Other Environmental Programs
OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES (OEL)
An environmental liability is a probable and measurable future environmental cost resulting from activities related to environmental restoration, corrective action, future disposal, and/or closure of facilities and equipment. Cleanup costs must be driven by an environmental requirement and may include, but are not limited to, decontamination, decommissioning, site restoration, site monitoring, abatement, closure, and post closure.
DoD is required to report environmental liabilities in annual financial statements. By law, financial statements are required to be complete, accurate, and auditable. Marine Corps installations must identify, estimate, and report all environmental liabilities, ensuring that all cost estimates are auditable. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) assists Marine Corps installations in managing their environmental liability information.
PFAS: PFOS/PFOA AND AFFF
Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a suite of over 1,000 unregulated chemicals that are widely used and can be found in various industrial and consumer products, including Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF). These chemicals have been found in drinking water and groundwater supplies across the country and are of increasing interest to Congress, regulatory agencies, and the public. The use of AFFF products for firefighting is the most common Marine Corps activity that could release PFAS into the environment. Different aspects of PFAS management are addressed through different programs including; Water Programs (testing and monitoring), disposal as prescribed by DoD policy or state requirements, and Environmental Restoration (clean-up on installations). Overarching policy have been developed for management, testing, use, cleanup and disposal of PFAS and AFFF and can be found below:
- EPA Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) Drinking Water Lifetime Health Advisories
- ASD (EI&E) Policy Memo, “Testing DoD Drinking Water for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA),” 10 June 2016
- ASD (Sustainment) Policy Memo, “Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Sampling of Department of Defense Drinking Water Systems,” 2 March 2020
- ASD (Sustainment) Policy Memo, “Monitoring of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Sampling for Installations with Non-Department of Defense Drinking Water Systems,” 23 July 2020
- ASD (Sustainment) Policy Memo, “Aqueous Film Forming Foam Usage and Spill Reporting,” 13 January 2020
- ASD (Sustainment) “Policy for Centralized Management of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Drinking Water Data,” 22 May 2019
- ASD Policy Memo dtd 18, “Prohibition of Testing and Training with Fluorinated Aqueous Film Forming Foam,” 18 September 2020
- OASN (EI&E) Policy Memo, “Perfluorinated Compounds (PFCs) Drinking Water System Testing Requirement,” 14 June 2016
- OASN (EI&E) Policy Memo, “Perfluorinated Compounds/Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFC/PFAS) – Identification of Potential Areas of Concern (AOCs),” 20 June 2016
- OASN (EI&E) Policy Memo, “Aqueous Film Forming Foam Control, Removal, and Disposal,” 17 June 2016
- OASN (EI&E) Policy Memo, “Additional Aqueous Film Forming Foam (AFFF) Control, Removal, Disposal Requirements,” 6 March 2018
- NAVSEA MIL-PRF-25385F
- NAVAIR 00-80R-14, 1 June 2018
- 5 U.S.C. 552a, “Records Maintained on Individuals,” December 16, 2021
- SECNAVINST 5211.5F, “DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY PRIVACY PROGRAM,” 20 May 2019
- SECNAV M-5210.1, “DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY RECORD MANAGEMENT PROGRAM,” September 2019
- MCO 5210.11F, “MARINE CORPS RECORDS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM,” 7 April 2015
- National Defense Authorization Act of 2020
- Unified Facilities Criteria 4-211-01, “Aircraft Maintenance Hangars,” 13 April 2017, Change 3, 20 April 2021
- MARADMIN 585/20, “Aqueous Film Forming Foam Usage and Spill Reporting,” 2 October 2020
- DoD Instruction (DoDI) 4715.07, “Defense Environmental Restoration Program (DERP),” Change 2, August 31, 2018
Range Environmental Vulnerability Assessment (REVA)
To effectively carry out its mission, the Marine Corps must conduct real-time, realistic training involving tactics, techniques, procedures, equipment, and personnel on operational ranges. To ensure long term sustainment of these training areas while protecting the surrounding environment, the Marine Corps established the REVA program. REVA is a proactive program that supports Marine Corps and DoD sustainable range goals and policies. The goal of REVA is to identify potential releases or threat of releases of chemicals from munitions items to off range areas that could present a potential unacceptable risk to human health or the environment, and assist installations to formulate long-term range sustainment plans. Operational ranges that are addressed under REVA include target/impact areas, firing points, small arms ranges, and training areas, as well as areas with historical munitions use within operational range boundaries. The REVA process includes data collection and analysis; environmental or sampling (if necessary); risk assessments (if necessary); and documentation of results in fact sheets, which are made available to the public.
Environmental Awards
EMERGENCY AND SPILL RESPONSE
Emergency spill planning and response programs reduce the impacts of pollutant releases to the environment by establishing procedures for installations to respond to incidents quickly and appropriately. Elements of emergency spill planning and response programs include management plans, procedures, and test exercises for release prevention and emergency response.
Marine Corps installations must develop communication and strategic plans to respond to pollutant release incidents and must inform the public regarding the storage of certain hazardous substances.
INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is required for DoD pest management. It is a sustainable approach to managing pests and controlling disease vectors by combining applicable pest management tools in a way that minimizes economic, health, and environmental risks. IPM uses regular or scheduled monitoring to determine if and when treatments are needed and employs physical, mechanical, cultural, biological, genetic, regulatory, chemical, and educational methods to keep pest numbers low enough to prevent unacceptable damage or impacts. The least hazardous, but effective, pesticides are used judiciously when necessary.
Sustainability
For the Marine Corps to pursue sustainability, specific conditions need to be created and maintained, which humans and nature can co-exist to support present and future generations. Sustainable practices minimize pollution and associated cleanup costs, protect the health of our forces and surrounding communities, and help to protect lands for future training. Sustainability is not one separate program or initiative within the Marine Corps, but is more of a collection of principles the Marine Corps does to support its mission, including planning, training, and operations. Sustainability is covered over various departments within the Marine Corps other than just Environmental.
The Marine Corps vision of sustainability is most evident in the DOD Sustainability Report and Implementation Plan. With a focus on sustainability, the Marine Corps is improving readiness through resilient practices to increase efficiency and reduce costs within the Corps.