Environmental and Sustainability Management System
In 2004 Sound Transit began a multi-year effort to develop an Environmental and Sustainability Management System (ESMS) with support from a Federal Transit Administration (FTA) training and assistance grant targeted for public transit agencies. A team of eight employees from Sound Transit participated in the training, led by the Center for Organizational and Technological Advancement (COTA) at Virginia Tech, alongside ten transit agencies from around the United States to advance international environmental management standards (ISO 14001).
Sound Transit’s initial implementation of ESMS was unique among the other participating transit agencies because it focuses on capital development rather than on an operations or maintenance facilities. In one example, the agency has written work instructions to clarify roles, responsibilities and processes to ensure efficient management and full compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA) during project planning, and for ensuring commitments are fulfilled once a project is completed. As the agency changes, so too shall the ESMS; the agency will continue to identify areas for continual environmental improvement. A next step includes expanding on the agency’s environmental preferable purchasing program in order to help create a market for healthier, recycled products and lessen the agency’s waste stream.
The environmental policy (PDF 20kb) was adopted by the Board of Directors in 2004 and lays out the agency’s commitment to implementing the ESMS. With top management support, Sound Transit intends to be a leader in the Puget Sound region’s efforts to create healthy, sustainable ways of life for people and the environment.
Read more about Sound Transit's sustainability objectives for 2008.
Learn more about ESMS training and development by visiting the Federal Transit Administration website>>>
For more information on Sound Transit’s ESMS, contact: ems@soundtransit.org
Sustainability
In the first phase of the ESMS, Sound Transit focused on the underpinnings of any effective environmental compliance system – applying and complying with the environmental regulations and laws that govern capital project development. But Sound Transit realizes that sustaining our region’s quality of life requires more than just compliance. In its environmental policy, Sound Transit commits to strive to exceed compliance by employing cost-effective innovation and self-assessment.
To strengthen its position as a leader in finding innovative solutions to regional environmental questions, Sound Transit sees an opportunity to contribute significantly to the local, regional and global dialogue on environmental responsibility. One way of looking at these questions is through the lens of sustainability.
What is sustainability?
Sustainability looks at how environment, society and economy work together. A sustainable community is able to enduringly provide a high quality of life as measured by the health of these interconnected spheres rather than by only one of them. A sustainable community provides resources for its inhabitants to thrive without harming the integrity of natural resources. A sustainable community can persist both ecologically and economically, and provide equitable access to resources for current and future generations.
What is Sound Transit doing about sustainability?
To act on its policy commitments, Sound Transit intends to use the ESMS structure to embed sustainable practices into the agency’s daily activities, and to continue to monitor, maintain, and measure the ESMS’s effectiveness in helping to achieve a more sustainable community. Some areas that the agency sees as possible applications of sustainability include:
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Green Building and Design Incorporating “green” building practices into capital project design guidelines
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Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Identifying “green” products and vendors that meet environmentally-friendly criteria
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Waste Prevention and Recycling Reducing, reusing and recycling products
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Climate Change Building high capacity transit facilities and services to reduce reliance on single-occupant cars; purchasing hybrid vehicles and alternative fuels for revenue and non-revenue fleet
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Energy Efficiency Identifying ways to conserve energy and contribute to the viability of renewable energy sources
Many individuals and groups of people locally, nationally and globally are talking about sustainability and considering actions to help communities become sustainable. Some additional resources can be found at the following websites:
Sustainable Seattle: What is a Sustainable Community? http://www.sustainableseattle.org/SustCommunity
WA State Dept. of Ecology: Toward a Sustainable Washington provides “you with inspiration and information about sustainability” and highlights “some of the steps that we here at Ecology are taking to foster sustainable communities and natural resources within our state."
A New Path Forward: Action Plan for a Sustainable Washington (PDF 596kb)
City of Seattle, Office of Sustainability & Environment collaborates “with City agencies, business groups, nonprofit organizations, and other partners to protect and enhance Seattle’s distinctive environmental quality and livability.”
The Natural Step “has worked to accelerate global sustainability by guiding companies, communities and governments onto an ecologically, socially and economically sustainable path.”
Oregon Solutions - Community-Based Collaboration for Sustainability “has promoted a new style of community governance, one based on the principles of collaboration, integration, and sustainability.”
