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Environmental Management Systems / Environmental Security Promoting technologies, environmental management systems, and partnerships that protect the environment… Protecting the environment is central to the security and prosperity of every nation. GETF offers expertise on the technologies and management systems that promote environmental safety and security. We have been a leading promoter of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) based upon the ISO 14001 Standard in the public sector, and have developed and implemented innovative approaches to managing security at U.S. Seaports. We provide our partners (municipalities, private companies and public institutions) with tools that allow them to identify, successfully manage, and prevent new environmental security risks. Noteworthy Projects  | Virginia Regional Environmental Management System (V-REMS)
Since its inception as a White House sponsored initiative over four years ago, GETF has facilitated V-REMS Partnership for the Defense Supply Center Richmond (DSCR). This partnership joins together all levels of government and the private sector to participate on coordinated activities for the benefit of the overall partnership and region. Working together, these organizations use the EMS process to significantly strengthen their lines of communication and identify and jointly address stakeholder priority issues such a water and air quality, natural resource impacts, energy issues, encroachment and growth from a regional perspective. In our capacity as a neutral non-profit, GETF has worked with the V-REMS partnership to identify and attain meaningful benefits to its participants. As a result, the V-REMS partnership has grown from four public organizations in the Richmond area, to a group of over 65 public and private organizations based mainly in greater Richmond but increasingly from other parts of the Commonwealth of Virginia as well. The partnership was awarded the White House Closing the Circle Award in 2005 and the business for the Bay 2007 Partners of the Year. |
| National Public Entity EMS Resource (PEER) Center
Created in partnership with the U.S. EPA Office of Water, the PEER Center is an umbrella program to support Environmental Management System (EMS) implementation within the public sector. The PEER Center was built upon data and practitioner experiences from over 50 organizations implementing EMSs through five national EMS initiatives. The suite of ongoing complimentary programs under the PEER Center umbrella include an online clearinghouse (www.peercenter.net) of EMS information, case studies, and guidance materials, a family of eleven PEER Local EMS Resource Centers (PEER LRCs) located throughout the country to provide local communities with technical expertise, field tested tools, information sharing, and support for EMS implementation, a quarterly newsletter highlighting the latest in public entity EMS achievements and a series of technical guidance tools, including handbooks, workbooks, toolboxes, and on-line training modules. |
 | Port EMS/SMS Assistance Project
In partnership with the American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), GETF is facilitating the 3rd Round of the Port Environmental Management System (EMS) Assistance Project. This project is tailored to the unique characteristics of the port industry, and is based on the successful 1st and 2nd Port Environmental/Security Management System (EMS/SMS) Assistance Projects (2004-2008). Many project alumni have articulated the need to engage their terminal operators as part of their EMS. For this round, we are opening up the EMS Assistance Project to terminal operators nominated by a port authority. Benefits will be improved and increased coordination, opportunity for information and data exchange, and a strengthening of relationships between terminal operators and the port authority. This two-year project supports ten public seaport authorities in developing and implementing management systems to address environmental and security issues. Selected participants receive assistance through multi-day workshops involving all participants, on-site assistance visits, bi-weekly and ad-hoc technical assistance calls, and select sample port EMS/SMS documentation and other tools and materials based on data gathered over the past 4 years of the Assistance project. This collaborative learning format has helped over 50 local government entities, including sixteen port authorities to date, realize substantial improvement in their environmental, economic, and security management performance. Participants in the program include the Maritime Administration (MARAD), Maryland Port Administration, Port Authority of New York/New Jersey, Port Everglades, Port of Cleveland, Port of Corpus Christi Authority, Port of Everett, Port of Houston Authority, Port of Long Beach, Port of Los Angeles, Port of New Orleans, Port of Oakland, Port of Portland, Port of Vancouver USA, Portland District Corps of Engineers, and the Virginia Port Authority. |
 | Green Highways Partnership (GHP)
The Mid-Atlantic Green Highways Partnership (GHP) is transforming the intersection of transportation infrastructure and environmental sustainability. GHP utilizes integrated planning, regulatory flexibility, and market-based rewards in order to incorporate environmental streamlining and stewardship into all aspects of the highway lifecycle. GHP emerged from an unusual collaboration between the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Mid-Atlantic Region. Currently, the network encompasses environmental and transportation agencies, industry partners, non-profit organizations and federal, state and local officials. This diverse partnership provides expertise in three focal areas that are revolutionizing highways to be safe, sustainable and environmentally protective. They utilize watershed-driven storm water management, promote reuse and recycling of industrial by-products, and foster conservation and ecosystem protection. Three pillars support the GHP model: Partnerships, Rewards/Recognition and Opportunities. This entails encouraging cross-sector partnership development to solve common goals, rewarding successful collaborations, and creating opportunities to apply GHP principles through pilot projects. |
 | U.S. EPA-Supported EMS Local Government Initiative
GETF has assisted over forty public entities in implementing EMS, including specialized work with wastewater utilities and seaports. |
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