DOE facilities use Environmental Management Systems (EMS) as a management framework to determine and achieve environmental compliance and sustainability objectives.  DOE is committed to integrating sustainability into all aspects of operations.  EMSs provide a structure for site‐level cross-cutting and multi‐functional coordination necessary to plan for and achieve the Department's sustainability goals.

DOE's use of EMS is addressed in DOE Order 436.1A, Departmental Sustainability. This order provides requirements and responsibilities for managing and achieving Departmental sustainability goals. Further guidance is available in the memorandum, Departmental Use of Environmental Management Systems (September 2023).

DOE sites use EMS as the primary management tool for addressing environmental aspects of internal agency operations and activities; for establishing objectives and action plans to ensure implementation of Departmental goals and other compliance obligations; and for collecting, analyzing, and reporting performance metric information.

Annual EMS reporting is conducted through DOE’s EMS Site Information Database, an internal application.  Headquarters collects information on the scope and status of DOE EMSs. Sites must maintain their EMS as  conforming with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 14001 which generally requires following the "Plan, Do, Check, Act" management system model.

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