Pollution Prevention and Waste Minimization cont'd

DOE-HDBK-1139/1-2000

Change Notice No. 1

The Secretary also directed each Lead Program Secretarial Officer to implement

programs to achieve fourteen Pollution Prevention and Energy Efficiency

Leadership Goals, including waste and toxic chemical release reductions, as well as

increased recycling. Pollution prevention opportunity assessments can be

performed to identify the nature and amounts of waste, releases, and energy usage

from processes and projects within a site's operations; identify the opportunities for

pollution prevention and energy conservation; and evaluate those opportunities for

feasible implementation. High return-on-investment projects can be conducted to

reduce or eliminate the use of a toxic chemical or the generation of a waste stream.

On April 21, 2000, the President signed Executive Order 13148, "Greening the

Government through Leadership in Environmental Management." This Executive

Order calls for Federal agencies to set new goals for reductions in the release and

offsite transfer for treatment and disposal of toxic chemicals and for reductions in

the use of 15 chemicals, which will be identified in future guidance. It also requires

that agencies review the feasibility of implementing centralized procurement and

distribution systems that allow facilities to track the acquisition, management,

distribution, and disposal of materials containing hazardous or toxic substances.

Finally, within the context of chemical management, pollution prevention is often

associated with chemical substitution. However, the environmental benefits of

pollution prevention should be carefully evaluated to ensure they never override

worker safety and health considerations.