A Core Function
For nearly two decades, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has been seeking balance and synergy between natural systems and human development activities when it comes to its missions, facilities and operations. This includes working to ensure that activities do not negatively impact the resource needs of future generations.
Sustainability has been part of USACE’s culture since March 2002, when it adopted its Environmental Operating Principles. With these principles as its foundation, USACE will strive to meet the federal government’s climate change and clean energy goals as described in Executive Order 14057, Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability.
Leadership
The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works serves as the Chief Sustainability Officer for USACE, working with USACE’s Deputy Commanding General to lead the Strategic Sustainability Committee (SSC) in driving improved sustainability performance. SSC meetings are conducted three times per year and provide collective review and strategic direction for the sustainability program. This is in addition to the internal sustainability performance metrics that are tracked quarterly using existing management review processes.
Optimizing Internal Operations
USACE serves as a reported agency, reporting to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the White House Council on Environmental Quality as a separate agency from the Department of Defense on matters related to USACE’s Sustainability Program. USACE’s Sustainability Program focuses on climate change mitigation, implementing federal sustainability requirements within USACE’s operations and facilities. Two key communication products are publicly available to ensure transparency in these sustainability activities: USACE’s Sustainability Plan and OMB’s Scorecard on Federal Sustainability, both of which are published on sustainability.gov.
USACE’s Sustainability Plan serves as the roadmap to mitigate climate change, reduce waste, decrease costs, and enhance resilience of our infrastructure and operations. Focus areas include facility energy efficiency; renewable energy; water efficiency; transportation/fleet management (with the goal to increase electric vehicles); sustainable acquisition/procurement; and greenhouse gas emission reductions in support of reducing the impacts of climate change. OMB’s Scorecard for Efficient Federal Operations/Management tracks USACE’s progress along with the scorecards of other federal agencies.
In accordance with Executive Order 14057, USACE is transforming its electric vehicle fleet across the enterprise. These actions support the whole-of-government effort to achieve net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050 and center around acquiring more electric vehicles and installing additional electric vehicle charging stations at USACE facilities to transition to 100% zero-emission vehicle acquisitions by 2035.
Path Forward
USACE is focused on aligning efforts and initiatives with Executive Order 14057 to support the administration’s goals on climate change mitigation and adaptation and further advance sustainability initiatives across the enterprise.
Learn more about USACE’s Sustainability Program at: www.usace.army.mil/Missions/Sustainability