risk calculations. 

References:

MCO 5090.2 (JUN 2018)

Environmental Management Procedure

At least annually, the EMS Team reviews and, if necessary, amends the inventory of activities and practices associated with all MCAS Miramar organizations, tenants, and command elements (Activities and Practices by Organization). The last review of this PAI data was July 2018.  If any environmental practitioner identifies a new practice or aspect or an existing practice changes, please email the EMS Program Manager for guidance. The EMS Team also reviews any key environmental resources and assesses their vulnerability to the aspects of existing and planned practices.

Steps of the aspect identification and risk evaluation process are as follows:

1. Once each practice associated with an environmental aspect is ranked, the practices having the greatest impact on the mission or the environment are identified and screened for existing controls and any residual impact or risk.
2. The EMS Team uses this spreadsheet after careful consideration of all of the identified practices and aspects to provide a real-time analysis and justification of potential significant practices that would require leadership and budgeting support. 
3. All practices and aspects are screened routinely for significance.  If a practice or aspect is identified as significant and there exists no or limited controls, then the practice owners along with the environmental staff develops an Environmental Standard Operating Procedure (ESOP) and provides that for senior leadership review and implementation.
4. Aspects related to practices that cannot be influenced or controlled are removed from consideration and highlighted in yellow in the Risk Ranking Report by Aspect.

Environmental practices and aspects are summarized in the Detailed Aspect Risk Inventory Report.  If the EMS Team updates the Environmental Practice and Aspect Inventory, EMS elements (3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 13, 17) should be reviewed for potential changes.

Element Purpose & Overview

In maintaining its environmental management system (EMS), MCAS Miramar continuously identifies federal, state, local, DOD, DON, Marine Corps, and installation-level requirements that are applicable to its practices and environmental programs.

Information regarding these requirements is made available to personnel operating aboard MCAS Miramar primarily through Environmental Compliance and Protection Standard Operating Procedure (ECPSOP) (Individual Practice Environmental SOPs (ESOP) are found at relevant program pages in this website.)  These ESOPs include applicable organizational and environmental compliance policies and procedures and establish environmental program roles and responsibilities to instruct program personnel on how to comply with the requirements.  MCAS Miramar disseminates ESOPs principally through this website and, when necessary, directly to appropriate personnel operating aboard MCAS Miramar.

Reference(s):

MCO 5090.2 (JUN 2018)

Environmental Management Procedure

Environmental Management Department (EMD) Division Directors and Media Program Managers are responsible for maintaining awareness of current environmental requirements associated with their programs.  The staff will regularly consult sources to ensure that new or emerging requirements are:

• Identified in a timely manner.
• Incorporated into environmental programs.
• Communicated to appropriate personnel at MCAS Miramar.

  The following sources provide information related to environmental regulations, rules, and other drivers:

• US TEAM Guide and its supplements.
• EMD file copies of regulatory permits
• Federal, state and local and USMC regulatory requirements via the internet
• Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations
• California, regional, and local regulatory agency websites
• Defense Environmental Network and Information Exchange (DENIX)
• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Federal Register Environmental Documents
• Experts from Western Area Counsel’s Office or Western Region Environmental Coordinator, Headquarters Marine Corps, Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center, and private consulting firms.  These resources may assist in evaluating the applicability or interpretation of changes to applicable environmental requirements.
• Environmental program colleagues and peers, associations, and regulators
• Real and virtual conferences and seminars.

Legal and other requirements applicable to the practices and programs at MCAS Miramar are summarized in the Environmental Regulatory Programs pages, the ECPSOP and in the Listing of Permits and Regulatory Requirements.  Program managers will incorporate changes to these documents and to ESOPs as soon as changes in drivers are identified and evaluated.  Program managers will communicate such changes via the most effective means.

Action-oriented requirements (e.g., monitoring events, reports, inspections, etc.) are summarized in the Requirements Calendar or in compliance tracking tools that are maintained by Program Managers.

Practice owners incorporate environmental requirements that are applicable to their practices into their unit’s instructions and SOPs so that the information is readily available when needed. 

All personnel operating at MCAS Miramar must understand and comply with the the ECPSOP and relevant ESOP's and other environmental requirements applicable to their jobs.

Inventory of applicable local environmental compliance requirements (e.g., local law, base orders, etc.) are located on these web pages.

Element Purpose & Overview

MCAS Miramar established and documented environmental objectives and environmental targets to improve performance by considering:

• legal requirements,
• technological options,
• financial, operational, and business concerns,
• the interests of stakeholders, and
• risks to mission determined through prioritization of aspects and practices.

Objectives and targets are consistent with the installation's environmental policy statement, environmental requirements, and sustainability goals.  They are measurable and are reviewed, at a minimum, during the annual EMS management review.  MCAS Miramar identifies actions to achieve objectives and targets and designates responsibilities and timeframes via POA&Ms.  The EMS Team communicates objectives, targets, and actions to improve performance to relevant installation personnel by various means, including this website.

References:

MCO 5090.2 (JUN 2018)

Environmental Management Procedure

The EMS Team will establish objectives and targets and actions to improve performance.  The EMS Team designates responsibility and timeframes for achieving each objective and target.  Actions are described within Objective and Target POA&Ms contained within individual internal or external audit projects contained in the Environmental Compliance Management System (ECMS) and the Objective and Target POA&Ms should, where possible, be within the MCAS CO’s responsibility and budget.  In some cases, the EMS Team will program actions requiring external funding (Regional or HQMC).  Actions may be planned to be undertaken with funding that originates through departments other than Environmental Management Department, such as the Public Works Department.

The EMS Team also maintains Objectives/Targets & Actions as applicable, associated with sustainability metric reporting and monitors progress towards achieving them via interviews and periodic status reports provided by the responsible party/program managers.  The EMS Team provides assistance to practice owners throughout the year to ensure the objectives and targets are achieved (report monitoring, phone conversations, site visits, or emails).  The EMS Team also takes appropriate measures, as applicable, that consider the environmental impacts of land use for training activities, such as indentified in PAI data as Infantry Training and Off Highway Motor Vehicle Operations and Green House Gases (GHG) ; Identified in PAI data as any operation that degrades air quality such as aircraft operations and painting, when identifying significant aspects and establishing objectives and targets.  Miramar identifies these GHG emissions as a portion of the aspects of installation practices required to meet Federal or state reporting requirements and reduction goals.  MCAS Miramar ensures that practices which significantly affect sustainable practice performance goals are included in the practice inventory, as appropriate.

A review of the progress towards meeting identified objectives and targets will be conducted on a semi-annual basis, which will include an interview of each practice owner to determine what has been done to achieve the target.  Each practice owner will be requested to provide feedback on how the EMS Team can provide further assistance in meeting the objectives and targets.

Next Page: Implementation and Operations - EMS Elements 5-11