AWARD TYPES
Individual - a DOI employee
Team - may include combination of DOI and non-DOI employees
Cooperator - a DOI partner organization, which may be a contractor, a Federal/State agency, tribal nations or organizations, or non-profit entities.
AWARD SCOPE
The DOI Environmental Achievement Awards recognizes DOI employees and teams as well as DOI cooperators who have attained exceptional environmental achievements under the following policies:
- Executive Order 13423 - Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management
- Departmental Manual - Compliance with Waste Management Requirements (518 DM 2)
- Strategic Plan for Greening the Department of the Interior Through Waste Prevention, Recycling and Federal Acquisition and
- Additionally, the Environmental Stewardship category recognizes efforts to prevent and remediate contaminated sites on DOI land.
The DOI Environmental Achievement Awards provide recognition for DOI employees and cooperators for exceptional work done on DOI projects.
AWARD CATEGORIES
Waste/Pollution Prevention and Recycling
This category recognizes source reduction practices related to the generation of non-hazardous solid wastes, hazardous wastes, or pollution from a site, facility, or operation through any change in the design, manufacturing, or use/reuse of materials or products; and/or the amount of toxicity in waste materials before recycling, reuse, treatment or disposal. This category recognizes recycling activities - including collection, separation, and processing - by which products or other materials are recovered from the waste stream for use in the manufacture of new products (other than use as fuel for producing heat or power by combustion) at a Federal site, facility, or operation. This category also recognizes electronics life-cycle management programs, including electronics recycling. Preference is given to nominations that include outreach programs/projects or educational efforts designed to promote pollution prevention and waste prevention goals and objectives of E.O. 13423 and to promote recycling at the site, facility, or operation or to promote partnerships with the surrounding community to promote recycling.
Green Purchasing
This category recognizes the most effective and innovative programs implemented for purchase and use of recycled content, environmentally preferable, or biobased products at a Federal site, facility, or operation. Preference is given to nominations that include both purchase of recycled content products and purchase of either environmentally preferable or biobased products. For recycled content products, this award category focuses on, but is not limited to, those products designated in the Environmental Protection Agency's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines. For environmentally preferable products, this award category recognizes the best examples of acquiring, using, or validating products or services that have a reduced impact on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose; an outstanding improvement to a process that resulted in significant monetary savings and benefit to the environment; or product testing that led to the approval and use of environmentally preferable products or services. Preference also is given for outreach programs/projects or educational efforts designed to promote the green purchasing objectives of E.O. 13423.
Sustainable Design/Green Buildings
This category recognizes the most innovative Federal government sustainable design and green building projects. Nominations are limited to projects which have been completed. Nominations should address all facets of a structure/project's life cycle (i.e. encompass project design, energy efficiency, materials usage, and building operations). Each nomination should highlight the cost effective use of innovative techniques and solutions that utilize sustainable design principles in the planning, construction, and operation of Federal facilities. Preference also is given for outreach programs/projects or educational efforts designed to promote sustainable buildings.
Alternative Fuel and Fuel Conservation in Transportation
This category recognizes programs, practices and procedures implemented in a Federal fleet that result in significant reduction in petroleum use. This includes establishment of new fuel infrastructure; methods for encouraging the use of alternative fuels; ride sharing programs; increased vehicle usage efficiency programs; hybrid vehicle or neighborhood electric vehicle acquisition and use; or any other methods your fleet uses to decrease petroleum consumption. Preference is given to nominations that demonstrate innovation in response to technical, logistical, financial and other hurdles and support the goals of E.O. 13423.
Environmental Management Systems
This category recognizes the most effective and innovative programs to implement environmental management systems at DOI facilities in accordance with E.O. 13423. Implementation of facility-level environmental management systems shall include measurable environmental goals, objectives, and targets that are reviewed and updated as appropriate. The systems should include a compliance component. This category also recognizes the use of
quantitative or qualitative consideration of the full range (cradle to grave) of environmental costs and impacts of certain activities or procurement. The effort should include environmental consideration in either descriptive or accounting format of raw material derivations, use and disposal of final products services; material and energy usage and waste; environmental, health and safety management costs; or the use of environmental accounting and life cycle assessment in multiple types of decision making. Preference also is given to Environmental Management Systems programs that go beyond the basic compliance under E.O. 13423 and include greening goals consistent with E.O. 13423 and the Federal Electronics Challenge.
Environmental Stewardship
This category recognizes efforts to prevent and remediate contaminated sites on DOI land. Examples of such improvements or initiatives are in areas such as Bureau operations, land management practices, technology enhancement/transfer, environmental education/training, policy making, program infrastructure development, and research. Note: this category has changed for 2007. It no longer recognizes far-reaching ecosystem protection accomplishments, which will be recognized through the DOI Cooperative Conservation Awards. If you have any questions about whether or not your project will fit this category, please contact
Ms. Catherine Cesnik, Awards Coordinator, at 202-208-7554 who will review questions on a case-by-case basis.
AWARD PROCESS
Step 1: SUBMIT NOMINATIONS ON-LINE at: www.doi.gov/greening/awards.
Your Bureau or Office may attach additional guidelines for the submission of nominations within your organization. Please follow your Bureau or Office directions and deadlines. (Electronic submissions will be accepted on compact disk from organizations without access to the Internet. Contact Ms. Catherine Cesnik at 202-208-7554 for details.)
Step 2: BUREAU or OFFICE SCREENING. Bureau or Office award coordinators, in coordination with environmental management staff, will have access to on-line submissions to screen nominations for completeness, merit, appropriateness for the Environmental Achievement Awards, and for environmental compliance as out lined below. Bureaus or Offices are asked to forward only their seven best nominations. Note: "Cooperators" must be nominated by their partner Bureau or Office for work done on a DOI project.
Step 3: BY JUNE 8, MEMORANDUM FROM HEAD OF BUREAU or OFFICE. Bureau or Office heads sign a Memorandum of Nomination to forward their seven best nominations to Mr. Willie R. Taylor, Director, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance by June 8, 2007. Please contact your Bureau award coordinator to ensure your project will be included on this memorandum, or it cannot be considered for an Environmental Achievement Award. Also, please note, by their signature in the Memorandum of Nomination, Bureau and Office heads convey that the submitted projects have good environmental compliance standing as outlined below.
Step 4: EVALUATION OF NOMINATIONS BY AWARDS PANEL. The Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance convenes a panel of representatives from Bureaus and Offices to select and recommend nominations for awards using the evaluation criteria.
Step 5: COMPLIANCE SCREENING. The Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance confirms that recommended facilities and projects are in compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations.
Step 6: RECOMMENDATIONS FINALIZED, ANNOUNCEMENT MADE. The Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance forwards recommendations to DOI's Agency Environmental Executive who finalizes recipients and signs a memorandum announcing Award recipients.
Step 7: RECOGNITION CEREMONY. The Awards ceremony and luncheon are tentatively scheduled for October 2007, in Washington, D.C. Recognition includes an award presented by a high-level DOI official, a display in the Interior Museum DOI Environmental Achievement Awards case, an article in People, Land and Water, and a page on the Greening DOI website. Recipients and honorable mentions become a part of a network of environmental professionals who help spread best management practices across DOI. Bureaus and Offices are responsible for travel costs for their award recipients.
TIPS FOR WRITING A GOOD NOMINATION
The following are tips suggested by past judges.
Tip 1: Review the summaries of the past award recipients at www.doi.gov/greening/awards.
Tip 2: Use headings and bullets to separate important components of your narrative.
Tip 3: If your project was a team effort, don't nominate a single individual. In the past, judges have raised questions about nominations that single out an individual, without a clear justification why that individual deserves sole recognition.
Tip 4: If your project falls in more than one award category, write only one nomination that demonstrates the full scope of your program, and select the closest award category.
Tip 5: If your project encompasses more than one Bureau or Office, write one joint nomination that demonstrates the full scope of the program. Select a lead Bureau or Office to write and submit the nomination. Please list all member Bureaus, Offices, or agencies in your nomination narrative.
Tip 6: Use quantitative data whenever possible (e.g., square feet of recycled-content carpet, pounds of waste diverted from the landfill, dollar values of green contracts, etc.).
Tip 7: Submit a very succinct and very informative abstract of the achievement to show judges your program's key components. Your abstract helps judges quickly reference salient points of your project's merits during discussions around the selection committee table.
Tip 8: Closely read the evaluation criteria that will be used by judges to score your nomination.
Tip 9 (For Cooperators): Clearly show your organization's relationship to the DOI project and to DOI as a whole. Explain your organization's role in the project.
EVALUATION CRITERIA
A panel of Bureau and Office representatives convened by the Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance will review and recommend Award recipients using the following four criteria.
Criteria 1: Need & Implementation
- A clear, compelling environmental need for the project
- Challenges overcome to complete the project or action
- Support for Federal/DOI/Bureau/Office initiatives, such as: environmental initiatives, streamlined procedures, sound life-cycle cost accounting, and performance measures
- DOI and third-party audits to improve project performance
- Applicable Federal, State, and local laws, Executive Orders, tribal codes and ordinances, and departmental and Bureau policies were followed
- Achievement of a recognized benchmark of environmental performance may have been demonstrated by third party certification, for example: the International Standards Organization 14000 series, National Environmental Performance Track, and Green Seal product and service standards.
Criteria 2: Innovation
- The project uses innovative techniques or technologies
- Project finds solutions to a common problem(s) faced across DOI
Criteria 3: Partnering and Cooperative Conservation
Project is exemplary in applying the E.O. 13352 "Facilitation of Cooperative Conservation." For example, project leaders succeeded in bringing together parties with differing resources and perspectives to share cooperatively in the work of the project and/or created sustaining relationships with your Bureau or Office that will further the parties' involvement in stewardship of public lands.
Critical project information, including rationale and results, were communicated in a variety of ways to multiple communities or stakeholders affected by or interested in the project or action, such as tribal communities, citizen organizations, townships, etc. (e.g. informative publications may have been translated into other languages for use by the public).
Criteria 4: Scope of Project Impact
- Completed project contributed significantly to the improvement of the environment
- Other DOI sites or Federal entities could replicate the strategies and techniques proven successful by this project
- The project provides continuing and accruing benefits to your Bureau or Office
- Quantitative data shows improved performance over past years
- The project must be complete or shows several years of data/results.
For projects that won an Environmental Achievement Award in years past, the nomination submitted this year must demonstrate significant new developments or improvements over past achievements.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE
This award recognizes recipients and projects worthy of replication across the DOI. Compliance with applicable laws and regulations is a requirement for receiving an Award. There must be no environmental compliance problems (e.g., Environmental Protection Agency or State fines and penalties levied against a facility or open environmental audit findings) associated with a particular nomination. Therefore, Bureau and Office Heads are required to verify that all recommended award recipients are in compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations or that all compliance-related problems have been addressed. Likewise, by their signature on the Memorandum of Nomination, Bureau and Office Heads certify that environmental compliance findings associated with the submitted nominations are closed or that all compliance-related problems have been sufficiently addressed to the Bureau and Office Head's satisfaction. The DOI reserves the right to withhold recognition from any recommended recipient in violation of any Federal, State or local rules, laws, or regulations of any kind.
QUESTIONS AND OFF-INTERNET SUBMISSIONS
If you have any questions that cannot be answered by your Bureau or Office environmental award coordinator, please contact Ms. Catherine Cesnik, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, at 202-208-7554 or Catherine_Cesnik@ios.doi.gov.
If you do not have internet access, you may submit your nomination on a compact disk. Contact your Award Coordinator or Ms. Catherine Cesnik for more information.
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