The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE) promotes sustainable environmental stewardship throughout the federal government. Its mission is expanded beyond waste prevention and recycling to broader sustainability issues. Environmental management systems are used to determine and improve upon key environmental priorities. Executive Order 13423 provides a framework for integrating sustainable practices across federal agencies. The OFEE works with agencies to implement sustainability programs through environmental management.

1. Office of the Federal Environmental Executive
Sustainability
OFEE’s mission statement is “Promoting sustainable environmental stewardship throughout
the federal government”, devoting its time, talents, and resources to the tools and practices
that expands its historical core waste prevention and recycling priorities into the broader area
of sustainable environmental stewardship. Environmental Management Systems (EMS) is
the primary management approach to determining, prioritizing, implementing, and improving
upon those environmental issues that will lead to sustainable environmental stewardship.
Each agency must designate an Agency Environmental Executive (image - OFEE)
Military operations must also comply with sustainability requirements in EO 13423 (image - OFEE)
Monitoring is a key element of an environmental management system (image - OFEE)
The genesis of the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive lies in the President Bush’s EO 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy
issue of resource conservation. The federal government’s history of promoting and Transportation Management builds on the federal government’s success
conservation by recycling extends back to World War II with the War Produc- in increasing energy and water efficiency, purchasing green products, using
tion Board’s call to Americans to save scrap metal. The last three decades, renewable energy, building green buildings, managing electronics, using
however, have seen an increased attention to promoting energy conservation alternative fuel vehicles and alternative fuels and reducing the use of toxic and
and recycling across America, as well as within the Federal government. hazardous chemicals. It consolidates all these issues and provides a holistic
In 1976, Congress passed, and President Ford signed the Resource approach to implementing these programs.
www.OFEE.gov
Conservation and Recovery Act which requires agencies to develop affirma-
tive procurement programs to purchase EPA-designated recycled content
products to create and sustain markets for recycled materials recycled, as well
as industrial by-products that otherwise would be land-filled.
In 1991, President George H.W. Bush issued the Federal Agency Recy-
cling and the Council on Federal Recycling and Procurement Policy, creating
the Federal Recycling Coordinator, the Council on Federal Recycling and
Procurement Policy, and agency recycling coordinators within each of the ma-
jor agencies. President Clinton’s 1993 EO 12873, Federal Acquisition, Waste
Prevention, and Recycling, created the position of the Federal Environmental
Executive, as well as Agency Environmental Executives. This order also set
the standard that all federal office paper is to contain at least 30 percent post-
consumer recycled content.
Keynote Remarks - Mr. Addison D. Davis, IV, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army, (Environment, Safety, & Occupational Health)
Fran McPoland was the first Federal Environmental Executive. In 1998, EO
13101, Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling and
Federal Acquisition created the White House Task Force on Waste Prevention
and Recycling. President Bush appointed John Howard, Jr. as the Federal
Environmental Executive, followed by Edwin Piñero in 2004.
Mr. Joseph Cascio - The Federal Environmental Executive, at the 2008 White House ‘Closing the Circle Awards Ceremony’
Joseph Cascio is the current Federal Environmental Executive and has
E nvironmental Management Systems (EMS) is the primary management approach to over 26 years experience in environmental management and public policy
determining, prioritizing, implementing, and improving upon those environmental issues development; he was previously a consultant, developing and implementing
that will lead to sustainable environmental stewardship. The primary vehicle to implement environmental management systems. He chaired the US Technical Advisory
this mission is Executive Order (EO) 13423, “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, Group on the ISO-14000 series of standards and was the lead US negotia-
and Transportation Management.” This EO integrates a series of sustainable practices tor on the international technical committee of ISO. As the co-author of The
under one common vision for the Federal government. The Department of Energy and EPA ISO 14000 Guide, he is recognized as an expert on environmental manage-
are the lead agencies for energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, and fleet ment and as the key architect of the US posture on the ISO-14000 series of
environmental and energy issues. standards.
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eCycling is a multi-State collaboration model of shared responsibility among government, industry, and consumers