Improving Environmental Management

Reinventing Environmental Management Issue Summary

     Imagine a mega corporation that controlled 33 percent of the entire
land mass of the United States. You don't have to imagine very hard. All
you have to do is observe the environmental management efforts of the
federal government. With over 400 agencies involved, it should come as
no surprise that we have lacked a coherent, efficient, and
cost-effective approach to safeguarding our public lands.
 
     With so many agencies interpreting and enforcing regulations, it's
also no surprise that federal managers have not shared a similar focus.
Our system has tended to map environmental concerns along bureaucratic
borders rather than the natural boundaries of the affected ecosystem.
Past methods of federal accounting and financial analysis have
contributed to the problem by excluding environmental costs from short
term planning. These expenses have come back to haunt taxpayers in
costly cleanups, loss of irreplaceable resources, and expensive
litigations. And when it comes to carrying out legislation, we've opted
for controls and penalties rather than sound prevention mechanisms
designed to stop pollution before it starts.

     The National Performance Review is implementing a set of
Recommendations that refocus federal environmental management on
solutions and results. We are encouraging collaborative programs where
responsible agencies jointly manage a specific ecosystem to protect its
resources, promote sustainable economic development, and reduce costs.
The NPR package also aims at improving environmental performance at
federal buildings and facilities.  Our Actions direct managers to
install commercially available energy and water conservation systems,
and to use environmentally beneficial landscaping techniques. As an
incentive, the NPR recommends that agencies reinvest their environmental
savings into systems that will reduce future energy bills.

     Over the past year, working together, we have made progress.  The
President has signed directives to promote sound environmental practices
for federal lands and projects. We've also setup cross-agency management
teams to analyze federal programs affecting four ecosystems.

     Your participation in this Electronic Open Meeting will go a long
way towards energizing, refining, and implementing NPR Recommendations
affecting environmental management. During the next two weeks you'll be
able to connect, engage, and network with participants across the
federal workforce. By sharing experiences and ideas on government
reinvention, this Electronic Open Meeting will help forge the
enterprising and pragmatic solutions needed to create a government that
works better and costs less.