EMS Elements 3 & 4. Identification of Practices, Aspects and Risk Prioritization

Owner: EMS Coordinator
Approver: EMS Core Team/EMS Management Review Team

Purpose/Overview

Definitions

• Activities - Mission support activities conducted by small units or installation offices, including shops, ranges, hangars, hospitals, and offices.  An example of an activity is equipment maintenance.
• Practices – Processes performed during normal activities that may impact the environment either directly or as a result of an accident.  An example of a practice is changing the oil in a vehicle.
• Aspects – Characteristics of a practice that can cause an impact to environmental resources.  Examples of aspects are the production of solid waste such as oily rags, recyclable wastes such as used oil, and the potential to spill or release hazardous materials such as oil, fuel or solvents.
• Impacts – Effects of a practice's aspect on environmental resources.  Examples of an impact of spilled fuel are contaminated fresh water, ground water or soil, and permit violations or regulatory fines.
• Practice Controls - Procedures that are followed or physical barriers put in place to eliminate negative impacts to the environment.  An example of a practice control is the shop procedure for managing used oil or the spill containment berm.
• Practice Owners - Command unit or office responsible for the day-to-day use of a practice.  The Sergeant or Staff NCO who runs daily operations of the maintenance bay ensures that the practice owner's responsibilities are met.

USMC EMS Conformance Criteria

• The installation implements a documented procedure for inventorying practices and updates the inventory as practices are altered, discontinued or added
• The installation identifies aspects and impacts associated with each practice on the inventory
• The installation inventories its environmental resources and assesses each resource's vulnerability to the aspects of existing and planned practices

The following EMS conformance criteria are applicable to Element 4, Risk Prioritization, of the MCAS Miramar EMS:

• The installation implements a documented procedure to prioritize practices based on risk to mission. The procedures are repeatable and defensible and include a schedule for periodic review and update of the prioritization results.

MCAS Miramar EMS Procedure/Process Description

1. Scope of Practice and Aspect Review - The current scope of the MCAS Miramar practice and aspect review is to determine which practices and/or aspects are significant.  MCAS Miramar personnel have committed to achieve the full-scope EMS implementation by December 2005.

2. Identification of Activities and Practices

2.1 The EMS Core Team identifies the activities and practices associated with all organizations, tenants, and command elements (Activities and Practices by Organization) at MCAS Miramar to establish a general framework for the identification and evaluation of environmental aspects for each activity and practice. Through base knowledge and experience the EMS Core Team is able to exclude certain activities from consideration (e.g., daily work commute, parking lots, etc.).

2.2 For each organization, tenant, and command element on MCAS Miramar the EMS Core Team identified the operations performed. The top 30 operations that could impact mission to the greatest extent were chosen.

2.3 A risk analysis was performed for each practice using the Practice Inventory & Scoring Module (PRISM). PRISM is the template program utilized by MCAS Miramar for ranking the significance of practices and aspects. After the practices were analyzed, all uncontrollable practices (e.g., aerial combat training) were not included in deciding which activities were significant. The uncontrollable practices and aspects are highlighted in yellow in the Risk Ranking Report by Aspect.

3. Identification of Environmental Aspects - Each of MCAS Miramar's activities and practices were analyzed to identify associated environmental aspects and summarized in PRISM Detailed Aspect Risk Inventory Report. The MCAS Miramar EMS Core Team selected the option in PRISM to rank the aspects instead of the impacts. Below is a summary of the key steps of the aspect identification process:

3.1 The aspects identified by the EMS Core Team were analyzed using PRISM to get an Average Risk Score.

3.2 Aspects related to practices that could not be influenced or controlled were removed from consideration. 

3.3 Once each practice associated with an environmental aspect was ranked, the practices having the greatest impact on mission were identified. If these practices were to stop, then the mission of MCAS Miramar would be impaired. Summary of MCAS Miramar Activities.

4. Risk Evaluation of Practices and Aspects

4.1 Environmental practices and aspects are summarized in the PRISM Detailed Aspect Risk Inventory Report.

4.2 Environmental practices and aspects are evaluated for a variety of actual and potential environmental impacts, as described in the Criteria for Evaluating the Significance of Practices and Aspects. The EMS Core Team utilized the established ranking criteria embedded into PRISM to evaluate the risk of practices and aspects.

4.3 Environmental practices and aspects are assigned a numerical total risk rating. The individual risk ratings are entered into the PRISM template and a Total Risk Score is assigned for each practice and aspect.

4.4 PRISM was also used to prioritize aspects. (Risk Ranking Report by Aspect)

5. Significance of Environmental Practices and Aspects

5.1 The EMS Core Team selected the Total Risk Score cut-off value after careful consideration of all of the identified practices and aspects. The following factors were considered when selecting the Overall Impact Score: the nature and extent of MCAS Miramar's activities, practices, and aspects; the relative Total Risk Score of each identified environmental practice aspect; and the human and financial resources available to assist in the implementation of the EMS.

Significant Practices

A Total Risk Score of 50.00 has been determined to be an appropriate cut-off value to assign significance to a practice. Practices yielding a total risk score greater than or equal to the cut-off value are considered to be 'Significant'. Practices which yield a total risk score less than the cut-off value are considered to be 'Not Significant'.

5.2 The significant environmental practice is Paint Gun Cleaning. The EMS Core Team chose this practice due to the overall risk ranking and the fact that it carries multiple aspects that span over various environmental medias. The EMS Core Team narrowed this practice by choosing VOC Emission as the significant aspect. Each practice owner will have a detailed objective with a specific target action plan developed. The targets will be achievable within financial and technological means.  If a new practice or aspect is identified or an existing practice changes, please contact the EMS Program Manager for guidance on including the new or modified practice or aspect into the EMS.

6. Environmental Practice and Aspect Review/Update - The MCAS Miramar EMS Core Team reviews all Environmental Practices and Aspects on an annual basis. Based on the results of the EMS Core Team's review, the EMS Core Team determines the need to update the Environmental Practice and Aspect Inventory and related documents.
 

Document Revision History