“FedCenter:” Helping the U.S. Government Lead the Way Towards Environmental Compliance and Stewardship
By Alicia Handy, Paralegal Specialist, U.S. EPA, Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Federal Facilities Enforcement Office. Email: handy.alicia at epa.gov

The need for a Federal facility compliance assistance center emerged from Congressional and Executive policies to “green the government” and to make the Federal government a leader in environmental stewardship. FedCenter.gov, a web-based environmental compliance assistance site, was launched in October 2004 to be a “one-stop shop” for facility and program managers of the approximately 32,000 Federal facilities. It was designed to provide compliance assistance to Federal facilities to improve environmental compliance, promote environmental stewardship, and leverage the environmental expertise of Federal agencies and their limited resources to meet regulatory needs.

FedCenter began as a joint initiative between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Federal Facilities Enforcement Office (OECA-FFEO); the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE); and the Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering Research and Development Center , Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL). Initial funding was provided by FFEO but has since been supported by various EPA offices, the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Department of Energy (DOE), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). As of 2007, more than half of the funding to support FedCenter has been provided by non-OECA sources.

FedCenter provides a number of services to Federal facilities to support compliance assistance. Program area links provide information on applicable regulations, guidance and policy; database and software tools; newsletters; and lessons learned in topics such as compliance, buying green, environmental management systems (EMS), energy, green buildings, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), pollution prevention and chemical management. Users are provided links to state environmental programs and other environmental compliance assistance centers, and have access to information on EPA’s enforcement focus, training and conferences, industry sector-specific newsletters, and Executive Order 13423—“Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management.” FedCenter also provides information on new and revised draft and final statutes, regulations, policies, memoranda and interpretations, and upcoming regulatory deadlines as they pertain to Federal facilities.

FedCenter also offers Federal facilities a number of tools to aid their compliance efforts. For example, FedCenter allows Federal facilities to form workgroups, discussion forums, listervs, and allows facilities to store documents online. The Facility Regulatory Tour helps facilities to identify the environmental regulations applicable to their facility and provides them with pollution prevention options, green products, and best practices available to reduce pollution and then eliminate regulatory liability. Members are also given access to secure areas and subscription to individually tailored e-mail alerts.

As of March 2007, FedCenter has developed into a website with 1,437 pages and templates, 5,379 items, 2,025 members, and 24 working groups that have attracted 271,081 total visitors. Moreover, twelve agencies used FedCenter’s electronic reporting capabilities to comply with new underground storage tank requirements, a majority of users are using FedCenter’s reporting features to complete the 2006 EMS report card requirements, and the FedCenter daily newsletter is sent to over 1,500 members.

To improve FedCenter’s compliance assistance support, FedCenter is seeking to add additional services and tools available to Federal facilities including EMS training and audits, workgroup support, computing services, training material development, “ask-an-expert,” vendor directories for green products, regulatory “watch alert,” web-based training, and providing subject matter experts for content review. FedCenter is also in the process of developing a long-term strategy to continue to build Federal agency participation and sustained funding, to better communicate with its target audience, and to measure the performance of the center to ensure it continues to provide value to all Federal facilities.

For more information about FedCenter, visit the FedCenter website at http://www.fedcenter.gov. You can also contact Mike Shields (FFEO) at shields.mike at epa.gov (202-564-9035) or Steve Luzzi (CERL) at Stephen.t.luzzi at erdc.usace.army.mil (202-373-5894). Links to other compliance assistance centers, including FedCenter can be found at http://www.assistancecenters.net.