Berkeley Lab's Environmental Management System
What is an Environmental Management System (or EMS)?
An EMS is a framework that helps Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) achieve its environmental goals by consistently reviewing, evaluating and improving its environmental performance. The assumption is that this consistent review and evaluation will identify opportunities for improving and implementing Berkeley Lab's environmental performance.
Berkeley Lab's EMS helps set priorities for action and challenges each and every employee to continually find ways to lessen potential impacts and to protect the environment.
What's my role in the EMS?
EMS is woven into the Integrated Safety Management (ISM) System.
Here is how YOU fit into Berkeley Lab's EMS:
Identify
What are the ways your activities at the Lab potentially impact the environment
Include environmental considerations when analyzing hazards.
Eliminate or Reduce
How might you get rid of or reduce your impact on the environment?
Include environmental controls when developing and implementing hazard controls.
Act
Follow all Lab policies and procedures put in place to support the EMS and our goals.
What is Berkeley Lab's
Environmental Policy?
Environmental Policy?
Through its EMS, Berkeley Lab is committed to:
Complying with applicable environmental, public health, and resource conservation laws and regulations.
Preventing pollution, minimizing waste, and conserving natural resources.
Correcting environmental hazards and cleaning up existing environmental problems.
Continually improving the Laboratory's environmental performance while maintaining operational capability and sustaining the overall mission of the Laboratory.
Read the complete Environmental Management System Policy in Berkeley Lab's Requirements and Policies Manual (RPM).
What are our current priorities?
The following are Berkeley Lab's current priorities with Environmental Action Plans:
Storage Tanks and Air Quality Compliance - Improve the compliance and implementation of tank inspections and air permit recordkeeping.
Refrigerant Management - Improve the compliance and implementation of refrigeration management/recordkeeping per EPA requirements (CARB requirements, if needed).
Fleet - Transition from petroleum consumption to zero carbon vehicles.
Sustainable Acquisitions - Meet federal purchasing requirements for sustainable acquisition and procurement by incorporating into Procurement policies.
Where can I find more information?
Want to learn more about Berkeley Lab's EMS Program? Read about different elements of the EMS Cycle.
Lunch and Learns and other presentations
Site Environmental Report 2023 with DOE letter.pdfSite Environmental Report
Each year Berkeley Lab prepares a Site Environmental Report that describes its environmental programs and performance for the most recent calendar year. This report provides an overview of Berkeley Lab, its EMS, and environmental compliance programs, including discussion of surveillance and monitoring activities, radiological dose assessment results, and quality assurance measures.
The document meets the reporting requirements of U.S. Department of Energy Order 231.1B, Environment, Safety, and Health Reporting. Click on the left for the complete Site Environmental Report for the most recent calendar year available. Past reports are also available.
450 Declaration that LBNL Environmental Management System EMS conforms ISO 14001 2015 Standard 09_30_24.pdfISO 14001 Conformance
DOE Order 436.1A, Departmental Sustainability (DOE, 2023), requires DOE sites such as Berkeley Lab to develop and maintain an EMS that conforms to the ISO 14001 standard, Environmental Management Systems – Requirements with Guidance for Use (ISO, 2015). Click on the left for Berkeley Lab's most recent Department of Energy (DOE) declaration of conformance of Berkeley Lab's EMS to the ISO 14001 standard
The official or current version of documents required by LBNL's Environmental Management System, such as the EMS plan and implementing environmental management programs, are located at this site. Earlier versions of these documents will be labelled as "obsolete". Printed or electronically transmitted copies are not official. Users are responsible for working with the latest approved revision.