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EMS, NIM, APPLICATION AND HOW THEYINTEGRATE WITH ASSET MANAGEMENT

MAJOR PAT CARLEY, P.E.MR. TOM WELCH, P.E.

HEADQUARTERS AIR FORCEAF/A7CAQ

ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY BRANCH

ABSTRACT

This course provides an overview of asset management, a holistic practice of evaluating natural and built assets to improve management decision-making and resource allocation. Discussion will begin with a review of the current Air Force Environmental Management System (EMS), a regulation-centered, compliance-based process. Natural Infrastructure Management (NIM) will then be introduced. This is a management philosophy that transforms the current EMS process into one that is mission-focused. NIM makes environmental programs operational by linking natural infrastructure resources with the mission requirements they enable. Integration of EMS and NIM into asset management allows for effective management of air, land and water resources in order to meet operational requirements.

ASSET MANAGEMENT CULTURE

Asset management is a systematic and integrated practice through which the Air Force (AF) optimally manages its natural and built assets and their associated performance, risk and expenditures over the lifecycle to a level of service to support missions and organizational goals. Breaking down that definition, we can see that:

Systematic and integrated – implies disciplined and standardized process Practices – resources, processes, technologiesOptimally – qualitatively and quantitatively balance benefits, costs, and risks to justify the best business caseManage – dynamically leverage assets, not focused on static “entitlement”Natural assets – environmental, energy, mineral rights, air space, permits and creditsBuilt assets – such as real property and facilitiesLifecycle - plan, acquire, sustain, manage (leverage), operate, and divestLevel of Service – AF standard measures of quality

So, what is different about asset management? Asset management forces the installations to evaluate the whole process from a holistic view. It forces us to look at a spectrum of natural and built assets, not just portions or sections of an asset. Asset management compels us to think, “Why are we doing what we are doing, and why are we doing it this way”.

In August 2007, The Air Force Civil Engineer, Major General Del Eulberg1 provided the following commentary, “Over the past few months, we've initiated one of the most significant paradigm shifts in civil engineering's recent history by starting our transition to an asset management culture. Initially, the most visible changes will be to the organizational chart, but these just mark the beginning of our long journey to revolutionize how we manage our installations and infrastructure.” He added,

Asset management can be defined as using systematic and integrated processes to manage natural and built assets and their associated performance, risk, and expenditures over their life cycles to support missions and organizational goals. Asset managers will be expected to apply a disciplined, deliberate approach to managing our asset portfolio in a more holistic and proactive manner than we've done in the past. Asset

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managers will provide strategic direction by asking several important questions: What assets do we need? What assets do we have? What's the resulting capability gap? And finally, what are the options to optimize these assets? Asset managers may not "own" all the associated processes to answer these questions, but they'll be able to integrate the information across the functional spectrum to ensure a comprehensive strategy to fully utilize, optimize, and leverage Air Force assets.

AIR FORCE FRAMEWORK: WHERE THE AF IS TODAY

How different is asset management from what we do today? Our current system is stressed due to lack of funding, requirements or are stove piped in a non-integrated way.

Figure 1: Where the Air Force is Today

I n t e g r i t y - S e r v i c e - E x c e l l e n c e

AM Framework:Where the AF is today

Current Requirements

Future Requirements

Capability Assessment Gap Analysis

MaintainAssetsSustain,

Run to failure

UpdateAssetsRestore,

Modernize

AcquireAssets

MILCON

Make Better UseOf Assets

Optimize Space, Recover Value

DivestAssetsDisposal,

Pickle

LeverageAssets

EUL,Barter

AvailableAssets

Required Assets

OK in some areas, but still no holistic, integrated approach

Business Case / Risk Analysis

In figure 1, the boxes in dark gray (current requirements, maintain/update/acquire assets) are areas where we are doing OK, but in a stove piped and non-integrated way. The categories in light gray (future requirements, available assets, gap analysis, required assets and divest assets) are in need of improvement, while the remaining items in black (risk analysis, use of assets, leverage assets) are steps in the asset management process that we don’t do at all now and are at the heart of asset management. Asset management will be the next step in the pursuit of efficiency.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The Air Force Environmental Program is well established with respect to audits, planning documents, permit monitoring, measurement, emergency preparedness and response, training and documentation, as well as environmental quality policies. However, the program is typically executed in a fragmented nature aligned along environmental media and/or statutory requirements and is focused on achieving or maintaining compliance. Components of these programs do not tend to interact well and often fail to recognize broad mission objectives. The Air Force Environmental Management System (EMS) takes the best parts of the existing Environmental Program and retools and augments them to create a system that eliminates inherent weaknesses. In determining how to best implement Executive Order (EO) 13148, Air Force leaders decided to adopt a position of adapting the current environmental program to a system that

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conforms to a majority of the ISO 14001 standard, but not all of its elements as shown in figure 2. This decision allows the Air Force to fully meet the intent of the EO, retain the rigor of the internationally proven standard, and maintain a certain degree of flexibility to account for unique and militarily significant requirements.

Figure 2: The Air Force EMS Model

An effective EMS identifies and provides for the planning and management of all the organization’s operations and activities including facility training and operation resources. It identifies risks and creates focus to reduce those risks through training, formalizing work procedures, controlling documents and identifying performance measures. An EMS involves and integrates senior management, through the use of the Environmental Safety and Occupational Health Council (ESOHC) and teams to continually monitor performance and steer the process through its short term needs and long term planning.

An EMS cannot focus solely on continuous risk reduction of Environmental impacts. The AF EMS will help the AF reduce the risk and impacts to the environment and increase the effectiveness of day-to-day operations related to environmental impacts. However, an EMS that only focuses on continuous risk reduction of environmental impacts does not typically consider regional trends in sustainability or availability of natural resources such as air space, air quality, frequency spectrum, water supply and discharge availability, and military and non-military land availability.

The EMS vision has changed from solely focusing on the continuous risk reduction of environmental impacts to integrated management of the entire resource base including natural infrastructure. It is crucial to aggressively manage natural infrastructure as assets rather than liabilities in order to meet mission needs. Natural infrastructure regulatory compliance is as essential as meeting mission needs. Operational requirements are identified and translated into resource requirements (i.e.: needs statements, footprints). Deficiencies are identified and quantified (i.e. encroachment), while resource opportunities are also identified and quantified (i.e., headspace, room for growth). Preventing encroachment is the fulcrum of the integrated management system. The management system will address deficiencies in the resource base through a comprehensive and well coordinated set of management actions.

NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT

To enhance the operational sustainability through the improved management of natural resources, the Air Force has implemented a concept called Natural Infrastructure Management (NIM). NIM institutes a holistic, asset management approach that links organizations that control NI assets (e.g., emission allowances, frequency spectrum, land training areas, etc.) and focuses management actions toward one common goal - mission sustainment. It integrates associated operational and environmental information to

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provide decision makers with a more complete and relevant picture regarding current operational opportunities and deficiencies, their impacts, and how conditions are expected to change in the future. At the installation and MAJCOM levels, this process will assist in identifying and prioritizing initiatives to address mission inefficiencies and encroachment, and leveraging excess capacities for mission growth. Additionally, at the Air Staff and DoD levels, when combined with similar data from other commands and Services, it will enable senior leaders to more comprehensively understand the impacts of high-level decisions, such as basing.

Natural Infrastructure Management is the fist step in Asset Management. It is a management philosophy that transforms current regulation-centered, compliance-based process into one that is mission-focused. The concept makes the environmental program operational by linking NI resources with the mission requirements they enable while meeting legal obligations. NIM invokes an asset management system for the environment. It employs an integrated, holistic, systems approach to (1) determine the NI “footprints” for mission requirements, (2) quantify the capabilities of the NI available to installations to support these missions, (3) analyze the “gaps” between requirements and capabilities, and (4) evaluate the corresponding operational opportunities and risks. This process then leads to developing requirements to correct deficiencies, curtailing encroachment, and leveraging excess capabilities for mission growth.

Natural Infrastructure Management Benefits and Uses

Natural Infrastructure Management is extremely beneficial to the installation in protecting the Natural Infrastructure needed to meet operational requirements. NIM allows leadership to get a complete picture of the ability of the natural infrastructure to support the mission, and the ability to support any future mission changes. This management system supports the decision making process by enhancing the installation general plan and range comprehensive plan by including NIM data during planning activities, providing additional justification for resource allocation and maintaining environmental compliance through more aggressive monitoring of environmental permit limits and actual levels. Leadership would now have the information to determine if the installation has enough NI resources to support the existing mission or a change in mission. An additional benefit is the ability for installations to leverage NI opportunities (mitigation credits, air emissions credits, and buffer acquisition). NIM data also provides useful data to each of the NI resources.

Airspace – Uses of Data

The use of airspace is vital to the Air Force accomplishing its mission. The data collected during a NI Assessment can help the installation protect its airspace and even increase utilization using a management system construct. The population of neighboring communities is growing around many installations across the country. NIM can monitor growth near and in approach corridors and noise contours. Limiting this growth and/or the impact that the mission has on it can preserve airspace in the future. NIM can also justify the need for additional, enlarged or different geometric air space. It is possible that an installation cannot support the current mission, and NIM would provide the reasoning for additional airspace and more diverse areas for training. A final benefit is that gathered data promotes the ability to maximize the use of existing airspace with opportunities for growth.

Surface Land – Uses of Data

NIM is very important in the use of surface land on base, and the monitoring of ongoing development off base. The data gathered during a Natural Infrastructure Assessment (NIA) provides numerous benefits. First, it allows for improved communication between the installation and the local community. Data can be shared between the two entities and encroachment can be minimized due to better communication. NIM can also provide justification for the acquisition of buffers/easements to stem off site development, which could help sustain missions. A reduction of potential noise complaints from the local community is a result of the acquisition of buffers/easements. Collected data is also beneficial for on-base land use and future development. Minimizing the impact of constraints, while maximizing opportunities (both mission and environmental quality) through careful and judicious land use and site planning is one of the benefits of NIM. Finally, it improves the ability to protect and preserve natural and built environments, and optimizes

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the siting of future facilities to accommodate additional missions. In general, NIM greatly aids the general planning process with the data that is collected, as well as improves the communication and relationship with neighboring localities.

Air Quality – Uses of Data

The amount of pollution that is emitted from the installation, and the amount of pollution in the region can determine the installation’s ability to complete its mission. NIM provides valuable air quality information to leadership for decision making purposes. One of the valuable benefits of the data gathered is that it helps monitor regional air quality for potential encroachments. Being located in a non-attainment area could result in serious restrictions to the installation’s ability to emit a certain pollutant. A second benefit is the ability to “bank” credits with other entities in the region. This could allow for an increase in headroom for a certain pollutant, which could result in a modification of the mission. A final benefit of NIM is that it could provide justification for equipment upgrades or pollution prevention solutions. The purchase of modern and more efficient equipment could reduce the amount of certain pollutants that the installation is emitting.

Water Supply/Discharge – Uses of Data

An installation needs the ability to bring water into the installation, and the ability to discharge used water. A benefit of NIM data is that it allows the installation to monitor water quality regionally for potential encroachments. There could be serious encroachment issues if the source of water (and the receiving body of water for discharge) has pollution issues. Water supply/discharge data will also be extremely important to decision makers to determine if the installation can support an increase in aircraft, personnel, etc. This would include the ability to pollute and if the water treatment system can support a change.

Frequency Spectrum – Uses of Data

Access to radio frequency is vital to the Air Force accomplishing its mission. Like air quality and water supply/discharge, the data compiled during a NIA can provide additional justification for upgrades or replacement of outdated spectrum technologies. An upgrade in technology can allow for more efficient use of the frequency, and could allow for an upgrade in mission. An additional benefit is that NIM monitors for encroachment into the critical frequencies of the mission. NIA information can note any congestion or interference issues that the installation experiences.

INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS WITH MISSION REQUIREMENTS USING NATURAL INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT

The Environmental Management System should continue to reduce risks and exposure and focus on sustaining, restoring, and modernizing the resources needed at each installation to support its missions. In order to sustain operational capability at our installations and ranges, the Air Force needs to maintain an adequate supply of air & space, land, and water resources (i.e.: natural infrastructure) to test, train, and perform diverse missions. However, physical resource limitations, increasing local competition for those resources, regulatory restrictions, and other encroachment pressures are increasingly straining the ability to maintain access to the NI to meet current and emerging mission requirements. Presently at many of our installations, the NI is constrained, forcing bases to employ workarounds, accommodate inefficiencies, and/or incur added costs to accomplish daily Air Force missions. In other locations, the NI is plentiful and provides moderate or significant opportunities for mission growth.

NIM fits nicely into the EMS structure. The effective management of air, land and water resources to meet operational requirements includes many of the elements of an EMS. The discussion below elaborates on how NIM fits into each element of a management system and figure 3 provides a visual description.

Integrate NI into the EMS Cross Functional Team (CFT): Installations should consider integrating NIM requirements into the existing CFT (e.g., Environment, Safety and Occupational Health Management System (ESOHMS) CFT). It is highly encouraged that the team is chaired by no lower than deputy group

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commander and has Communications and Operations Support Squadron representatives as members. This team will coordinate annual NI assessments, provide support needed to collect information, and continue NIM review and management through the ESOHMS framework.

Figure 3: Illustration of How Natural Infrastructure Management Fits into an Installation’s EMS

Environmental Policy Phase: The installation Environmental Policy Statement is the driver for implementing and improving the installation’s EMS so that an installation can maintain and improve its environmental performance. An installation’s current EMS policy should reflect a commitment to compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and provide foresight for continual improvement. With a broader focus to include the NI, the policy statement should also include a commitment to sustaining the NI in addition to maintaining compliance and preventing pollution. Steps should be put into place to achieve that commitment once the installation commits to sustaining, restoring, and modernizing the NI to ensure operational capability.

Planning Phase: Encroached resources are identified by NI assessments (conducted during the Checking and Corrective Actions Phase) are used as part of a risk ranking methodology such as aspect/impact identification. For those areas with the highest risk, objectives and targets are set and action plans developed to mitigate risk or NI degradation. Objectives and targets (e.g., creation of a conservation easement, procurement of emission reduction credits, or environmental restoration actions to increase the number of on-base developable acres) are then carried forward into the planning, programming and budgeting and execution (PPBE) funding process. This entire risk management process is underpinned by measures of merit and funding guidelines that allow natural infrastructure managers to fund a wide variety of valid projects that meet regulatory compliance requirements, encroachment prevention requirements, and mission driven requirements.

Implementation and Operation Phase: Installations reduce risk and prevent degradation through actions and investments that support operational and regulatory requirements. The actions may include such things

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as: clearly define roles and responsibilities; provide job-specific training; develop or update written procedures to reduce the potential for environmental impact; stipulate operating criteria to support current and emerging operational requirements; ensuring the most current versions of the necessary plans, checklists and other documents are available when and where needed; increase communication with local planning authorities and local community officials; and manage permits as assets rather than liabilities. Sustaining, restoring, and modernizing the resource base becomes part of day-to-day operations. Checking and Corrective Action Phase: The NI Assessment is part of the Checking and Corrective Action Element within a Management System construct as shown in figure 3. Just as the Environment Capability Assessment and Management Process (ECAMP) is used to “check” the health of the Environmental Compliance Program, the Natural Infrastructure Assessment “checks” the health of the Natural Infrastructure. Senior Leadership should be briefed on the initial NI Results and provide direction and priority for improvements. integration of the two programs should commence after the NI results are presented to senior leadership. Corrective actions must be developed and executed to sustain, restore, and modernize the existing resource base as well as maintain compliance and improve EMS conformance. Performance measures should be tracked overtime to keep the pulse of programs. Any resource deficiencies should be identified and quantified in order to obtain adequate funding through the Planning, Programming, Budget, and Execution (PPBE) funding process. Management Review: The results of NI assessments should be presented to senior leadership at least once annually along with regular updates. NI data have the potential to affect future basing decisions.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLANS

The first two steps are to develop clear and concise objectives and targets followed by complete Environmental Management Plans (EMPs). EMPs are the heart of the management system into which all other elements are hinged.

Significant Aspects: Those activities, products, or services at Air Force installations that interact with the environment are known as environmental aspects. The change to the environment that results from this interaction is known as the aspect’s impact. Developing a list of environmental aspects and analyzing the significance of their impacts creates the foundation on which the rest of the EMS program will be built. It also allows the Air Force to focus its limited resources on those impacts that have the greatest potential negative impact on the environment and the mission. Installations should generate their aspect lists using the steps and methods described in the EMS guidance previously issued by the Air Staff. As significant aspects are identified, an installation should keep in mind that only 5 or 6 significant aspects can have the risk reduced or otherwise improved at any given time so the aspect scoring and ranking criteria should only yield a few significant aspects. Typically about a half a dozen aspects emerge.

Objectives and Targets: Objectives and targets must be developed for each of the installation’s significant aspects, as they define the desired final outcome for addressing the environmental impacts. Specifically:

Objectives are the specific issues where the installation will focus its efforts. They may be quantifiable and measurable or they can be more general. At least one objective must be developed for each significant environmental aspect. Typically objectives are developed for maintaining compliance as well as for pollution prevention or some improvement area. Objectives should also be developed for maintaining natural infrastructure to meet operational requirements.

Targets are established to support objectives. Each objective typically has many targets. Targets are more specific than objectives and must be measurable over time. Targets must be measurable and have a completion date for when they are to be achieved.

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Figure 4: An Example Environmental Management Plan

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

Environmental AspectStorm Water Discharge

Document Control Code

Date Initiated:Jan 1, 2007

Anticipated Completion Date March 2009

Person Responsible for Aspect Mr Smith

Unit17th CES/CEV

Phone X- 1234

Contributing Processes: Stormwater Runoff

Legal and Other Requirements: List legal citations, AFI Requirements and specific documents such as permits, plans, etc - Storm Water NPDES permit, SW PPP- SW P2 Plan, SW Management PlanObjective(s) : See paragraphs above in this paper

Target(s) See paragraphs above in this paper

Objective 1: Maintain compliance with SW NPDES permits.

Target 1.1: Ensure monthly discharge monitoring permit are completed and mailed by the 15th of each month.

Performance Indicator: percentage of Monthly DMR completed and submitted on time.

Objective 2: Maintain Compliance with Requirements of the SWPPP.

Target 2.1: Conduct SW awareness training annually.

Performance Indictors: Percentage of personnel trained

Objective 3: Ensure SW permit headroom exists for Mission Growth.

Target 3.1: Ensure at least 25% permit headroom exists for all constituents every reporting cycle

Performance Indicator: Percentage of headroom that exists between permit limit and actual discharge concentration

Objective 4: Reduce levels of Deicing Fluid Discharged off the installations.

Target 4.1: Design new Deicing Pad by 30 Sept 07.

Performance Indicator: Design complete percentage

An example environmental management plan is shown in figure 4. After the EMPs are fully developed for each of the significant aspects, the next step is to develop a plan for each media program. As a media program manager a good question to ask yourself is, “If I won the lottery and did not return to work, could someone take over my job without there being major problems?” If the answer is no, you probably need to develop a more robust EMP. An effective EMS will not be personality or individual dependent. It should be process dependent. After the EMPs are in place, review existing operational controls. Once the EMPs are developed, the Installation CFT should focus its attention on implementing the EMPs. From there they should consider reviewing operational controls and document management.

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EMPs and Asset Management Plans (AMPs)

Asset Management Plans (AMPs) are complimentary plans that build onto existing EMPs. The EMP feeds the overall development of the AMP. To date, the Air Force is still defining the exact content of the AMPs. However, the creation of AMPs does not alleviate the need for EMPs. In an ideal situation both EMPs and AMPs will share information and define overall needs. When developing EMS objectives and targets, it is critical to understand the level of service for the asset in question, so as not to establish unrealistic objectives that negatively impact the mission of the asset. The EMP can also develop cost estimates for achieving objectives and targets which should feed the overall financial requirements appendices.

CONCLUSION

In his commentary, the Air Force Civil Engineer, Major General Del Eulberg concluded,

We've also widened the aperture in defining an ‘asset,’ no longer restricting it to traditional ‘brick and mortar’ infrastructure such as real property and housing. Now the term also includes our environmental and energy resources, all of which have some level of intrinsic worth that should be harnessed. Enhanced-use leasing, trading air credits, and even selling energy back to utility companies are a few examples of largely untapped value. To fully unleash the synergistic potential of our total Air Force portfolio, we're moving toward a more widespread strategy of centralizing or ‘bundling’ purchases of both goods and services, and standardizing our core processes and service standards where feasible. Without exception, corporations, cities, and federal agencies who have adopted asset management capabilities have significantly reduced their costs and dramatically improved their effectiveness and efficiency. But these successes were not realized overnight. Our transformation to a fully realized asset management culture will be a marathon, spanning months if not years, so we'll start with small victories and continue with a bridging strategy to get us where we ultimately need to be. We have tough work ahead of us -- creating and reengineering our processes, and developing asset management tools such as a robust training program and a powerful IT system. But we are stepping out quickly with the focused goal of enhancing our support to the warfighter by returning dollars to the mission while efficiently providing required infrastructure and delivering on our promise to take care of our Airmen. I'm sure asset management will present some challenges, yet I'm equally confident it will create new opportunities for our bases as well as the men and women who work so hard every day in supporting those bases. I have no doubt that our Air Force civil engineers have the talent and drive to make asset management a complete success.

REFERENCES

1. August 16, 2007. Civil Engineer Magazine. Major General Del Eulberg

DISCLAIMER

The opinions and conclusions in this paper are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Air Force or the Federal Government

AUTHOR INFORMATION

Patrick J. Carley, Maj, USAF, P.E., HQ USAF/A7CAQ, Activity Manager (Environmental Services)Commercial: (703) 604-3626 DSN: 664

Tom Welch, Booz Allen Hamilton, Commercial: (757) 893-6146, welch_tom@bah.com