Original Date: 08/10/1998
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC), Lakehurst has been designated by the Department of Defense (DoD) as a participant in a two-year pilot program to determine if other government installations should be certified to ISO- 14001. ISO-14001 is an international standard for demonstrating that the registrant has an Environmental Management System (EMS) in place for managing the entire life-cycle and environmental impact of its business operations. The study’s intent is to determine the feasibility of making ISO-14001 certification a requirement for doing business with the DoD. NAWC, Lakehurst is developing an EMS to comply with this international standard.

Currently, there are no formalized compliance requirements imposed by the DoD to manage the environmental impact of programs and business operations throughout the entire life-cycle. The DoD selected NAWC, Lakehurst because of its successful environmental programs and recognized accomplishments. ISO-14001 requires the development of an umbrella environmental policy that is approved and supported by the base’s highest level of authority. Any processes or activities that interact with the environment must be addressed under this policy. Priorities are set relative to the impact that activities have on the environment. Other requirements include establishing objectives and targets for compliance; documenting and sharing processes/procedures with site technicians and regulators; implementing a well-defined, but flexible EMS structure which emphasizes good communications and documentation configuration control; applying metrics that accurately measure the results of improvements being made; and performing a self-assessment for site compliance and continuous improvement.

Since April 1998, NAWC, Lakehurst initiated a basewide environmental policy, and completed ISO-14001 coordinator training. Approximately 80 aspects have been identified and ranked, and the list is growing. NAWC, Lakehurst’s accomplishments through 1998 for the pilot program include a partnership with the Army, an on-line reporting capability with the DoD, funding for the documentation control program, and an ISO website. The successful completion of the pilot program at NAWC, Lakehurst is expected to provide valuable input for the DoD’s evaluation and implementation of ISO-14001. In addition, this program will greatly enhance NAWC, Lakehurst’s business opportunities.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.