Environmental Management System (eMS)

In 2006 Wisconsin Army National Guard (WIARNG) enacted environmental quality goals specifically designed to protect the environment and conserve Wisconsin’s natural resource heritage both for ourselves and future generations.

The Environmental Management System (eMS), promises to promote and honor these goals through policies and training intended to improve and enhance WIARNG as stewards of the environment.

WIARNG has adopted the following Environmental Quality Goals:

Demonstrate leadership in environmental protection and improvement.
Minimize adverse environmental and health impacts while maximizing readiness and strategic preparedness.
Assure that consideration of the environment is an integral part of WIARNG decision-making.
Comply with all applicable federal, state, local and other environmental quality requirements by embracing change and advocating continuous improvement.
Restore lands and waters damaged by our activities.
Support Army programs for recycling and reuse of materials to conserve natural resources, prevent pollution and minimize of the generation of waste.
Pursue an active role in addressing environmental quality issues in our relationships with neighboring communities.
Maintain a management review process to set and review environmental objectives and targets.

eMS Process

Step #1 : Policy

Plan of action that sets objectives and targets through regulations and policy letters – each eMS policy should:

Be appropriate to the nature, scale & environmental impacts of the installation and its entities
Be committed to continuous improvement and prevention of pollution
Be committed to compliance of environmental laws and regulations
Provide framework that will set and review environmental objectives and targets
Document, implement, maintain and communicate policies to all employees
Be available to the public

Step #2 : Planning

Critical examination and development of programs designed to reduce and/or eliminate the environmental impact of specific actions. The following is considered in the planning stage:

Environmental aspects
Federal, state, local environmental laws & regulations
Objectives and targets

Step #3 : Implementation and Operation

Outlines program training and awareness of:

Communication
eMs Documentation
Operational control
Emergency preparedness and response

Step #4 : Checking and Corrective Action

Intensive monitoring system that:

Monitors/measures current policies
Performs non-conformance and corrective/preventive actions
Record keeping
Environmental management system audit

Step #5 : Management Review

Program review by senior management to ensure the program is suitable, adequate and effectivee

Check on progress
Decides on future course of action

Significant Aspects

To determine potential impacts of WIARNG operations on the environment, WIARNG relies on environmental compliance programs to identify aspects of solid/hazardous waste management, air emissions and wastewater management.

To identify significant aspects the cross-functional team conducted an analysis based on the functional areas of WIARNG operations. These areas include, but are not limited to:

Aviation flight and maintenance activities
Maintenance of ground based military vehicles
Armory Activities and Equipment
Warehousing
Transportation

Army and EPA environmental management system guidelines are followed to identify and prioritize environmental aspects and impacts. They are as follows:

Environmental aspects and impacts are ranked according to significance.
Annual review and maintenance – this will ensure the information is evaluated and updated regularly.
The process includes consideration of significant changes to project facilities, activities, products and services relevant to the mission and operations defined by WIARNG.

From this analysis, the following four activities WIARNG performs were found to be the most significant:

Fueling Operations
Hazardous Materials Management
Management of Recyclable Hazardous Materials
Spill Control/Prevention

As of 2022, the WIARNG has determined that it’s most significant aspects include the following:

Energy Consumption
Mobile Fuelers Spill Training

Targets & Objectives

To guide our efforts and ensure continual improvement, WIARNG established a set of short and long-term environmental objectives and targets established to conform with requirements, pollution prevention (P2) activities and continual improvement initiatives. Issues covered include:

Noise reduction
Protect water quality
Increase environmental training levels
Extend environmental training courses to new audiences within the organization
Minimize of hazardous waste generation
Prevent of Petroleum Oil and Lubricants (POL) spills
Avoid Notices of Violation (NOVs) and Notice Of Non-Compliance (NONs)

In 20 years WIARNG worked to make significant progress recognizing many successes towards improved environmental performance, particularly through its P2, waste minimization and training programs. Feasibility studies identified opportunities for improvement to assist in setting formal objectives and targets.

Wisconsin
National Guard